Armed Virginia Sloop by GuntherMT - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1:48

[GuntherMT]

Wow, it's been a full week since I've updated this.  Vacation from my posting for everyone!

 

Thanks to everyone for the likes and comments on last weeks update, I do read and appreciate every one of them.

 

The reason for no updates this last week is really that I'm in a phase of the building where very little visibly changes from day to day as I was working on completing all of the gunport sills which took me several days, and then another couple days to fit the inner bulwark planking and prepare it for painting.  This morning I put the first coat of primer on, and it's now drying so with nothing I can really do on the ship, time for an update here!

 

Let me start out this update with a bit of commentary on two of the most useful tools for this segment of the build, and really I see them being some of the more heavily used items in my inventory going forward.

 

1) The common disposable syringe with a 23 gauge industrial (not sharpened) tip.  I got these from Amazon because I'm an Amazon junkie.

 

100 Syringes and 50 tips are about $20 bucks to my door, which makes them pretty darned cheap individually, and I find that I can use a single syringe and tip for weeks before needing to replace the tip or syringe.  I cover the tip with masking tape in between uses, and when it gets clogged up, a #78 micro-drill is a perfect fit to clean it out and keep on trucking.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001889SBA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0021M3NSQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

The syringe allows for very precise placement of very small amounts of glue in places that would be very difficult to get into with the regular glue dispenser (especially with CVA), and it is not messy and wasteful like using a toothpick, and I don't have to deal with the CVA bottle tip cleaning constantly.

 

2) The UMM Micro saw pack - http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/product_info.php?cPath=21_28&products_id=37

and the UMM micro mitre box - http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/product_info.php?cPath=21_28&products_id=3340

 

This has rapidly become my go-to tool for cutting of pieces to length.  It's fantastic for trimming overhanging pieces very closely and very precisely, and with the mitre-box it's much more accurate than the X-acto aluminum mitre-box and razor saw and has a much finer cut with less splintering.  I found this on a post on here, but I can't seem to find it now.  Whoever recommended this a couple months ago, thank you, it's an awesome tool.

 

On to the actual update.  My deck on the port side has some issues that I did not realize until last week when installing the spirketing planks and seeing how badly out of whack the gun ports were with the top of the plank.  The photo doesn't really show it very well, but the deck has a significant dip, and then a corresponding rise at the forward two gun port locations.

 

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I could fix this, and I sanded down the spirketing plank at the forward gun port in order to make the sill be at approximately the correct height on the outer hull.  Other than that I finally went with the "Congress" solution, and stuck my head in the sand, pretended it didn't exist and went on.  I don't think it's fixable at this point, as the core issue has to be in the bulkhead tops under the false deck, so I'm just going to work around it as I go and see what happens.  Chalk this up to lessons and try to figure out how to better detect this at the fairing step on future builds.

 

Adding the inner bulwark planking was fairly straight forward, just cutting pieces to length, edge beveling to get a nice close fit to the previous plank, and gluing them in place.

 

At the bow, even though everything will get wiped out by the hole for the bow-sprit in the future, I decided to try a technique I've seen in a couple other builds, and rather than bevel the ends to try to get a perfect alignment with the other side, I 'criss-crossed' them.  I put the first plank on the starboard side all the way to the bass-wood on the other side, then butted the port side plank up against that one, and then put the next port side plank all the way to the bass-wood and on top of the first plank from the starboard side, repeat to the top.  I really like the results, and will probably use this technique in the future for places where planks join at an angle like this.

 

The poop deck area required quite a bit of work and trimming before I had both sides pretty equal and the inner planking fitting correctly, but in the end I think it came out well.

 

After sanding (going to need to make myself some oddly shaped sanding tools/sticks in the future for working on the 'inside' of things like this), I thinned Model Shipways primer - 1 part water to 4 parts primer, and applied the first coat of primer.

 

And that's where I'm at now.  I did however, between various things do a bit more experimentation with my Holly decking.  I increased my drill size to .031" from the original .024", so the holes are now oversized for scale, but I'm going for 'appearance' vs. accuracy here.  I made some tree nails out of round toothpicks, as I wasn't happy with the bamboo.  I think I'm even less happy with the toothpicks, they get very dark when sanded down flush with the deck.  I also tried wood filler in the larger holes.  Still wasn't all that happy, but when I applied the wipe-on poly, something magical happened, and the wood filler got just slightly darker!

 

Above shots are with 3 coats of Min-Wax wipe on Poly with a steel wool wiping between coats.  For the final deck I believe I will split the difference in hole sizes and go with a .028" hole and use the wood filler.  I will test this on my test deck first, but based on the appearance of the wood filler in the .024 & .031 holes I am fairly certain this will get to the appearance that I'm looking for.

