Lady Nelson by Danstream - Amati/Victory Models - 1:64 scale

[flyenrw]

We are our own worse critic... It doesn't look like an abandoned Jurassic Park yet! Looks to me like you have a great start and once all the wood is fashioned and in place, you should be very pleased!  The Hull turned out well. The planking looks real tidy.                                                       My ship ran aground , hit a reef. Too vigorous a sanding , not realizing just how much I had taken off already! Fortunately, with patient repair and skill with finishing reason from RC aircraft, it's repaired and unless you know it happened, it will be covered with bottom paint. Non the less it bummed me out as I worked thru all the learning curves...I've got a pretty big note book by now!     Really Dan,  keep up the good work, as it's turning out well. Best Regards, Roger

[Danstream]

2 hours ago, flyenrw said:

Fortunately, with patient repair and skill with finishing reason from RC aircraft, it's repaired and unless you know it happened, it will be covered with bottom paint.

I am sorry to hear about your accident. But, hey, when it will be covered by paint I am sure it will be good. I am also counting on the paint to hide my mistakes. The planking of the deck that I am doing now is a much more pleasing and relaxing job.

best regards,

Dan

[flyenrw]

Hi Dan, yeah , I look forward to starting my decking too,  for the completed look it adds.  The wooden pedestals I ordered from Cornwell Model Boats have already entered our country. That was real Quick over the pond! Great selection of products!   Another few days, I'll be able to work out the proper resting angle of the keel. Looking forward to simple pleasures!                                                     In the mean time. Florida cannot escape from a new Hurricane due here by mid week. I wished I was eating the spaghetti instead of being part of the models. We're in direct path of this beast right now! I'm hoping the sheer winds in the Gulf of Mexico,  near Florida will effect and chop off some of the high  150 + mph winds before it gets to landfall. I've experienced 70 mph winds a few times, but never double that....                                I think it would sink my boat!                        I've started to finish the hull wood in a Matt finish polycyclic. Used also as a base coat to get rid of the heavy wood texture often seen when paint is directly applied to bare wood.   It will provide a nice seal and smooth finish for all painted surfaces. I've applied four coats so far. Very light build up , 320 dry sand paper in between with a finish of 400 grit for painted surfaces. All the exposed wood looks nicely rich in color with it applied.   Also,  I'll use a light touch of white primer which will keep the white bottom paint  even in color without blotches. Being water based, I can paint it inside the house. Dries real fast.  No oder . Out side, with all the rain we have been having, humidity is running average 75 percent, ...absolutely impossible to spray any acrylics, lacquer or enamel paint. My base and pedestals will be painted with acrylic lacquer. Probably not for another couple of months when the intense humidity is gone. Take care , Roger

[Danstream]

Hi Roger, your description of what is going to happen in Florida is really scary. I read similar notes from other members of the forum that live in the affected areas. I hope it will be less violent than expected. Keep me updated and I wish you best of luck for this though moment.

On a less serious topic, what you did on the hull of the model sounds good. I am going to apply a similar approach.

Take great care,

Dan

Edited October 7 by Danstream

[Danstream]

I just finished planking the deck. To be more practical, I took some short cuts and simplified the application along the bulwarks. I will refine them later.

I didn't think of sorting the strips by their color, when I realized that they had different colors and the deck looked as a patchwork it was too late to do anything, hence I went on like that.

I also sanded the deck with a fine grit. Next, I will seal the wood with a transparent varnish.

Best regards,

Dan

[AJohnson]

The deck looks very neat Dan, I see what you mean about the planking colours, but the majority of the paler stuff will be hidden by the cannons, which will distract greatly compared to the empty deck now. 👍

[Ronald-V]

Very nice deck! I like there is a bit of variety, but that's my personal taste  

[Danstream]

1 hour ago, AJohnson said:

I see what you mean about the planking colours, but the majority of the paler stuff will be hidden by the cannons, which will distract greatly compared to the empty deck now

Thanks Andrew, that's surely an effect to be considered. I am thinking of spraying the deck with a very diluted acrylic grey, say a matt neutral grey, to be sprayed after I sealed the grain as a sort of transparent filter. Do you have any experience on something similar?

 

1 hour ago, Ronald-V said:

I like there is a bit of variety, but that's my personal taste

Thanks Ronald! I appreciate your positive approach. I will see how it looks after the varnish. See also my question in my comment above.

 

Best regards,

Dan

[Ronald-V]

41 minutes ago, Danstream said:

. See also my question in my comment above.

 

Best regards,

Dan

I don't have experience with a spray. But I know people use washes in that way you describe. So applying a diluted grey or something like that and take the residu off with a cloth. Maybe start a new topic with that question...you will get more answers and even some examples maybe

[AJohnson]

2 hours ago, Danstream said:

I am thinking of spraying the deck with a very diluted acrylic grey, say a matt neutral grey, to be sprayed after I sealed the grain as a sort of transparent filter. Do you have any experience on something similar?

I haven’t personally stained decks, usually I just put a few coats of Danish oil on mine. If you have some off-cuts of the contrasting planks you could try out your dilute greys before committing to model, but think it could be a solution. If you don’t go for it I still think it will be great once the “clutter” of guns and other fittings are added. 

