This build still sits on the other table……in it’s box waiting for me to figure out how to make a decent set of mast hoops. It hasn’t been easy. I began to look into this around mid December, in search for the perfect solution………..
12-13-2016
Knowing that the sail needs to be made, I still hadn’t seen how Midwest directs you to make the mast hoops. Looking in the instructions, told me all I wanted to know.
I didn’t like this……there must be a way that will achieve better results. Putting it out there on the Model Ship World forum, a few suggestions were made. the first was with wood shavings. It’s a good Idea…….if you have fresh wood shavings. I made some shavings from a long dried piece of pine board in my closet.
These are to be wrapped around a dowel that is larger than the mast……in this case, they need to be larger than 1/4. Using diluted white glue {later changing over to full strength}, I was to wrap the shavings around the larger dowel. It was sheathed in plastic wrap, to keep the glue from sticking to it.
This didn’t yield a single mast hoop. I think the shavings I used were too dry. Plan #2 was to wrap some thin strips around the dowel. I had soaked the strips in water for a couple of hours.
….and then slather it with white glue and wrap them around the dowel.
This was also a bust……well……not entirely. Looking down the plastic tube, you can see some I have already made. They produced something like these, after they were sanded.
These will need to be sliced thinner, once they are completely sanded. Another method I tried was using a piece of packaging paper. This was glued and wrapped around the plastic tube.
I wasn’t too happy about the indentions, that the clothes pins made…….I’ll just cut around them. I only need five of them…….shesh! So…….in conclusion to all this fiddle frigg’in around…….this is what I have to show for it. First:
the shavings
Then……..the thin strip
….and then…….the package paper.
Yea……not good! I’m not pleased with any of them. I did hear about another method, using birch bark. Willing to try anything, I went out to the field and got some off of an old dead birch tree. Once it was in the house and warmed to room temperature, I could work with it.
12-27-2016
It had been in the house for a few days. Birch bark is made up of layers. These trees have a habit of shedding their outer layer, and the under layer takes it’s place. Bringing it to the table, I saw that it was beginning to separate. I pulled it apart to reveal the clean inner layer.
Once down to a usable thickness, I will wrap it around the dowel. During this time, I also traced out the sails, from the instruction sheet.
Done! I’ve only had this cloth out for a month. Now, they need to be cut out and sewn. I will do that while I’m in the process of making the mast hoops. I’ll try do this as soon as possible…….I’m about ready to settle for the Midwest method. For such a simple kit….why must I torture myself!
AHOY!!!
I did this a while ago, back in September. I was hoping that I could keep up with it, along with the trawler, but I got carried away. I need to make the sail for this one…..I’ve been working on the mast, boom, and gaff……it’s that close towards being finished. The mast is ready for paint, having been fitted with eye bolts and some of it’s parts.
The cockpit cap rail has been added to the model. I did make a goof, that needed to be corrected…….it was, and touched up with paint.
The next aspect to be assembled, is the hatch and cockpit entrance. I needed to trim the roof edge, so it would sit flush with the cabin bulkhead. The hatch itself was assembled per the instructions.
The framework was then painted with the cobalt blue, while the roof and door got painted with flat white.
Meanwhile……..the Flattie sits patiently for her new parts.
…..and then, with a quick flurry of activity, changes take place. She now has her hatch and cabin door.
The stand was also assembled for this model. I didn’t like the kit version, so I made up my own.
It was taken to the garage, and painted a flat gray…….the same color as the bottom paint of the Flattie. It still needs some felt to resist scratching, but this is what the model will look like perched on it. It has plenty of clearance, should I change my mind and show a deployed center board, which will protrude form the bottom of the hull.
More progress to come.
AHOY!!!
This will be very short and sweet……….only because I’m trying to clear up my computer and clean house…….so to speak. I had cut out the tiller from some scrap wood. Ever since then, I have been sanding and molding it…….and even breaking it in the process.
This is what it looks like at the present. It probably could be a little shorter……and the attachment to the rudder needs to be refined more. I’m still working on it……..I need to get the cockpit cap rails cemented in place, before I even think about cementing this in place anyway. Work in progress. The other aspect I corrected is the trim on the front cabin wall. It runs flush with the roof edge, so to remedy that, I used the 3 mm painted trim to cover everything up and tie in the corners.
I used white glue on the roof, so I left the rubber band on a bit longer. If I had used CA, it might have clouded the cello in the windows. CA likes to do that……..I wasn’t taking any chances. I didn’t get too much further, other than look over the rigging plans and study the look of the sails. I hope to get in another good session on this build. Still more to go.