 

Whew.. if I was talking I'm sure I'd be all out of breath now!  Until next time, take care all, and happy ship building.

[gerty]

Very Nice work Brian !   - a beautiful model in the works.

[aliluke]

You are in total control there Brian. Great work!

[Mahuna]

Hi Brian:

 

Here's a post I made about the saw.  I agree - it's a very useful tool.

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/8156-micro-combo-saw-from-unique-master-models/

 

Frank

[GuntherMT]

Gerty, Lawrence and Alistair, thank you very much.

 

Frank - That's the exact post that caused me to purchase this saw and mitre-box, so I guess it's you I have to thank!  For some reason I thought that post was in the traders sub-forum, which is why I couldn't find it, although there is a post in there that's more generic about UMM as a company from the recent NRG show.

 

 

Sanded the first layer of primer and cleaned it off, and have applied the 2nd layer of primer.  It's this part of the builds that makes me wish I had my dedicated work room completed so I had the room to be one of those crazy people with multiple builds going so that I could continue to work on modeling during the 'waiting' steps when I'm still in the mood for it.  I could work on furniture or gun carriages, but I still run into the 'room' problem as when I finished the other bits I currently have no place to safely store them.  Oh well, many people in the world have a lot worse troubles than this. 

 

Guess this is a good time to go continue work on that other room!

[riverboat]

Great!!build Brian, just went thru your log again to catch up. Nice score on your Reno trip !!!

Frank

[GuntherMT]

Thank you Frank, and yes, I got some nice stuff from that journey.

 

So I thought I had the inner bulwarks well prepared for paint after two coats of primer, but I was wrong.  After three coats of red it still had clearly defined light and dark planks and just didn't look nice and even to me (I failed to take any photo's of this), so to finish the day off, I stripped all the paint and tomorrow I'll sand and prep again.   I knew there was a good reason to take a day off of work tomorrow!

 

This time I will use a small bit of filler in some gaps that were annoying me when it was painted, and do a more thorough job of painting.  I also think that I need to simply buff the final coat of primer with some steel wool, instead of sanding it, as I believe the uneven finish of the primer will show through far too many layers of the red paint due to the extreme contrast between the white primer and the dark walnut that I tried to paint over the first go-round.

This painting stuff is also reminding me that I need to add an airbrush to my list of things for the future workshop, I'm not a great brush painter.

[aliluke]

A note of care from my point of view. Don't try to get it too perfect. Reading the planks and their joints and grain through the paint is a better outcome than solid colour. It is a juggling act but imperfections can add up to a more authentic looking model.I intentionally made the plank joints stand out on my AVS and I'm glad I did so.

[Grimber]

It's looking sharp Brian.  Any small imperfections will just give it character and personalize it.  I've also always enjoyed the randomness of results when finishing wood, especially when you get a coat of varnish on it just seems to take something that is blah and suddenly it pops.   My choice is usually a satin finish as its just a light sheen but it gives the details in the wood the extra little push to make them stand out.

Edited November 10, 2014 by Grimber

[Mahuna]

You'll need to be very thorough in getting the metal 'dust' from the steel wool off after buffing.  It can show up later in paint and other finishes.

[augie]

Just catching up on your great log Brian.  Looks like you're enjoying this.

 

Great idea working with that 'sample' deck.  Avoids a lot of surprises down the road.  And heed Alistair's advice on painting planks.  It is , indeed, a balancing act and in the end we want to know it's wood under there.

[GuntherMT]

Thanks all,

 

A note of care from my point of view. Don't try to get it too perfect. Reading the planks and their joints and grain through the paint is a better outcome than solid colour. It is a juggling act but imperfections can add up to a more authentic looking model.I intentionally made the plank joints stand out on my AVS and I'm glad I did so.

 

Alistair - thanks, I actually like the idea of having the plank lines showing, my problem was that the planks that are ever so slightly higher than the next planks were showing through the paint much darker, because on the final primer sanding most of the white primer was removed from those planks.  It just didn't look right to me, and the layers of paint were building up to the point where I was going to lose the appearance of wood completely other than the darker plank spots.  I just needed to do a final primer coat and instead of sanding it, buff it with the steel wool, so that there is a full layer of the white primer beneath the red, thus allowing me to use fewer coats of red paint, which in turn should allow the planking joints to show through while still having a fairly consistent red color in the end.

 

I guess I'll know when I'm done if it was the right move!

[dgbot]

I remember a guy who did a great job of planking on a model of the Bluenose II and I told him to go light on the paint to show it off. He used a sandable primer and made the hull smooth as glass.

