Newport by Jolly Jo - Mamoli - Scale 1:57

[Jolly Jo]

looked nice but not too simplistic and toy-ish. Something to learn the ropes, literally, before tackling a more serious build.

 

In the end the ship should be displayed as a waterline model under full sail.

 

Looking at the build logs of theoracle09 and maso and their Newport models (here and here) encouraged me to keep going and that I was doing okay so far (I think).

 

As of now I finished planking the hull.

 

The transom in picture 11 was just loosely put in place and as I didn't like the flat top I added another stripe and shaped it round. All the pictures I found of these vessels showed curved transoms. 
The Lynx/Mosquidobit schooner build of SaltyScott which I am totally excited about and all the wisdom posted there confirmed my resolution.

 

Edited March 18 by Jolly Jo
missing link

[Dr PR]

All right! Another schooner build!!

 

You did a nice job on the planking.

[Jolly Jo]

1 hour ago, Dr PR said:

All right! Another schooner build!!

 

You did a nice job on the planking.

Thank you very much!

[Jolly Jo]

I made a jig to cut the deck planks

 

Later I added another jig to poke the fake nail marks

 

Then I cut out the gun ports and shaped a piece to add to the transom (the black line on top is left from tracing the shape with a pencil)

 

Shaping the caprail didn't go that well because it cracked. I'll let it dry over night and hope to fix it tomorrow.

Edited March 9 by Jolly Jo

[Jolly Jo]

Fortunately I was able to glue the cracked caprail. But as I just went with the shape of the bow on the first piece, It isn't shaped right going aft (yet).
So today I grabbed some scrap wood, shaped it like the complete side of the hull and glued it on a base plate so it doesn't bend.

The caprail wood was soaked over night and held over a pot with boiling water. Then I did some gentle bending, clamped it on the sides with spring clamps, loosely fitted the F-clamps and carefully pulled them tighter.

 

I also redid the "frame" on the stern. I thought it was too thick and bulky so I reshaped it and now I'm happy with it

 

When I loosely laid out the deck planks I thought they are off in scale too much. A model plank is 4mm wide which would make 228mm on the real ship (although it's fictional, I know)...
Thanks to the great literature post on Schooners SaltyScott started I've ordered Howard Chapelle's "The Baltimore Clipper" and Karl Heinz Marquardt's "The Global Schooner". Hopefully I can determine the correct width of the deck planks or at least a plausible range.
Splitting my planks into 2mm would make for 114mm in reality. That sounds plausible...
Also I would like to make cover boards.

Edited March 10 by Jolly Jo

[Dr PR]

228 mm (9 inches) might not be too wide for deck planks. I have seen references to vessels with wide deck planks. However all the vessels I have been on have had deck planks closer to the 114 mm (4.5 inches). Splitting the 4 mm planks will be tricky. When you start to split wood the split tends to follow the wood grain. Unless the planks were cut exactly parallel to the wood grain you will get a lot of scrap wood.

 

You can buy 2 mm planks from model lumber supply companies.

 

I don't recall either Chapelle or Marquardt discussing what the deck plank width was. However, there are some lists of materials that were purchased for specific vessels that might give the deck plank dimensions. For example, Chapelle's The Baltimore Clipper on page 168 lists material for H.M. schooner Spider of 1815 that says deck planks were 7 inches wide.

Edited March 13 by Dr PR

[Jolly Jo]

Phil,

thanks a lot for the advice and information!

 

I don't think I will or can be as accurate as Mark but rather then just going along with the plan and material provided to "just" learn the basics, my idea is to make improvements were I can to get a result I am still happy with in the years to come when I hope I'll be an experienced modeler.

 

[SaltyScot]

On 3/11/2025 at 4:28 AM, Jolly Jo said:

my idea is to make improvements were I can to get a result I am still happy with in the years to come when I hope I'll be an experienced modeler.

 

This a fantastic mindset, Jo. It is important to be happy with what you do. We all get frustrated now and again but that is just reality telling us that our high expectations need taking down a notch or two  Making mistakes is part of the hobby, it is also how we learn. You are definitely on the right path, your planking looks good and you have a game plan. I will de following along, sir. Ich bin jetzt dabei!

[SaltyScot]

On 3/9/2025 at 3:36 PM, Jolly Jo said:

I made a jig to cut the deck planks

 

Schlau  This is just another example of how much you care about your build!

[SaltyScot]

On 3/10/2025 at 2:24 PM, Jolly Jo said:

Karl Heinz Marquardt's "The Global Schooner"

 

I have that book out on loan from our local library right now (seriously considering buying it!). It is a fantastic reference book with a lot of information. You may not find your particular model in there, but it has a great section on privateer schooners near the front of the book with very explicit images. Enjoy!!

[Jolly Jo]

6 hours ago, SaltyScot said:

 

This a fantastic mindset, Jo. It is important to be happy with what you do. We all get frustrated now and again but that is just reality telling us that our high expectations need taking down a notch or two  Making mistakes is part of the hobby, it is also how we learn. You are definitely on the right path, your planking looks good and you have a game plan. I will de following along, sir. Ich bin jetzt dabei!

 

Mark,

Thank you very much for your help and encouragement, vielen Dank!
I once built a portable workbench I saw on YouTube. Being an inexperienced woodworker I bought the plans, acquired the tools step by step and even went to a carpenter's shop to get the large piece of oak cut as I was uncomfortable to do it myself on the table saw (safety first). Took me three month but it turned out beautiful.
Making improvements, learning new skills  and doing research is so much fun!
I'm glad to have you aboard, sir!

