Armed Virginia Sloop - 1:100 - Seahorse

[catopower]

Thanks for the advice Wyvern. Of course, issues like that really stand out to the builder. And sometimes one expects them to stand out to everyone else too. On a model of this size, I know that once I start adding all the fine details, those kinds of issues will pretty well disappear.

In the meantime, I started applying the third and final layer of hull covering. For the most part, this is in the form of a color-printed strip for the outer bulwarks, and plank pairs for the lower hull.

There is a final covering for the keel, stem, and sternpost, which goes on first, then the lower hull is planked from the keel upwards. This works out very nicely. Any gap or other issues will get resolved when the planking reaches the outer bulwarks, as there is a wales piece that fits over the joint where these parts meet.

I've learned to score the planks as indicated in the instructions. The instructions say to use a blunted needle. I've just been using the back side of the scalpel I've been using, and it seems to work fine. To help keep a smooth line, I use a steel straightedge as a guide, adjusting it as I go along.

The final covering began with a piece for the keel, stem, and sternpost, which goes on first, then the lower hull is planked from the keel upwards. This works out very nicely, as any gap or other issues will get resolved when the planking reaches the outer bulwarks.

While the lower planking goes on slowly, I've been doing all the cutting work on the outer bulwarks piece. One thing I noticed right off is that there was apparently some color change from the time the kit was originally designed and the final product. The original artwork for the kit shows a yellow upper hull. In the actual kit, this is more of a natural wood color.

[catopower]

As I'm working my way from the keel, about half way to the bulwarks, I'm starting to notice that the planks are coming up a little short. This appears to be due to my planking ending up a little wider that I suppose they should. I'm trying to the planks right on the printed lines, but this seems to make the wide. Or, perhaps my method of scribing the lines down the middle of the planks is crushing the paper fibers slightly, and pushing them sideways, making the planks just a tad wide.

Luckily, the laser-cut second layer has a faint etched line that shows where this last planking strips are supposed to line up. So, I'm now trying to keep to those lines, which causes some of my planking to overlap just a little. I'm also trying to trim the remaining planking strips better, so they're not overly wide.

With the most recently applied planking strip, I resolved the short plank issue by also cutting the*planking strip into three parts. I applied the bow and the stern parts first, and then applied the middle piece. That way, there was just a little gap between these three pieces, but it's not so noticeably in the middle like that. I'm thinking that I might end up painting the completed hull anyway, and these gaps will be pretty well hidden.

[catopower]

I am amazed at how well the planking turned out and how nice the model already looks, with it's printed outer bulwarks pieces in place. Everything fits together very nicely, and I think I can safely say at this stage that this will be a successful paper ship model hull.

Of course, there is more work yet to do on the hull. But, the things that worry me the most about building a paper model of a wooden ship are no longer concerns. The hull turned out pretty smooth. I think I mentioned before that I think this has a lot to do with the small size of the model and close spacing of the bulkheads/frames.

Next, I'll be pre-painting some of the laser-cut parts for the wales, caprails, stern trim, etc. Then I need to add the waterways pieces at the base of bulwarks on the inside.

[Michael Mash]

Nice looking hull.
I agree, looks like it should be a success.

[Seahorse]

Really great job! I'm glad that you managed to glue the hull together, because it is indeed a crucial moment in the case of oval shapes. Details, although some are tiny, shouldn't be stressful :-)

Tomek

[birder]

Looks nice and pretty lines, it’s good to have a hull you’re pleased with to move forward….

[catopower]

Thanks for the nice comment Glen, Michael.

I'm pressing forward with this project as it's such a small model. I'd like to see this get finished, and it feels like I should be able to get to the rigging stage in a relatively short time.

Tomek, thank you for your support. It means a lot, considering it's your kit! I hope I can do justice to the hard work you put into developing this kit.

I'll post another update soon!

[catopower]

The next step is to add the black-painted wales, cap rails, fashion pieces, and other moldings to the model, and once I started that, it was hard to stop. I really wanted to see the model with all these in place, so I don't have any intermediary pictures here.

Also, I don't know if you can really see them in these photos, but there is a thick waterway piece along the line of the scuppers, as well as a red covering board along the edge of the deck now.

I think it's beginning to look like a ship!

[catopower]

There's a very narrow strip of color that runs underneath the length of that cap rail, as well as the cap rail at the quarter deck. Printed paper is provided for both the black molding and this color strip, but those parts are long strips, less than 1mm wide. I have NO IDEA how one cuts a long strip of paper so that it's consistent thickness, and less than 1mm wide.*I contemplated this for a while, and attempted to cut the parts with the aid of a straightedge, but only ended up with a terribly disfigured strip of paper.

Perhaps experienced paper modelers have a technique for doing things like this. But, it was beyond my knowledge and experience. Fortunately, I happen to have a Silhouette Cameo 3 vinyl cutter, which I've used to do some rather intricate cuts in adhesive backed vinyl on past ship modeling projects. Some of those involve cutting very tiny strips of vinyl, so I thought I'd give it a try. Fortunately, I have some colored vinyl in a couple different shades of blue. Nothing quite matched the teal color of the printed paper parts I needed, but the light blue colored vinyl I had on hand looked like it might be good enough. So, I drew up a couple very thin lines and the cutter worked like a charm. I was able to apply them with little fuss, and as you can see below, they turned out quite nicely.

Next, I did manage to cut a thin paper strip for the extension of the main caprail, so that it continues all the way to the stern.

Finally, I added the catheads near the bow. These are 5-layer pieces that end up with tiny holes for the ropes used to haul the anchors out of the water. I built these from the optional laser-cut parts set. I painted these black and installed them into place.

I also installed the boom rests at the stern. I had to hunt around to find a picture of how these were mounted. I finally managed to find one model photo that showed them, so I was able to mount them correctly. However, I think this mounting is actually incorrect, as I found a photo of the same ship in the book that led to development of all the Armed Virginia Sloop kits, and it has these basically turned the other way around and not sticking out like they do here.

No matter. I'm happy with how the model looks, and I don't want to tear these off to redo them. I doubt anyone will notice how they're mounted.

[Michael Mash]

Beautiful.
I like your solution for the thin pieces you needed.
This old saying says it well: “Necessity is the Mother of Invention”.