Bireme by Loracs - Amati - 1:35 - Greek Warship c.480 B.C.

[Loracs]

New build: Initiating a new build as a side project while finishing rigging the HMS Revenge.  I was looking for something interesting, not too big and not with too small protruding parts (like cannon doors, shrouds, etc..).  The reason: it will be a small Christmas gift to my father of 93 and will need to be shipped across the country.

 

The materials are pretty much standard Amati. Good, but not overboard.  This is what I was expecting.  I started by removing all the charring using the Paasche ER-1S air eraser - Baking Soda.  It's very gentle on wood and it does a pretty good job.  The first two pictures provide an example of the results. Two different bulkheads as before-after pictures.

 

The remaining shots give an idea of the proportion and design (dry fitting).  I find this model elegant.

 

Overall Review of the kit (adding to this section as I build)

Although an elegant model, the design HAS NOT the user in mind.  There is a lot of adjustments as you build.  You may say, well this is normal!! I think not so much, it could be better. Difficulties is likely because of the lack of documentation.  Everything seen ok, until you start planking.  Then there always a gap to be fill a plank to taper or an extreme curvature.  None of the sections are really multiple of the plank-width.  So, you have to adjust constantly.  NOT a quick and fast build.  IF YOU WANT a planking challenge and/or perfect your skills...  this maybe it!  With this in mind, it is a good kit, but not excellent.  If you take your time, you can achieve good results. 

 

Conclusion:  The planking is a challenge here... don't under-estimate the difficulty:  high moderate to expert in places.

 

The Plusses of the kit

Bulkhead tri-ply plywood:  Surprisingly good quality.  Nice and clean laser cuts.  A little play at the junction with the heel... so careful when gluing.

 

Wood strips:  Very high-quality wood, well cut.  Walnuts and something else (white) for the decks.

 

The minuses of the kit

Documentation: NONE, we have a picture after all, that ok!?!  no Amati, unacceptable.

 

Bow and Stern:  The most obvious and predominant part of the build.... and the most difficult.  I spend hours shaping balsa (note: NOT INCLUDED) with no guides at all.  When done, expect to be shaping again...  this time with wood filler.  An indication on how this is supposed to fit would have been nice in the form of a plan, drawing or better include a pre-shaped part to the kit.  As much as I like some of their kits... This is a major negative.

 

Extreme side planking:  Definitively NOT beginner, not even intermediary. Extreme strips side binding needed will take a lot of patience and a fair number of trial and miss.  Not a pleasant experience.  Just includes few pre-shaped strips or 2-3x wide planks so we can shape it yourself.

 

Decal for the "eyes" in front:  NONE.  you are expected to paint yourself.  Is it a scratch-build I'm doing?

 

Metal "RAM":  nope, just a cheap little piece of wood.

 

Side ornaments: sorry it looks cheesy and likely not even realistic.  This is a warship not a "display piece".  Wait it is a display piece afterward.  

 

More to come...

 

 

Edited October 1 by Loracs
corrected log title

[Ian_Grant]

Always nice to see a galley build.

[Knocklouder]

Good luck with this build,  I will be on the popcorn section cheering you on.

Bob M.

[Loracs]

Thank you both.  Looking at various logs. Already thinking of a number of modifications.  HEY!  I can't resist.

[Loracs]

Bulkhead and internal deck: The bireme kit from Amati is good so far with one exception: poor documentation. The two plans provided are ok but at times, more details would have been nice.  BUT HEY!  This is an opportunity for me to have a more detailed build log.  

 

A) Frames: There is little play between the bulkheads and the keel, maybe 1mm or less. I was careful when I glued the bullheads to push them in one direction for good contact at least on one side.  Be consistent, all on the same side.

 

Bulkhead: the visible side of the bulkheads has to be fixed, not pretty.  The upper edge was planked with some spare strips I had in hand. I am not sure how much excess is included in the kit.  Planks are curved with a hot iron (plank binder), and installed in pairs. Cut the first half to length to the middle on the bulkhead and glue. After drying, cut the second half precisely to length and installed... perfect joints.

