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Albatros by Occre - Fourth build but first Ship

Reordered the Lobster Smack, going to finish the one I have, then do a second build, hopefully profiting from the errors and goofs made on the first one, which was quite a learning experience. This time I will use shellac on the hull as Bob Creek suggested. before sanding and painting.
I will also brace the weakest part of the stem, now knowing where they are, and try using my soldering iron for plank bending, as well as soaking in boiling water for 6 minutes, to see which works best.
I will solder the brass rudder parts, probably before installing them, and contemplating installing the rudder before the decking.
The fairing needs some better work, and more patience.
I have been jumping in and out of SOS, looking at other builds, hopping to lean from them.
 
?imple question. I have to sand the hull down after putting on a coat of testors enamel to prepare for a second coat. What grit sandpaper?
 
I have to sand the hull down after putting on a coat of testors enamel to prepare for a second coat.
Hopefully the following will help.
Some consider the best way to prepare a painted surface before a second coat is to use a 220-320 grit paper or sanding sponge to lightly scuff the surface and break any sheen to create some grab for the next application. After sanding, clean the surface with a damp cloth or tack cloth to remove all dust before applying the next coat. I've also "roughed" the surface with steel wool with good results, but I find cleaning up metal particles and dust is more difficult than wiping sanding dust.
Others may have different ways that work as well or better.
Allan
 
Titanic, You need to start a build log for your Lobster Smack so that we may all follow along with your progress.
New kit is supposed to arrive in five to seven days. I think I will paint parts before assembly, after sealing the raw wood.
Hopefully the following will help.
Some consider the best way to prepare a painted surface before a second coat is to use a 220-320 grit paper or sanding sponge to lightly scuff the surface and break any sheen to create some grab for the next application. After sanding, clean the surface with a damp cloth or tack cloth to remove all dust before applying the next coat. I've also "roughed" the surface with steel wool with good results, but I find cleaning up metal particles and dust is more difficult than wiping sanding dust.
Others may have different ways that work as well or better.
Allan
Thanks Allen. I have been using 180 grit as that is what I have on hand. It's a bit course. It's cheaper to go to Home Depot and purchase their pack of fine grit paper
than buying those little packs at the hobby shop.
This first Lobster Smack has been quite a frustrating learning experience. My Captain collects a dollar for each cuss word, and she has gotten rich off of this model!
The plus side to that is now that she gets paid for each cuss word, she likes this hobby!
 
Don, There are two versions of the Lobster Smack. The one I believe you have is from Midwest. The other one is from Model Shipways and is part of their 3 boat intro to wood ship building. You should start your own build log thread and post your questions there.
 
Don,

To create a build log, go to the forum SOS Build Logs From Kits - Wood. At the top of the forum will be a blank entry with the words "Thread title". Type in the name you want your thread to be called including the name of the model ship you are building. Then type in your first post in the Discussion Box. The fact that you post it in the SOS Build Logs forum makes it a build log.

The Midwest Lobster Smack is not the Skill Level III kit from Model Shipways. I built the Model Shipways Lowell Grand Banks Dory (Skill Level I), the Model Shipways Norwegian Sailing Pram (Skill Level II), and then mistakenly ordered the Midwest Lobster Smack instead of the Model Shipways Lobster Smack (Skill Level III) kit. It was too late to cancel order so I went ahead and built it.
 
Thanks. I need more clamps, one of the problems I had was not enough clamps. I see that some here use Logos to square off the blk head frames. How effective is that? That seems like an inexpensive way to square things off.
 
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