Hey Bill!! Thanks for climbing aboard on this one! As you must know by know, Model Space has put together a pretty nice kit. Everything is spelled out well and the quality has been consistently high.

I just received Pack 2 a few days ago. Very exciting seeing the planking come about. I am actually putting together video #2 to cover a brief review of Pack 2 and show some construction as well as getting some updates for the thread here.

Nice thought in saving the cannon all for once! I made up the first two but was thinking of doing the "line production" thing myself once things pile up. For now, the down time here and there I am working the carriages and when I go to the booth to paint something else I am working on, I will dress them up. I just picked up some more of the burnishing fluid, which funny enough, came in today! I grabbed another version Uschi had for doing photo etch. Thought it would be fun to try...might work well in eliminating priming of tiny ship railing on other builds.

Good find on the old kit. Picking up something we did way back when can been good fun! In the end, it comes down to enjoying what we do!!

Model Space has a US division - http://www.model-space.com/us/ I do think some kits are location specific but it cannot hurt to ask if something can be done.

Off to the bench...finished up the decks and transom and now cleaning up the launch for more parts! Very fun ride so far!!

Hi Todd,

Yea, I got my kits from the US site. My reasoning for doing all the cannons are pretty much the same thing, that way I can paint them all at once plus it makes for a good fill in when I am waiting for another pack, I expect pack 3 next week or so.

I am almost finished with a Latina San Francisco Cross section that I am doing in the same coloring at the Sovereign kit and plan to display them side by side. I have a few little tid-bits left on that one but I'll do the rigging when I get all the string for the Sovereign kit so I'll have matching colors on the rigging.

These Model space kits are really nice and the price is fine with me. I'm looking forward to more of your videos

Bill, I'm excited for you on Pack 3!! I still have a month to go until it comes around! Expecting to be busy with 2 to even think about it...LOL! I love the cross sections! Was thinking of one down the road...maybe the Connie!

Well...if anyone read a little of the back and forth between Bill and myself, Pack 2 arrived safe and sound the other day! Actually, there was two packages...seems there is one of two free gifts with the subscription. Handy little extra set of hands and magnification...



This should come in handy, especially when the rigging comes up!

Okay, Pack 2! A whole new set of instructions...



This is what was in the box this time around:



I am putting together another short review...and video to show what comes in Pack 2 and showing some of the construction along the way. With any luck, I will have it posted soon.

Until then, I managed to finally nail down the first gun deck. The nails for this were supplied in Pack 2.



The inside of this deck is not seen when the model is complete. The purpose is base control of the masts as well as it tightens up the framing considerably after the frames are locked together.



Theses are the stringers that run behind the cannon effectively blocking the interior section of the bottom gun deck. The next step was installing some framing on for the next gun deck.



Well that is where she stands at the moment. I am still working on the #2 review and video as I mentioned as well as butting some things up on the launch!

Thanks for swinging in!!

Coming great Todd,

Looking forward to seeing more progress.

Cheers.

Si

Thank you Si! Working on the launch right now and trying to finish the transom framing....hope to have another update shortly. All depends on if the yard work gets in the way!!

Todd,

Very cool. I like the concept of the monthly packages. Looking forward to watching as you progress through this build

Dave

Thanks Dave!! Depending the skill of the individual working with the ship, the subscription might seem a bit too spread out as the framing is quite fast, but once the packs roll in, the parts get a bit more time demanding as will be seen with the planking escapades soon to get underway!!

Okay...despite a lacking of time in the past couple days and now it seems one of my pic sites decided it was a good idea to change how the URL is provided...either giving a useless "share" link where no one but me sees the pictures in forum application...or extremely loooong probably embedding a bunch of stuff I don't need in there, I did manage to get to the bench somewhat.

After the stringers and deck framing was applied, the instruction called to move on to the next gun deck up; afterwards painting of the stringers is suggested to shadow the inside of where the gunports would be. I chose to airbrush some of Vallejo's Black Primer in there which covered quite nicely I thought.