David B

[GuntherMT]

Alistair - do you recall how many coats of red you used on your AVS bulwarks?  I know you used different paint than I am (I'm using the MS bulwarks red), but you reference in your painting tips using many thin coats, and I'm sort of wondering how many 'many' was in this case.

 

Thanks!

[aliluke]

Hi Brian

Sorry I can't recall. I probably use about 7 or 8 coats of paint these days + 4 to 5 coats of lacquer. That is nothing compared to Chuck Passaro who does up to 30 coats! Keep it thin and the layering of paint doesn't end up with a big build up but certainly a resilience. That said the number of touch ups that I've done on Fly due to the fitting of other parts kind of ruined the initial finish. That's just the way it goes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. But the

[GuntherMT]

So I got some 1000 grit sandpaper today (finest I've found so far) and used that instead of the steel wool after 4 coats, and it was 'peeling' the paint off instead of coming off in dust like it was with the steel wool.  It's been over 24 hours since the last coat, so maybe I got them on too soon between coats when using the steel wool.  I'll let it set for another 24 before trying the next coat and see if it does the same thing.  Appearance wise it's back to about '2nd coat' now after that sanding.  I may just be sanding too hard or aggressively.

 

At the same place I got the sandpaper, I found some new wood filler, and thought I would try it out for the nails - it's a 'maple' filler, so pretty light.  I drilled out another set of .031 holes, and then drilled half of the original .024 holes to .028, and then drilled out a set of .028 as well. 

New test (Only a single coat of wipe on poly, and not buffed).

 

Left to right:

Green is .031" holes with the new maple filler.

Old filler in .031" holes.

Toothpicks .031" holes.

Top half is old filler in .024" holes - Black (bottom half) is old filler in .028" holes.

Bamboo in .031" holes.

Red is .028" holes with the new maple filler.

 

 

Difference between the old filler and new filler is very subtle.

 

[ringbolt2013]

This is quite interesting.... I use a rock tumbler for my blocks, a few minutes and presto great blocks ...weird huh. I do prefer the lighter bass wood fittings to the darker stuff.....depends I guess. Looks like a fine kit you've got there. I hope you don't mind my following along with you as you go forward with this build.

 

Tom

[themadchemist]

everyone's judgment it different, but I personally like lighter, just a hint darker then the surface typically.
That said
 
I like
Top half is old filler in .024" holes

then
Red is .028" holes with the new maple filler

and actually I think the new maple with .024 holes would be perfect. Wouldn't you know I'd pick something you didn't do.
My reasoning is color density would lessen with size and the darker maple would make the smaller hole appear larger. To me they all look large, with respect to the scale, the .024 fits best, at least to my eye. I think the maple would give it just that hint more prominence, while being closer to scale.

But that's my opinion. ultimately, your Captain and it is your preferences that matter most.

 

...The Endless River.....

Edited November 12, 2014 by themadchemist

[aliluke]

Go far left. My opinion - the others are too strong or uneven. But you'd be surprised by, that, after a few years these little details just settle down.

[Grimber]

you will have to see how they look after varnish.  Even your paint will look different under 2 coats of varnish.  that is if you intend to clear coat or varnish it afterwords.

[lamarvalley]

One more opinion… like you need it eh?… I like the bamboo the best as it has a unique character in it's end grain… 

[augie]

I lean toward Alistair's opinion with the far left and that things seem to settle down with time.  Just to confuse things further, I don't know what kind of filler you're using but I usually start with a lightly colored product and then modify the color to suit the situation.  If it's a water-based filler an acrylic paint will do the job.  Naturally it's best to mix up enough for the whole ship and store it until you're done.  If it stiffens up you can bring it back to proper consistency with water.

[GuntherMT]

Tom - of course I don't mind you following along, happy to have you.

 

Keith, Alistair & Augie - thank you for the input.  I'm still not completely sure which way I'll go, I may do another small planking section to test on fresh wood that wasn't already poly coated like the latest samples to make sure that had no effect.  Keith, .024" is 1.15" in scale, so it's actually not far off from actual size in scale, as I've seen anything from 1" to 1.5" for the size of the deck plugs.  .028" works out to 1.34" in scale.

 

Grimber - There will be no varnish, only the clear Poly which is already present, just a single coat after the newest additions to the test board.  I did not notice a change between the first and 3rd coats as far as color of the nails in the previous experiments, but as I mentioned above I will probably do one last completely 'fresh' set prior to my final determination of what way to go.