[flyenrw]

Hi Dan, You've got my vote!

I feel it turned out great!

I seriously doubt that any shipwright building a work vessel would take the time to organize heavy decking lumber for matching colors!

 

Now yachts are a much different story!

 

Given the deck furniture, cannons and a sundry fittings , line etc.,  I am drawn to the natural order of things, and find it very appealing!

 

In fact as the above discussion covered,  the mention of washing the deck in a hue,  is something I have intended to do with my decking.

 

If it is of interest, Model railroading has many products to capture a realistic look, which seems , is the main theme of most model railroad layouts.

Weathering details are also very prevalent in most plastic model building.

I came across the product  pictured,  that quickly drew me in, as I was in search of a more natural washed look to my deck.

I found the product of all places,  on ETSY,  " DR. Bens "

 

The second picture is of a stick of clear limewood, quickly stirred into the wash. The last picture is a second coat on the same stick.

Keep in mind, Limewood is soft and porous.

Depending on the woods hardness, obviously  will determine the intensity of the color.

From my experience with paints and stains, in order to have a lighter suggestion of color with over the counter stains, one would need to reduce with adding a thinner.

Dr. Bens is a Water based stain, already thinned with the intensions of using it as a wash, to hint of color.

If to go the route of adding color to the deck, possibly you would like the effect of this product.

 

[Danstream]

14 hours ago, flyenrw said:

I feel it turned out great!

I seriously doubt that any shipwright building a work vessel would take the time to organize heavy decking lumber for matching colors!

🙂 You are right, I will anyway not stain the deck and let it alone for a while. I am busy now with the wales which I am going to glue with CA because I don't want to use pins to keep them in place. Thanks also for the infos about the products for weathering.

Best regards,

Dan

[Danstream]

Hi all,

I finished the deck with surrounding strips that should finish off the edges of the deck and resemble a sketchy waterway.

I also lightly stained the timbers, but the look of the deck didn't change much. Next, I glued on the main wales as required by the instructions (3x1 mm walnut strips, 2 strips each side).

At the stern, this is how I terminated the wales:

I am pleased with the way the wales turned out, but I don't like the way the ends of the planks look at the stern. I am considering to cover them with a layer of thin walnut strips to hide the ends and the thickness of their glue line. Another problem, also flagged by other builds and lately also by @flyenrw in his build, is the definition and the placement of the transom band and its side support pieces. 

I will see how to fit them to their intended locations. That's all for now,

best regards,

Dan

Edited October 22 by Danstream

[flyenrw]

Good Morning Dan,  Well,  there is no reason to think anything other than,  how well she looks! Great Job!

Just a thought on the Wale terminating at the stern:

  When I changed mine, it was a pre- conceived plan to alter and adjust, but now with yours in place, you could layer the end, closest to the stern,  with a simple design,   open relief design of wood,  to equal the heights, if to use the kit provided shaped wood. 

Gosh, You'll soon be placing your deck furniture!

 

[Danstream]

38 minutes ago, flyenrw said:

Gosh, You'll soon be placing your deck furniture!

That adverb 'soon' sounds a bit optimistic, but thanks for your encouragement. My next objectives are to finish the transom, glue the small wales and the cap rails.

[Danstream]

Hi all,

just a very small update of my build. I prepared and framed the stern fascia and after some bending and tweaking, this part was eventually glued to its place.

The result is not bad:

The grain of the wood is very obvious and it needs to be addressed before painting it. The quality of the wood used for these type of pieces is quite poor, in my view. On the stern sides, I rebuilt anew the lateral fascia supports trying to match the involved angles and maintain the possibility of decorating them with the kit provided photoetched friezes.

Finally, I went back to staining the deck with the aim of reducing the contrast between lighter and darker planks. After three light passes, I think I achieved a reasonable result.

Just as a side note, because I didn't have any proper staining powder at hand, I ended up using my strong Italian espresso coffee as a staining agent that left a good coffee aroma to my model.

Best regards,

Dan

Edited October 26 by Danstream

[flyenrw]

Hi Dan, The framed Gun Ports is a nice ad on, Looks good with a sharp corner!

I may have to copy that! Do you charge royalties?

[Danstream]

12 hours ago, flyenrw said:

The framed Gun Ports is a nice ad on, Looks good with a sharp corner!

I may have to copy that! Do you charge royalties?

Thanks Roger! Please, go on and be my guest, but be aware that it is a deadly boring job 🙂.

(I gave up with framing the small apertures).

[Danstream]

Hi all,

I went on with attaching the 'small' wales to complete the hull.

The function of these 'wales' is not clear to me being them interrupted in many locations by the opening for the guns. I guess they functioned as load spreader for the concentrated loads transmitted by the gun carriages attachment points. I started to prepare the inner sides of the bulwarks for painting and I started to set up the pin racks. I assume that there will be quite some tension applied to them by the rigging, hence, I pinned them to the bulwarks with brass pins.

I also brushed the timbers of the deck with a transparent varnish which gave fuller colors to them.