Moving on, it was time to remove the launch from its birthing and begin the final stages of construction. I cut back and rounded the upper frames to the ribbing.



Part of what needed to get added was the keep and two small stabilizers. In the process of sanding the hull, I noticed two things that took me off course a little. First being the epiphany towards fairing the framing prior to adding the decking. Apparently in my haste, I neglected to create the correct taper to the drought at the bow. This resulted in the second...oops! LOL!! It created a dimple in the hull at the bow which could be corrected through sanding but as a result there would be a couple of tiny spots that would need a little filling. The sad thing is if I stuck with following the instructions, this would have been avoided...LOL!! Guessing this would be where my wife would tell me "I told you so"!! Since the hull is to be painted at some point I took the advantage of slinging some putty around prior to the stabilizers getting glued.




Moving on back to the main hull, the most aft bulkheads under the transom needed to be installed next. All of the parts interlock into smaller segments making a tight frame once all glued together.




The upper part to the transom was constructed as well! All of these framing piece fit extremely well together and once fully glued and cured, they are hard as a rock.




At the present, the stabilizers on the launch are in place and the launch is headed to the booth for its first coat of paint. The transom has been installed and is curing. Next stop on this voyage is starting to add some planking to the sides of the hull. This will take some time to do. In the meantime, I will put together a small video and review for the second pack I received. This should give me until the end of the month to get the hull sufficiently planked for the delivery of the next pack in October.

Oh, please let me know if you see the pictures or not...LOL!! I am still fighting with new systems on my end of this!! Thanks!

Thanks again for stopping in!!!

Looking good

Todd,

Pictures are clear and bright. Good job on the putty works.

Dave

Thank you Bill and Dave!

Holiday tomorrow....time to hit the bench!!

Hi Todd,

all your pics are there! I saw your bad links the other day but was assuming that it could be a problem on my side as well.

This build is really becoming more and more interesting - at the stage you are at, I would really love to try. Building the frames and the hull seems good fun (and great results on your part!!), but seeing the 'final result' on the cover of your instructions makes me shiver... lots and lots of details, especially rigging and all kinds of rope...

Awesome work anyway, looking forward to your progress!!

Cheers ,

Jan

Thanks Jan! Google tossed a wrench in their Photo section when they did a recent upgrade! Unless you use the APP-based junk or a ton of social media posts, the links become useless in blogging to the average forum! Gotta love the corporate decision making sometimes!

Thank you! Appreciate you tagging along! This has been pretty fun so far! I have done the full scratch route in the past and I am loving the kit version much better I think! The two biggest hurtles with any of these builds is first the decking..getting it as true as possible and yes, the rigging! Wile I really enjoy the rigging end of the projects, it can be somewhat monotonous. At least the kit provides the rope in various sizes which eliminates making your own. After that is it just a process of "connecting the dots" so to speak and running the rigging as it was on the original ship. Until it is secured, most of it will actually work. But certainly tedious at times!

Well it's taken a little while to get to the point where an update makes some sense. Once the initial framing was completed, the inner planking of this double planked ship needed to be done. This task is just something that needs to be whittled away at...which I did. Now it's time to get the thread up to speed...

Attacking the somewhat endless pile of bamboo strips fo the inner hull



All of the bow sections of planking needed to be bent first to help bring things around.



Combinations of glue and the supplied brass nails held the planks in place.



Once the sides and lower hull were covered, the next gun deck needed to be added along with stringers for the next level up. These were painted, as were the ones before, to shadow the area behind the cannons.



Slowly I plugged away at both sides. While I waited for sections to dry, other planking could be added. Once dry, I could go back and pull out the brass nails and snipping the end nails off flush.





Along the way, I took a quick break to assemble a number of the supplied cannons.



Finally, the inner planking was done! The sections of planking above the ribbing are glued to each other. Surprisingly, the bond is very strong!



