Pride of Baltimore II by AndyMech - Model Shipways - 1:64

[Tigersteve]

Looks good. I would not unglue the skylight either! Lol

Steve

[popeye the sailor]

I'm sure you'll find a solution........I don't redo anything that's going to damage the model.   firm rule of thumb of mine     vents look super  

[AndyMech]

Next in the instruction manual is the binnacle.  This is very small - it's difficult to work with wood and glue at these sizes.

 

Instead of carving a hole, I just painted a black oval to simulate it.  Also, the ribbing was made by taking a 1/32" square piece and cutting it in half twice to make 1/64" square rods, which were then stained, cut and glued around in two bands.  Crazy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up is the wheel box, which feels gigantic in comparison.

 

Andy.

[Tigersteve]

Looks good as always. What's the purpose of the hole at the top of that thing? Any idea? I'm curious. I think you should drill it.

Steve

[AndyMech]

My understanding is the compass is housed in the binnacle, and the hole is glass covered to keep the compass protected while allowing it to be viewed.

 

Cutting the hole now, once assembled and glued is likely too damaging for me to attempt. One of my goals for this build was to experiment with different techniques to see how they work out, so this was one of those experiments.

 

Andy

[medic]

Very neat deck, nice detail.

Cheers,

Medic

[popeye the sailor]

binnacle looks sweet Andy    you'll find that experimentation is 1/2 of success  

[Tigersteve]

It looks good. I didn't understand the purpose of the hole at first. I'm also curious how you're going the finish the hull. Stain, poly? Sorry if this has been answered already. Your planking is very clean if I remember.

Steve

[AndyMech]

Steve, as for the hull finish, that is a good question.  I did apply a layer or two of wipe-on poly to it, just to protect it while I work on the rest.  I usually paint over wipe-on poly anyway, so doing that doesn't preclude me from painting it.  Probably does prevent me from staining it though, now that I think about it.

 

I haven't really looked it at recently, as I've been focused on the deck furniture, and one of the other Baltimore builders regretted (at least initially) his painting of the hull green, so I really don't know at this point.

 

Andy.

[Karleop]

Hola Andy:

 

Everything depends on the taste of everyone, but I am very satisfied with the green color I painted the POB hull. The important thing is the kind of green you use and of course that is your decision simply because is your ship.

 

Saludos, Karl

[Tigersteve]

I can't wait to see what you decide. I think if you wanted to you could finely sand the layers of WOP off and still stain. So don't rule that out if you had it in mind. Test it on scrap first, of course. Not an expert, but I'm learning about these minwax products as I go. Really enjoying your build.

Steve

Edited January 13, 2017 by Tigersteve

[AndyMech]

The wheel box was next.  I constructed the body out of 3/64" thick wood and the tops are both 1/64" thick, or close enough.  I finally drug out my only powered tool - a pencil sander - to thin the top pieces.  I had been doing it by hand for other deck elements, but the results were uneven.  The sander was easier to get an even thinning.

 

The wheel is painted burnt sienna and brass.  I might be getting decent at making these box-like pieces, but I have to admit its getting a little repetitive.  That's ok, I'm such a slow builder that if I get bored, I just take a break for a day or two and get back to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andy.

[popeye the sailor]

look'in sweet Andy  

[AndyMech]

I started working on what I hope are the last of the deck furniture little boxes.  There are 5 boxes in this set, and I've completed 3 - the life jacket locker, the rope locker and the diesal pump parts locker.

 

These share common attributes - red solid base, as opposed to feet, white tops and rope handles.

 

Simple to make, mostly, as I left out the hinges.  I have no idea how to make hinges of this size!

 

 

 

 

 

These are not yet glued to the deck, so aren't lined up perfectly yet.  I will also add I really enjoyed making the rope handles - must remind me of rigging which I also like and haven't had a chance to do in a while.

 

Andy.

[JPAM]

those look fantastic 

[popeye the sailor]

for simulated hinges........you can go with really short pieces of brass rod,  put where the hinges should be.   to add a bit more detail to them,  add two short thin strips of thin brass flat pieces - one for the box and one for the lid.    make like a little test box and try it out    have fun.

 

what you've done there looks great!  

[Karleop]

Hola Andy:

I also had several problems trying to do the box hinges, but finally I got good results doing them with little strips of paper that were previously painted with metallic bronze color. You can see the results in my post #61.

 

Saludos, Karl

[Chris V]

Hey Andy, found your log today and I must say I'm very jealous of your skills. I just finished my first wooden build, the Glad Tidings, and ordered the Pride of Baltimore this morning. After looking at your photos, I'm wondering if I didn't bite off more than I can chew. I wondered the same thing when I opened the box of GT too. I expect I'll have to slow down a bit to get this one right but I'm looking forward to it nevertheless. Anyway, thanks for posting your log. I'm inspired by it. Chris. Waiting for my ship to come in...

[AndyMech]

Hi Chris,

 

Good luck on the Baltimore when you get it.  And thanks for the compliments.  If you have questions about your Baltimore, please don't hesitate to ask.  I started this build so long ago, but I have lots more photos than I post here and have learned from other builders and my own mistakes.  

