18th Century Longboat by Ryland Craze - Model Shipways - 1:48

[tlevine]

I agree that it looks great the way it is.  I'm also amazed at how clean everything is.  Not a speck of sawdust anywhere!

[dgbot]

I finally came upon your log Ryland and devoured your build.  Fantastic work.

David B

[Ryland Craze]

Thanks everyone for your comments and those that hit the "Like This" button.  Based on your comments, I will keep the thwarts and cockpit area natural with several layers of wipe on poly. I have always liked the natural look of wood and the wipe on poly brings out the beauty of the boxwood.

 

Erik, I have to give a lot of credit for the paint job to the Badger Model Flex Marine Colors paint that I am using.  This is excellent paint and it lays down very smooth, with no brush marks.  Kurt Van Dahm told me about these paints and they have an excellent choice of colors.  They come pre-thinned for airbrushing, but I apply them with a standard paint brush.

 

I am currently working on the mast thwart and hope to have pictures of the progress soon.

[Jack12477]

Ryland, where do you buy your Badger paints? Local store or online?

[dgbot]

Model flex paint can be bought on line from Chicago Airbrush Supply http://www.chicagoairbrushsupply.com/  I purchased my last batch from them and they were easy to do business with. Ryland what kind and brand of brush did you use?

David B

[Erik W]

As long as we're talking about Badger paint, what marine color red did you use?

 

Erik

[PAnderson]

Very nice work Ryland. I bet it feels good again after a year away from it.

 

Paul

[Ryland Craze]

Jack, I purchased my Badger Model Flex Marine paint on-line from internettrains.com.  I got good service from them and the cost per 1 oz. bottle was less than $3.00. Here is the link to their site:

http://www.internettrains.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=IT&Category_Code=PNTACYBADMAR

 

David, I am going to check out chicagoairbrushsupply.com.  I also found out that Ages of Sail also carries these Badger paints.  For my brushes, I buy them from craft stores, like A.C. Moore and Michaels.  I like the small brushes that have a slanted tip.  They last a long time as long as you clean them after every use. Here is a picture of some of my brushes:

 

 

Erik, I used Bulwarks Red, number 16-414.  They have several reds in their Marine paint lineup.  Here is a link to the marine color chart at Mega Hobby:

http://www.megahobby.com/ModelflexPaintMarineColors1ozBottlesBadger.aspx

 

Paul, any day that you sit at your modeling work table feels good.  Thanks for your comment.

[Jack12477]

Ryland, thanks for the info. I'll check them out - also the one David B mentioned. I need to replenish my rapidly drying up supply of Floquil/PolyS paints.

[dvm27]

Lovely job on your ship's boat, Ryland. It shows a lot of care and attention to each and every detail.

[Ryland Craze]

Thanks everyone for the comments and the Likes.  It is hard to believe that so much time has passed since I last updated my build log.  I have been working on finishing up the interior of my Longboat.  I turned some belaying pins using my dremel too l​using it as a lathe.  They were very small, but I found that the more I made, the results kept improving.  I also made the windlass and after the third attempt, I finally made one that I was satisfied with.

 

​Here are some pictures of the work that I have done.

 

 

[dvm27]

That's beautiful work, Ryland!

[Chuck]

That is really looking good.  Glad to see you back at the bench.  See you in a few weeks!!!!

[Ryland Craze]

Thanks Greg and Chuck for your comments and also the Likes.  I do not like doing things over, but I do see improvement in my work when I do things over.  I hope to finish the interior and all of the ironwork before I head up North in a couple of weeks.

[Ryland Craze]

I finished the interior ironwork.  I definitely appreciate the work of the Longboat builders before me as I had trouble with the small locker hinges and ironwork due to my stubby fingers.  I also had several pieces that mysteriously disappeared from the tip of my tweezers never to be found again.

 

 

Here is a picture of the longboat with the thwarts installed.  All that is left to do for the interior is to install the six knees on top of the thwarts and against the sides.  I have also decided to redo my belaying pins.

 

Edited April 17, 2016 by Ryland Craze

[Chuck]

That is really wonderful work Ryland.  Very precise 

[Cathead]

Looks really nice. How did you do the windlass holes? I've been struggling with mine, just can't get them to square off properly in the soft wood.

[Ryland Craze]

Thanks Chuck for your comments.  Your work inspires all of us to try to do better with our builds.

 

 

How did you do the windlass holes? I've been struggling with mine, just can't get them to square off properly in the soft wood.

 

Cathead, I really struggled with making my windlass.  It took me three attempts until I finally made a windlass that I was satisfied with.  I am going to try to explain how I made mine.

 

I made a jig by cutting some scrap wood at 45 degree angles and I placed my windlass in the "V" that was formed with the scrap wood.

 

 

I then used sanding sticks to shape the windlass being careful to keep it horizontal to the wood base.

 

 

Once I had the shape of the windlass, I made another jig to drill the holes in the windlass. 

 

 

I used a #61 drill bit in my pin vise and would twist it several turns.  Then I would keep rotating the windlass until I drilled all four sides of the windlass.  The holes would eventually go all the way thru the windlass, meeting in the center of the windlass.

