USF Confederacy by Zarkon - Model Shipways

[Zarkon]

Hello all!

 

It's been way too long since I've worked on a model ship. ANY model ship.  The past few years have had a lot of ups and downs; especially for my family's health.

 

With this said, I wanted to get back into ship building.  At first, I wanted to get back into my Winchelsa build.  I brought it back out, and quickly realized that I really needed to brush up on my skills before I continue the build.

 

So after talking with my wife,  I picked up a much smaller kit. The Occre Polaris.  I didn't feel confident enough to make a build log for it, but I did have a blast successfully building it.  I'll add some pictures later.

 

I then got the confidence to then Syren ship model company's Queen Anne kit.  Again, I was too shy and didn't create a build log for her either.  This kit was fantastic and really helped to improve my skills. The cherry wood looks fantastic and I had a great time with the build.  I finished her as well.  I can include pics later too.

 

Afterwards, I felt more confident to start a new ship to build up my skills.  I had bought the USF Confederacy a long while back and finally felt confident enough to tackle the project.

 

In my upcoming posts,  I will go into detail of what I have already completed.

 

Wish me luck on this build!  It's quite an adventure and challenge but I finally feel ready to take it on!

 

Thanks!

Jeff (Zarkon)

 

[Zarkon]

Ah hah! I finally figured out why my images weren't showing up correctly! 

 

Here are some pics of my Occre Polaris model I built.  I did enjoy building it and it helped me get back into ship modeling.

 

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

Next up is my Queen Anne build by Syren. ( I swear my next post will be about the Confederacy!!!)

 

 

Did you notice something missing? The British flag! I was putting it on when my wife came into the room and frightened me.  I jolted a little, tearing the flag by accident! Haha!  Since then, Chuck was kind enough to give me a replacement flag and I have since placed it on the model.

 

My posts from now on will be of the Confederacy I swear!

 

Jeff

Edited August 14 by Zarkon
Misspelled word!

[Zarkon]

Okay! Finally some Confederacy posts! Woo hoo!

 

I started the build in January but wasn't confident enough to start a build log for it.  I feel that I'm confident enough to start posting, so here it goes!

 

I was super impressed with the amount of laser cut parts and just the sheer amount of wood that comes with this kit!  The keel pieces were VERY straight with no bending or curving at all.  I was surprised since this is such a long ship!  I inspected the strips and really liked the quality of the bass wood that was included. Model Shipways did a fantastic job with the wood quality of this kit.

 

I started by gluing the rabbet strip using some wood, and a good old jar of gravy, home style!

Trying to center the rabbet was a small challenge.  I made it easier for myself by cutting the long strips provided into smaller pieces.  This made it much easier to center each piece of the rabbet.

 

I then moved onto tapering the bulkhead former into the rabbet using the bearding line provided. I copied this line to the other side to try and make both sides symmetrical.

 

I then glued the stem assembly together and glued it onto the bulkhead former.

Lastly, I added the keel but unfortunately I don't have any pics of me adding it.

 

Next will be adding the bulkheads!

 

Jeff

 

[Zarkon]

Next up was the bulkheads.  Looking back on my pics, I noticed I didn't take such great photos. But oh well!  Here they are anyway!

 

I got some squares to help make sure both the bulkhead former and the bulkheads were as straight as I could make them.  As you can see,  I have a building board, but was currently using blocks of wood to try and make sure the model was straight.  This obviously wasn't working too well, so I had an idea! 

 

We had just gotten a 3d printer, so I designed and printed out some things to hold the bulkhead former straight while building.

 

I know it's hard to see, but its those red things!  Totally blends into the picturs I know... ( just kidding!) You can also tell that I started fairing the hull too at this point.

 

Fairing the hull isn't the easiest nor most fun part of the build, but is very important.  I learn most by failing,  and even though I didn't totally fail on fairing the Winchelsa,  I learned a lot from it.  I learned that I did not fair it enough near the stem,  so I spent much more time trying to get the shape right there this time.  I apologize,  but I don't have any pics of that step.

 

That's a lot of posts from me tonight.  I am farther along than this,  but I'll post more tomorrow.

 

Thanks for reading!!

 

Jeff

[Ronald-V]

I always really like this ship, such a beautiful one. Great that you have started a log, and have fun with this build!  

