Bounty launch by Cathead - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:16 - small

[Canute]

Do you plan to paint the outer hull or leave it stained? The planking looks great.

[Cathead]

I plan on doing the whole thing stained. I like the look of natural wood on a ship model more than an authentic paint scheme. Also, our house's interior is mostly wood, as are the cedar bookcases on which this will be displayed (built from wood cut & milled on our property), so the natural finish will fit in well. I do intend to finish it with some form of varnish, as I saw another Bounty launch build do (cannot remember which now), which both I and Mrs. Cathead found very attractive.

 

In other news, I am rather put out with a problematic discovery. I had finished sanding the hull and applied my final coat of stain. When I checked the hull the next morning, I found that the wood filler I had used had either dissolved or fallen out overnight, as there were suddenly many gaps visible between the planks again. It was as if I had done almost none of the filling work that consumed many hours. It looks rather shoddy to my eyes, and this second coat of stain seems to have brought out more of the flaws in my planking than I expected. I think it looks wretched at the moment and have not yet brought myself to take a photo to share with the support network here. 

 

I do not think I have the patience to start over with a different gap filler, and I am fairly certain only a real ship modeler will notice the small gaps and uneven finish once the rest of the model is completed. Virtually all lay visitors are likely to coo over it. This is what I am telling myself. I will think it over until the weekend, and in the meantime will start bending the 'tween frames into place as that does not affect the exterior one way or another.

 

But the discovery led to a Bligh-worthy rant, at least in my head. 

[Keith_W]

Sorry to hear, Cathead. Why don't you try this: brush a diluted 80:20 PVA to water solution over the gaps. Wipe off the excess with a damp cloth. Wait until the glue goes tacky, then sand. The sawdust will clog up the PVA and create a filler the same colour as your wood. 

[GuntherMT]

I successfully used the water/PVA/sawdust filler method on the Carmen and it worked great.  I highly recommend you try Keith's suggestion - I think you'll be happy with the results.

 

An alternate way is to make a filler/putty out of sawdust and pva/water and apply it like filler, then sand it when it's dry.  I used a dremel tool with a sanding drum and some pieces of scrap planking to make a bunch of sawdust to make matching filler this way.

[AnobiumPunctatum]

I'll follow your log with great interest. I am waiting for the delivery of this small kit. But the post will take a little bit longer from the US to Germany

[Cathead]

CaptainSteve made this suggestion, too, earlier on, and I stubbornly continued on my set way. This was a filler I have used before, but never with a stain (I weathered previous models with pastels). "Hark! A lamentation is aroused, for I should have put ear to that which CaptainSteve hath recommendeth" likely is, or should be, a mantra of newer modelers.

 

Here is my concern at this point. It seems to me that any filler I attempt now, either of the two methods suggested above, will result in needing to re-sand, re-stain, and re-sand again the entire hull, because it will inevitably produce changes to the areas near the gaps. I think I am being lazy, but this thought does not appeal to me.

 

Finally, how does one keep the filler from squirting through the other side and being visible within the hull where it is quite hard to get at? My previous builds have been solid hulls where this did not matter, but the few cases where it happened in this open boat were most annoying to get rid of.

 

Vielen dank, Christian. Ich hoffe, Sie genießen dieses Modell.

[Keith_W]

Herr Katze-kopf, if you look at my Bounty Launch, I sanded and re-stained it probably 4-5 times. It looks OK. 

[Cap'n Rat Fink]

Cathead,

   My process was totally opposite of your process. I decided to stain after the hull was plank. The reason for this is because glue does not adhere very well to stain. I did have a few small gaps. I do not dilute my white glue. I just squirt a little where  the gap is and let stand a bit till tacky. Then I sand a bit which in turn seals the small gap. With the glue thick it tends not to seep thru into the inside of the hull. If it does and it has at times. it was very little. But this rarely happens because I leave the thickness of the glue alone. I do not thin it. This is what works for me.

    The stain was not effected by the glue in anyway. I used a combo of Golden Oak and Dark Walnut to get the look I wanted.

 

Here is a couple of pictures for you. I pulled them from my build log.

 

YOUR DOING A GREAT JOB ON YOUR LAUNCH!!!

 

 

[Cathead]

Keith,

 

In that case I quite certainly am being lazy. I will get over it once I am done grumbling.

 

Rat Fink,

 

Thank you as well. Gap filling and re-sanding is now quite definitely on the agenda for Saturday. Now the question is, do I go back and try to knock out what remains of the old, faulty filler first? I think yes.

 

 

To all of you, this is why I joined the forum, for the support network and advance. Much appreciated. 

[Cap'n Rat Fink]

Cathead,

    Does it look bad? Do you think it will effect your planned re-staining? Would the gap get bigger if I dig it out? These are question I would ask myself.