AHOY!!!
After trimming the deck sheer trim, the 3 mm painted trim was run along the sides, even with the top of the deck trim. The sanding and curvature of the deck sheer caused the trim to have a few small gaps. They will be filled in and touched up later on.
The other side was done at this time……..
The transom was done last, casing in the corner edges.
The forward hatches were cemented in place next. The lower part of the hatch assembly was painted the cobalt blue, and the tops were painted flat white. They were done this way, just in case the lower part {simulated hold walls} could be seen.
A border was cemented along the undersides of the cabin roof. Wanting the cabin door to the cockpit to stand out, trim was added on both sides of the roof sill. It had an adverse affect though, because it caused the front roof edge to run flush with the fore cabin wall. It’s not too big a deal…….I thought up a remedy for it rather quickly. I’ll show you what I will do soon.
This will be a much nicer picture, once the cockpit cap rails and the cabin door is added to the model. I like how the scheme is working out.
AHOY!!!
More progress was done on the Flattie. I used the tinted cello I had found for the cabin windows. I really like this stuff……….if you would like to get some, I’m sure it can be found in auto part stores or department stores with an automotive section. The instructions show a roof beam for the cabin……I added two.
I wasn’t sure what color I wanted to paint the deck sheer. Deciding that I wanted the roofs and trim to be flat white, I decided on flat deck tan.
The transom was painted finally, correcting the uneven bottom paint line.
There was a gap on the starboard side aft cockpit bulkhead, where it joins the side wall of the cockpit. A small piece was removed, and a 1/16 piece of square stock was cemented in place, closing the gap.
The kit supplies mahogany 1/16 square stock for the trim work. There is to be some along the deck sheer and the sides of the hull. I did the deck sheer trim first.
The way they show the hull trim to run……I’m not too crazy about it. It is also to be done with the square stock. In changing this, I took a couple strips of .05 x 3 mm mahogany, along with some other strips that I’ll be needing, and painted them all flat white. I will show you what I have planned in the next session.
AHOY!!!
As can be seen in the last picture in log #4, the aft cockpit wall has a bit of a deficit. This will need to be corrected, so the walls will be even all the way around. It’s time to cement in the cabin sides. The forward cockpit bulkhead isn’t even with the cabin edges, so a thick piece of ‘timber’ was used to clamp the edges flush with one another.
Little pieces of square stock was cemented in the corners to strengthen the parts joined together. The forward cabin corners were done in the same way……..but I didn’t need to clamp them. The sides along the cabin area had a slight gap. These were clamped the same way, and cemented. At the aft cockpit wall……a small piece of like material was fashioned and cemented in place. It was sanded and shaped after it had dried.
After it was dry and shaped, the cockpit was painted with Ghost Gray.
Sadly, this session was cut short……..life always has a way of pulling a person away from their playtime……….more soon!
AHOY!!!
9-6-2016
After devoting some time to another build, I got back to this one. With the stern post slotted to attach the rudder {and being a bit off in the process}, it was time to make it right. I would have to correct the location slots, and fill in the gap to close them up to the proper size.
Once they both were filled in, a pair of caps were made from brass sheet to imitate the gungeon half of the hinge assembly. The holes were drilled again to enable the pins to have an anchor on both sides of the slot. The rudder was pinned in place and cemented.
The pins were cut flush and filed to flatten out the slight nub that was left behind. There was some sanding left to do on the rudder….it was done to finish rounding the edges. I did a little more sanding on the entire hull with some fine sandpaper…..you can see how ‘hairy’ basswood can be. It is a hard wood to work with in this respect……unless you seal the wood before the final sanding, you’ll never get a good smooth finish. With that done finally, the hull was masked, and the bottom paint was added. Gunship Gray.
When dry, it was masked again, and Cobalt Blue was added to the upper hull and the bulkhead parts , that will make up the cabin. The cabin sides were painted as well.
The Blue is part of my Billing’s paint stash……..which is beginning to go bad. I had better hurry and try to use all this paint up, before it all goes south! I was a bit off on the stern masking…….I’ll have to redefine the bottom paint.
The tiller was cut from some scrap material I had in the garage…….it will need plenty of refinement, before it can be added to the rudder assembly. The two posts affixed to the rudder will be refined as well. It’s a work in progress.
AHOY!!!
The bow stem was cemented on next…….one heck of a piece of timber. I pre drilled a hole though it as instructed………once making sure that it would fit flush, it was cemented on the bow.