 

And you have build already some nice ships!  

Edited August 14 by Ronald-V

[wernerweiss]

12 hours ago, Zarkon said:

Next up was the bulkheads.  Looking back on my pics, I noticed I didn't take such great photos. But oh well!  Here they are anyway!

 

I got some squares to help make sure both the bulkhead former and the bulkheads were as straight as I could make them.  As you can see,  I have a building board, but was currently using blocks of wood to try and make sure the model was straight.  This obviously wasn't working too well, so I had an idea! 

 

We had just gotten a 3d printer, so I designed and printed out some things to hold the bulkhead former straight while building.

 

I know it's hard to see, but its those red things!  Totally blends into the picturs I know... ( just kidding!) You can also tell that I started fairing the hull too at this point.

 

Fairing the hull isn't the easiest nor most fun part of the build, but is very important.  I learn most by failing,  and even though I didn't totally fail on fairing the Winchelsa,  I learned a lot from it.  I learned that I did not fair it enough near the stem,  so I spent much more time trying to get the shape right there this time.  I apologize,  but I don't have any pics of that step.

 

That's a lot of posts from me tonight.  I am farther along than this,  but I'll post more tomorrow.

 

Thanks for reading!!

 

Jeff

Hi, it would have been easier to taper the upper fore edge of the stem lying flat on the table - before glueing - to fit the figurehead.....

 

Greetings 

 

Werner

[Zarkon]

@Ronald-V Thank you very much! I agree with you that this is a beautiful ship.  I just hope I can do her justice.

 

@wernerweiss I did taper the stem before gluing it onto the bulkhead former, but you reminded me to test fit the figurehead.  I am close, but my stem is about 1mm too thick which honestly isn't too much.  Thanks for reminding me to test fit the figurehead.  I will narrow the stem in the next few days so it fits properly.

[Zarkon]

Hello all!

 

Next, I added the hull framing box and the lower deck planking.  Sorry but I don't have pics of the lower level planking.

 

I painted the framing box black then added the frames.  I hope this looks alright!

 

[Zarkon]

I then added the stern framing.  This was fun but challenging.

 

After the glue dried, I started framing the stern windows. This was quite the challenge.  I kept getting very close with the sills and lintels provided,  but, like normal, I would accidentally sand a few of them slightly too much or at the wrong angle.  In those cases, I took a strip the same width and depth as the sills and lintels and made my own based upon the plans provided.

 

Here is me trying to mark the correct placement for them:

 

When gluing the lintels,  I realized one of the stern frames wasn't lined up correctly.  It needed to be bent a little farther back to line up correctly with the others,  so I made this contraption to make sure the stern pieces were all at their correct positions relative to each other.

Now below is a pic of the window sills and lintels glued in.  Okay, I had to remake quite a bit more sills and lintels than I care to admit,  but I hope it looks like it turned out alright.  I honestly tried to take my time with this step.  This caused me to remove and remake a lot of these pieces as after I glued them in, I wouldn't be happy with their placement.  So I would remove most of them and try again.  It took me 2-3 attempts to glue them all in.  I constantly would check their placement against the plans and also the laser cut stern window pieces.

To finish up the stern for now, I added the other ports on the bottom of the stern.  This was also challenging and I had to read the instructions many times to figure out where exactly they should go.  The following are some pictures of putting them together.

 

To finish up the stern for now, I added the filler pieces described in the instructions and sanded them as best I could to match the shape of the hull at the stern.

Those filler pieces were a little challenging to build and sand.  It took me a while to try and figure out where they needed to be added and how to shape them.  I hope it turned out alright.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

Hey all,

 

Thanks for the likes!

 

Next I added the false deck flooring.  This was fun and really helped to stiffen up the bulkhead formers.  I test fitted every one of them multiple times: including with the clamps to make sure I could hold it drown correctly while the glue dries.

 

This last pic is when I was test fitting the last piece.  I felt it came out pretty well!

 

The next step was to plank the beakhead bulkhead.  This step was pretty easy but was fun seeing more deck planking on the model.

 

 

The  last pic, shows me continuing the planking.  I did varnish the deck and stained/ varnished the other planking,  but I don't quite have pics of that yet 😅

 

Thanks all!