 

Mario 

[AnobiumPunctatum]

It's interesting to see how many of you speaks German.

[mattsayers148]

Hey Cathead,

 

I work with wood products on a regular basis and these are common issues that arise: temperature and humidity. If you use more liquid than solid, it will shrink while drying, then add stain, and it all washes away.

 

Like Keith, I've stained mine multiple times, each with a light coat, scrapping in between. One coat staining rarely turns out very well, especially with thin pieces like in these models. My suggestion at this point would be to make a small mock-up, replicating the issues and concerns you have. This way you'll be able to find the right mixture for your conditions. It may need a little more or a little less than others have used. Once you get it just right, then attack your boat like an army of squirrels!

 

Everything looks good at this point, so don't pull out the wood chipper. If a suggestion doesn't work for you, try, try again until you find your sweet spot.

 

Matt

[CaptainSteve]

Like Keith and Matt, I also stained and sanded back large areas of my hull multiple times. Using fine and very fine grit sandpaper, you will find that even though you are removing a lot of the staining ('colouration' be what I called it in me log), as you add other layers and then cut them back, that it tends to add depth to the wood graining. 

[Cathead]

Well, the advice squad has saved the day. I did spend Friday outdoors with a chainsaw and tractor mower, but never did I intend to resign the launch to such implements. 

 

 

Using full-strength wood glue, smeared on hull joints and sanded down, worked charmingly. Embarrassingly well, given my reluctance to follow such advice earlier. Mea culpa, as Bligh would (not) say. Above you see three views of the hull after three more rounds of sanding, staining, and gap filling. It is better. It is still too damaged and streaky for my liking, but the gaps are solid and the color is better. Acceptable, and I have moved on, already looking forward to doing it properly on my next build.

 

I also want to point out the swiveling work stand which I purchased from Model Expo, and absolutely adore for this work. With the bolts tightened down, it holds any position desired and makes fiddly work much more pleasant. I have used it on previous builds but want to give it full credit here as a marvelous piece of equipment. Note the piece of felt stuffed in the vice grip to protect the hull/keel surface.

 

I did find one annoyance. For forming and gluing in the thwart risers, I used the same style of metal clamp shown in the instruction, as they are the only ones that can reach that far in AND are strong enough (clothespins, even reversed ones, did not hold). However, these clamps left noticeable dents in my otherwise finished hull. I have not yet attempted to sand them out, but it may be necessary. This was bothersome to say the least. I could not have inserted a protective spacer as the jaws do not spread that far.

 

 

On to the next stage. Thwart risers and such are attached, and I have begun on the main floor. Careful notching was required to get plank 2 around the main-mast step. I also felt the need to install two small pieces of scrap cherry framing at the bow end of plank 2 (both sides) to support the tip, as it was otherwise hanging in mid-air. The bright piece of wood you see at left is just a temporary spacer holding the unglued plank 2 away from the rest, so the notch and support can be seen (the hull is tiled at 90 degrees in this photo for best light).

 

 

The finished floor.  I felt that a few of these pieces did not match up well, and attempted to shape them with mixed success. Some really wanted to flex out of position. I used CA to install these quickly, as no clamp can reach in here and I would be at this all week with wood glue. The instructions call for thin wood spacers, but I was afraid these would glue themselves in, so used pins gently inserted into the hull instead. Worked wonderfully.

 

 

On to the next dilemma. Upon test-fitting the thwarts, I discovered that the hull seems to have formed wider than desired, I assume due to pressure from the ribs spreading outward. In the photo above, every thwart is inserted fully to starboard, and you can see that toward the middle the hull is progressively too wide for them.

 

I assume that I will need to warp the hull back into shape for the gunwales anyway, and am considering gluing in all the thwarts on one side first, then somehow squeezing the hull into shape before gluing the other side to hold it all in shape. 

 

The consideration here is that doing so means installing the quarterdeck beneath the glued-in thwarts. I am afraid that installing that floor first, as called for in the instructions, will make the hull too rigid to flex back into shape. 

 

I remember reading someone's launch log talking about forming the hull back into shape, but cannot find it.

 

As you can see, I am not trying for the ultra-realistic weathered look, more of the slightly model-like "pretty" look. So far it is fitting reasonably with my goals for the project.

[CaptainSteve]

I would definitely recommend building (and fitting) your quarterdeck prior to fitting the rear thwart benches.

[jburchfield1@wowway.com]

I did mine the other way, but your right, the problem is caused by spreading after removal from the form and I think everybody who has worked on the boat has encountered it to one extent or another.

 

I installed the center thwart, the one just forward of the main mast thwart, first.  It's the longest I believe.

