Pinas by rcweir - Kolderstok - Scale 1:50 - Cross-Section - Dutch 17th Century ship

[rcweir]

This is a new kit by Kolderstok,  a Dutch company that specializes in a category especially appealing to me:  17th Dutch vessels.

 

"Pinas" is a ship type, and the prime reference for modelers is a lengthy treatise on Dutch shipbuilding practices, written in 1671 by Nicolaes Witsen, in which he uses the pinas as his example for all aspects of construction.    Fortunately,  Ab Hoving has given us a new version of Witsen, organized coherently, heavily annotated, and in English, in his Nicolaes Witsen and Shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age, College Station: Texas A&M Press, 2012.  

 

This  model was designed by  Matthias Noback (it's the first Kolderstok kit not designed by Hans van Nieuwkoop),  and you can find a blog of his design effort elsewhere on the web.  Additionally,  while there are no other build logs for this kit on MSW yet, there are a few others out there which have been a great help to me (and thank goodness for Google translate!)

 

My kit arrived on 12 April,  in good order, after a lengthy journey through the Dutch and US postal systems.   It was carefully packed, and everything on the inventory list was in the box, and in excellent condition.   All of the wood, except for the dowels, is basswood.    That includes all the laser cut sheets - there is no plywood.   The accessories appear to me to be all high quality - the blocks look great and the brass cannon are beautiful.   Along with the kit I ordered a full set of Kolderstok paints.  I didn't get the premium "luxury rope" rigging line, figuring that my existing stash of line would cover my needs.

 

 

That's all for this post.  The next one might also happen today, and will cover some pre-build decisions and samples.

 

[rcweir]

Rats,  I put this in the wrong section.   Which makes me cross, of course!   I hope a friendly admin can move it to the 1501-1750 kit section!

[rcweir]

While I was waiting for the kit to arrive,  I spent time making some choices for my build.   I quickly decided that it would be stained, but basswood can be blotchy and I didn't want that.  Plus, I needed to pick a specific color.    For a large scale like 1:50, treenails are certainly called for, so I had to decide about how to do them too (as well as bolts).    

 

These are my stain samples.   The upper topmost is cabela boxwood, then Alaska yellow cedar, and basswood is the widest piece.  (At the time, I was still considering the possibility of milling my own planks rather than using the kit-supplied basswood.)   All samples were sanded (a little haphazardly) and then given a wash coat of 1/2 lb cut shellac.   The lower half of each has a coat of satin WOP, and then each vertical panel has one of the stains that I was testing.   After a lot of ruminating,  I choose the bottom right:  Minwax Golden Oak on top of a coat of WOP.    The WOP makes the stain more of a glaze, which ought to minimize blotching, assuming I do a decent job of preparation.     I intend this to define how I do all of the staining:   sand to 320 before installation,  wash coat of 1/2 lb shellac, then glue up.   When I'm ready for the top coat, the WOP goes on followed by the stain.    I'd do the poly before installation, too, but I'm afraid of compromising the glue joints.

 

Next, I had to decide about treenails  (which I have no prior experience with).  The two questions were (a) size and (b) material.    I had no desire to make them with a drawplate, so the material question quickly boiled down to a choice between bamboo and birch toothpicks.    I tried both, and birch was an easy winner - the cell size of end grain bamboo is just too large to suit me.   I did make a little sample using black poly fishing line, too, but that didn't go well - I don't know how to get it truly flush with the wood surface.   I'm happy with birch - good birch toothpicks are easy to find, adapt to any size hole I want to use, take my finish well, and they're quite easy to install in volume.    For size,  I tried .8, .9 and 1.0mm, and I think I'll go with .8, at least for the interior planking.

 

For bolts, I hoped to find little nails that were suitable, but all I could find were more than 2mm at the head,  and I wanted something more like 1.5, max.    What I've chosen, then, is to use solid 14 gauge copper house wire, which is about 1.6mm.   You can see three of them, uncolored, near the middle of the top image above this note.  I'll color them black for the model, of course.

 

 

 

The other big consideration I had to resolve before starting was how to make the keel, because that impacts how the garboard strakes look.   The kit provides for a two part keel made from two 4mm pieces of wood, with the rabbet formed at the junction of the two pieces.   The middle image above is from the instructions.    I think the angle between the garboard strake and the next plank to it is much too steep.    The top image is an illustration from Witsen,  where the angle between the planks is much shallower and that's the look I want for my model.   So,  what I did was to plane the top kit-supplied keel board to 3mm and replace the bottom keel piece with my own 5mm board.    Thus, the finished keel size hasn't changed but the rabbet is, effectively about 1-1/2 mm higher.    The bottom photo shows my keel (upside down) with a sample garboard strake temporarily positioned.    About the only thing I'm not totally happy about with my change is that I wish my rabbet was more triangular in section. But in all other respects I think this change is going to be successful.

 

That's all for now.   Progress from now on will be pretty slow, I'm afraid.  I still have a day job, and even without that excuse my progress is not speedy.

 

Edited April 28 by rcweir
Remove a dup image

[ccoyle]

5 hours ago, rcweir said:

Rats,  I put this in the wrong section.   Which makes me cross, of course!   I hope a friendly admin can move it to the 1501-1750 kit section!

