HALF MOON by jct - FINISHED - Corel

[jct]

Hello everyone,

I an returning to the hobby after a few year hiatus, this is my second wooden model ship though I have modeled in plastic for many years.  This build fill log will follow my construction of Corel's HALF MOON.  I will include as many photos as possible and comment when appropriate.  This will be as comprehensive as I can make it and will include my failures as well as successes.

Thanks for your time and attention,

J

 

Just edited to re-poet the pics that had disappeared into the void

Edited June 26, 2014 by jct

[TheDutchShipBuilder]

Hi Jct

 

First of all, good to hear that you've decided to return to this hobby. 

I wish you good luck with your model, and so far, it looks really great

 

Cheers

Nick

[jct]

THX Much Nick, good to be back, the HM is coming along but there are glitches and bound to be more

THX

J

Edited June 26, 2014 by jct

[jct]

Just a few pics to add, worked on the rub starkes and the 2nd layer planking between them, also painted the inside of the wales red but it's way to bright I'll need to get something more subdued

THX

J

Edited June 26, 2014 by jct

[jct]

I've stripped the hull back to the first layer(with the exception of the garboard)  of planking.  After studying the HM at the stage it was in and re-re-reading the instructions I discovered I had started the rub planks about an inch to low, so off they came.

J

Edited June 26, 2014 by jct

[maggsl_01]

Hello J

 

nice to see an other builder doing the Half Moon. For me ist my first wooden model ship - and I like it really. Takes good Progress and is not too difficult. I have done the hull so far (and have some smaller mistakes I could not correct. Belongs to learning )

 

All in all ist a quite good kit. I wish you an enjoyable building and will follow your log

 

Cheerio

 

Max

[jct]

Thanks Max, it has had its challenges so far but the HM does have a nice shape.  Some of the finished models of her I've seen are very nice.  Thanks again for your interest.

J

[Anja]

Hello J. and welcome back to the hobby.

 

I saw you used a template to ensure the right curves for the railings.

I wish I thought of that, it would have made things much easier.

Will keep that idea in mind for future reference.

 

For me she had/has some challenges as well. But that is all in the learning process.

She has indeed a nice shape and will look great once she's finished.

 

Good luck and enjoy your build.

 

Anja

[jct]

THX Anja,

I have been following your HM build and I think you've done a good job with you Moon,she looks very nice.  The HM does present some challanges but I believe that is what give her such a pleasing shape when she is completed.

 

I've restarted the second planking.. working up from the wales,pics follow.

THX

J

Edited June 26, 2014 by jct

[jct]

Got more of hte second planking done, added the colored planking to the stern

Edited June 26, 2014 by jct

[jct]

a few pics to add, painted out the blue and repainted the inner wales, finished the bow planking.  I've installed some pins to attach the rub stakes to so I can glue them with white glue instead of CA.  I always manage to get the stuff everywhere and have no desire to strip the planking again!

THX

j

Edited June 26, 2014 by jct

[jct]

Hi Rick,

  First thanks much for your kind words, and yes I have checked out (via internet) the Netherlands model as well as the builds on this site and others.  As for nails...I left them in, and they will interfere with sanding, what I did was set the heads slightly below the wood surface with a nail set.

  Is your Mayflower a single or double plank model?  If double plank that technique works for the first layer of planks. The second layer is held on with a combination of CA and PVA glues.

  If your ship is a single plank you'll want to remove them.  That can be difficult if the nails are driven all the way to the surface What you can do is put small cut of pieces of planking under the nail heads, kind of like a washer, by drilling a small hole in the scrap and sliding the nail through the hole and setting it with a tiny bit of CA glue (trick I learned from others). Then when its time to remove you have a larger surface to pry out the brad. Hope that gives you some direction.

Do you have a build log here or on another site?  I'd like to see your work on Mayflower.

THX

J

[jct]

Some progress to report,  I was have some issues with the veneer I purchased to make planks from.  It was really brittle so when tried to cut it with an xacto style blade it wouldn't cut cleanly, the material kept splintering.  When I tried the bandsaw the material was so thin it would get stuck under the fence.  
  My solution was to construct a new saw "table" out of sheet styrene to which I glued a fence fixed at the correct width, in this case 4mm. This jig was just taped to the saw table.
  To prepare the veneer I cut a 32 inch sheet in two and glued the two halves together, giving me a double thickness sheet of 8x16 in.  This was then backed with blue painters tape to cut down on splitting.  
  This technique worked well, after edge sanding I think the finished planks look pretty good, pics follow.
THX
J

[SGraham]

Hi J,

I'm really enjoying watching your progress. I'm got a Half Moon kit burning up a space on my shelf. I think it's going to be my next build.

 

Steve

[jct]

Hey Steve,  Thx for your kind comments, it is an interesting ship to build with its own set of challenges, I see yours is a Corel kit as well, watch out for the difference between the plan drawing and the instruction drawing, they show plank/stark #34 in two different locations and created much grief for me!