 

I used CA, glued the one side, then gently squeezed the top of the hull (I guess the sheer?) and glued the other side.  Then I worked on the quarter deck.

 

I still had to re-make the two thwarts with the mast supports.  The main mast thwart was just too short, and the foremast thwart had two problems, it was not wide enough and the cutout for the foremast was too large.  I had purchased some sheet stock of the appropriate thickness and it was fairly easy to do.

 

But since this is only my second build (actually, 1.5 because I didn't finish the longboat, it was just too small) don't take anything I say as necessarily right.

[AnobiumPunctatum]

The color of the stain you used, is looking really nice.

Sorry to read about your problems with the hull shape. I hope you can solve the problem

[mattsayers148]

Hey Cathead,

 

Looking good. The dent issue can usually be solved by isolated steaming. You can take a rag and moisten, place it over the dent and then use, say a soldering iron, then rub the heat source over the wet rag to create the steam. I've use this prosses on oak. A much more aggressive approach was used, and I got great results.

 

I had the same issue with my fore thwart and bow grate. I decided to place pieces back into its template space and used the corresponding sides to lenghthen the the pieces. That way all the grains match up and once glued, stained and sanded it becomes extremely hard to detect. The thwarts are the only items that are effected by this, so this became a safe and easier way to solve the problem. Good luck.

 

Matt

[Cathead]

Thanks, all. Current thinking is to make the gunwales and use them as a template to try forming the hull back to its intended shape before installing thwarts. But I will not be working on this for a few days due to other time conflicts, so will let the possibilities percolate in the meantime. 

 

Also, I have been keeping a running tally of hours worked on this project, thinking it might inform others beginning the kit. To the point shown above, I have put in about 30 hours. I started one month ago tomorrow, so that is roughly one hour per day. I would be curious if anyone else has similar data or memory to compare.

[Cathead]

Christian, danke. Ich habe Deutsch und Russich in der Schule studiert, aber Ich habe nicht gesprochen fur eine lange Zeit. Kein Deutsch in Missouri.

 

The stains are cherry and oak from Model Shipways. I will be using a walnut stain for the gunwales to achieve a slightly different highlight color there.

Edited January 26, 2015 by Cathead

[Cathead]

Progress!

 

 

Facing the dreaded spreading-hull syndrome, I decided to tackle the issue head-on. With carpentry clamps. Using the thwarts as a guide, I set up two clamps and gradually tightened them until the thwarts fit snugly. Some minor hull popping and creaking made me nervous, but she's a strong little boat. With the clamps stable, I glued in all but the aft two thwarts (to leave room for building the quarterdeck).

 

Part of this process, though not shown, was aligning two thwarts properly with the mast steps. I inserted the dowels, held them straight with a square set onto the floor, and adjusted the thwarts as needed. The slow set time of carpenter's glue allowed this to work properly. 

 

 

My gamble was correct; when the clamps were removed, the thwarts held the hull in shape. Test-fitting the gunwales proved that the original kit design is accurate; when the thwarts fit snugly, the gunwales will as well. So I glued them on, using the thick-rod-and-rubber-band method I stole from someone else (I have read so many Bounty Launch logs that I cannot keep them straight anymore).

 

 

On to the quarterdeck. I spent an afternoon reading about 8 build logs to develop my plan of attack for this, and decided to build the deck on the plans before installation. Here I stole an idea from my model railroading  background, and laid a wide strip of masking tape face up, securing it with two other strips at each end. Then I laid the rough-cut cherry frames across the tape, which holds them in place for further assembly. The tape is translucent enough to allow for tracing appropriates lines to ensure accuracy.

 

At right you see the assembled deck, with hatch cut out. I left the frames long intentionally, and slowly cut them down as needed, with a lot of test-fitting, until the deck seated properly into the hull. I used a neat little tool for notching the hatch-planks (the plan shows it done this way, though some logs have used three full planks), also from my model-railroading background:

 

 

There it is on the left; the Nibbler. It takes perfectly square chunks out of strip wood, and is invaluable for cutting precise window/door holes in buildings and other projects. This is how I did all the windows on my steamboat. On the right is another excellent tool, the Chopper. It makes perfect 90 degree cuts of stock, with frames that let you set repeatable lengths. I use this for all manner of projects, and it is perfect for decking like this.

 

 

And here is the current status. The hull is effectively done, save one last sanding and perhaps one more coat of stain. Two insets show changes I made. On top, I made new quarterknees because the kit's did not fit properly with the angles my hull ended up with. They were too short, and the aft angle was wrong. So I traced and carved new ones. The stained piece is from the kit, the unstained my own replacement, cut from the same stock as the original.

