Kingfisher a gaff rig pilot cutter

[michael mott]

Learned a bit about the grain in the card today. I cut a few more strips on the cutter, and noticed how they curled. This can be a benefit or not. To get the strip straight I pulled them through my fingers a few times as you would a piece of wire to either straighten or impart a curve.



Then glued on three strips to increase the size of the keel, Gordon had mentioned adding to the keel in an earlier post.



I then added a wider strip to create an edge, this allowed the diagonal planking something to butt up against at the keel.





Michael

[finescalerr]

Imperfect or perfect, I think this exercise would be a terrific article for a Modelers' Annual. Please save the progress shots, make sure one or two at this stage are in hi-res to illustrate how things go together, and jot down notes clear enough that I would be able to copy your work with no problem. (That is assuming quite a lot!) -- Russ

[michael mott]

Russ Thanks I do in fact have all the shots in hi res and quite a few others, I will now be more careful on taking notes for you.

Michael

[Gordon Ferguson]

Evening updates as well now..... great 

That last shot Michael would make a great little slip way scene of a cutter under repair.

Keep going ................. will check in again in about 9 hours

[marc_reusser]

Evening updates as well now..... great 

That last shot Michael would make a great little slip way scene of a cutter under repair.

Keep going ................. will check in again in about 9 hours

There's your "out" Michael......don't worry...we wont hold it against you. (Heck, I'm so stressed just watching this, I would opt for it ...but then as we all know I rarely finish anything  )

[michael mott]

Gordon, I hope your hand gets better soon so that we can see what you are up to.! in the mean time I am glad that I am providing your entertainment ;>)
I am looking forward to your own skilled interpretation of our world.

Marc.

(Heck, I'm so stressed just watching this, I would opt for it ...but then as we all know I rarely finish anything  Grin )

I hear you loud and clear!! it is of course my greatest failing.
I have all sorts of tools and machines, tons of raw materials, but the finish is my greatest challenge., Doris was my inspiration for this little model and to do justice to that inspiration I do hope to finish this little boat. I don't think I could last two years at it. so I hope to get it done while the inspiration lasts.

to that end I did complete the diagonal planking at least in one direction this afternoon.





The process was a bit of a meditation, glue, place, hold, then repeat for the opposite side. I did notice that one side was getting a bit further ahead than the other , so I cut some tapered strips to play catch up.

Eventually I finished up the planking.







Next I smothered the hull with some Green Squadron putty,







After the hull gets faired, I will paint it white and then proceed to ad the final planks. formed from the 2 ply Bristol board.

Michael

[Gordon Ferguson]

Good progress Michael ................... although you will have upset Marc with the use of his favourite "putty"

Slight panic this morning, Internet connection was down, explained to my provider had to get on line to check out a model Bristol cutter and its progress .............. that got me to the top of the Que and problem fixed.

Michael do you want/need any info on calculating the width/shapes of the planks?

Another suggestion, great says Michael, when you start you final run of planking work down from the deck and up from the keel ............ this will mean you final planks are somewhere in the middle where it is "slightly" easier to fit the last ones in. 

[michael mott]

Gordon, I am not familiar with the issue of Marc's favourite putty, so cannot comment however I don't want to upset anyone so I have switched to my favourite filler red bondo spot and glaze putty.

In retrospect it would have been wise to have used a penetration sealer on the card before using the putty. Another lesson learned.

After I sanded the putty down there were all sorts of fuzzy sections. this was then painted with some latex paint., left to dry long enough to sand, (I use the reduced hours and minutes that all impatient guys use)



then covered the hull with the red spot putty. very thin and spread with a scrap of card.





Re-sanded the hull, the thing i like about the red glaze is how fast it dries.





Then gave it another coat of white latex paint.



when this dries I will sand and reglaze.

Michael

[finescalerr]

At this point I doubt whether anyone would realize you used old cereal boxes to build the hull. This is one of the more exciting projects I've seen in card modeling, partly because you are making such rapid progress. -- Russ

[W.P. Rayner]

Coming along very nicely Michael. Are you using any templates to do your fairing or are you doing it all by eye?

Paul

[michael mott]

Thanks Russ.
Paul I am just doing this one by eye. When it comes to building the larger one I will most likely use templates. I am really using this to see what can be achieved (by me) with the card for hull construction.

I have been reading some material on full size boat planking, in the "Boat building Manual" fourth edition by Robert M Steward. also there is a great PDF document on "Model Ship World"
http://www.modelshipworld.com/phpBB2/hptintro.php

about planking model hulls.

It will be very interesting after this model is finished I do really intend to finish this one, to have a go at the larger model of the pilot cutter. I also have the plans for an 8 foot long model of Shamrock V from the 1937 vintage. That will test my mettle for sure, I have had the plans for a couple of years but I need to know what I am doing before attempting it.
Shamrock V was the only one of that vintage that was made of wood all the others were metal hulls. I think when it comes to building it I will use cedar and mahogany, I have lots of both and a good table saw.

[michael mott]

Being distracted by some mind boggling ship model building, was a little humbling to say the least.

I repainted and re-glazed a couple of times.



another coat of white latex the hull is pretty smooth now, so perhaps after the next sanding I will give a final coat with the airbrush before adding final final planking.



I am now also really excited about building a larger model of this boat.

Michael

[Malachi Constant]

I also have the plans for an 8 foot long model of Shamrock V from the 1937 vintage. That will test my mettle for sure ...

Wow, you're going to have to eat a LOT of cereal for that one!    Meanwhile, as Russ said, at this point there's no sign of the humble origins of the material used ... and the rate of progress is certainly impressive.  -- Dallas

[michael mott]

Dallas thanks for the kind words.

I have been spending a fair bit of time drafting this last few days, along with shoveling snow, writing some poetry,and attending to some other business.
but now back to the kingfisher.

A final brushing of white latex





this is where I ultimately want to go, the frame is the first for the 63 inch long model. working on the small paper/card model is teaching me a lot and helping me to sort out all sorts of stuff.



this shows the 1:60 model along side one of the frames (station 16) for the 1:8 model. the wood is Jelutong it comes from the tropics. and is used in patten making



a good joint does not need to be clamped, but rubbed into place. it just takes a bit more time to prepare. there will be 24 sets of frames. I did think about steam bending frames, but decided to use sawn timbers instead, it is a bit less intense and will serve well enough for this first fully framed model. I pulled the die filer out of storage for working on the joints. What a wonderful tool it is.



Michael

[finescalerr]

Golly tamales! That is nice woodwork!! Is there a trick to getting both halves to mate so closely? -- Russ