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The Locator posted:Well, it seemed to be mostly people posting completed stuff, not builds in progress, so I wasn't sure. I'm happy to post build updates if it's appropriate to the thread. Heck, this statement should probably go in the OP it's so universal.
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Sep 19, 2014 02:13
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That's kind of the one beef I have with another modeling forum I participate in, a place called The Clubhouse. There's tons of great stuff on display there, but site has changed over the years from a place where there were tons of build logs and tutorials, to a place where it's pretty much just "Here's a finished piece, now give me kudos." I guess I get enough of the build logs and tutorials from subscribing to Amazing Figure Modeler magazine, but it's so weird having to subscribe to an actual magazine these days.
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Sep 19, 2014 02:46
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The main thing I've gotten out of The Locator's wooden ship build is that, more than any other scale model type, that it would really help of you are/were shipwright or a sailor in real life. Also that I'm stupid enough to want to give it a go.
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Sep 19, 2014 03:38
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Since there does seem to be some interest, and I know how little I knew about these things going in, I thought maybe people would be interested in the answer to the question - "What exactly do you get in a wooden ship kit?" I know I had no idea before I started this, as the shops that sell these things are not keen on opening the internal packaging, and most of the kits sold in stores (at least that I've found) rather than over the internet, are poorly documented, and the retail packaging is shrink wrapped inside the outer box so you can't really examine the quality. If I'd done my research before buying the Carmen, I never would have bought that kit, from that company, as my first model. In some ways I'm glad I did, as it forced me to go out and find resources to assist me in the build, and now I've got those resources to tap into for anything else I do. It also taught me some hard lessons. In the process of doing this kit, I also spent a great deal of time reading about the different companies, their offerings, and what each of their strengths and weaknesses were. Many of the European companies provide excellent materials, with some really nice exotic wood, but really assume that you aren't going to bother with their instructions, so the included instructions are really very bad. My Carmen box says "70 page full color instructions and full size plans!" Well yea, if you include the front and back cover, and the copyright pages, etc. Even better, when you actually open a page, the left side is the instructions in 7 different languages, and the right side is some small pictures. Each translated English instruction set to go with the pictures was 1-4 sentences at best, so there were actually a giant 30 entire paragraphs (1-4 sentences each) of instructions, and a single plan sheet. Oh, and the instruction booklet is only 5" high, not full sized. It seems that a company in Florida named Model Shipways (a part of Model Expo) has a great reputation for extremely well documented kits, with excellent instructions in English, as well as very good full size plan sheets. Their downside is that they provide very little in the way of exotic hardwoods, giving you primarily basswood and walnut pieces. The quality of the wood is very decent, but basswood makes a relatively poor final planking material, so for decks and deck structures many people will replace this wood with holly or maple from an outside source. I decided midway through the Carmen build that I was going to do another kit, and I wanted it to be one with excellent documentation, so I ordered the Armed Virgina Sloop. And now, what you never get to see in the stores. What's in the mystery box! It was shipped in a well padded box from Florida via Fed-Ex. Inside the typical brown cardboard box was this box: The steel ruler in all of these pictures is 18" long if you can't make that out.   Box contents minus the plans, instructions, and parts list (note that the Carmen kit from Constructo didn't even have a parts list, so I had no way of even knowing if anything was missing). The laser-cut false-keel and bulkheads are some form of plywood.  The contents of the middle bag from above. More laser-cut parts in both basswood and walnut. False decks, bulkheads, windows, gun carriages, and other bits.  The contents of that other small bag of wood - blocks of some sort of hardwood, no idea what they are for at this point. The rope (minus one spool of black that I left on my work bench for some reason, and the plastic container with all the little tiny bits.  The contents of that plastic container (minus the cast pieces in a different picture). Blocks, deadeyes, eyebolts, brass wire, black wire, more rope, and some other bits. The tube contains some lengths of different sizes of brass strip, tubing, and solid round bar. Used for making fittings or something?  The cast pieces. Cannon, swivel guns, anchor, mast and bowsprit fittings, mast rings, and cleats.  The big bag-o-wood. And then spread out a bit. Lots of loose pieces but most of it is bundled by size. It's a lot more wood than was in the Carmen kit.   Sample page of the instruction book. Worlds away from what was in the Carmen kit.  Seven! Full size plan sheets.        And that, is what is in a wooden model ship kit (or at least this one). Model Shipways will sell you the plan sheets without the kit, and you can use them to scratch build this using your own choice of materials as well. Edit: Another note - the "Size" listed on wooden ship kits can be very deceiving. They use overall length, which in the case of this sloop, is measured from the very tip of the bowsprit to the very back tip of the main boom which extends behind the ship. The hull length is completely unrelated to the length on the box. The length of this kit for example is 33.5". The hull is 14-3/4" at the longest point along the centerline. The Locator fucked around with this message at 05:15 on Sep 19, 2014 |
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Sep 19, 2014 05:06
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Wow why is one of the pieces so much more burned than the others? I do a lot of laser cutting but I've never seen poo poo get burned that bad.