 

Randy - The bamboo does have a unique look to it, but it's really not a look I like for this model.  They stand out far too much for the effect that I have in mind for this deck, but I'm glad that I did those, as I now know what to expect from bamboo and can keep it in mind for future use.

 

Edit: Thanks Lawrence, you posted while I was posting!

Edited November 12, 2014 by GuntherMT

[GuntherMT]

So I'm progressing with a single coat of red paint on the bulwarks each day, but I'm an impatient sort (I'm sure nobody has noticed that by now) so I've decided to start working on the outer planking while still working on the bulwark paint.

 

I started with the black strake, which the kit provides walnut strips to make.  Luckily, the walnut in this size is actually pretty nice and easily worked and not all splintery, so I inked it after carefully cutting the piece to length and shaping both ends, and placed this key component on each side.  Prior to actually gluing, I clamped some scrap of the same walnut stock in place along the gun ports and used that to do some final sanding of the lower port sills so that they would match the top of the black strake.

 

 

The photo showing the wale and black strake at the stem came out blurry, so I'll probably take another one later, but I'm really happy with how evenly they came out, and how sharp the match with the stem is.  The photo of the other side at the stern where it mates with the fashion piece came out blurry too.

 

I sealed the black strake and wale with a coat of wipe on poly after they were in place, and hopefully this will protect it a bit from my antics as I work on the planking above and below them.

 

I also got a delivery in the mail today - a drawplate from Jim Byrnes.   So of course I had to play with it, and made a few tree nails out of maple, and holly.  The green box is maple at .031", and the blue is holly at .031".  I am having a very difficult time getting tree nails smaller than the .029 drawplate hole, so if I chose to use real tree nails they would pretty much have to be .031 holes.  I really like the holly appearance, as the edges are quite sharp, and the color is the most subdued of all the real wood nails I've made, but they appear too large and out of scale to me.  In addition, the holly was very difficult to draw, I kept breaking the wood, so it would be a huge pain to make enough holly tree nails to do the entire deck.

 

 

In the end I'm probably going to go with the newer wood filler in .028, and try to do a neater job than the test planking when I'm doing the hole drilling and then shaving of the deck after the filler has dried in order to get a crisper edge on them.

[GuntherMT]

So..  painting tips accepted.

 

After 7 coats I'm still having problems with sanding between the coats.  I'm applying very thin coats, letting them dry for a day, and then sanding lightly with 1000 grit sandpaper.  Even doing my best to keep the sanding very light (in bright light I'm just knocking the 'shine' off), I keep ending up wrecking the edges like this:

 

That is after sanding the 7th coat.

 

Any idea what I'm doing wrong?  Is there some special way to sand between each coat of paint, or am I just a goofy ham-fisted oaf that can't sand lightly enough?

Here is the bulwarks after applying coat 8 tonight (got home late so no time for any other work on the ship tonight).

[aliluke]

Stop sanding. Carefully apply a final coat being sure to get good coverage. When really dry, rub it back with tissue paper to flatten out any brush strokes. Seal it - I use Testors Dullcote - and then when, that is dry, rub it lightly with tissue paper. The more vigourously you rub the more sheen you'll get so that is your call.

 

That's my advice. But I'd wait for other opinions before following it!

 

What paint brand are you using? I use Admiralty for the bulwarks and it has very good coverage.

[GuntherMT]

I just got the Model Shipways paint set for the kit, so that's what I'm using.  It's an acrylic paint and I thinned it with 1 part water (distilled) to 4 parts paint to get a thinner coat after doing a bit of testing on some scrap.

 

I probably need to find better paints, but the stuff I got from a local hobby store ended up being badly dried out, which is why I ordered the MS paint.  I need to visit the Hobby Lobby tomorrow and buy some better quality brushes too.  I thought the one I'm using was pretty good quality, but even after careful cleaning and re-shaping, it's not holding the 'flat' shape after just 8 coats of the bulwarks.  While I'm there I'll take a look and see what types of acrylics they carry.

 

On the tissue paper, are you referring to the soft 'Kleenex' type tissue, or the tissue wrapping paper which is still very thin, but not so soft?

[aliluke]

I think Admiralty paints are regarded as better than MS but I haven't tried the latter.

 

Yes - soft Kleenex type tissue paper.

 

Edit: Referring to your next post - I'd still try to get a second opinion first!

Edited November 15, 2014 by aliluke

[GuntherMT]

Thanks Alistair.  I'll do the tissue thing and add a coat of red tomorrow, and then see how it looks with the dullcoat after that drys and I do the tissue thing again.

[augie]

Alistair's method should work for you.  I use the MS paints, diluted, and am generally done after 6-7 coats.  Dullcoat and a good rub finishes it off.