 

C) Internal deck: The bias introduced at the junction of the bulkheads and keel (see above) had a slight impact on the initial deck planking.  The vertical section is a little off center to the keel. Two planks were used for alignment before I glued the middle section. The supplier strips at 3mm were a little short in width.  I then used spare strips of 4mm walnut.  Furthermore, it adds contrast to the deck.  The deck was then built with strips cut every 5-bulkheads (10cm or 4 inch), for a length of approximately 15-18 ft real size. You just have to be careful that the junctions are on the bulkheads.  Note: Don't forget the support strips at the bow and stern.

 

D) Vertical beams: The vertical beams will be visible once built.  This means the plywood ends too... can't have that.  This is where my new Ultimation slicer shined. Repeated cuts can be made easily and mostly reproducibly... Small strips were cut 0.2-0.3mm longer and pushed into position with slight force... it makes good joints.

 

Note: use glue very sparingly... you don't want excess, no "blob" or staining.

That's it, folks!

 

 

Edited August 23 by Loracs

[Loracs]

Benches: the interior benches are cut to size with an angle of 10 degrees, cut-true on one side for the bulkhead.  Once glued into place, a small 1x1mm border is added primarily to add some relief and finish.

 

Interior Walls: Few sections of the interior (visible from the outside) were planked with walnut strips. Prior to cutting, the upper side of the strip was rounded by sanding, which provides slightly more relief to the walls.

 

Balsa fillers: Started on balsa fillers to the bow and stern. This is pretty much required for this model and is NOT included in the kit.  You are left own.  Here are a couple pictures of the work in-progress.  It will still need dry fitting and tweaking.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 30 by Loracs

[Loracs]

I'm in the middle of a heat wave, so I'm unlikely to have more updates until next week.

 

Balsa: I found that shaping balsa is tedious and not really satisfying.  After a lot of elbow grease, I think I have something that will do.  I shaped the front RAM area a little differently.  This is an area that needs to appear robust.  Having a little extra thickness helps the overall feel of robustness.  See below,

 

Addons: Stairring at the ship, I keep having the impression that something was missing.  The benches seen to be "floating" rather than being an integral part of the ship.  To correct that, I decided to add some structures underneath, simulating beams support.  2x3mm strips were added under the seats (each side), as well as a crossbeam at the edge (under) the planking area.

 

It's not likely that anyone will really notice... but HEY!  I'm the one that will know.
 

 

Edited September 6 by Loracs

[Loracs]

Planking Bow and stern (part 1):  It is amazing how we can underestimate the difficulty of planking those small ships.  The amount of detail, the relatively thick strips, and obviously the curvature of the ship is just .... hell at times.  

 

I'm still not sure how to tackle the side at the stern. Curving hardwood (walnut) sideways to such an extreme is not a joke.  It may not even be possible... will see next week.

[Ronald-V]

It does look really good!

[Loracs]

Thank you @Ronald-V, appreciate.  I forgot to mention a small trick I read somewhere in furniture building.  Working with wood will almost always create small gaps around some areas, such as around the vertical bulkheads here.  One way to correct this at the end is to fill the small gap with wood glue, remove the excess rapidly and pour on top plenty of saw dust (a piece of strip wood that you sand to create dust of the same color).  After that I use a strip to push down on top...  et voila!  wood putty of exactly the same color.  HOWEVER, gap still need to be very small to start with.

Edited September 15 by Loracs

[Ian_Grant]

Somewhere on this site exists Chuck Passaro's tutorial on edge-bending strip planking. Might help you with your walnut!

[Loracs]

Stern: The underside of the stern will be planked as the top side - in a triangular shape.  I just like this style, which provides a clean edge.  The initial step is to frame the area to be planked (see pictures).  This will ease planking of the internal area.

 

Side areas - underneath: additional planks are added below deck - both at the bow and stern side.  It only covers a small area - 2 and 3 bulkheads.  I then proceeded with the remaining planks and finished by sanding.  You can then flip around and complete the deck planking.  Note: I sand the tope edge a little to create a "groove between the planks - just for a little depth (zooming in and lighting exaggerate the effect).  Top sanding fills the small gap with dust that can be remove later.  Note 2:  you can see a filler plank that I forgot to do - the 3d effect get lost. They underside edge is not sanded too - so when you flip around the effect is lost too.  Planning to do that only for the side and upper deck.