 

The other inset shows my hatch-rope, an idea shamelessly stolen from CaptainSteve. His used a tighter loop; Bligh would probably trip over mine. But I went with a design that I thought would be more visible, if not quite as realistic.

 

Apologies for the color balance on these. Outdoors we are getting a mix of rain, snow, and other in-between mess that makes the indoor light rather dim and harsh. One of these days I will take this outside for some better photos.

 

I had intended to build this without  masts, thinking it would fit better on a shelf somewhere. Fortunately, I happened to mention this to Mrs Cathead just before gluing in the thwarts, and she made it known that masts would be a good thing. So I took the extra time to align the thwarts and mast steps, which I would otherwise have not bothered to do. So very soon I will begin shaping masts and oars, and starting to feel sad that this wonderful project is now closer to its end than its beginning.

[CaptainSteve]

Nice work there, CH. 

She's coming along beautifully.

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Really nice progress. I like the color of your stain

[Canute]

Good idea to include the masts. And I like the colors, even in the indoor light.

[Cathead]

Okay, I just had to take photos in better light. Here she's set on the kitchen floor just inside our glass doors, with snow-softened light streaming in.

 

 

 

I like the lighter walnut stain on the gunwales, backrest, & knees setting off the darker cherry stain on the rest of the hull.

 

I have successfully resisted the urge to try treenailing anything, as tempting as it is seeing the gorgeous results of others. My goal going in was to built the kit "out of box" with nothing added, and I have largely stuck to that. Perhaps the next project I will go down that particular rabbit hole.

[Cathead]

I have now come face to face with a dreaded part of the build: metal work. I have zero, zilch, nada experience in working metal. I am staring at these brass strips and trying to figure out how to turn them into the complex and detailed pintle/gudgeon assemblies so blithely shown on the plans. What is used for the pins? The brass nails look too thin. Am I supposed to shape the strip into a full tube to hold whatever pin I come up with?  I have read through a number of logs and haven't found (or missed) a discussion of how this is supposed to work. The instructions are no help at all.

If someone knows a good discussion of exactly how to do this, feel free to direct me there instead of needing to repeat everything here. 

[jburchfield1@wowway.com]

Your boat is looking really amazing

 

While I can't really point you to anything specific, I used small brass tube (with a smaller brass rod for the pin) and the strips contained in the kit.  You will probably want to use/learn silver soldering (I had to learn, it's really easy to get too much solder on these tiny things) for the strongest joints.

 

 I just finished blackening those items, using Birchwood Casey Brass Black.  It's really easy to use.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Pops

[CaptainSteve]

CH,

You can use a pair of tin-snips to cut the brass strip tubing to make the gudgeons. Cut the basic shape a bit over-sized and then trim back with a Dremel. At least, that is what I will be doing very shortly on my own build. There should also be a piece of brass rod (about 1mm thick) which could be used to make the pintles.

 

Beyond that, Pops' suggestion about silver soldering is something that I, too, am going to be learning very soon. As an alternative, I imagine you could use two-part epoxy glue for the brass, but I would imagine that the join will not be as strong. (I did, however, use two-part epoxy when making my grapnel anchor).

 

Failing that, there were a couple of contributors (Pops, again) to the Kit-Basher's forum who sourced small collections of tiny brass tubing on eBay to use. 

Edited March 1, 2015 by CaptainSteve

[Cathead]

Steve, there is no rod in my kit, nor is it mentioned in the contents list. This is partly what has me flummoxed. All I have is two brass strips. Shaping them into the flat but angular hinge plates seems doable; I have done my mast partners without much bother. Shaping them into the super-tight tube needed to properly contain a full hinge, without any proper pin other than the tiny brass nails, is defeating me. 

 

I will likely go to a hardware store when I visit town on Wednesday and buy some small brass tubing/rods and play with those. But I cannot figure out how the kits intends one to do this with the materials supplied.

 

Thank you to you & Pops for the suggestions.

[CaptainSteve]

Yer. I ended up faking the hinges on my tool chest by just folding pieces (4mm x 2mm) of the brass strip in half and then fitting to small, chiseled-out grooves. Now that you mention it, I cannot be certain if that brass rod I mentioned above actually came with this kit, or was something I salvaged from my tool-box.

 

Nonetheless, you should be able to pick-up a small piece from any hardware store.

 

I actually have a tried 'n' true method ...

I start by approaching a staff member who is not too busy. Then I'll usually open with the line "I'm one of those sick people that makes model ships for fun !!"

From there, if you have picked the right staff member, you should be able to get the low-down on every item of stock they sell, and how it could be used in your build.

 

Take your plans with you (even if you end up leaving them in the car) ... 

Edited February 2, 2015 by CaptainSteve