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

Hey all!

 

I next lined off the hull foe the gunports.  I enjoyed trying to get a clean line based upon the supplied gunport lines on each bulkhead.

After marking where they should go, I proceeded to fit and glue the sills one at a time on each side.  I used a level to try to match both sides to make them even.

Once that was complete,  I fitted and glued on the lintels.  This was easier as I cut the correct height supplied basswood strip into 2 equal length pieces so I could easily fit the lintels to the proper height.  This made the process enjoyable and easier than trying to measure out the correct height.

While I was adding the sills and lintels,  I double checked the bulkheads to make sure there wasn't any dips or bulges.  I did find one bulkhead which was bulging too much on one side, but was sinking on the other.  So to fix it,  I cut and bent to the correct length and shape a strip of bass wood who's width was the same as the bulkhead.

 

I then proceeded to sand it down to the proper width so the planking would lie on it correctly.

Here are a few more pictures of this step.

 

After the glue dried,  I then sanded all of the sills and lintels to match the bulckheads.  This took a few days as it takes a while and creates a lot of dust!

Whew that toom a while and I think I still need to make some adjustments to the bridle ports.  But this step is mostly complete!  Onto marking and gluing in the gunport frames!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

I'm finally caught up go where I currently am in the build.

 

It took a  few days, but I have placed all the gun port frames on the model.  The front ports were the hardest to put on.

Firstly,  I placed on all the gun frames; making sure to have each stand proud of the side of the ship.

 

Then, I followed Chuck's instructions on how to move the bulkhead pieces that were in the gun frames.  Thete aren't many to remove. Only 2 on both sides were removed.

 

Like the instructions detail, first I cut the top part of the bulkhead with a hobby knife.  I removed the blade, and placed in a scroll saw blade that I had cut in half.

 

Then, I cut the bottom part of the bulkhead the same way.  I used a lot of care and went slowly to make sure I didn't saw the gunport frames themselves.

 

Its important to note: Do not cut the bulkheads too close to the sill or lintel.  This is also described in the instructions.  This is to prevent you accidentally sawing into the sills or lintel with the scroll saw blade.

 

After I removed the bulkhead pieces,  I created a small sanding stick, and put 150 grit sand paper on it.  I have some sand paper with adhesive backing. Super helpful in making sanding sticks.

 

I then carefully sanded the rest of the bulkhead fragments left over from cutting it out.  I tried to make sure to have this sills and lintels look flat and even.

I have to admit, this part was pretty satisfying!

 

I have cut out all the bulkheads that were inside gun ports.

 

So this is what she fully looms like right now.

 

I need to now sand all the gun port frames down to match the curvature of the hull above the Wales.  I'll hopefully start that tomorrow.

 

Thanks all!

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

Hello all!

 

I found some time tonight to slowly sand down each of the gunport frames.  This step was actually pretty relaxing because the soft basswood formed to the hull very easily.  I took my time with it to try and get the correct outboard shape of the surrounding bulkheads.

 

Next I will be adding the hance pieces and then farming the sweep ports.

 

Thanks all!

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

Okay!

 

I finally finished adding the hance pieces and sanded them down.  I test fitted some battens to try and make sure there is a smooth transition up the hance pieces.  But before I plank over them,  I will give them a once over to make sure it will look good when I plank above the wales later in the build.  I am a little worried that I sanded a little too much off of them,  but I can add some material to them and sand again if I need to re shape them some.

 

Next up is the sweep port framing!

 

Thanks all!

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

  Hello everyone!

 

I have just a small update tonight.  I added the sweep port frames to each side of the hull.

 

I first used some small painters tape to find a good run for the sweep ports using the laser etched lines on the bulkheads and marked each bulkhead with a pencil.  Then I cut and fit each 3/8 x 3/8 strips onto the hull.  The instructions specify using 3/8 x 5/16,  but the parts list says to use the supplied 3/8 x 3/8 strips instead.  I then sanded them to match the contours of the hull.

 

 

Before I cut out the sweep port templates and mark the sweep ports onto the sweep frames, I need to check the contour of the hull.  I will be checking and adjusting (sanding) the entire hull to get ready for planking.

