18th Century Armed Longboat by TheFace - Model Shipways - 1/24 Scale - First Build

[TheFace]

Hello all!  
As my first build, I am tackling Model Shipways "18th Century Armed Longboat".  I picked up a few kits a long time ago in college, one of which I don't ever want to build, and the other I am in the (re)design phase on.

 

I recently started purging my many collections and have moved on from spending too much time outside of work on a computer playing games and flight simulators (I'll still do that one some).  Pulled out my model kits, mostly WW2 airplanes, and found the ship kits.  Both are in great shape, so I thought about selling them both.  Then I decided it was a good way to spend my time, and I have always had a love for ships. I grew up waterskiing / wakeboarding, and have almost always had access to a boat, or family members have owned them.

 

I have also done woodworking and metalworking of various types, having worked on some sword fittings back in college.  Leather-wrapped scabbards on western style swords and full fittings for Japanese swords.

I started with an airplane model first, which is in the final stages of construction.  Eduard 1/48 F6F-5N Hellcat:

 

I then quickly realized that the majority of airplane modeling was spent during the finishing process. Fun, but I also really like the planning, design, and building portions of the process.  The ship models on the shelf moved from the sell pile to the keep....

I received the kit last weekend, and when I returned from the lake, I opened the kit to get started right away.    

 

Monday night, I started by removing the false keel and keel parts, then cleaning those up.

 

The last several days have been spent chiseling the rabbit, gluing the keel parts to the false keel, and using some water and heat to get the bend the pieces had out of the box in the bow area.

 

Next up:

Edited July 9 by TheFace

[TheFace]

I am now thinking about doing a keel jig with vertical stabilizers at the bow and stern.  The bow piece is very soft and cross-grain.

[JacquesCousteau]

Nice start!

[Nirvana]

Welcome and what a great start!

[ccoyle]

Welcome aboard!

 

3 hours ago, TheFace said:

I then quickly realized that the majority of airplane modeling was spent during the finishing process.

 

This is one reason why I build card models.

 

Cheers!

[TheFace]

Created a simple jig from scrap wood and leftover from the keel laser cut sheet.  Alignment to the frames lines to assist with getting the first few straight.

[TheFace]

Cleaned and dry fit frames 0 through 7.  A through H next.  There is a gap on each and they wiggle a bit, but should tighten and fill with glue. 

 

 

 

 

[TheFace]

A through H cleaned up.  Frames to be glued next.

[TheFace]

Frame/false bulkhead 0 clamped into place and curing.

[TheFace]

I ordered a bit more 1/16 x 1/4 planking for creating more temporary supports along the false bulkheads as I move down the keel to keep everything straight.  Overkill, probably, but I would rather limit any deviation from square during the planking process.

 

Edited July 8 by TheFace

[TheFace]

0 through 7 glued in place, A through H in progress.  Using a drop of thick CA with Tightbond III, holding in place manually as there is wiggle and clamping was giving me less accuracy than holding them in place until the CA sets.  

 

Edited July 9 by TheFace

[TheFace]

A through H glued, now braces and stern.  I may plank the stern as I don't plan on doing the photo etch decorative elements, and will probably do natural / stained wood sans paint 

[TheFace]

I ordered the AVG from Model Expo as it's on super sale right now, not sure if Corel Berlin or it will be next.   This build is moving along swiftly, and since the planking will be slower, having the next one starting to be built up will be a good idea.  I didn't want to start with the more complex Berlin first, and picked this particular kit based on it being single plank.

 

I will say this kit is very well designed.  I do feel as if the laser cut parts have some weird angles, and it made the frame to false keel assembly tougher than it needed to be.  I don't have any other kits with those parts laser cut as a reference, and the AVG is the same brand.

 

Most of the Berlin kit will have the majority of the wood replaced with something else, wider planking, different and more bulkheads (using plan drawings) etc.  So far on that kit I have all the parts traced and ready to scan into the computer for redesign.

[TheFace]

Using thick CA and strips to correct minor alignment issues prior to starting the garboard strake.

 

[TheFace]

False frame support done (definitely overdid it).  Next is the stern installation and then fairing the frames.

 

 

 

[TheFace]

Started the fairing, and I also grabbed the length up to right below the cap rail for each frame.

Edited Monday at 02:33 PM by TheFace

[TheFace]

Fairing the bow frames.  I have found using a fresh hobby knife blade to be the best here. The basswood is pretty soft so sanding or filing the majority of the shape just seemed like it would introduce more errors.

 

 

 

[TheFace]

Here is the bottom of the cap to the keel measurements off of the plans for each frame, a good reference for anyone doing the kit and getting ready to plank (top edge of uppermost strake).

0 - 57 mm

1 - 57 mm

2 - 57.5 mm

3 - 58.5 mm

4 - 60 mm

5 - 61.5 mm

6 - 63 mm

7 - 65 mm

Stern - 68 mm

A - 57 mm

B - 57 mm

C - 58.5 mm

D - 59.5 mm

E - 60.5 mm

F - 62 mm

G - 64 mm

H - 67 mm

Bow - 69 mm

[SkiBee]

Welcome, I enjoy both plastic and wood models as well.  I started on the unarmed Long Boat; it was a great learning experience.  However, halfway through I changed and started the Model Expo 3 boat shipwright series.  I think this was a good idea for me as it gave me more knowledge before I returned to the Long Boat.  Great start and hang in there during tough times.

[TheFace]

20 hours ago, SkiBee said:

Welcome, I enjoy both plastic and wood models as well.  I started on the unarmed Long Boat; it was a great learning experience.  However, halfway through I changed and started the Model Expo 3 boat shipwright series.  I think this was a good idea for me as it gave me more knowledge before I returned to the Long Boat.  Great start and hang in there during tough times.

Thanks!  

I toyed around with getting the 3 boat series, but outside of the actual plank bending, I had done all of the techniques necessary before in some form or another in other applications, except bending wood.   At the end of the day, I didn't want to go through the 3-boat series as it didn't fit into my area of interest, which is late 16th through the mid-18th century.  Once the American Revolution is done, those ships don't speak to me in the same way.  Also, the subject at least has to have one cannon; I am only interested in military or privateer stuff.

 

I also felt the larger scale would be better over the 1/48 longboat, and I didn't want a kit with laser-cut strakes. I wanted to get some practice with single planking properly. The Corel Berlin kit on my shelf is single-planked.  I am more interested in larger scales in general, aircraft models I only work in 1/48 scale and larger.  With ship models, I doubt I will ever do something smaller scale than 1/48. I would rather work on a smaller ship or boat in a larger scale to allow for more detail.  

One thing that is important to me in any build is not to chase perfection.  It's important for me to push techniques, to improve throughout the process.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 03:42 PM by TheFace

[TheFace]

Fairing is coming along nicely, and I am to the last several frames toward the stern.  I will probably have to shim a few of the frames, as they will create issues with the lines of the hull if I don't.  

 

All in all, this is a really good kit to learn and start with.  Overall, the larger scale makes it less fragile than something smaller, it has a good amount of techniques that transfer to pretty much every build, and in the end, you have a single plank on frame kit under your belt, allowing you to immediately transition into much more difficult kits or scratch building right away after.  IF you don't like planking, this kit will force you to realize this very quickly.  

As a trained graphic designer, this part of the planning for this particular kit is pretty exciting.  

[robert952]

Welcome to the wooden side of modeling. 

 

Looking good. Following along to watch the progress. 

[TheFace]

Bow filler pieces in process, then fairing is complete.