I've yet to come across someone building these kind of ships who hasn't made an error somewhere in the construction process. At least you spotted the problem before you were too far into the build and no doubt other errors will be made as you progress.... But, correcting any errors is also part of this wonderful hobby and publishing them helps us all in our quest in gaining knowledge and experience..... Well done, keep posting up and I'll keep following.....

Regards

Alan

NOTE: This is a very small mod. I wanted to go with a lighter wood for the mast mounts. The ones provided in the kit are perfectly fine.

Mentioned earlier that I jumped ahead to the skiff whilst I await the next issue. I noticed in the instructions for Month 9 there was a photo of the completed skiff and I didn't really like how dark and monotone everything was. This is why I decided to lighten things up a bit - I also like contrasting colors of wood on a build and want to incorporate some of that into this.

First up were the mounts for the masts. Nothing wrong with the ones provided with the kit, I just wanted to make them lighter so they were actually visible to someone viewing the model. Items this teeny are nearly impossible to handle and shape individually, so I decided to take a piece of 4x4mm and carve them out. I made three of which two were acceptable. Once I had them worked to my liking I cut them free and glued them in place. I also drilled the 2mm hole prior to cutting them free. Note: a clean, sharp blade is needed for this. I tend to be very frugal and stretch a blade as long as I can. However, the smaller the bit, the more important it becomes to have a new blade.

The transom was another instance of "need clean sharp blade". The laser cut piece needs to be modified per the instructions. However, get a bit too happy with the knife and it could go south really quick. Took my time here - "measure twice, cut once". However, this time was a bit more like "measure twice, cut, measure twice again, but a little more...repeat". End result was a near perfect fit. Kept a towel nearby to wipe the sweat from my brow as I surgically removed the needed bit without accidentally hacking off the little pointy parts.

Then came some easier steps. Cleaning up and glueing in place the seats and whatever you call those pieces at the bow and the stern. Felt good after this as it really strengthened the ribs. You can see in the photo where one rib is a bit out of kilter, but it has enough flex that I can adjust that when I add the first planks. I also noticed there is the slightest bit of twist to the keel so I need to remember to deal with that when I plank as well. The instructions call for only the first couple strakes at the top but I may decide to fully plank one side just to help give it more of that "boat" look. Again, looking at the final product in the instructions and the skiff just doesn't come across to me as a skiff. I will think on it further.

Medric, we are birds of a feather, my friend. I too have decided to put those aside and do them all at once. On my first major build, the HMS Victory available here at DeAgostini, I initially started making the canons as they arrived with each subscription. I quickly discovered how difficult it is to retain a consistent look from one to the next doing things this way. After about the fourth or fifth one (out of something like 20 or more) I decide to hold off and do them in more of an assembly line fashion. Things worked out much better that way for me. Took it as a lesson learned and it is how decided I would do it going forward.

As for color...great info. I would have gone ahead and just painted them boring old black, but if the pale green is more true to reality I would do that as well. I have never seen Master and Commander, and I bear that shame. I now have it on my watch list for this weekend. Is the ship in that flick the same era and type? You have any luck finding corraborating evidence? I don't always trust what the set makers for movies do as they often change things up slightly for visual improvements.

If you do one, please post on your log. I am keeping a keen eye on your progress and am very curious about the color and the results you get.

Then it came time to adhere the sheer strake to the ribs...this was scary! Any time I touch those itsy bitsy ribs I get nervous...but in a good way...I love building these things.

I started with the port side strake and first glued it to the transom and rearmost three ribs. After this dried I worked my way to the bow. However, once I hit the last 3 ribs I encountered a problem. Although I had bent the strake to fit nicely, it still added some pressure to these three ribs as it made the tight turn toward the stem. All was good for a few moment and then I heard the dreaded crack of wood...I am sure we are all familiar with this sound...it is awful. I swear I awake at night sometimes thinking I hear a board crack...gets to me that much.

The images below show where the strake actually pulled the rib against that thingy at the bow (one day I will figure out what that is called). The torque of the rib twisting also snapped off the tiny bit. The magenta outline shows the original/proper position of the rib and the cyan outline shows where the piece used to be on that thingy at the bow.

Lesson learned...always fair your frame no matte how small. Sadly, the instructions don't call for this and maybe since they use .5mm planks it wouldn't be necessary. But still, I will never make this mistake again. In fact, I went ahead and faired the starboard side just slightly. Couldn't do too much as the ribs are small enough as is. However, what I could do helped tremendously and I avoided the problem on the starboard side. The magenta arrows show the bad, not-faired ribs on the port side and the cyan shows a nice, faired rib on the starboard side. I strongly suggest folks fair these just a bit to avoid the issue I encountered. Again, only needed to do this to the foremost three ribs. And even there, only needed to do it near the top of the ribs where the two strakes will be applied.

Final note on this, I chose not to repair the tiny bit on that thingy at the bow. I don't think it will be visible and because it is soooo small I thought any repair would be more unsightly then the problem I was trying to solve. If anyone visits the house when this is complete, and points that out to me, I will show them the front door

Finally, the skiff was ready for the top rails. I didn't pre-bend these in any way as the laser cut part was pliable enough to attach without issue. This was straight forward and simple...really happy I added the sheer strakes before I did this step.

However, I was a bit too brutal when clamping things in place and caused two small mars in the port sheer strake (see image below). Thankfully, a bit of water dabbed onto these spots and the wood sprang back into place. Next time I will prebend the rail to prevent this.

With both rails applied, the end product looks really good. Now I think I will set this aside for a while as I continue to contemplate if I want to plank one entire side or not. Still need to add another strake to both sides at a minimum, but this can wait as well.

That little skiff looks tricky. No room for error. Working on this particular model is like going to model builders school. Speaking of colors for the cannons and culverin and anchor, I had another thought. I mentioned the green color of the culverins in Master and Commander. The more I think about it that looks more like tarnished copper than iron. My Dad was in the Navy in WWII and he told me that all they ever did at sea was paint and maintenance, so I imagine those cannons looked pretty spiffy and not tarnished at all. And now a thought about the anchor. There is a seam down the side on the model part. I wonder if that should be sanded off .

I think you are doing a great job.

Keep it coming.


Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

I'm back! Finished up a big project for work and was finally able to get back to the real enjoyment in life.

First of all, thank you everyone for your kind comments and words. It is encouraging and makes these logs all the more enjoyable.