 

After I check the hull's shape for planking,  I will finish marking the sweep ports by cutting out the template and marking all the ports before continuing on.

 

Thanks!!

 

Jeff

[Wawona59]

Beautiful work on your Confederacy so far Jeff.  I've got the Model Shipways kit in my stash waiting for my skills to improve.  I'll be following your build with interest.

[Zarkon]

@Wawona59  Thank you!

 

To be honest, I've had this kit for years;  not ready to build it.  I used to take out the instructions and read it over quite a lot because they are so well written with tons of pictures.  I finally got enough courage to start it and I'm glad I did! It has been a very fun build so far.

 

Thanks for the encouraging words!

 

Jeff

[RossR]

I Used to think when I retired I would want to build HMS Victory, but I am starting to think maybe the USF Confederacy might be a better chose.  I will be following your build log.  Thanks.

 

[Zarkon]

Thanks for following RossR.  Did you have any Victory kit specificity in mind?    There are so many to choose from!

 

Jeff

[RossR]

Probably Caldercraft’s, but hadn’t decided for sure.   

[Zarkon]

I heard that is a great Victory kit.  What i can tell you, from looking ahead, is that the Confederacy is a very detailed model.  I like the bigger scale better on the Confederacy than a lot of the Victory kits.

 

Right now though, I'm happy that there aren't as many gunports on this model as on the Victory.  I have a lot of respect for those that decide to build the Victory!

 

With that said,  Chuck Passaro designed kits like this one and all his other kits have very well written instructions and pictures you don't really find in other kits.  For my skill level, his detailed instructions are a great help in the building process.  The steps can be challenging as his building style is different than other kit manufacturers, but it's satisfying to finish each step.

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

I have fitted and glued the fixed blocks onto the Confederacy.

 

Firstly, I had to add the extra sills/lintels to where each of the fixed blocks would reside.  I have to admit,  I had to cut out 1 extra piece from the laser cut sheet.

 

Also, seeing a basswood laser cut sheet look like this makes me feel like I am making progress!

 

First, I glued then on proud of the outer edge of the hull so I could sand them level to it later.

 

I then sanded them down to match the hull shape.

 

Then I looked at the plans to make sure I'm placing the correct fixed block to the correct position in the correct orientation.

 

I then marked the positions of where to drill the ends of the fixed blocks where the rigging runs through.  I then drilled out the marked spots.

 

Then I lined up the fixed blocks with the drilled holes and glued them into place.

 

The next part was some what challenging for me.  You have to make half round circles to simulate the sheaves in the fixed blocks.  This was tough because you had to make them with 1/32" x 1/16" strips provided with the kit.  These were super small.  This is how I made them.

 

First I rouned one end of the strip, then I test fitted the strip into the fixed block.  A lot of the time, they didn't quite fit.  So, I had to thin down the strip until it fit.

I then measured how long each sheave should be and cut them with a hobby knife. There wasn't a need to use a manual miter saw or anything since the strip is so small.

Then I sanded the other side down into a curve to simulate the sheave.

Lastly, i glued it into the center of the fixed block.

 

That was quite a bit of work to complete all the sheaves.  But it does make the fixed blocks look a lot better!

 

And with that, I'm done!  Next will be painting the gunports red.  Unfortunately, the red paint I currently have is semi-transparent.  I'll have to go to the store tomorrow to get some red paint.  I'll have to look it up, but not sure why it's red. Did some ships use other colors?

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Jeff

Edited September 7 by Zarkon
Extra Pic on the bottom of the post

[RossR]

10 hours ago, Zarkon said:

Chuck Passaro designed kits like this one and all his other kits have very well written instructions and pictures 

I have the US Brig Syren that he designed, and I couldn’t agree more about the instructions.   They are great to read as just a general how to manual beyond just the ship they are written for. 
 

[Zarkon]

This weekend I was able to paint the gunports as well as lined off the wale markers that were on every bulkhead.

 

Painting took some time, but it sure adds to the model; even at this stage!

 

 

This next photo, it might be hard to tell,  but I have marked each bulkhead to where the top of the wales will be placed.

