Niagara by bgarden - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64 - US Brig

[hopeful]

Hi Brian,

 

Glad you are building Niagara and that we are lucky to catch the build from the begining. Your thoughtful approach and great photos as well as the techniques you employ will serve the forum well.

 

Enjoy the build!

 

Cheers

Hopefu aka David

 

Completed:   Midwest Sharpie Schooner (Reposting the build log at present)

In progress:  MSW Sultana (Need to repost and keep on with the build)

Edited March 17, 2013 by hopeful

[patrickmil]

Hey Brian, that's some good work with the waterways and planksheers. The finish looks very nice as well being as smooth as it is. Painting and sanding in multiple coats really does the trick. I'd have to agree with Ken as far as putting some supporting wood underneath the gratings and companion-ways. It makes deck planking much easier as the plank ends have something to rest on. 

[bgarden]

Ya I think your right maybe while I am installing the ports I will frame those pieces in along with the mast caps on the centre keel.  Once I finish installing those backings for the gratings and the companion-ways, and along with the bulkhead blocking, the deck will be a solid surface to plank on...  Thanks

for the helpful tip both to you Ken and Patrick, please do keep them coming.  You both are great!!  

 

I have a question though.  I get the sense that for some modellers they do not like to use CA glue except on small parts, is there a reason for this? Does CA glue not hold strong enough, or release over time?  Is my question crazy?

 

Brian 

 

 

P.S.  David thank you very much for the kind words.... and keep being hopeful, we need more people like you in this world 

Edited March 17, 2013 by bgarden

[patrickmil]

Brian, there is a theory that CA eventually wears away and isn't permanent. I've never had trouble with it though and have used it for years on many other things than ship models. Some prefer the wood glue, aka PVA, because it is easier to undo any work with a little bit of water or alcohol. Personally I use both. When there is something that can dry without clamping and I don't need to handle soon afterwards I will use wood glue. It is also good at coating things as it is much cheaper; for instance, the inside of my Niagara hull was coated with wood glue to add strength for sanding. I paint over CA glue joints when it looks bad and it's hard to see afterwards.

[lb0190]

Hi Brian,

 

Your waterways and planksheers look excellent. I liked how the top rail was useful for holding them in place while the glue dried.

In respect to your glue question, like Patrick I use both types with a preference to PVA, which I believe provides a better bond and ease of cleanup/repair.

[bgarden]

Thanks Larry and Patrick, I will keep that in mind.  I tend to use CA glue a lot these days due to the type of dispenser that I have at hand which releases the glue in controllable amounts.  My bulkheads and other areas that I do not worry about the control as mush I have used wood glue.  On my last ship, Patrick I did the same thing as you, and that was to lather on a coat of wood glue to the inside of the hull planking...  Great to get the feed back guys thanks.  I will definitely adjust some of my gluing strategies.

 

Brian

Edited March 18, 2013 by bgarden

[bgarden]

Okay,  

 

First I would like to offer a big apology that I have been a bit absent from this form for the past few weeks.  My work has required me to give it a whole lot of attention and this has cause my boat building and participation here in this forum to take a back seat. So again please accept my apologies.  I hope all is well in everyones builds.

 

As for my build I have recently completed the gun ports on the starboard side.  I made a jig, shown in the pictures below, that helped me keep the relative sizes for the gun ports equal and perpendicular to the planksheer.  The jig was made from the inverse side the the billet that the planksheer was cut out from.  The inverse piece corresponds to the gun port bump out on the planksheer's billet.  Having glued this piece to a square scrap piece and drawn perpendicular lines on it I could visualize the placements of the gunport's frame.  

 

Once the rough frames of the gun ports were done I check the relative sizes with callipers and sanded true any incorrect openings till I was satisfied.  I used black maker around the gunport rough opening just to help visualize the finished product.  

 

Brian

 

 

[patrickmil]

Hey Brian, your gunport framing looks great. That jig looks like it works pretty well too. This was the point in my build when I wished the planking would magically appear on it's own so I could get to building my carronades.

[bgarden]

Patrick- it is funny that despite using a jig to frame the gun ports I am still very slow. And soon enough I hope that some of the planking will start maybe in a few weeks.

 

 

Building on board the Niagara continues, but I thought that I would post a short comment to share that last night my wife and me have put in a firm offer on a house that has been accepted! This will be for both of us our first house. With this I will be able to set up a wood working shop and to have a little more space in the house for a ship building room. Our closing date is July 5 and will move shortly after that. Other wise I hope everyone is well and I will post more pics probably on Sunday if I can free up a little more time to finish the port side gun ports.

 

Brian

[patrickmil]

Brian, your house looks very nice. A dedicated work shop will be a luxury! As far as your speed of building, you have to take as much time as you want. It's a hobby and not a race.

[Salty Sea Dog]

Congratulations on the new house! You'll have to post some pics of the new workshop when you get settled. Wishing you a smooth and trouble-free move.

 

P.S. - the build looks great!

[lb0190]

Brian,

 

Congratulations on your first house. I believe buying your first home ranks somewhere in the top ten of events of your life.

[bgarden]

Thanks guys. Between the craziness of life and my long work days these days things have been a little bit of a blur, and I think that the idea of owning a house will settle in eventually. But right now I am running just to sand still. I am thankful that the move is still a few months away.

 

Brian

[mainstay]

Hi Brian,

 

Congrats on the offer being accepted.  It's so nice to be able to spread out into more space!