Finally, I installed the 'V' reinforcement on the tip of the bow after having discarded the part supplied by the kit because it didn't fit and having rebuilt it.

That's all for now,

best regards,

Dan

 

[flyenrw]

Hi Dan, richening the deck color with coffee looks good. The color variations really draw the attention to the meticulous work....I'm sure by now,   you have spotted a discrepancy of height difference,  to support the butt end of the bow sprit to the rail. I'm modifying the provided parts to adjust it's height so that it projects the bow sprit at the proper angle to the water line. Relatively simple fix if to catch ahead of time. 

[Danstream]

12 hours ago, flyenrw said:

you have spotted a discrepancy of height difference,  to support the butt end of the bow sprit to the rail

Hi Roger, thanks for your comments. It took a while to me to understand the position of that part and to decide the position of the catheads. The drawings and the pictures are neither clear nor unambiguous. Eventually, I decided that the catheads will be positioned right past (astern) the first openings. I also slightly reshaped that 'V' part making it a bit slimmer.

 

As far as your quote is concerned, I positioned that part in subject just below the the indent for the bowsprit, but I didn't do any fit check with it and with the other supporting superstructures that I haven't yet removed from the package hoping that it will be ok (I know this isn't the correct approach...).

 

I think that I will glue in place the cap rails after having painted the inner sides of the bulwarks.

 

Looking forward to seeing your progress,

Dan

[flyenrw]

Hi Dan, I just tried to share a posting with pictures of the bowsprit error and I have received an error from the web site and now unable to post anything! So I have to sort thru that! Caution,  With the bowsprit deck bracket used, the bow sprit will point downwards...there needs to be a lot of adjustments. I would suggest I'd it is not too late , to hold off glueing the breast hook in place, as it may need to be cut to accept the bottom edge of the bowsprit.... I have half a foot out the door, but wanted to share this problem with you.  Roger

[Danstream]

Thanks for the head up Roger! Now it is clear that I need to take out the bowsprit and its support bracket and make some tests.

Cheers,

Dan

[AJohnson]

Probably good to do a trial fit of the bowsprit now, I did so on my HMS Trial and it was surprising how much filing/sanding I needed to do for it to sit and in reality I think I should have done more. 

[Danstream]

Hi all, some progress on my Lady.

After the wales, I finally ended the major works on the hull on its stern area. As I wrote previously, I didn't like to see the ends of the planking strakes because their bond lines looked bad. Hence, I covered those with an additional layer of thin walnut obtaining a configuration that I think looks nicer and cleaner.

The sheen is due to the varnish that I used to seal the grain of the wood and that I brushed with a fine steel wool. Next I will brush on a satin clear. Then, I masked the hull to prepare it for painting the inner sides of the bulwarks.

To obtain a good uniform base for the red paint, I sprayed a coat of Tamiya white primer, which also revealed few blemishes that had to be filled and smoothed.

Finally, I airbrushed the red paint which I obtained with a mix of 80% of Tamiya flat red and 20% of Tamiya flat red brown to make it darker than pure red.

To finish the waterway, I added a small wooden strip at the base of the bulwarks.

The paints that I used were from the Tamiya acrylic line which spray very well, but they are very matt, almost chalky when dried and their finish is very delicate getting very easily spoiled just by touch. Hence, I brushed on a coat of Humbrol satin clear which made the surface less matt and more resilient.

That's all for now, next I will paint the exterior of the hull and install the cap rails.

Best regards,

Dan

 

[Ronald-V]

Lovely planking, but also a nice red color, very well done!  

[Knocklouder]

Nicely done Dan  

Bob  M.

[AJohnson]

Great job Dan. 👍  looking forward to seeing the hull appearance. 

[Danstream]

Hi, 

I went on with the installation of the cap rails, but I had to slightly extend the length of the provided parts because they resulted to be too short:

These are the cap rails finally installed:

Following the previous discussions, I tried the bracket that supports the bowsprit:

Indeed, it seems that the bracket provides a support that is a bit too high. Therefore, I will modify the provided parts as in the following:

I will cut away the foot of each posts along the penciled lines. I will replace them later with new ones of the same shape but with a thinner thickness. Then, I will remove the hatched rectangles so to shorten the height of the posts and the new feet will then be re attached.

Best regards,

Dan

Edited November 10 by Danstream

[Danstream]

Hi,

after a final sanding of the hull with a fine grit, I applied a coat of satin varnish which uniformed the shine of the hull and gave the opportunity to finally evaluate the resulting, long lasting planking work.

Then, I started painting various details and, after masking, I sprayed a black color on the main wales as suggested by the kit instruction and seen on many models.

From my hobby of building plastic model planes, I have a collection of Gunze Mr. Color paints, so I picked up a semi-gloss black paint for this work. These paints spray beautifully and their finish is a bit more resilient than the matt acrylic ones.

I am now going to start decorating the stern using the same paint, after the application of the provided photo-etched friezes.

Meanwhile, as explained the earlier post, I completed the modification of the bowsprit support:

Next, I will have to paint it (red) and the cap rails as well (black).

That's all for the moment, I will appreciate any suggestion,

best regards,

Dan

 

Edited November 14 by Danstream