I had a hard time figuring out where the top wale strake should go on the aft counter.  Unfortunately,  the instructions do not have a good picture of the counter and where the top wale strake should go.  I did look at the plans ( Sheet 1) and flipped through the instructions to see if I could find a good picture.  On page 69 in the instructions,  it shows a picture of the aft completed.  I tried to use this as a guide as it shows the wales and it's relative height to where the closed ports are on the counter.  I hope I got it correct. 

 

I'll include some pictures of where I placed the black strake for reference if it might help anyone.  I guess I'll see later if I put it in the right spot!

 

Thanks!

 

Jeff

[Zarkon]

I have started planking the lower counter.  Firstly,  I know the first strake is the most important.  It took me about 30 minutes to decide how much bend I need, how long the piece should be for gluing, etc.  I know that sounds like quite a bit of time, but I wanted to give it my best shot!

 

Here is a pic of the first strake glued onto the lower counter.

It actually bends in 2 directions, so I used some steam to make the curve for the counter 

 

I then took my time adding each additional strip with a little extra material on both sides so I had enough room to make sure each strake was bent properly.

 

 

When I reached the openings, I had to mark the strake like so after bending it to the correct curve.

 

 

This particular strake was pretty time consuming.

 

It requires some light sanding to even it out,  but I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out!

 

I was only able to finish about half the lower counter tonight,  but I will continue it tomorrow!  

 

Thanks all!

 

Jeff

[Ronald-V]

Looking good! How do you like working with the basswood in this kit?

[Zarkon]

Thank you Ronald!

 

So far, I've noticed that the basswood included in this kit is  high quality and milled well by Model Shipways.  Since basswood is a very soft wood,  I have to lightly sand the edges of the strips after bending because little pieces of the edge will come up.  I'll show you what I mean in an upcoming post.  It definitely has an advantage of being able to be bent easier,  but also scuffs and dents a lot easier than say other woods like walnut or boxwood.

 

Overall,  it's been pretty easy to work with.  I'm not a fan of staining wood, but that will be required for this build.

 

I hope that helps!

 

Thanks!

 

Jeff

[wernerweiss]

5 hours ago, Zarkon said:

Thank you Ronald!

 

So far, I've noticed that the basswood included in this kit is  high quality and milled well by Model Shipways.  Since basswood is a very soft wood,  I have to lightly sand the edges of the strips after bending because little pieces of the edge will come up.  I'll show you what I mean in an upcoming post.  It definitely has an advantage of being able to be bent easier,  but also scuffs and dents a lot easier than say other woods like walnut or boxwood.

 

Overall,  it's been pretty easy to work with.  I'm not a fan of staining wood, but that will be required for this build.

 

I hope that helps!

 

Thanks!

 

Jeff

Hello Jeff,

Congratulations for your choice! I also built the Confederacy and stained/painted the complete model except the decks which were only sanded.

 

Greetings

 

Werner

[Zarkon]

Thank you Werner!  I viewed your log, and I am very impressed!  You did a fantastic job on your Confederacy! 

 

 

 

I finished planking the lower counter, then tried my hand at staining.  Let me know what you guys think!

 

After i finished all the planking, I tried to sand the sides down to match the hull shape.  Like I said in a previous post, I wasn't quite sure how long they should be.  I rounded the sides off and tried to use the filler pieces as a guide to how much sanding I needed to do to get thr correct shape and length.

I then tried my best to fill in the ports.  I hope they look OK.  I had to try and enlarge the  smaller far right port because I didn't frame it square enough.  That was challenging since we wanted to make sure the port frames was still intact so we could place the port lid in it.

 

Then it was time to create the tree nails.  I used some painters tape to try and get straight lines for the tree nails.

 

I noticed that after filling the drilled out tree nail holes with wood filler and sanding, i honestly couldnt see them in the basswood.  I then tried my hand at staining.

 

I first used a pre-stain wood conditioner and let it try for about 4 minutes before wiping off the excess. After applying it, I could see the tree nails again.  So that was cool.

 

I then made a 2:1 ratio of golden oak stain : wipe on poly mix and applied the stain with a lint free cloth.  I then waited about 5 minutes and wiped off the extra stain.

 

 

Please let me know what you think.  I looks to me that I wasnt able to sand all the excess wood filler away but I was close!

 

Thanks all!

 

Jeff

Edited September 15 by Zarkon
Added in a picture