 

Hi Rick,

Your Mayflower is looking good.  I get your apprehension about putting to much tension of the planking, but if you soak them first they will go where you need them to. Something that may also work for you on your second level are push pins. You push them into the first layer so the the bottom of the heads catch and hold the top layer plank in place. You can see them in the pic I've attached below.

THX

J.

[jct]

Hey All,
Working on the second planking, the stern deadwood is complete as well as the stern post.  I'm using the dark walnut low on the hull as I plan to paint below the water line, below the wales will be the kit supplied tanganyka, to provide contrast to the upper dark walnut on the wales.
 I use a little stain to minimize the contrast between the kit walnut and the new materiel above the wales, not sure about that yet..
THX
J

[jct]

Hello everyone,
I've finally some progress to post.  The second planking is complete and sanded out, water line has been masked off and painted with 2 primer coats and two color coats.  The "white stuff" is simulated using primarily white acrylic paint with a drop of yellow and brown mixed in.
  The rest of the hull will be stained a walnut brown I decided to use an ebony on the rub starkes so they stand out against the darker hull. I'll post more pics as she progresses.
THX for your time and attention

[maggsl_01]

Hi J

 

fine work... interesting alternative on the hull with the painting - I am curious to see the result when you are ready.

 

Well done !

 

Cheerio

 

MAx

[jct]

THX Max,

I hope to ave the rest of the color added sometime this week, will defiantly post pics as she moves forward.

J

[SGraham]

J, That planking looks really smooth. Did you follow the tutorials? I like the shade of white you concocted. You got a nice clean line. What color will the keel be?

 

Steve

[jct]

Hi Steve,

THX much, yes I followed the tutorials as closely as I was able, reached out for some help with shaping the garboard as well.  The keel and most of the stem post are going to get painted but I'm debating whether to apply veneer to them first.  They both took a beating during planking and sanding.

J  

[jct]

Hey everyone,
When I did the second planking I didn't worry about covering the openings for the gun ports as I left them in the first planking and figured it would be a simple matter of cutting them open.
  What I discovered is that the planking is very brittle and a clean edge is not a given.  I was scratching my head over a way to cleanly cut the gun ports into the planking...thought that if I used a sharp chisel tip I could trace the openings in multiple stab cuts and get a clean edge that way but where to stab???        
  What follows are pics of my solution, I traced one of the port covers on heavy card stock and mounted that on a toothpick.  I had already drilled the port backing blocks in the center prior to mounting them in the hull so with the little jig the toothpick is set in the center hole and squared up, the cardboard square slide down, and the port opening traced.  Now there are clean pencil lines to trace out with stabbing cuts.  I still have to finish the clean out with a sharp #11 blade but the outlines are cut in and the edges should be clean.  That's all for now, thanks for your time and interest
J

[SGraham]

Great idea!

[jct]

THX

[maggsl_01]

Hi J

 

seems to work fine. Good idea. I used the metal Frames on my Half Moon to get a clearly defined opening. Before the gunport frames I used wooden strips - but I was not pleased.This is one of thge very few modifications on the model as I want to build my first ship out of the box - to see if this Hobby is good for me. Now I know... yes it is. So the next ships I will try to get closer to the origins resp try to scratch more

 

Well done - good luck with your Half Moon

 

Cheerio

 

Max

 

[jct]

Hi Max,

Thanks for your kind comments, I know what you mean, I've still some work to do to get the openings clean and square, I'll post pics when that action is complete.  The metal frames do a nice job, I would use them if I had them but I'm trying to do this with a minimum amount of additional expense, and I already had to invest in extra veneer to redo the planking.  I'm still not sure if I'm going to "frame" the gun port opening or not.  Thanks again for your interest.

J

[jct]

I did get the gun ports cut out, but I'm not happy with the look so I'm in the process of scratch building some frames for them. The keel, stem post and rudder have been veneered, essentially all the plywood pieces. The painting of the keel is complete, no pics of the painted keel yet as it is still masked off for the dyeing/staining process.
THX
J

[SGraham]

The walnut veneer looks good.

 

Steve

[jct]

THX Steve,

I was hoping to use an oil finish but there is to much difference between the kit supplied walnut and the veneer I used, I'm hoping to dye and then stain to get as much depth as I can.  I've been following your build, your scuppers are coming along, good idea grinding done the file.

J

[jct]

Hello everyone,
  Got some work done on the hull, used a dark brown dye to color match the various types of walnut, they are real close now but very dark.  In fact darker then I would like but I think its better the "strips".  
  I had originally planed to leave the tanganyka above the water line its natural color but while dyeing the upper hull some of the dye ran around to the transom...so all that got dyed too.
 Stain may still be added to further even out and add a little depth to the color. The rub starkes are going to be painted black.  Some touch up is needed to the water line where dye ran under the tape,  that's all for now.  As always thanks for your time and attention.
THX