Duchess of Kingston - Beauty of the Seas - Wooden Sailing Ship 1/64

[GazzaS]

That's nice looking work, Rob!  I did a scratch build (never completed) of SMS Seydlitz with a meter long hull using balsa.  I used plastic-wood for filler...   I needed lots of it!

[DocRob]

11 hours ago, GazzaS said:

That's nice looking work, Rob!  I did a scratch build (never completed) of SMS Seydlitz with a meter long hull using balsa.  I used plastic-wood for filler...   I needed lots of it!

Thanks Gaz, I'd really like to see some pics of your SMS Seydlitz. I like these older battle ships with casemates. Which scale is it 1/200 or 1/150?

Cheers Rob

[GazzaS]

1 minute ago, DocRob said:

Thanks Gaz, I'd really like to see some pics of your SMS Seydlitz. I like these older battle ships with casemates. Which scale is it 1/200 or 1/150?

Cheers Rob

This was back in 1987 Rob.  I have nothing from that time except for memories.  I had to work from pretty lame line drawings in library books.  Only to discover that I had a lot of it wrong.

[DocRob]

3 hours ago, GazzaS said:

This was back in 1987 Rob.  I have nothing from that time except for memories.  I had to work from pretty lame line drawings in library books.  Only to discover that I had a lot of it wrong.

Pity, interesting project though. I know about the lack of documentation from old builds. I switched to digital photography very late, as I didn't liked the results of the early cameras. I loved my Contax with Zeiss lenses, using slide film, often black and white and enjoyed the quality of the pics after having to wait for them. After converting to digital photography, I always felt, the quality of my pics declined a lot. 
Anyway, I got some hundred important slides digitized, but modelling was not on my priority list by this time.

Cheers Rob

[Bomber_County]

Rob, this has moved on a lot, the planking looks 3000% better than my attempt. One day I’ll have another go, working 8 hours a day really messes with bench time……

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, Bomber_County said:

Rob, this has moved on a lot, the planking looks 3000% better than my attempt. One day I’ll have another go, working 8 hours a day really messes with bench time……

Thank you Phil, but my planking skills need to be honed for second planking, which can't be hidden. Actually, I'm not working on the DoK for too many hours daily, to be concentrated. There is a lot of drying time involved, be it glue or soaked wood, which have to dry preformed. On the other hand, the build is more relaxing than a plastic kit until now, I even curse less .

Cheers Rob

[Bomber_County]

Talk about cursing, Trumpeter F4F-3, closing the fuselage up………

[DocRob]

After a long sanding session, where I thinned the stern considerably to accept the sternpost and the rest of the hull now ready to receive some filler, I turned my attention to an area, which I dread a little. The stern is very complex, many parts meet with a delicate geometry there and I will prepare myself with a little test fitting.

I figured, If I put the stern fairings (the planked looking stern parts) flat onto the remaining spars of the fuselage, there is not enough room to accept the rudder. I have to cheat the geometry a bit here. It was also important to find the right position for the stern fascia (the part with the windows), as it's not overly clear shown in the instructions, where a pic from the inside would have helped.
All in all, I took my time breeding for more than two hours about the area and hope I have a cunning plan now.

Cheers Rob

[GazzaS]

3 hours ago, DocRob said:

After a long sanding session, where I thinned the stern considerably to accept the sternpost and the rest of the hull now ready to receive some filler, I turned my attention to an area, which I dread a little. The stern is very complex, many parts meet with a delicate geometry there and I will prepare myself with a little test fitting.

I figured, If I put the stern fairings (the planked looking stern parts) flat onto the remaining spars of the fuselage, there is not enough room to accept the rudder. I have to cheat the geometry a bit here. It was also important to find the right position for the stern fascia (the part with the windows), as it's not overly clear shown in the instructions, where a pic from the inside would have helped.
All in all, I took my time breeding for more than two hours about the area and hope I have a cunning plan now.

Cheers Rob

Rob, .

   The ends of the ship are always the most "fun".   It's probably a lot worse when you have to worry about planks that need to show an look good.

But never trust your spell check. 

[DocRob]

11 hours ago, GazzaS said:

The ends of the ship are always the most "fun".   It's probably a lot worse when you have to worry about planks that need to show an look good.

Indeed Gaz and there is even more to consider, like how do I apply the second planking around the stern, how do I close the small triangulas openings under the stern fairings with second planking .

11 hours ago, GazzaS said:

But never trust your spell check.

I didn't get that message, was there something funny in my faulty English ?

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

After filling the hull with acrylic wood filler, it was again time for a thorough sanding but now I call the first planking done. It came out smoother than I feared after the first sanding job and the amounts of applicated filler were tiny.
After this dusty affair was achieved, I cleaned the hull and glued in the keel and the sternpost. What's next, you couldn't have guessed, second planking hooray.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

The first planking, filler and sanding looks mighty good - try a few of those Martini's. I've been following a you tube restoration (the real McCoy) for years of Tally Ho and the planking and wood work is amazing. 