I was going to attempt to whittle it down a bit, but thought better of it. Now, it needs to be sanded to a point, and then slightly blunted at the tip. The bottom will be sanded flush to the chafing planks and sanded to a rounded shape……same goes for the top. It took a little while, but I got the job done…….it came out pretty good.
I wanted to do something with the rudder……to me, just cementing it to the stern post isn’t going to do. Two marks were made …..an upper and a lower, and two notches were made. A hole was drilled through the bottom part and down through the top part. They continue past the gaps and into the center piece, so that pins could be inserted.
As for the rudder…….I tried to drill holes into it in the same increments, but found the thickness to be a problem. The rudder is 3/16 thick, so I made another one from some 1/8 thick flat stock, that I had lying around. I drilled the holes and inserted eye bolts.
The edges of the new rudder will be sanded to a rounded shape. Next, a tiller will be fitted to it, and after it is painted, installed onto the model. I am a little off with the ‘pintle rings’ , so I’ll make the adjustments and cap the bottoms to form some sort of gungeon assembly. It will look much better than just cemented on there.
AHOY!!!
Sorry……I like my Cheerios with at least a little milk! Hee…..Hee
When the sanding was done, the side panels were cemented into place. I kept them as flush along the chine as I could, leaving the extra material up along the deck sheer.
As can be seen in the picture above, the deck sheer, as well as the side and bottom panels, are a bit over sized. The excess needs to be either sanded or cut off, whichever you prefer. I had a funny notion to leave the overage and create another transom bulkhead to cap it all in. I voted it down, since that would make the aft deck sheer too long, making the boat look weird. I removed the excess at this time.
From here, I got a bit forgetful with further pictures. The other side was cemented in place. After sanding flush the bottom sides, the panels were cemented in place, leaving the extra material along the outside edges. Some fitting was required along the keel to minimize gaps. When dry, this is what the hull looks like.
As can be seen, the sanding I did caused a deficit at the bow. It also ruined the edge where the skeg {keel fin} starts. The excess material was trimmed along the deck sheer and sanded flush. I also refined the flat area on the bow……a bow stem is to be added here later on.
From the bow to the transom, along the keel, there is a pair of chafing planks, that are to cemented here. The centerboard is to fit in the center along the keel. The deficit at the bow was filled in with some 1/32 strip stock of the same width. Then, I sanded the keel and bottom flush and laid there two planks. The center where the keel should fill in, I added another plank, leaving a slot for the centerboard.
To emphasize the skeg, a 1/32 strip of the same width, was cemented in place, capping off the stern post, that was cemented on, combining these two steps of assembly.
From here, this process was cleaned up with a little sanding. What looked like a big problem, was quickly cut down to size. For those who are just starting out, mistakes are not the end of the world. With a little though and looking ahead in your instruction manuals, you should be able to sort out a remedy for any problem you run across. If you make a goof…….never quickly take it apart….assess it first. Perhaps there is an alternative remedy you can do. Who knows……it may just enhance the model and make it look more interesting.
AHOY!!!
I should also tell you that this build started a few weeks ago……around the beginning of August. Here it is, almost the end of the month, and I’m just now getting around to starting the build log on her. Actually, I wasn’t going to do one…….but I think it just wouldn’t be right. This is the second Midwest kit I’ve bought……but I think you should know that Midwest sold the model division of their company off to another company…if I find out who, I’ll let you know. So, when the cabin side had set long enough, they were fitted in place on the model. There are a few Issues with the fit.
They need to be bent a bit more, but can be clamped……so that’s a minor issue. One bigger issue, is that the port front joint of the cabin is a bit too short…..I had to shim a sliver of material on the bulkhead end…..you probably can see it in the picture above.
Here is a better shot of it……..the top edges can be brought flush with one another easy enough. The cockpit deck end……well, it will take a little bit more effort. The tab on F4 hangs a bit too low, causing a gap between the inner wall and the deck.
I had to separate the tab wood, and bend it up, so the gap will be closed. The rest of the fitting issues can be fixed with sanding….so we’re good. The keel stringers and the chine stringers are the next step. The slots for the keel stringers had to be enlarged, so they would fit properly. As for the chine stringers…..the transom end had to be cut at an angle, to be flush with the transom bulkhead. At the bow, the stringer had to be cut diagonally, so it would merge with the keel stringer. This had to be done on both sides.
After both side were done, the sides and bottom were sanded, so that the hull panels would sit flat. The instructions made me laugh…..they referred to them as planking. I don’t think they know what planking is.
AHOY!!!
The Gundalow - a scratch built model 