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Sep 19, 2014 06:22
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Baronjutter posted:Wow why is one of the pieces so much more burned than the others? I do a lot of laser cutting but I've never seen poo poo get burned that bad. I just had that one flipped to the opposite side as the others. All of the walnut parts look somewhat like that on one side. Cleaning up the burn is part of dealing with laser cut parts. Since it's only my second kit, I can't tell you how typical it is, as the Carmen kit had no laser cut walnut.
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Sep 19, 2014 06:35
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I've always been curious about wooden model ships, but I've been pretty intimidated at the same time. That last post with all the box contents is fantastic. Is there any way you could maybe put together a similar one with the tools that you're using?
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Sep 19, 2014 15:02
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I foresee many ship kits bought by people in this thread in the near future. Thanks for that link to the rigging manual The Locator! I've started to grab the other two ship modeling books on that site as well...just in case.
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Sep 19, 2014 17:06
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If they stuck some cheap masking/painters tape on top they could avoid all that burning... lazy cutters!
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Sep 19, 2014 17:36
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:Is there any way you could maybe put together a similar one with the tools that you're using? I'm in middle of doing some major re-arranging and cleanup before starting the next build, so not going to try to lay out all the tools to take pictures, but I have a couple of pictures from two different points in the build, and can go over most of what I used. Keep in mind that some people build these things with a very small selection of hand tools, while other people have full shops with miniature lathes, belt sanders, scroll saws, table saws, etc. First off, I'd suggest you not do like I did and set up a work bench for a project that is going to generate lots of sawdust in a library! Here are two shots of the work-bench at different times. I added the stand with the Dremel and flex-shaft later on in the build, which is why it's not in the first picture.   So, tools. Light. Lots of good light. Cutting mat. A small vise (very useful, but probably not necessary). Multiple small pliers and cutters. Flat nose and needle nose. I used the square end flat bladed pliers and flat end-cutters a lot, along with the needle nose. A pin-vise and a set of very small drills - #60- #80 plus a set of drills to bridge from there to the typical drill bit sizes. A regular drill and set of bits. Set of small files. X-acto knife with #11 and #22 blades. Calipers for measuring. Digital is preferred, and they can be had for 10 bucks at Harbor Freight or on Amazon, etc. Small miter box (aluminum preferred over plastic) and razor saw. These can be gotten in a box X-acto set along with the handles and knife blades. Clamps. All kinds of clamps. The more variety the better, as some work well for some jobs, and some work well for others. I've got a stupid number of clamps now. Pins and rubber bands for when clamps won't work. Glue - both wood glue and super-glue. Some people also use 2-part epoxy for certain types of work. Glue applicator for getting small amounts of glue into precise spots. I used a box of flat toothpicks. Straight edge (Steel) for cutting and marking lines. Pencil for marking. Paint brushes for varnishing and painting as needed. A small hammer for the tiny brass nails for planking and some other bits. A pair of edge cutters designed to cut wire (or whatever) off right against the surface. Doubles as a great tool for pulling the little nails out when they are pounded in to far to grab with pliers. I used fingernail clippers for this because I didn't have the right kind of cutter when I started. Sand paper in various grits. Sanding blocks or handles in various sizes and shapes. Multiple tweezers, straight and angled. The locking style forceps can be useful. The Dremel tool with flex-attachment was extremely useful, but is mostly a time-saver, everything I did with it could have been done by hand, albeit slower. As the models get more complicated, I'm told the drill press will become very useful, as the tolerances on some holes simply don't work for hand-held work. I didn't actually use the drill-press as I got it late in the build after the point where it would have been really handy. Magnifier - either the type built into a light or a flex-arm, or the binocular over the head type. I use the latter because I found that I couldn't get both eyes to focus on work through the big 5" one with the light I have. Stupid old age. This is certainly optional, I didn't use it much. A small scroll saw is very useful. Also - a vacuum. You'll be making lots of sawdust and wood shavings. If you had no tools at all, you could probably get started for $100 to $150 bucks in tools and supplies (or less) if you bought all new and didn't hunt for bargains and built it on your existing desk or a kitchen table, or you could spend a grand easy. Feel free to ask any questions clarifying anything, and I'll try to get pictures to help where my wall of text isn't understandable. Late Edit- Items I forgot: Plank Bender. I used a soldering iron and water, but bought a plank bender for my next kit. Soldering Iron or micro-torch with solder and flux. More advanced kits require some soldering of brass metal parts. Because of the above, something to cut brass - heavy duty scissors or small metal nippers of some kind. The Locator fucked around with this message at 07:25 on Sep 20, 2014 |