 

 

The windlass now has round holes.  To get them square, I placed the windlass on a flat piece of wood.  I then placed a piece of old planking material to use as a resting place for a small four sided file.  I then pushed the file, with pressure against the wooden base, into the round holes in my windlass.  It is important to keep the flat side of the file horizontal to the wood base.  The flats of the windlass will lie naturally flat on the wood base.

 

 

The final step was to open up the hole to about .045 inch.  I had taken a finishing nail and filed the point square and pushed it into the square hole made by my square file.  I filed the corners of the nail so that it left a crisp square edge.  Once I finished with the square holes, I placed a small bit of wood into the windlass hole to fill the interior of the hole so that you could not see all the way through the hole.

 

 

This was quite a challenge for me and I had many failed attempts trying other methods.  I finally got thru this and am now able to continue on with the build.  If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask me.

 

 

[Canute]

This should go in the keeper files. Good photos and excellent explanation. 

[Cathead]

I like the idea of filing a nail flat. That's the tool I've been missing, something to really square off those edges (my file wasn't doing it properly). Thank you!

[DocBlake]

Great job on the long boat, Ryland!

 

I've scratch built two windlasses, and I used this technique for both.  My most recent, for the AVS , is in 1/32 scale.  The holes in the windlass are drilled with a 1/16" bit.  I then took a 10d finishing nail and filed the four sides of the tip flat and sharp.  Insert the tip into the round holes, being careful to align the square tip properly.  A couple of taps with a miniature hammer and the round hole is square.  It works like a charm and takes just a couple of minutes to do all the holes.

[Ryland Craze]

Thanks everyone for the comments and Likes.

 

Dave, I started off using your method, but I had problems keeping the holes squared to the base.  The reason I started with a small square file was that I could lay the flat side of the file on a scrap piece of planking and insert it into the hole on the windlass.  This made the small square hole right angled to the base of the windlass.  The windlass on the Longboat is made out of a square piece of wood, whereas your windlass tapers from the middle to the ends.  My method would not work on your windlass.  The file acted as a starter hole and it kept the impression of the nail square to the windlass stock.  I hope this makes sense.

 

​Your windlass looks great as well as your AVS.  I have enjoyed following your build log and look forward to you completing it.  I have a MS AVS that is begging me to finish it.

[DocBlake]

There is always more than one way to skin a cat.

 

I build period furniture as a hobby also.  18th century cabinetry often had "pegged" mortise and tenon joints to strengthen construction.  They were also frequently square instead of round.  How to easily fit a square peg into a round hole?  You could use a mortising machine with a drill and square chisel, but since furniture parts can be very large, many times the part wouldn't fit on the mortiser's work surface.  I came up with an easy solution.

 

I took a 1/4" square piece of steel bar and grinded the bottom into a 1/4" diameter round.  I left the bulk of the bar square.  I drill a 1/4" hole where the peg will be and insert the rounded bottom into the hole.  Than brings the squared "shoulders" of the bar right to the wood's surface.  A couple of raps with a hammer and the round hole is now square.  it has to be deep enough to hold a piece of peg material 1/4" square, so the steel bar is pretty deep into the wood and the fit is very tight.  It takes a pair of pliers and some rapping with  a hammer to free the bar.  A 1/4" peg is glued into the hole and cut with a flush cutting saw when the glue dried.  The result is a nice clean square peg in what was once a round hole.  The pegs aren't really structural, but they look good.  When I needed to make round holes square on the windlass, I used the same principle in miniature.

 

I've actually adapted a few techniques I use building full size furniture to model work.  The principles are the same; only the scale is different!

Edited April 19, 2016 by DocBlake

[Ryland Craze]

There is always more than one way to skin a cat.

 

I build period furniture as a hobby also. I've actually adapted a few techniques I use building full size furniture to model work.  The principles are the same; only the scale is different!

 

Agree, there are several ways to get the same end result.  This is what I like about this hobby, woodworking in miniature.  I remember when I first started in this hobby, I always liked the smell of fresh milled wood when I opened a new kit for the first time.  I have never done full scale woodworking, but have always liked wood products.  I can see from the pictures that your excellent full scale wood working skills have filtered down to your ship modeling.

[Chuck]

Ryland.....hope you are doing well.   We need at least one update on this model before 2017 is over.  Say hello to Pam and have a merry Christmas!!! 

[Ryland Craze]

Wow, did not realize that it has been over a year since I last posted anything.  I have done some work on the Longboat and will post some pictures after the Christmas rush is over.

 

Chuck, I hope your mother-in-law is doing better.  I hope 2018 will be better for you and Patty.

[Tigersteve]

Keeping an eye out for the updates as well. 

Steve

[Blue Ensign]

Just picked up on this build Ryland, your pace of work may be slow, but the result is a fine model, much to be admired.

 

B.E.

[John Cheevers]

Ryland, Glad to see you're back in the shop. Nice work--keep it up!

[John Cheevers]

Ryland,

Not sure how small your square hole is but I'm guessing about 1/16" or so. If that's the case, you want to get a set of these...Google No. 0 square file 4"