Keep 'em comin

Peter

[Clunkmeister]

On 3/5/2022 at 4:11 AM, DocRob said:

Thank you Peter, by the way, I discovered the wheel - err - bummer, it's existing since a long time, somebody told me . Actually time was the trigger, as I need the pin pusher soon and to get one to my remote part of the world would have taken three weeks, I guess.
Generally, I like to work with metal and wood, specially very fine things. When I was in my late teens, I made a mini replica of my Camera (Minolta X-700) from brass. It was only three cm wide and consisted of ca. 20 parts. By the time, I started my apprenticeship as an engineer and had access to all the machinery needed and it was one fun project among others.

Cheers Rob

Yep, Rob, I swallowed my pride and pulled it all off right up to two down from the main wale. I then started being more careful. It’s not that I hadn’t stopped working on her, I had gone and started on some deck guns and their carriages, getting some of that chore down a d out of the way.

I more carefully sanded the first planking, and even filled a couple depressions I hadn't noticed before. 
I’ll replant with boxwood for uniformity until I get down to the area that’ll be laid over with copper plates. I’ll use pear wood under that area. It won’t be seen, so…

I had really played with the idea of hand planking my deck, but the laser cut part is gorgeous, and I’ve figured out the deck hardware and figments should cover any burn marks. 
I’ll post an update on Speedy soon enough, but I’ve also got my hands full monitoring the Ukraine build. 

After Speedy, I see one of Chris’s coastal fishing boats as my next project. 

[Clunkmeister]

Your first planking looks great, Rob. As James and Mike have told me, it’s the foundation for the second, so we’ll be doing ours together. 😃

[Clunkmeister]

On 3/17/2022 at 1:27 PM, Landlubber Mike said:

I should have mentioned that some people edge bend wet planks that they dry to shape with a hair dryer.  Not sure exactly how all that works, but it might be worth looking into for the second planking.  You can also look for planks in your kit that have a slight curve to them laterally, and use that to your advantage when planking.

If you really want to torture yourself, you can always try spiling your planks.  It works really well to avoid gaps, clinks, etc., but is (1) incredibly time consuming, and (2) you need to use wider planking materials to be able to cut the planks to start with.  I was just looking through my Pegasus log and found these extreme examples of what spiling can entail - worth it in the end as you end up with nicer looking plank runs.  Most of the planks weren't this bad though.

Here is one at the bow (in third picture, I believe it's the foremost plank under the wale):

 

Here was one crazy one at the stern that had to not only go around the drop plank above it, but carry upwards to the stern counter:

 

 

 

 

Mike, that’s amazing work there. Your first planking is about flawless.  I had several low spots as well that I had to attend to.  Simple task with wood filler, but it’d be a real bear on a larger hull like Sphinx. 
So I’ve filed your use of filler blocks away for future reference. Even simple balsa blocks should benefit gettin a smooth flowing hull line with less filler on top.

[GazzaS]

The first planking looks great, Rob.  I'm sure the second will be even better!  Copper bottomed hull?

[DocRob]

15 hours ago, Peterpools said:

The first planking, filler and sanding looks mighty good - try a few of those Martini's. I've been following a you tube restoration (the real McCoy) for years of Tally Ho and the planking and wood work is amazing. 

Thanks Peter, I stay with the simplified scale version for now . When I look out of my window at the rough Atlantic ocean, spotting a very rare sail, I couldn't help but to think about green faces. I try to use the best part of the mostly ugly waves (at least on my my island) and surf. You don't get seasick on a surfboard .

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

6 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Yep, Rob, I swallowed my pride and pulled it all off right up to two down from the main wale. I then started being more careful. It’s not that I hadn’t stopped working on her, I had gone and started on some deck guns and their carriages, getting some of that chore down a d out of the way.

I more carefully sanded the first planking, and even filled a couple depressions I hadn't noticed before. 
I’ll replant with boxwood for uniformity until I get down to the area that’ll be laid over with copper plates. I’ll use pear wood under that area. It won’t be seen, so…

I had really played with the idea of hand planking my deck, but the laser cut part is gorgeous, and I’ve figured out the deck hardware and figments should cover any burn marks. 
I’ll post an update on Speedy soon enough, but I’ve also got my hands full monitoring the Ukraine build. 

After Speedy, I see one of Chris’s coastal fishing boats as my next project. 

It's very good news to see you back at the Speedy Ernie. The name of the vessel should anticipate the building speed .
Planking is a laborious task, but it has to be done and there is always room to improve it seems. I ended up with a smooth hull and cannot spot irregularities shape ways, so far so good, but it will not be good enough for second planking.
With my experiences from first planking, I will incorporate some changings and new techniques for the second planking. I will taper the bow ends to measure, to have a symmetrical planking. I plan to bend the planks dampened where necessary, putting them onto a flat surface with two clamps in the desired bow shape. Lastly I will bevel more thoroughly.
My planking is made from pear wood and I will select matching color planks for the part from the deck line down to the waterline, which will be visible later.