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Sep 20, 2014 06:03
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This thread needs more pictures, even if they're lame ones like mine. Well, it sure isn't a wooden boat model, but these little laser-cut metal kits are pretty fun to put together. I saw a display of them at the Nimitz museum in Fredricksburg, TX when I was down there, and grabbed the only two different kits: a A6 Zero and a Tiger 1. Despite all the teeny-tiny parts and searching around for household objects that have the right diameter cylinder to bend parts around, the don't seem too terribly hard to put together. Today I built the turret and the upper hull of the Tiger 1, the parts certainly look better after you've gotten the hang of bending all the little tabs in place. 
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Sep 21, 2014 20:30
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Built this guy while watching Hunt for Red October. It was a neat little kit!  
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Sep 21, 2014 21:16
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That's a pretty rad Typhoon! I'm digging the color combo 
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Sep 21, 2014 21:20
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Yeah, it's what the instructions called for? I'm thinking it's either anti-corrosion or anti-echoic paint.. or something.. I'm not really sure haha. I looked up other models and they had it as well.
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Sep 21, 2014 21:26
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Bruiser posted:Yeah, it's what the instructions called for? I'm thinking it's either anti-corrosion or anti-echoic paint.. or something.. I'm not really sure haha. I looked up other models and they had it as well.
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Sep 21, 2014 21:30
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Bruiser posted:Built this guy while watching Hunt for Red October. It was a neat little kit! Nice! I'm about ready to paint a Los Angeles class I built. I'd share a picture but my camera is currently unavailable.
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Sep 22, 2014 00:23
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Aw man, back in my Tom Clancy fanboy days I really wanted to build a Los Angeles class and a Typhoon...I played the poo poo out of the modern submarine computer games!
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Sep 22, 2014 11:27
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Tram/Sidewalk updates.   I'm using this 3M spray glue stuff, but I maybe didn't spray enough on some parts as every morning I find them peeled up in the corners. I'm going to dab some wood glue or something under them and clamp them down.
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Sep 22, 2014 15:49
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Devlan Mud posted:This thread needs more pictures, even if they're lame ones like mine. Not lame at all, those little metal models are pretty cool. I've never built one, but I've seen some really great looking models from them, and the detail on your Tiger looks pretty good. Are you planning to paint it or leave it bare metal? Bruiser posted:Built this guy while watching Hunt for Red October. It was a neat little kit! I've never built a sub model - what do they have you assemble on one? Just doesn't seem like there would be much to one, but there has to be a lot of things I'm missing or they'd never sell a kit.
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Sep 23, 2014 02:03
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Some people (like me) tend to build for wargaming purposes. Sometimes simplicity of the kit is an asset there.
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Sep 23, 2014 02:08
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Arquinsiel posted:Some people (like me) tend to build for wargaming purposes. Sometimes simplicity of the kit is an asset there. True enough. In my early 20's a friend of mine and myself 'assembly line' built about 50 to 60 1/72nd scale WW2 airplanes for a 3d air-to-air combat game that was played with trolly's on a basketball or volleyball court. The day we hung those things on strings all over the house and went to town with two air-brush's was probably monumentally stupid, but we are both somehow still around near 30 years later now.
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Sep 23, 2014 03:34
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The Locator posted:
It was a pretty quick build. Managed to get it all glued together before the movie was over.. The hull comes in two halves without anything on top. They give you the option to have it submerged with all of the doodads on top retracted, or extended like I've got it. Glue the conning tower together, put that on, and then the two screws and all of the stuff on the rear end end... I know the name for this stuff-- but I'm only on my 2nd cup of coffee at 0600 haha. The most pain in the rear end part was the aft because I have giant uncoordinated gorilla hands. But, like I said. It was a fun, quick thing that I knocked out during Red October. I kept pointing it at my wife and "One ping only" every time I glued something on... I'm an idiot. edit: Oh! It was also like, $8 on Amazon.
