King of the Mississippi by Dan Vadas - FINISHED - Artesania Latina - Finishing off a kit started by someone else - Restoration

[Bindy]

I can't pick the joins no matter how hard I look!

 

Great work as always Danny 

[Jim Lad]

Looking good, Danny!

 

John

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks Bindy, Geoff and John.

 

I can't pick the joins no matter how hard I look!

 

 

3rd straight panel from the bow .

 

There were three doors missing in the kit, so I had to replace them with wooden scratchbuilt ones. I used some 0.35mm stock from Hobbymill which came in my Masting Package for Vulture as the bases, and some leftover 1mm x 0.5mm English Boxwood that I'd used for window frames on the same :

 

 

 

 

I had to try and match the paint on the doors and windows that had already been painted by the original builder. Fortunately I had some acrylic dark brown that was a good match, and I made up the window panes from a couple of other colors. Remember that I'm trying to make it look like the original builder did all the work - I may have gone a bit TOO far :

 

 

 

  Danny

[dgbot]

As far as I am concerned you are showing just the right amount of restraint.

David B

[ScottRC]

As always Danny, masterful work!

[mtdoramike]

I have built my fair share of models that someone else started and I had to finish them. WOW, no disrespect to the previous builder, but you got some work ahead of you, This must have been his first model build attempt because that was some rough looking work there.

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks David, Scott and Mike (?).

 

I have built my fair share of models that someone else started and I had to finish them. WOW, no disrespect to the previous builder, but you got some work ahead of you, This must have been his first model build attempt because that was some rough looking work there.

 

 

This one is not too bad compared with a couple of others I've Restored/Completed for other people .

 

Yes, I believe it was his first attempt, which he'd either abandoned when the going started getting a bit tough, or passed away before he could get any further. I also have a "Norske Lowe" to complete from the same builder for his family - that one only needs some masting and most of the rigging to finish her. He hadn't done too bad a job on this model, and it should turn out reasonably well.

 

Getting back to the other ones I've done - check out the "HMS Victory" in "Builds for Others" in my Signature. THAT one started out rough, but it didn't compare to the one below of an unknown ship (I think the builder MAY have been attempting another Victory, but I could be wrong ) . Here are some pics BEFORE :

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some pics of the finished article :

 

 

 

 

Check out the Anchors - this was a typical example of the "workmanship" on this tub :

 

 

And my rebuilt ones :

 

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

I've fitted the extra doors and the Railings around the forward part of the 4th deck :

 

 

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

I've fitted the railings to the aft end of the 4th deck. The radius on these is the tightest of any of them, and was not an easy task to shape :

 

 

 

  Danny

[Jim Lad]

She's really coming along nicely, Danny.

 

John

[dgbot]

When you get done Dan are you going to get a poker game started. in the main salon?

David B

[mtdoramike]

WOW, the Vic? is a real rough piece of work I think the builder stood several feet away with a paint brush tied to a stick to do that paint job. hahahahaha.

 

Mike

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks once again for dropping by John, David, Geoff and Mike.

 

I'd fitted the upper deck ladderway in the wrong place - the AL plan and elevation don't match . The ladderway would have been too steep to clear the window aft of it :

 

 

I decided to redo the upper landing to get it into the correct position. This involved removing the landing and a section of the edging of the 3rd deck :

 

 

I'm happier with the final position :

 

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

I've made up the Helm Cabin.

 

The precut corner posts were missing from the kit, so I cut them from some leftover Walnut on the Byrnes Saw :

 

 

This sheet of die-cut ply was horrible - the die had only scratched the surface, and squashed some of the ply to boot. I cut all the pieces out properly with my scroll saw and did some repairs to the inside :

 

 

The walls of the cabin glued together :

 

 

Planking the sides came next - I trimmed off the overhangs and sanded the planks after the glue dried :

 

 

 

Window and door frames were made from 2mm x 0.6mm walnut. Acrylic window panes were fitted, and then the munions were made from 0.6mm square walnut :

 

 

 

The cabin in position on the top deck :

 

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

The Upper Deck Railing is a solid plank between the posts which I made from some leftover Norfolk Pine. The Handrail is made from Cherry Ballart, and needed the fore and aft ends made from several sections :

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Danny

[edmay]

Hello .Nice work Dan,hope you are well ,Edwin from across the pond.

[Dan Vadas]

All good Edwin .