[bgarden]

Hi Joseph, thanks for the well wish's. My wife and I from time to time will drive by the house just to look at the sold sign. It seems a little unreal but completely exciting! I just hope that the current owners haven't seen us driving by with our camera out of the car flapping pictures of the sold sign...

 

As for the boat I am able to squeeze in a bit of work from time to time and have finished the port side gun ports, installed the knighthead and timberhead, and started the sweep ports on the starboard side.

 

 

As for finishing the framing at the bow, my trusty k-9 friend one day decided to lend me a hand on how to best finish the framing. As it were, I had yet to install the knighthead and timberhead because I was unsure if I could bend the false rail enough with out snapping it. But one day while working on the gun ports my dog had jumped up beside me and in doing so accidentally bumped into the model and snap the false rail at bow (right before the first bulkhead). Naturally I just thought that my dog was a bit clumsy, or that I should not ask him if he wanted to go for a walk while I had the ship in my hands. What he was trying to say to me was that I should cut those pieces free, steam them, bend them, and then reinstall them with the correct curve so that I could then install the knighthead and timber head.... thanks to my puppy

[bgarden]

And here is a picture of the sweep ports being started.

 

Brian

Edited April 28, 2013 by bgarden

[Rich_engr]

Looking good Brian!  I like the filler blocks between the bulkheads- they definitely make her strong and rock solid.  Framing all of the ports was fun, and I made it extra challenging on my build since I went a little overboard with my file when squaring things up.  Also, to check the alignment and spacing, use a long piece of square stock to pass through the ports on both sides. 

 

She's coming along nicely there- you'll be onto the nitty-gritty in no time! 

[lb0190]

Hi Brian,

 

She's looking neat and trim! You'll be adding planks in no time...

[bhermann]

Interesting way of getting inspiration. The cats are never helpful that way. Wherever the idea came from, she is looking good!

 

Bob

[Salty Sea Dog]

Hi Brian!

 

The curved rails turned out great. The symmetry looks pertfect. That is one wise dog!

[bgarden]

Thanks Rich, Bob, Larry, and Buck! I think that this week I will start to paint any of the upper planks that are needed along the rails, and I might also try to make the fashion piece that is needed along the stern. I guess I can start to juggle my time between planking the stern and finishing the framing of the sweep and gun ports. I am not ready to allow my self to get excited about planking the hull yet, but I think I will allow my mind to drift on to how to covering up the bones of my ship. Maybe my pup can lean another hand.

 

Brian

 

P.S. Bob I never knew a cat to take any interest in building a ship, perhaps due to their distaste of water

[patrickmil]

Brian, your framing looks great. I'm looking forward to seeing some planks go on now.

[Timothy Wood]

Brian,

 

She really looks good!  Keep up the good work.

 

Cheers,

 

Tim

[bgarden]

So with the change of the weather and preparing to move to our new house and what is a very intense work schedule, the poor Niagara gets only scraps of time and so I have been a little remove as of late (really due to work).  I can't even imagine what it would be like once my wife and I have kids...

 

So I could not help myself.  Once I was complete the starboard side ports I did not continue on to the port side but instead I have stared on planking the uppers and the stern.  As I see it I will finish the uppers and stern and then go back to the port framing which is only the port side sweep ports at this point.  I also want to install the fashion piece (which I am trying to make from one solid piece, but is a bit tricky).  But I thought I would share where I am and to help the Niagara club from being M.I.A.

 

Brian 

[lb0190]

Hi Brian,

 

Your Niagara is looking very good. Adding the exterior planks with some color really brings the ship alive.

Edited June 15, 2013 by lb0190

[Rich_engr]

Ooooooooh- paint and planks!!!  Ooooohhhh!!!  donut!!!  lol!!  

 

It's amazing how awesome she looks with some paint on her- glad that you're getting some bits done here and there while moving!  Even a simple plank, or shaping a piece, or painting a stripe feels good and let's the regular stress wash away, if just for a brief moment of peace (or shall I say, piece).  

 

Good work!!!

[bgarden]

Rich- all I can say is   !

Larry- yes a bit of planks and colour goes a long way.

 

As for the boat I thought I would show a bit of where I am at as of today.  The upper planks are on the hull and all the ports have been cut and sized to where they need to be.  I had a heck of a time with the bow.  Getting those planks to turn around the horn of the hull to the keels rabbit while maintaining (from what I could tell) the lines in the blueprint was rather difficult.  It looked to me in the plans that the planks maintain a very slight incline as they reach the bow but in the real world the planks wanted to have a much greater incline then the blueprint's would allow.  I also did not want to stress the planks too much in shaping it around the hull, so I strived to do the best I could do and to be happy with the result.  I also fit a rough fashion piece in place (the bottom half of it is not fitted and still needs to be shaped, something I thought I could try to do after I finish all of the stern planking and Start the hull's planking).  I started planking the hull by gluing both the bottom black hull plank to the bottom yellow bulwark plank because they were different in thickness and I wanted to have that detail look uniform, how ever so hard to see, and then plank upwards.  The paint job is rough and will need some more coats to make it look good, but that can wait for a while. 

 

Here is a few pictures,

 

Brian

 

 

[Timothy Wood]

Nice job....  She looks great, keep those photos of your splendid work coming!    

 

Cheers,

Tim

[bgarden]

Thank you Tim, your comments are more then kind. I will try to keep photos updated but my skills lend to a rather slow build. Thanks for checking in.

 

Brian

Edited June 24, 2013 by bgarden

[lb0190]

Brian,

 

She looks amazing. I can only strive to reach for that clean of a build.