Jo

[Jolly Jo]

6 hours ago, SaltyScot said:

 

I have that book out on loan from our local library right now (seriously considering buying it!). It is a fantastic reference book with a lot of information. You may not find your particular model in there, but it has a great section on privateer schooners near the front of the book with very explicit images. Enjoy!!

 

I am waiting impatiently for it's arrival...

As the "Newport" is not designed after an existing vessel I have some leeway in the details. That's good for a beginner's project. Nevertheless I aim to get it as realistic as (for me) possible.

[Jolly Jo]

I thought about the width of the deck planks again. As 7" scaled down to 1:57 would be very close to 3mm I decided to look for 3mm stripes.

The company I usually buy my stuff from sells batches of 10 but they are just 100mm long, so for 70 mm planks I would waste 30mm each and I also need to buy quite a lot.

 

In consequence I build a jig to thin out the planks I had already cut before. It's made from spruce with a 3mm wide bar of oak as straight edge. The pins hold the plank in place and can stay when sliding in a new plank.

 

 

After some cutting I loosely laid out both version of the planks for comparison and I think the thinner ones look just right.

 

[SaltyScot]

I agree, the thinner ones look more to scale, Jo. Nicely done.

[Jolly Jo]

It was time to prepare the hull for painting. The first coat of primer was rather to show areas that need to be mended

Oh dear...

Closing gaps with wood filler, then sanding

That's better

[SaltyScot]

If you apply a thin wood filler then wet your finger slightly and smooth the filler over the hull it will give you a nice even layer (after all the holes are filled of course). I did this three times on my Endeavour hull, lightly sanding in between. The results were worth the effort.Your hull looks really good, very nice work.

[Jolly Jo]

7 hours ago, SaltyScot said:

If you apply a thin wood filler then wet your finger slightly and smooth the filler over the hull it will give you a nice even layer (after all the holes are filled of course). I did this three times on my Endeavour hull, lightly sanding in between. The results were worth the effort.Your hull looks really good, very nice work.

 

Yes, I used a piece of wet cloth The filler I was using dries really fast so I had to wipe off the remainders right after filling

[Jolly Jo]

Hello fellow modelers,

I had to pause posting as I messed up big time coloring the hull. Coating it in primer was relatively easy but putting on color not so much, especially as I had very little experience with an airbrush. The first paint jobs looked quite uneven and I didn't get the waterline correctly either.

 

Meanwhile I received Chapman's “The Baltimore Clipper” and Marquardt's “The Global Schooner”, so I decided to take a step back, study the books and reconsider what I've done so far and how to proceed.

 

First I had to figure out what to make of the model as it is not based on a particular ship. What could it have been, what makes sense and what doesn't.

The way she is set up she lacks in firepower to be a commissioned vessel or privateer. To see if it would make sense to increase armament I built a canon labeled period correct 4 pounder around 1790 in 1:64 scale. Even though smaller in scale the 4 pounder looks too large for the ship and also doesn't clear the gun port.

That's when I figured that the deck sits a little too high. I put the sheer strakes flush to the deck as indicated in the manual for the first planking. The cross section, shown for the second planking, indicated a position about 1.5 mm lower than the deck which would have been better. Too late...

 

Therefore fighting Vessel was out of the question as was a slaver of course. The deck plan includes three gratings but she is a bit to lean for just being a merchant. Furthermore one grating has to go anyway as there is no companionway...

 

So, in conclusion, she's a smuggler. Shipping a little less but more valuable cargo, fast, to outrun the coast guard and capable to defend herself if she has to. Maybe I rename her "Shiny Moon"

 

Here's the final paint job for the underwater part.

Murphy applied a speck of dust or so, arrgh. I deal with it later when the paint has dried.

 

I also made some rudders to replace the one (on the left) from the kit. I guess I mount the one in the middle.

 

 

[SaltyScot]

Shiny moon is a great name for her, Jo. I agree with your rudder choice too. If you wanted more firepower you could opt to put a couple of swivel cannons up at the bow, some of those schooners had them and you can find that info in Marquardt's book. I think it is one of the last chapters.

[Jolly Jo]

8 hours ago, SaltyScot said:

If you wanted more firepower you could opt to put a couple of swivel cannons up at the bow..

Yes sir, I will. The kit includes 4 swivel guns and I will mount one pair fore and aft.

[Jolly Jo]

The PAINt job really is a bottleneck as I'm afraid to screw up so I take my time. After trial and error the first color came out well *phew

 

 

That's when I realized the wale at the starboard side sat to high and wasn't flush with the lower end of the transom. I have no idea how this has evaded me so long or didn't I care?

Anyway, last chance for a correction before applying the next color. Therefore I had to unglue the piece. First I slightly sanded the surface and then I applied water to scratch off the acrylic primer. I kept on watering the wale and its adjacent sides with a cotton swab for about half an hour, then applied heat with a heat gun. Moving the gun steadily along the wale, always applying water in between turns, it came off nicely.

 

 

I then stripped away the layer of walnut planking where the wale had to sit and covered the empty space with scarp walnut I kept from tapering the planks.

After spraying on new primer she is ready for the black layer.

 

 

[SaltyScot]

Be sure to put a little varnish along the tape lines when you spray, that will prevent the paint bleeding through the tape (don't know if you knew that already mate  )

[Jolly Jo]

Nope, indeed I didn't. Thanks a lot sir!