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Sep 23, 2014 12:56
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1:160 Floral arrangement
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Sep 23, 2014 17:15
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The Locator posted:Not lame at all, those little metal models are pretty cool. I've never built one, but I've seen some really great looking models from them, and the detail on your Tiger looks pretty good. I'm going to leave it bare metal, I'm fond of the etching on it, it was kind of a practice kit for the A6M Zero I have and the F4U Corsair kit they make which I'll tack on to my next Amazon order. Anywho, here's a picture or two of the finished tank. Excuse my awful lighting situation and awful camera.   Next project should have a little more going on: Tamiya's 1:48 SU-122.
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Sep 24, 2014 00:23
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Devlan Mud posted:I'm going to leave it bare metal, I'm fond of the etching on it, it was kind of a practice kit for the A6M Zero I have and the F4U Corsair kit they make which I'll tack on to my next Amazon order. Anywho, here's a picture or two of the finished tank. Excuse my awful lighting situation and awful camera.  metal earth buddy, good work
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Sep 24, 2014 00:40
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Yeah that tank looks really good with just the etching. Less of a model, more of a sculpture. It's art!
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Sep 24, 2014 01:45
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I have a T-34 and a Tiger from that series, and it looks kickass without any paint.
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Sep 24, 2014 02:01
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Baronjutter posted:1:160 Floral arrangement baller. Here's my WIP this week. The Apache is going to get first billing, but it hit a wait for drying spot so I started the Bronco   
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Sep 24, 2014 02:04
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Baronjutter posted:1:160 Floral arrangement Those came out extremely well in my opinion. Nice work. Devlan Mud posted:I'm going to leave it bare metal, I'm fond of the etching on it, it was kind of a practice kit for the A6M Zero I have and the F4U Corsair kit they make which I'll tack on to my next Amazon order. Anywho, here's a picture or two of the finished tank. Excuse my awful lighting situation and awful camera. Yea, it looks great in bare metal. Would probably take a really great job with an airbrush to make it look better and not wipe out the etching details. ---------------- My latest efforts at creating sawdust. One of the bulkheads is mis-cut, and in the wrong direction, making the deck lower than it should be, rather than higher which would have been easily corrected by sanding.  I sent a message to the manufacturer and they are sending a replacement. Don't know if I'll get the entire sheet, or just that part, but in the meantime I proceeded as if I'd never get anything prior to hearing back from them (discovered this and sent the message on the weekend). I cleaned up all the laser burn, and then dry fit everything. This model has much higher quality parts than the first one, but the fit appears to be quite a bit worse, and will require a lot of work to get everything square and the bulkheads all faired up properly. Here you can see how the bulkheads, when all properly lined up at the top of the keel, are really badly short at the bottom. The two with arrows are the worst, and the one in front of the two marked ones is bulkhead F from above. The line drawn onto the keel is the 'bearding line', which is where the bottom of the bulkheads should touch. Obviously most of them don't.   So, I went to work with shims. Here is the fixed bulkhead F, with the deck shimmed up on one side, and the bottom shimmed up on both sides.  I shimmed up the bottom of the next two bulkheads, G and H, as seen here.  Test fitting showed that this system worked great!  At least half of the remaining bulkheads need similiar shimming, although many will then need to be sanded back down part way. Comparison as far as how many bulkheads are used (i.e. sort of a quality comparison). The Carmen, my previously posted model, is only about 3/4" shorter along the deck than this one is, and it has 9 bulkheads, while this one has 18. I knew nothing about preparing the bulkhead/keel assembly and just glued it all together the night I got it. I think I just got stupidly lucky that it went together well later. Carmen (first kit):  AVS (this kit) dry fit, before any shimming or adjustment, nothing is glued:  This build is going to take quite a bit longer than the previous one, as I plan to apply all of the lessons I learned in the first one, and do this one right from the start. Also this one is 1:48 scale, instead of the Carmen's 1:80, so details will both be easier to add, and detail omissions or errors will be easier to see.
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Sep 24, 2014 03:10
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Is such bad fit considered normal? It seems to be off with several mm!
