Mayflower by SawdustDave - Finished

[jburchfield1@wowway.com]

I don't comment much, cause I'm so new, but I gotta say "LOVE the color of that bamboo".

[augie]

For what it may be worth, I think the bamboo is spectacular......both in grain and color.

[mtaylor]

Go for the bamboo, Dave.  It looks great!  You got me thinking about ripping up one my cutting boards, but the Admiral would be really irritated as the one in kitchen is a lot larger than one I have.

[russ]

The bamboo really looks great. Go for it.

 

Russ

[SawdustDave]

Thanks Augie; Pops....

Mark....large 16" x 16" tray at Walmart....$15.00

Can't say enough about how sweet this stuff cuts. As for the possible issue with sanding as pointed out by Steve....no problem. The flat surface above the windows was my test case for that....sanded the heck out of that area just to see if it would be a problem....same beautiful grain. The four knees separating the window units were easily shaped and looks great even with exposed end grain surfaces.

[shoule]

 Wonderful; I can see the demand for bamboo serving trays is about to skyrocket. Better stock up on them now, while they are still cheap.

[SawdustDave]

Also note that, as I began to develop an eye for using this material, you can see that the area above the gun ports is more consistent in terms of color and grain. I was able to be more selective in culling out a few of the visibly darker planks. I found, to my surprise, that 90% of the planks! thus far! seem to be very good shade matches.

Also....

Easy to see that I was able to correct numerous errors I had made in the layout of the stern.....tiller port was moved up almost an inch; gun ports moved up; corrected the transom plank pattern; and a few other alignment issues.

Simple fact is.....this whole thing was pretty much a complete train wreck and I was going to re-work it any way regardless of the bamboo experimentation.

[SawdustDave]

Productive weekend....

First pic is for Popeye.....the re-shaping of the transom issue is resolved.

 

Next pic is a collogue of steps showing the method I used to create the short stansions seen in the mid-ship upper deck port.

This was necessary because I opted to plank the inward bulwarks, which is a another slight deviation from Chuck's plan sheets.

 

Finally, I was pleased to see the bamboo planking looking as nice on the side of the hull as it did on the stern area.

Tomorrow morning, I will tree nail the area seen here just to see how that is going to look.

 

[russ]

Dave:
The stern looks great. The planking in general looks great. Very nice work.

 

Russ

[mtaylor]

Dave,

You're right about the bamboo.  it looks great.

[SawdustDave]

Thanks Russ / Mark.... Really pleased with the bamboo in every way.

Did another experiment with regard to applying a stain to it after sanding. After testing a small section off ship, I found that it takes a stain beautifully. Seen in the last photo above, the bamboo planks were stained with Golden Oak, then a single coat of wipe on poly.

After tree nailing, I plan to apply another coat of stain which should make the tree nails pop. The poly coat will block the stain from the plank surface.

The bulwarks are planked with walnut to match the bulkheads.

[pete48]

Hi Dave , That is impressive, The Bamboo looks good ,and looks like it passed your test's

 

Best Regards,

Pete

[popeye the sailor]

ohhhh my........two thumbs up and a happy dance to boot! transom looks great dave......glad to see that the bamboo isn't sealed to the point that it won't take stain. the wood grain is really sweet as well! the striated grain in the wood really makes it pop. it'll be an eye pleaser to see the hull completely planked!

[SawdustDave]

So glad to know you see it the same as I do Popeye my friend. Right now, I'm really fighting the urge to work too quickly....always been one of my faults. Trying to take the advise of Remco...."you're working too fast - slow down!"

He's right, but that is so hard for me.

Spent the morning working on her port side, as I don't want to get too far ahead of developing both sides exactly the same.

Meanwhile MF#1 sits over to one side calling for me to add her yards and begin rigging her out.

Dave

Edited July 22, 2014 by SawdustDave

[popeye the sailor]

I hear you on that......but this summer time hiatus is beginning to drive me nutz! it slows me down though, so it keeps my speed issue in check it will be interesting to watch you rig these ships....in different scales, it will be something to see if you can do the same amount of rigging. I'll look forward in seeing your results with the hull planking

[SawdustDave]

Hi Rick....slow going at this point with MF#2. As you know, the finish skin planking takes time and patience....especially if you are tree nailing.

As noted, very pleased with the bamboo experiment. I like the fact that the two ships are going to have very distinctive personalities.

Nice to hear from you....please stay in touch.

Dave

[shoule]

 I, too, am eager to see some some progress, Dave, so don't take this the wrong way, but hurry up.

 

 Cheers,

 S

Edited August 6, 2014 by shoule

[SawdustDave]

Dave's workin' real hard here....just old and slow.

[SawdustDave]

Not much to show for two weeks work....huh?  Not gonna say how many times I removed the wales and repositioned them.

Port and starboard are now planked and tree nailed down to below her water line. 

Golden oak stain and a single coat of wipe on poly applied.

 

Gun port lid hinge straps have been tree nailed to simulate bolts.

 

After much study of other Mayflower models, I have decided to paint her below the waterline.  That decision led me to have to go back to the stern and move the two gun port lids down about an inch in order for them to align below the transome wale and be painted white.  No photo because I must, now, return to the stern and tree nail all.

 

 

[russ]

The wales look great. The photo looking down the side shows a really nice sweet curve on all of them. Well done.

 

Russ

[pete48]

Looking Good Dave , Nice work

 

Best Regards,

Pete

[Remcohe]

Nice Dave, we all know how much work is involved ;-)

 

Remco

[Omega1234]

Hi Dave. Your MF ships look beautiful and I agree about the bamboo. It looks great and well worth experimenting with it.

 

I've also had rhe pleasure of visiting your blogspot and have marvelled at your beautiful models. They all look great and you must feel deservedly very proud of them

 

Thanks for sharing them with us.

 

All the best!

Edited August 9, 2014 by Omega1234

[SawdustDave]

Thanks all for your visits and encouragement. Kind words most appreciated.

I must admit a little bit of initial concern regarding the bamboo....not knowing how it would perform in all aspects (cutting, bending, sanding, staining, drilling, etc).

So far, I would rate it exceptional in all areas and, for what it's worth, recommend it highly.

Nice to see MF#2 finally beginning to look like a ship. Not too far away from getting back to my personal favorite....her "deck stuff".

Cheers

Dave

[pete48]

Hi Dave , I am looking forward to seeing the deck stuff

 

Best Regards,

Pete

[SawdustDave]

Hull planking completed....

Decision time....Painting her white below the water line.

As much as I dread painting over that beautiful bamboo grain....gonna do it.

The Question in my mind is whether to use the true water line as shown in the last two pics....or.... Should I follow the up-sweep of her wale at the stern in order to include the gun port lids in the painted area?

Seems like I've seen it done both ways.

Any thoughts for the old man?

Edited August 11, 2014 by SawdustDave

[russ]

The planking looks good.

 

I think that following the waterline would look better and you would still have some of that planking showing.

 

Russ

[pete48]

Hi Dave I would go with the last 2 pics and use the true water line .

 

Best Regards,

Pete

[NMBROOK]

Not just one,but two great builds going on at once Dave   I certainly don't envy the task of masking and painting all those little triangles   I have had a look at your blog,great site and more great models  It must feel a little strange but bring satisfaction to see at first hand,the evolution of your modelling ability,I no longer have in my possession the models that I made when I first started out.I think Victory and Confederacy are a testimony as to how far you have come in such a small space of time. 

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[jburchfield1@wowway.com]

Are you really, really, really sure you want to cover that beautiful wood?