 

Done!

[Chuck Seiler]

I have this kit as well.  Recently received.  I don't know how far along you are and if my advice will be helpful.

 

I decided to dye the frames and keel with Trans Tint wood dye in alcohol.  Used brown and amber mix, giving it a 'golden oak' color.  I used the dye because it does not inhibit gluing.  Stain looks better but inhibits gluing, in my experience. 

 

While most of the wood is quality basswood, the planking in my kit was not.  I went to the hobby store and got a sheet of 1/16" Midwest basswood and cut the planks on my Byrnes Saw.  Better planks.  I will use boxwood above the wales and will stain those.

 

[rcweir]

Thanks, Chuck, for that suggestion.   I hadn't thought of dye, and my past experience with dye is very limited.  But it might be just the thing.  I'll look into it immediately, before I take an irrevocable steps.     I'm not very far along; I have been working on a post bringing things up to date which I will try to get in today.     I'd love to see some pics of your model.

 

Bob

[Chuck Seiler]

I am working on fist futtock.  Will take some pics and IM them to you.  I am not great at build logs:  I can build a model or I can document the build...but not both.  When I try to document, the build gets stalled.

 

Another thing:  You need to use the paper template to assemble the first futtock to the floor timber for the end frames.  Once that whole assembly is done, you use the paper template to add/align the second futtock WITH THE FRAMES ATTACHED TO THE KEEL.  The floor/1st futt is easy because it lays flat on a table.  Adding the 2nd futt may be a bit harder.  SOLUTION:  I am finding there is an extra floor timber, 2 extra 1st futtocks and 2 extra 2nd futtocks.  I will assemble THAT flat on the table, then use that as my build template.  Pic to follow once I build.

[rcweir]

Chuck,  you're at about the same place where I am.    It may be too late for me to post my update today - work has kind of elbowed the model off to the sidelines for a bit.   But I will get it in soon.

 

Bob

[rcweir]

After assembling the keel and stand, the next step is to assemble the floor timbers and lower futtocks for the forward and after frames.    This is a critical step: the shape of the rest of the hull depends on the accuracy with which these two assemblies are made.  The kit supplies a printed section of the hull and the instructions say to lay the three parts over their locations on the drawing, and glue it all up.  There are no other assembly aids to ensure the positions are correct.    

 

 

 

To do this,  I started with a piece of tempered glass to have a dead flat, perfectly smooth working surface.   I taped the printed section onto the glass and then a sheet of mylar on top of it.   The floor timber was stuck to the mylar with double-sided tape over its location on the drawing.   On top of that timber I laid the two first futtocks and then carefully checked (with a small square) that each was in the right position over the drawing.   Then I stuck a number of wood blocks to the mylar at strategic points to make a jig that would hold the three frame pieces in place during glue up and - most importantly - to ensure that the second assembly was identical to the first.

 

 

 

After both frame sections were glued up,  I temporarily clamped them to the keel and turned the structure upside down on the glass:   the tops of all four futtocks touched the glass and there was no wobble at all.    Comparing the two assemblies front to front showed that, within my ability to measure, they were identical.   But, when I compared them front to back there was about 1-½ mm difference at the turn of the bilge.  I thought about that for a while, but decided that it probably doesn't matter if the two sides differ slightly - the two sides are going to be constructed quite differently anyhow since one side is planked and the other just open frames.  The deck beams, of course, might have a different opinion - we'll see.

 

Bob

[rcweir]

In the pictures below you can see the two frames glued up on the keel.   The keel was laser etched to help with alignment,  and I was careful during the glue up to ensure the frames were perpendicular to the keel and level.   When the glue dried I flipped the assembly over and ran the spider test again - i.e. made sure that all four futtocks were touching the glass.

 

 

 

Then I glued in all of the other floor timbers.   The kit comes with four spacing "combs" that are used to ensure that frames are spaced exactly right.   With the combs, which can be used at any convenient point along the frames,  installing the remaining floor timbers is a simple task.

 

That brings this log up to date with the state of my build.   I hope I get some time on it this weekend,  but it's not looking too promising at the moment.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Bob

[Chuck Seiler]

Here is the wooden template, as mentioned.  I have built it up to the second futtock and ran a support piece across to prevent from snapping.  The bottom of the support piece is even to where the bottom of the orlop deck-beam ledge will be.

Here, the template is temporarily attached to the partially complete hull (for demo purposes).  When I finally get around to adding second futt, I will use comb and dab of glue to hold template in place, and use micrometer to ensure bottom of ledge is even.

[rcweir]

I like your jig.    I'm going to need something like that, too and it helps a lot to have these photos.

 

Bob

[Chuck Seiler]

Once you get above the 2nd futtock, then you have 2 options: long upper timber and short upper timber.  I think they are almost the same length.  I have not decided whether I will put one on one side and one on the other OR short on both sides.  The longs will follow the lines of the short.

[rcweir]

I think the taller ones go aft.   Here's a midships view of the pinas Witsen, (from Ab Hoving's "Plans Set for Modelers").   Speaking of those pieces, though, I am wondering how I will clean them up - they look so fragile. 

 

 

Bob

Edited May 2 by rcweir
clean up the grammar