Albatros by Tsoupac - OcCre - 1:100 - first build

[Tsoupac]

Hello MSW!

I’ve been gifted the OcCre Albatros kit and am starting the project as my first ever model ship build. I’ve spent the past month or so watching videos and researching model ship building before jumping in. A lot of my questions have led me to MSW so I figured making a build log would be a helpful thing to do.

 

I am a complete beginner- no prior knowledge of model building or wood working at all. So while this is very exciting to dive into, it’s also a completely foreign territory. I find myself having so many questions and although there are some videos for this model, sometimes my questions aren’t answered and I’m left wondering what I should or should not be doing. But I also know that is part of model building and am looking forward to the challenges and learning along the way. I hope to garner some insight and tips/advice from the MSW community so please feel free to chime in on this log with any thoughts and/or comments.

Thanks!

Alex

[Tsoupac]

So yesterday I began working on the model. Cutting out and sanding all of the individual pieces from the sheets. I have the OcCre basic tool kit which comes with a hobby knife. I had a frustrating experience with this knife. The blade didn’t seem to stay securely in the handle no matter how tight I made the locking cuff and then the very tip of the blade snapped while I was using it. The blade snapping was probably my own doing but the unstable blade annoyed me to the point that I spent much too much time researching MSW for hobby knife recs and ordered a Swann Morton handle. Hopefully that solves my problem.

 

Next, I tackled attaching the bulkheads to the false keel. This part seemed relatively easy and straightforward to me. I used Titebond Translucent Wood Glue as my PVA of choice. I dry fitted all of the bulkheads first and then made sure each was lined up at 90 degrees before gluing in.

 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Tsoupac

[Tsoupac]

Later in the day I lined the back part of the frame (not sure of the terminology for that piece). Which went alright, except for the little cutouts towards the bottom on the corners. I just don’t have a tool that’s capable of getting in there to cut those out. I realized afterwards I could’ve just started those planks above the cutouts which would’ve been smarter. I ended up using my knife and chiseling away slowly. So not exactly a square cutout but I think it’ll work out fine. I used cutting pliers to trim the excess around the top and sides and then sanded everything down to try and be flush with the frame. My basic tool kit comes with a sanding block with a strip of sandpaper of unmarked grit. The instructions don’t mention sanding the actual decking planks to smooth them out but I feel like I should be doing that. Although I’m not exactly sure what grade sandpaper to use for decking and can’t find much info on that.

[Tsoupac]

Once I let the lining on the back part of the frame dry I figured I’d try dry fitting the false deck onto the frame. I was pretty surprised that the bulkheads did not all line up with the corresponding slots on the false deck. I really made sure they were all attached at a 90 degree angle so I’m still unsure what went wrong here. The first photo below is dry fitting before lining that back part of the frame with planks. In every video (even the one from OcCre), it shows the lining going below the point where the false deck and frame meet. This seemed counter-intuitive to me but I left it the way the instructions showed it. After some manual manipulation I was able to line up and dry fit the false deck into place. I’m just not sure if it’s normal to have to do that, or if I messed up while attaching the bullheads.

Edited 13 hours ago by Tsoupac

[Ryland Craze]

Welcome to Model Ship World.  It looks like you are off to a good start.  I am glad you figured out the false deck fit problem.  You definitely want to sand the deck after you have laid down the individual deck planks.  I usually start with 150 grit, then progress to 240 grit and finish with 320 grit.  Just take off enough wood to make the deck smooth.  Good luck on your build.

[Tsoupac]

11 minutes ago, Ryland Craze said:

Welcome to Model Ship World.  It looks like you are off to a good start.  I am glad you figured out the false deck fit problem.  You definitely want to sand the deck after you have laid down the individual deck planks.  I usually start with 150 grit, then progress to 240 grit and finish with 320 grit.  Just take off enough wood to make the deck smooth.  Good luck on your build.

Thanks Ryland! Much appreciated.

[palmerit]

3 hours ago, Tsoupac said:

I have the OcCre basic tool kit which comes with a hobby knife. I had a frustrating experience with this knife. The blade didn’t seem to stay securely in the handle no matter how tight I made the locking cuff and then the very tip of the blade snapped while I was using it.

The Swann-Morton work great. I’d suggest buying a 100-pack of blades and replace them often. 

[Tsoupac]

16 minutes ago, palmerit said:

The Swann-Morton work great. I’d suggest buying a 100-pack of blades and replace them often. 

Excellent. Would you say #11 blades are the most used size blade? I know it varies based on what you’re actually doing but it seems like #11 came up most frequently in my research.

[JacquesCousteau]

Looks like you're off to a good start!

[palmerit]

7 hours ago, Tsoupac said:

Would you say #11 blades are the most used size blade?

I use 10A (not 10, which a rounded). I haven’t done a direct comparison with 11.