 

Stern side: This will require quite an extreme side bending of the planks to follow the stern.  Strips are immersed in water for 30 minutes, the shape using a guide as back support.  Don't try to do the full bending in one go - it will break.  Do an initial curve, then let dry for several hours.  Wet again and go a little further.  3-4 times should do it.  It is a lengthy process.  Start one... and do something else.  In a couple of weeks, you should have sets available.

 

 

 

Edited September 21 by Loracs

[Ronald-V]

That's some extreme bending! Really cool to see  

[Ian_Grant]

Good idea to use a french curve as a bending jig!  Must keep that in mind.

[Loracs]

@Ian_Grant,  greetings.  Indeed, this set of metal French curves (a tad thicker than 1mm) are quite useful.  I use it all the time for side bending.

[Loracs]

Does it???  Not with planking this model.  hehe. Stress relief update.

 

[Loracs]

Does it???  Not with planking this model.  hehe. Stress relief update.

 

[Loracs]

Planking the bow, stern, starboard and port: I started with the bow and stern since they are by far the hardest area. There is no trick here, just careful shaping of the strips and some re-adjustment (sanding) of the balsa underneath.  Speed of planking in those areas crawls down to an average of 2 planks a day... ouch!  Stern still needs more love, but shaping those strips is... not fun.

 

Starboard and port side, on the other end, allow me to do some relaxing planking.  However, there is a little twist.  The bulkhead-ends are a little too narrow to support a full 3 strips.  In addition, the underside was a little short, while the upper part a little too long for smooth planking.  Solution, I sanded the ends of the bulkheads at a slight inward angle (see picture) - likely a 10-degree angle.

 

 

Edited September 29 by Loracs

[Loracs]

Seats: reading about the greek bireme and trireme, I noted a mention that the seats were likely covered with leather to minimize blisters.  That makes sense to me and went ahead and added small leather patches to the interior seats.

 

Stern: side curving of 3mm strips only brings you so far. As you plank inwards the curvature increases and there is no way to keep up.  I had to come up with a plan B. I started spilling the planks.  Being smaller in width, it can be curved more aggressively.

 

General planking: The difficulty of this build is the sharp edges in many areas. In other words, how to get clean results at the junction.  To address this, I always start a new area by "framing" it.  Then you have a guide for the remainder.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 6 by Loracs

[Ronald-V]

It's pretty complex planking compared to some more traditional hull shapes! Quite the challenge but fun I asume  

[Loracs]

I thought that this build (a planned gift to my father) would be a quick but interesting one.  Still quite fun to do BUT it is indeed nothing close to a quick build.  If you are not careful the nice lines can turn awful very fast.  It is indeed a tricky planking exercise, with the drawback that you have virtually no documentation or any guides from the kit itself.  Not much repetition... it always keeps you on your toes. A lot of planks spilling, curving (with and again the grains) and shaping.

Edited October 6 by Loracs

[Loracs]

Hull: closing the gap, a little more, done!  I really like the mix and match color pattern.  A beauty in its own right. Dozens of color variations. This is the advantage of planking at 15-20' length or 10-12 cm/plank.

 

Stern: only a few words can truly summarize the experience: Holy @#$@@ #$#$#@@@!!

 

Special mention: the Ultimation slicer is really worth it.  Accurate and reproducible cuts. The blade is so sharp... and stays sharp. I'm really liking it.  For me, it was worth the price if you are planning on multiple ships. Who among us is not!

 

Edited October 12 by Loracs

[Knocklouder]

 

Nice work, that looks fantastic   

Bob M.

[Ronald-V]

Really nice planking! And a nice cutter tool  

 

I use the cheap one from Amati, which cuts straight in width, but the cut is always a bit slanted if you know what I mean. That's why I run each board along my disc sander

[Loracs]

Bow: I finally completed the bow.  Added some copper to simulate metal.  Very shiny now but will tarnish brown/greenish soon enough.  That's pretty much it.  CA stain gave me quite some problems here, a reminder to be more careful while planking.  Worse to fix than to use sparingly.

 

[Loracs]

Deck: The deck is finally completed.  The kit supplies little to build the floor-doors.  I designed it a little differently.  First, the frame is built using T-shaped strips (2x2 mm strips glued over a 3.25mm strips).  This creates the little space around the doors that I was looking to achieve, as well as a recessed layout.

 

Metal RAM: the copper is starting to oxidize slowly, which is a little bit more realistic.

 

That's all for this week.