 

Unsolicited word of advice - yes, this build (any build really) feels overwhelming when you open the box, look at the parts and check out the plans for the first time.  I know I did with this one.  Break it down, do one thing at a time, plan out that thing, and then do that as best you can.  I am following the instruction booklet pretty closely, also so I don't forget to do something!

 

On this build, I've tried very very hard to follow my own advice and to not be my own worst critic.  Of course my build isn't perfect, I doubt anyones is (although I've seen a few here that are close), but I do feel I've done the best work I'm capable of when I did it.  I rarely do a part over - something miserly about my consumption of the kit materials I suppose, so I try to go slow and careful.  That's why it took all weekend to make one and half boxes like in my last update.  But, you know, I'm ok with that: I have other things to do during my free time, and overall I'm pretty dang happy with how my ship is turning out.

 

So, I appreciate it when others feel the same.  Thanks!

 

Andy.

[AndyMech]

Oh, I have a quick response related to the hinges.  First, thanks for the tip - the metallic painted paper is a really good idea!

 

Second, and this is more of an overall approach to my build - there are a ton of little details included in the kit and the plans.  Things like the extra pads when doing the deck planking, the skylights embedded in the deck, the hinges on the boxes, the fire hose on one of the deck hatches, etc.  I've deliberately left a lot of those out - some I may add later, but many I may not.  I appreciate the accuracy of those parts, but I also want my build to have cleaner look and not have so many little details that they seem to clutter the overall model.  I'm certainly not criticizing those folks that put them in - they have more skill than I do to pull them off anyway.  But, I feel there's also some value in leaving some of those off as well.  Or I'm just lazy!

 

For example, I've not drilled hawse holes at the bow.  I may never do that - for one, I'm hesitant to drill into my painstakingly planked deck and wales.   I know it would inaccurate to leave them out, but aesthetically I may prefer it that way.  Mind is not made up, I may still do it, but it's an example.

 

Andy.

[Jean-Pierre]

This is an absolutely lovely build. Congratulations: you may be proud of your Pride!

A little suggestion: maybe this will be taken care of later, but the skylight on the large roof would look better if the inside "floor" is painted matt black.

 

I confess this post is also done to join this thread. So happy building further on.

[AndyMech]

Jean-Pierre,  thanks for the comment.  And, you're right - the skylight is one of those elements I'm not 100% happy with.  Other suggestions would be to add a tinted cellophane to the clear windows.  My issue at the moment is - I've already glued the skylight to the roof, so getting at it would require unglueing it and I'm afraid I would also damage or unglue the planks in the process.  I've left it alone for now, but will re-visit it when I complete the rest of the deck lockers.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I welcome ideas to improve the build.

 

Andy.

[Jean-Pierre]

Hello Andy. If you would like to do some extra detailing that is not too difficult (I could!), and which will greatly enhance your build:

cover each side of your large roof with a piece of cellophane, painted matt black on the inside. Then use the thinnest available wood or paper strip to frame your windows. Then make tiny strips of plastic. Carefully (of course) pile them per 3 and make 3 regularly spaced holes. Paint them dark brown and glue them on the sides of the windows. Then insert thin brass rods cut flush with the exterior side. Fairly straightforward and surely within range of your skills: this is a very eye catching item on a model.

 

Good luck! You are about to start the rigging: do not hesitate to use a range of different thicknesses and colours of thread, from grey to buff, this will also add life to your rigging (try not to use too thick threads)

[AndyMech]

Ok,  I decided to take a look at improving the main hatch issue.

 

For reference, here's what it looked like after my initial work:

 

 

Today, I removed the hatch, which wasn't too difficult.  I use a water-soluble glue, so a little water loosened it right up.

 

 

I masked the area under the hatch and painted the planks black:

 

 

 

 

Here's final result.  I did not add anything to the clear panes at this point.  I didn't glue it back together yet, so I have some time to consider how I like it.

 

 

Andy.

[russ]

Great work. The skylight looks much better now with the black underneath.

 

Russ

[Jean-Pierre]

Good job with the skylight. And unglueing the part did not damage anything.

I just posted in the section gallery of finished model from kits, a few pics of the Pen Duick, which I built some 20 years ago. You will see there what can be fairly easily done to improve even more those skylights.

[popeye the sailor]

just doing that made a huge improvement..........great job Andy  

[AndyMech]

It's been a couple of weeks, but here's a quick post showing the final two deck boxes I did a week or so ago.  Pretty straightforward, the only tricky bit are framing on the top - those are tiny - 1/32" by 1/64.

 

 

 

Next up, and in progress, are two deck bitts and the sampson posts.  Hopefully and update next week.

 

Andy

[russ]

Those bits of framing are very small indeed. It could probably be done with card stock as thin as they are.

 

Russ

[AndyMech]

Hi Russ, thanks for the suggestion.  I never think of using paper, although I've see it used quite effectively in many build logs.  Oh well, a thought for the future.

 

I finished the port and starboard bitts.  These are made from 3/32" square stock and I used some leftover 1/32x1/64 from the previous boxes to make the cross part.  The dowel in the bottom is just the end of a toothpick.

 

 

 

Andy.