The deck looks fine to me and I will use it as it is. In another build log, somebody sanded the deck carefully with 320 grit, to get rid of the burn marks and reported to have not removed any of the engravings.

I'm pondering about participating in the Ukraine group build the whole time, but in the moment I don't have the space and capacity to start something parallel. I started with DoK only a few days before the world got out of hand. Let's see, if I'm in it will be ICM's Gladiator.

Sphinx is always on my mind as a future project, but fishing vessels too. In my case it would be the Amati Fifie, which is designed by Chris, I think. I like the scale and for a change, I would make it look weathered and used.

Seeing forward to you continuing the sleek Speedy

Chees Rob

[DocRob]

6 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Mike, that’s amazing work there. Your first planking is about flawless.  I had several low spots as well that I had to attend to.  Simple task with wood filler, but it’d be a real bear on a larger hull like Sphinx. 
So I’ve filed your use of filler blocks away for future reference. Even simple balsa blocks should benefit gettin a smooth flowing hull line with less filler on top.

Not only are the filler blocks a good foundation, to apply the planks on, but by preparing them, you easier spot, where a spar might be a bit out of shape to accept the planks, specially in the delicate bow area. On my DoK build, I haven't realized, that the third spar isn't perfect, and I didn't spot it with controlling the shape with a test plank.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

3 hours ago, GazzaS said:

The first planking looks great, Rob.  I'm sure the second will be even better!  Copper bottomed hull?

Muchas gracias Gaz, fingers crossed. The second planking has some new difficulties to master. Below the water line my hull will be painted white, no copper with DoK.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

Progress is slow in the moment, as I try to eliminate all hindering elements for second planking. This is a time consuming process with a lot of test fitting and anticipation.
The most difficult part to foresee is the stern area with it's multi dimensional shape. The manual states, that the stern end of the planks should tuck under the stern fairing. In order to do this, I found it necessary to add some supports, to achieve the geometry needed. For measurement, I built together the rudder and taped it in place. I found out, that I had to open the slot for the rudder on the fairing a bit more.

While using the glue's drying time to prepare the decorative keel fairings, I clamped them onto the keel in their final position and found the gap between first planking and keel fairing too narrow in places to tuck under a plank. I sanded the hull to conform, like on the picture, the gap is now evenly wide enough to accept second planking.

Cheers Rob

 

[DocRob]

This is really step by step work, as it's always curing time, drying time, ...-time. We have storm and rain in the moment and I hoped to advance a bit farther, but no, poco a poco . The actual building steps are important for second planking and complicated, so a bit patience is necessary.
I glued on the stern fairings and applied the stern fascia loosely to get an impression, if everything is right. Looks good to me and the stern fairing will be sanded to fit after planking.

The planks above the deck line are prefabricated and have engravings to resemble planks. The wooden parts were soaked in the bow area and clamped to the bulwark for drying preformed some days before. I glued the planks onto the bulwark using an assortment of clamps and rubber bands. Alignment was relatively easy, because bulwark and prefab planks have corresponding holes, where I inserted nails for alignment, clever engineering again. Fit was very good, but it was not easy to press on the planks onto the entire surface equally.

I absolutely love that the gunports are pre-cut through the bulwark, the inner and the outer planking. To drill these out and get them sanded square and perfectly aligned on my Kutter model was a task, which lead to a benching of the vessel.

Cheers Rob

[GazzaS]

Very nice progress, Rob. 

[DocRob]

8 hours ago, GazzaS said:

Very nice progress, Rob.

Thank you Gaz, while the second side of the pre fabricated planks are clamped, rubber banded nailed, ..., I can show the nice result of the first side. The pearwood looks great to my eye. 
It was not so easy to get the long part aligned and I could barely see anything because of the amount of clamps used. It skipped my ever suspicious eye, that in the bow area, the planks are a bit high, about 2mm too much. I saw this after the glue cured and decided to do it the same way on the other side, which make it necessary to correct six holes in the hull. 

In the middle of the night, it struck me, that now it's maybe the best time to paint some black behind the stern and side windows, without the risk to ruin decorative elements later. 
I took out some Tamiya XF-black and painted the area and cleaned the brush with some Tamiya solvent. I tell this, because at that moment I realized somethin great about wooden ship modelling. Most of the building stages do not require chemicals with strong and unhealthy odor, great. Of course there is dust and vapors from varnish, but not the ever present Tamiya Extra Thin, permanent painting, cleaning, airbrushing, it's a difference.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

Preparations, preparations. To achieve the best possible second planking, I spread the pearwood planks out and sorted them for color matches. I selected two sets of 15 planks in similar shades for each side. This will be more than enough for the planks for the visible area above the waterline. I also reviewed the planks, to see, which is the better side, because some have marks from planing.
The sets of 15 where then bundeled orientated with rubber bands.

I'm not sure for which purpose I marked the run of the spars with a flexible strip and a pencil, but better now than too late. In the last days, I also added the keel and bow fairings, to tuck the second planking under.

Cheers Rob