Wooden Model - 1:64 Lady Nelson
Discussion
After flirting somewhat successfully with cardboard ship models I've found myself being tempted by the world of wooden model ship building. I'm a complete newbie at this sort of thing so I had to do a fair amount of research to end up with both the type and skill level of model that I wanted. I was specifically after a type of kit called a 'plank and bulkhead' set, where hull cross sections are attached to a solid keel before planks are run along the edges of the bulkheads to form the hull.
You can find a few examples of this sort of model building on youtube, this unfinished series has been a great source of beginner tips for me.
I went in with my realistic pants on for once and eyes fairly well open, and managed to avoid buying a massive meter long galleon as my first model. I stumbled across the following model on a shop website that had they type of hull that I was after without a fear inducing level of detail on the deck and rigging (and also no sewing sails - bonus!)
I'm really really happy with the materials quality in this kit, it more than makes up for the sparse instructions. Hull planing will be done in wallnut planks over lime. Keel / bulkhead look like they are mdf. Masts are again wallnut, nice hemp line to weave (sort of) the rigging and the deck is some as yet unidentified planks over birch ply.
Initial assembly (and sanding, lots of sanding) has been fairly straightforward this weekend with the bulkheads all cut out and attached to the keel with a couple of supports for the hull planking. Everything was checked with a square before being glued with PVA, with a tiny bit of superglue to tack it into place. The prow of the ship has also been glued on along with a strip (of walnut I think) running along the length of the base of the keel, necessitating some creative clamping.
The more interesting work this weekend has been to 'profile' the bulkhead ends to better accept the hull planks. The edges need to be sanded to follow the angle that the planks will take as they bend around the ship to form the hull. I had expected this to be rather difficult but a couple of hours with a posh nail file and the job was done. Bit difficult to grab a picture of the results but I had a go. If anyone wants a more detailed explanation of why this is important I can have a go in Paint
One thing I will say is that this kit was sold as a Beginners Kit with 'comprehensive instructions'. Well it kind of isn't and they are not. In the kit I got 4 A2 sheets of plans, 1 A2 sheet of parts diagrams and 2 sides of A4 instruction text. So far the instructions / plans have told me to put pieces in the wrong place twice.... I get the feeling that is kind of the norm for these sort of kits where no two ships will come out quite the same once you start sanding. I'm not complaining, its refreshing to not always have Leggo quality instructions Just be aware!
You can find a few examples of this sort of model building on youtube, this unfinished series has been a great source of beginner tips for me.
I went in with my realistic pants on for once and eyes fairly well open, and managed to avoid buying a massive meter long galleon as my first model. I stumbled across the following model on a shop website that had they type of hull that I was after without a fear inducing level of detail on the deck and rigging (and also no sewing sails - bonus!)
I'm really really happy with the materials quality in this kit, it more than makes up for the sparse instructions. Hull planing will be done in wallnut planks over lime. Keel / bulkhead look like they are mdf. Masts are again wallnut, nice hemp line to weave (sort of) the rigging and the deck is some as yet unidentified planks over birch ply.
Initial assembly (and sanding, lots of sanding) has been fairly straightforward this weekend with the bulkheads all cut out and attached to the keel with a couple of supports for the hull planking. Everything was checked with a square before being glued with PVA, with a tiny bit of superglue to tack it into place. The prow of the ship has also been glued on along with a strip (of walnut I think) running along the length of the base of the keel, necessitating some creative clamping.
The more interesting work this weekend has been to 'profile' the bulkhead ends to better accept the hull planks. The edges need to be sanded to follow the angle that the planks will take as they bend around the ship to form the hull. I had expected this to be rather difficult but a couple of hours with a posh nail file and the job was done. Bit difficult to grab a picture of the results but I had a go. If anyone wants a more detailed explanation of why this is important I can have a go in Paint
One thing I will say is that this kit was sold as a Beginners Kit with 'comprehensive instructions'. Well it kind of isn't and they are not. In the kit I got 4 A2 sheets of plans, 1 A2 sheet of parts diagrams and 2 sides of A4 instruction text. So far the instructions / plans have told me to put pieces in the wrong place twice.... I get the feeling that is kind of the norm for these sort of kits where no two ships will come out quite the same once you start sanding. I'm not complaining, its refreshing to not always have Leggo quality instructions
Just be aware!
Hey Folks,
I thought that about 1 update a week would be about right, otherwise I'd be posting every couple of days with a picture of a small piece of wood that I had sanded a bit and/or broken. Saying that I had hoped to have made a bit more process this week but events have conspired against me.
Now that I have all of the bulkheads attached, square and profiled the next job was to attach the deck. This will be planked over at a later stage so I marked on the location of the keel and bulkheads to make pinning easier. Think this was made out of 1mm birch ply.
Once attached, in the image above you can see that the deck was not quite flush with the bulkheads in all areas, so out came the sanding sticks. I also profiled the top most parts of the bulkheads which you can see are still angular above, to make attaching the bullwarks (side bits) simpler.
Fitting the bullwarks was a learning experience (read, faff) for me. They required soaking for an hour or so before bending, gluing and pinning in to place. At one point I managed to snap the prow of the boat but fortunately it glued back on really cleanly.
After a fair amount of bending and pinning I got both of the sides fitted. It felt like I needed 3 hands, and a bit more of an idea of what I was trying to do, but Im sure the next ship will be easier, which is kind of the point. I found pinning the bullwarks to be quite tricky as the 'pin pusher' tool that I am using requires a fair degree of force to operate. Im going to remove a few coils of the spring to see if that helps matters. The bulkhead spars that you can see protruding up above the level of the deck will be broken off before the deck is planked, the 4 wooden pieces at the very stern of the ship will remain to shape the planks against.
This is where I am currently, ready for planking the hull which is my next step. I've done a fairly awful job with the sides and there are some fairly big gaps that might come back to bite me later on, I guess we will see
edited for crimes against English
I thought that about 1 update a week would be about right, otherwise I'd be posting every couple of days with a picture of a small piece of wood that I had sanded a bit and/or broken. Saying that I had hoped to have made a bit more process this week but events have conspired against me.
Now that I have all of the bulkheads attached, square and profiled the next job was to attach the deck. This will be planked over at a later stage so I marked on the location of the keel and bulkheads to make pinning easier. Think this was made out of 1mm birch ply.
Once attached, in the image above you can see that the deck was not quite flush with the bulkheads in all areas, so out came the sanding sticks. I also profiled the top most parts of the bulkheads which you can see are still angular above, to make attaching the bullwarks (side bits) simpler.
Fitting the bullwarks was a learning experience (read, faff) for me. They required soaking for an hour or so before bending, gluing and pinning in to place. At one point I managed to snap the prow of the boat but fortunately it glued back on really cleanly.
After a fair amount of bending and pinning I got both of the sides fitted. It felt like I needed 3 hands, and a bit more of an idea of what I was trying to do, but Im sure the next ship will be easier, which is kind of the point. I found pinning the bullwarks to be quite tricky as the 'pin pusher' tool that I am using requires a fair degree of force to operate. Im going to remove a few coils of the spring to see if that helps matters. The bulkhead spars that you can see protruding up above the level of the deck will be broken off before the deck is planked, the 4 wooden pieces at the very stern of the ship will remain to shape the planks against.
This is where I am currently, ready for planking the hull which is my next step. I've done a fairly awful job with the sides and there are some fairly big gaps that might come back to bite me later on, I guess we will see
edited for crimes against English
Edited by Tokamak on Monday 28th August 23:06
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