The instructions outline the installation of this planking very well; however, I did go off the beaten path a little and cut a few corners not following the prescribed manner of installation of the lower hull to get this section added a little quicker. This is the base for the outer planking helping with contouring the shape as well as structural support, but as it is not seen and I was gong to need and fair the hull with sanding and filler pieces, laying the planks was the big part.



The transom sides wee added along the way as well. Once the outer planking goes on, more framing at the stern is needed as well as the second gun deck.




At the moment, I am laying out the gun port openings along both sides of the hull. Then the daunting task of cutting all of the 12mm x 13mm squares out can begin.



So this is where I stand right now. I have to cut all of the openings prior to installing the Sapele and Basswood strips. I hope to start drilling soon!

Thanks for stopping in!!

Ahoy Todd

This is great stuff.

I saw your original posting and got a bit distracted but I have now caught up on your efforts.

It looks like great build and you seem to be really enjoying it.

Cant wait to see you start the drilling etc.

Cheers


Sean

I am currently working on the HMY Royal Caroline so I can identify with your efforts. Very good work. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Sean! Yeah, even I got a little side tracked leading up to the holidays! I did manage to break out the drill last night. I opened most of the gun ports, with the exception of a couple that shaded planking in between ...if the planks were loose, they popped right out! LOL! Gluing a couple here and there before I move on!

Thank you Grant! Would love to see a bit of your Caroline...she's a pretty one! All the work is a labor of love....at least I keep telling myself that!!

Wow, that's quite some progress here Todd.

I don't really like the idea of cutting all those gun ports - somehow that seems dangerous... I hope you are not breaking anything in the process...

Great work - I am not really sure if I were up to something like this! But you're doing a fine job and watching is certainly fun!!

Cheers,
Jan

Thank Jan! The last time I had to work with gun ports, they were framed out prior to the planking and cut to fit. A little different process here, but not so bad. I did get them all cut out and cleaned back. I drilled the corners and then just used the dremel for most of the work. There were a few planks that comes between two ports and did not have a frame which loosened or popped off. I finished cutting and then installed them after. In hind sight, I would have glued the joints of all of the planks, gun ports up, and not just the frames. I will snap some pics tonight and show where things are at!

Todd,
Just subscribed; I'm very interested in building a wooden ship "someday". My next big project is a 1/350 Missouri in plastic with PE updates. So...the wood will have to wait a while.

Question: would T-pins work in place of the nails? I used them once when building a wooden airplane. Seems they would be easier to handle than nails.

X8-)
Larry

I drilled the corners and then just used the dremel for most of the work.

Would drilling a "big" hole and cleaning with the corners with an exacto blade or saw blade be any faster? Or would it be 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other?


Larry

Thanks for coming along for the ride Larry! I have the Mo in the satsh...somewhere! Like you said with the wood...one of these days I will get around to grabbing an upgrade set or eight and have my way with her!

As for the T-pins...they will work for the outer planking as it is thin sapele and basswood, but the inner planking is bamboo. The nails were tough to stick even with a push nailer. I had to drill a few also.

On the gun ports, a large hole would work, but there is always the chance of binding with the multiple planks spanning the opening. It took about 15 minutes to run 4 to 5 1/16" holes on each side of the ports for the entire ship. I used a fine tip milling bit in my cordless dremel to knock out the meat in between the holes. Start to finish, maybe a 1/2 hour to 45 min. Not too bad.

Todd,

Incredible work. I don't have the nerve to try one of those big wooden ships so I'll live precariously through watching you.

Can't wait to see the gun ports.

Dave

THAT would just NOT be good.

Thank you very much Dave! Maybe if you ever decide to dabble, there are a number of smaller kits that are just awesome! I built the Sultana many moons ago. at 1/64 it comes in around 20 inches long or so. The hull is solid too. Big fun!

LOL..true Larry! As long as the planks are glued well continuously along he joint, four holes in the corners and a micro saw would do the trick quickly too I assume.

Sorry I didn't get to getting any pics of the port holes cut out tonight...ended up in video editing hello and trying to get a printer to work for my daughter!