 

Please excuse the poor pic quality - bad lighting.

 

I've made inroads into the 3rd deck railings. These once again needed custom built upper and lower wooden rails around the fore end. All posts have been fitted. The aft end gets a different treatment, as one of the brace poles are in each corner :

 

 

 

 

  Danny

[Mirabell61]

Very nice work Danny,

 

also thanks for sharing all those Progress Pictures, ist a pleasure to see that oL´ K.o. Mississippi blooming again...

 

Nils

[dgbot]

Great work Danny,  Are you going to be a card shark as well?  Keno or Poker winner takes all.

David B

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks again Nils, Geoff and David .

 

Are you going to be a card shark as well?  Keno or Poker winner takes all.

 

 

Actually David, my game's Euchre .

 

All the Railings have been finished and I've moved to the Stacks.

 

The fancy cast Tops were missing from the kit, so I've had to attempt to make my own. I used Castello Boxwood which I turned on the lathe :

 

 

Cutting in the pointy tops proved a challenge. I used two V shaped cutters in the mill in conjunction with my new Rotary Table and Self-centering 4 Jaw Chuck :

 

 

 

 

I've also rigged the Tensioning Lines :

 

 

and the Stacks have also been finished off. In the pics below I've just painted the stack lines with diluted PVA which hasn't dried yet :

 

 

 

Here's a pic overall. I only have the Gangways left to do to finish the model :

 

 

  Danny

[WackoWolf]

Danny,

 

   Beautiful work, which is what we all expect from you. Your have done an excellent job. Keep the pictures coming and Thank you for sharing this.

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks Joe.

 

The Gangways are made from a whole lot of segments - one light, the next dark etc. I made a slight mistake when I prepared all the short pieces - I SHOULD have glued the 0.6mm walnut strip to the basswood one before cutting them to length. That would have made the job a little easier :

 

 

 

 

I'll shape them tomorrow when the glue is dry.

 

  Danny

[gjdale]

Nice work as always Danny. I love it when you show your tooling set-up as part of your "how I did this" - I find it really useful for understanding more about how to get the most out of the tools at our disposal.

[ScottRC]

Danny,

 

Great work!

 

Scott

[Dan Vadas]

Thank you Grant and Scott.

 

Continuing on with the Gangways, I've sanded and shaped them. The undersides have a taper forward and aft, the tops are flat :

 

 

There was no specific instruction on how to attach the inboard ends, so I came up with this idea. It allows the gangways to be both raised and swiveled :

 

 

The gangways fully rigged :

 

 

 

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

The model is now finished . My original estimate of 3 weeks to complete the model has blown out to 2 months, but I had a few distractions along the way (like building a new workshop) and my OCD dictated that I HAD to go a bit beyond the Call of Duty . Here are a few pics :

 

 

 

 

Some observations about this kit.

 

I made the same(?) Artesania Latina kit about 30 years ago, I remember it as being challenging for a virtual beginner as it was my 2nd wooden kit, but it turned out quite well and I still have it.

 

This particular kit was released some time after mine, and in my opinion is verging on a piece of JUNK. The instructions were about the same - barely adequate for a beginner - and the plans don't match in measurements from the plan, elevation and fore and aft views .

 

My main beef is with the materials supplied. My older version had very good timber - accurately dimensioned, more than enough material supplied to allow for mistakes, good quality castings, timber railngs and reasonable rigging thread. This kit contained NONE of the above .

 

The timber was of very poor quality, there wasn't even enough to do the job ONCE in most cases and the dimensioning was a joke. The castings crumbled as soon as I touched them - I had to scratchbuild replacements for virtually ALL of them. The railings were diecut brass instead of timber. The rigging thread was garbage and I replaced it with aftermarket thread.

 

Although this kit was also Made in Spain (not Asia) it must have been released after AL went on their big cost-cutting exercise - it was almost as bad as their more recent offerings  .

 

However, it didn't turn out too bad and I'm sure the owner will be happy with it.

 

NOW - back to "Vulture" .

 

  Danny

[gjdale]

Great job Danny. I'm sure the owner will be delighted - you are a very kind soul.

 

Now, get back to work on Vulture!

[dgbot]

I agree with all of the above. Well Done.

David B

[Mirabell61]

beautiful work Danny,

 

it Looks wonderful after you laid your helpful Hands on it..

 

Nils

[Elmer Cornish]

it looks great dan!