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Sep 24, 2014 05:30
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Dr. Klas posted:Is such bad fit considered normal? It seems to be off with several mm! Apparently it's fairly typical for this portion of this kit. Once I'm past the bulkhead fairing, then things should be good, and even with a 'good' fit, the fairing is the most critical part of these kits, so the only work that the poor fit at this step adds, is the need to add the shims before beginning the process of fairing. Fairing is the process of beveling each bulkhead where the hull planks will lay, the bulwarks go, and the decks, in order that each plank lays 'flat' along each bulkhead. This is done partially by beveling according to the plans, and then partially by laying temporary planks along the bulkheads and then working each bulkhead, or section of bulkheads, until the plank naturally runs along them without any gaps. You then move the plank a bit, and do it again, all around the bulkheads. If done properly, then all the planking goes smoothly and you don't need to use filler to fix gaps and low spots, and everything aligns correctly for the rest of the build. This is a big reason why so many wooden kits get abandoned - the most important part of the build, the stuff that everything else depends on, is the very first thing you have to do. The Locator fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Sep 24, 2014 |
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Sep 24, 2014 06:25
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Oh man, oh man, oh man! It came! First impressions; gently caress, this kit ain't kidding around, and it's a beginners kit. I haven't read the instructions, but I'm going to assume they're terrible, as there is only about 7 pages of them. Childrens toys come with more instructions than this complex kit with hundreds upon hundreds of pieces. Also 7 GIANT sheets of ship plans. Seriously, I could wallpaper a good portion of my condo with these plans they're so big. Might take me a while, but I'm going to see this puppy through until the end.
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Sep 25, 2014 07:56
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Bloody Hedgehog posted:Oh man, oh man, oh man! It came! First impressions; gently caress, this kit ain't kidding around, and it's a beginners kit. I haven't read the instructions, but I'm going to assume they're terrible, as there is only about 7 pages of them. Childrens toys come with more instructions than this complex kit with hundreds upon hundreds of pieces. Also 7 GIANT sheets of ship plans. Seriously, I could wallpaper a good portion of my condo with these plans they're so big. Might take me a while, but I'm going to see this puppy through until the end. No matter what the stupid manufacturer says, a 3 masted square rig warship is *not* a beginners kit. They can be done by a beginner, but they certainly aren't on the easy end of the scale of wooden ship difficulty. Get on Model Ship World forums, start a build log, and don't be afraid to ask for help. There are lots of people that will jump in and give suggestions and advise. There are 5 build logs that I see for the Snake kit, so at least you have some solid reference builds to help out. The first parts of the build when you form the hull are the most critical parts of the entire build, so make sure to read up on that before you cut or glue anything. Welcome to the club, and good luck!
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Sep 25, 2014 08:14
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Do the kit makers for these wooden ships have a web site? I tried looking for some of these models on the web and basically found store sites and not much in the way of information. Or is the forum the best source of info?
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Sep 25, 2014 08:19
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It's a bit of a mix really. Some manufactures have their own websites, others have sort of "preferred dealer" websites that serve as their only real web presence, and others have nothing but the kits listed on random retailer website. Your best bet is the Model Ship World forums. You'll find loads more info there than even the best manufacturer website.
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Sep 25, 2014 08:24
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More ships! Awesome. EuroMilitaire was last weekend, here's some pictures to make everyone wonder what they're doing with their lives: http://fragglerocks.smugmug.com/Events/EuroMilitaire-2014/
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Sep 25, 2014 11:04
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krushgroove posted:EuroMilitaire was last weekend, here's some pictures to make everyone wonder what they're doing with their lives: http://fragglerocks.smugmug.com/Events/EuroMilitaire-2014/ Some amazing work there. If I ever do plastic modeling again, I really need to spend some time and finally master the art of weathering/aging. Those paint-jobs take a model that was built extremely well, and turn it into something amazing, rather than just a plastic model. Thanks for the link.
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Sep 25, 2014 17:13
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There's a surprisingly tiny amount of "is this meant to be a wreck?" in there for once. And then we have this, which is clearly supposed to be a wreck. With magic tracks I guess?
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Sep 25, 2014 19:47
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I don't get that track either. The rest of it is very well done, so the track is really weird.
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Sep 26, 2014 03:51
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That's actually accurate for a tank track. Depending on how the links have settled, they sometimes don't just fall to the ground loose. There can actually be quite a bit of tension still in the track, and they can curl up or stand up appearing to defy gravity.
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Sep 26, 2014 04:06
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