Albatros by WizardOfOs - OcCre - 1:100

[WizardOfOs]

Here we go again, beginning the next model in a journey toward learning this wonderful craft. I’m also continuing the trend of modeling something a little bit bigger with every new entry. 
 

 

The Albatros by OcCre. An American schooner which I do not believe is meant to directly represent any specific, actual ship. Still, a good deal larger than the smack I just finished before Christmas. 
 

The first step was to open the packaging and cut some parts free. 
 

 

I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed by the plywood. Maybe I was just spoiled by the previous kits but I’d gotten used to the solid wood. That didn’t stop me from plowing ahead and directly into my first challenge of the build. 
 

 

The central spine of the ship was curved, rather severely by my inexpert estimation. So I looked across other build logs here and found out a couple of things. This isn’t an uncommon occurrence, and the most recommended correction is to use a jig of some type to hold the spine straight. I decided to take a different approach. I glued the first few frames in as squarely as I could and then proceeded to add additional bracing between them. 
 

 

Here, I have the deck temporarily in place to hold things square while the glue on those braces dry. Doing it this way was a slow, meticulous process but resulted in what I think was a very satisfactory result. 
 

 

They may not be perfectly even, but everything was square and the deck will be flat. The braces will ultimately be hidden anyway. Next came planking of my deck. 
 

 

The instructions recommended drawing lines on the planks every 100 mm. I opted for every 4 inches, which allowed me to divide that 4-inch span into 4 equal parts. Doing that would allow me to get a 3-butt shift pattern of 1-4-2-3. 
 

 

From there I could cut my “planks” into 4-inch lengths, colour the edges with graphite to simulate tar caulking, and start planking away. 

 

A little bit of sanding flat and I got my 3 deck pieces ready to go. I’d also skipped the wall where the cabin door will eventually go, so planked that the same way. 
 

 

Which brings me to where I stand now. The next step in the instructions is to glue the main deck in place, but I’m considering staining it first. The big decision there will be to use the “oak” or the “pine” stain. I’m not sure which would have been the more typical wood to use, so I’ll probably end up staining a few scraps to see which I like better before committing to the actual piece. 
 

Im excited to have a ship to work on again and I’m ready to jump into this next adventure. 

[WizardOfOs]

Have you ever been working on something that you truly enjoy, get distracted by some life event, put it down and not touch it again for four months?

 

Yeah, me too. 
 

The good news is that I have finished school, having graduated and gotten a job I finally have time to pick up my toys again. Now where did I leave off?
 

Before I had set things down I had finished planking the decks and cleaning up the holes for the masts. 
 

 

I was really proud of them at the time (as evidenced by the number of photos I’ve found on my phone) and still can’t believe how well they turned out. I had also been debating what colour stain to use and had settled on pine. 
 

 

 

This, too, I was happy with and feel like it gives the correct look. Worth noting is that the stain didn’t fully saturate in areas with glue residue (which should not have come as a surprise). I’m not really sure how to fix that for the future because a little glue squeezing out is typically not a bad thing. Sanding it down smooth was either not sufficient or wouldn’t have made a difference because the “planks” are so thin anyway. 
 

Next I had assembled and glued down the decks, making the model finally begin to look like a ship. 
 

 

My last addition before the hiatus was to add on the filling blocks to the bow and stern. 
 

 

 

And with that I promptly walked away and didn’t get around to picking it back up until yesterday. 
 

Sanding the frames has never been my favourite job and that probably contributed to my having left things alone for so long. A few hours of carefully carving away the excess followed by sanding things smooth has resulted in this:

 

 

Granted, I have only tackled the bow, but I think it’s becoming presentable. If nothing else, it’s tolerably even between the two halves. Next step is going to involve doing something similar to the stern end, then I can get to planking the hull which is a much more enjoyable endeavor. 
 

Anyway, that is where things stand for now. Maybe I’ll post another update before 2025. 

Edited July 1 by WizardOfOs

[WizardOfOs]

Picking up where I left off, I next moved from the bow to shaping the stern. 
 

 

Hollowing out these ribs was proving very difficult using sanding sticks. Yet another example of me discovering that a job can be made much easier once you choose the correct tool to do it. 
 

 

Lesson learned and now I have this file to help face similar jobs in the future. I also had a slight gap appear under the decking toward the rear and added a bit of scrap wood to fill that gap. My hope was that it would help to made a more solid point of contact later on. 
 

 

To this point I had just been laying the model on my cut mat, but that presented some challenges with keeping the sides free of debris. As a result, I quickly put the stand together. I have not decided if I’ll actually use this stand when finished, but it’s a good holder for building if nothing else. 
 

 

Next came bending the sides, something I was very nervous of. 
 

 

The water bottle (filled with near boiling water) served double duty in allowing me to soak the parts and in being approximately the correct diameter for the bend. You can see here that I got a slight kink at the foremost cutout, something that has persisted in causing me problems ever since. More on that to come. 
 

Once bent, I planked the sides in the same way I did the deck. 
 

 

In retrospect, this was probably a mistake. The actual ship wouldn’t likely have planking done this way here. We learn and we move on. After staining, I gradually glued the parts on, moving from back to front. 
 

 

That strategy worked very well. While I was waiting for the glue to dry I bent the stern board. 
 

 

Water bottle to the rescue again. Once I got all the way to the front, here is how things lined up:

 

 

a bit of a gap toward the bottom, but meeting near perfectly at the top. The unfortunate problem I’ve encountered is that they’re not smoothly curved. Rather, they’re well curved in the area of the first cut out then flat again to the bow. I’ll need to find a way to round them before I glue the upper rail in place. 
 

Any suggestions on that? It would be hugely appreciated. 
 

Powering forward, I glued on the stern board and it looks excellent to my eye from both inside and out. 
 

 

 

Finally, I’ve just drilled the two extra holes for the anchor ropes. 
 

 

So questions and plans for next steps:

 

1) How am I going to round out the upper half of the sideboards around the bow?

 

2) The instructions seem to imply I should use 2x4 mm walnut strips to line the deck as waterways. If I glue them in as indicated, they’ll cover the bottommost portion of the wall higher than the bottom of the cutout gun ports. I suppose that means I will need to cut channels into them to match the ports. Should I do that before or after they’re glued in place?

 

Things to think about. I’ll make a decision after I have the strips bent into shape.