FAIR AMERICAN 14 GUN Privateer by Model Shipways 1:48 SCALE

Thank you Bruce. This is what I was thinking. I'll take some centerline measurements later today. And maybe some profile drawings to compare with the plans. I didn't lay the bulkheads down on the plans bulkhead drawings to see if they match before I glued them into place. Since they are laser cut one would think they were the correct size.
 
lakedaisy said:
The hand rail usually extends slightly over the side of the ship.
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Thanks Rob, I get it now. Bruce's response probably answers your question. A common problem with several kit manufacturers is that the moulded dimension of the top timbers (or tops of the bulkheads) to which the is too large. I have no idea if it is correct on yours, but a 14 gun contract from 1776 has the top of the toptimbers as:
To be moulded in & out at the Toptimber heads or top of the sides at midships 3 3/8 ins. (0.07" at 1:48 scale)
Hope this helps.
Allan
 
Thanks Allan. I know you are a ship technical person. I've read several of your posts. But... "but a 14 gun contract from 1776 has the top of the toptimbers as:" How in the heck would your know that!!! :) Google tells me .07" is about 1.8mm. I'll go with that or close to it.

I'm not a ship technical person at all. Probably just the opposite. I just mostly stick things together that look good to me, usually without much regard to the technical aspects or colors. I don't like all the RED inside the deck area, so I'm not doing that. Maybe a little red or a very weak looking red.

To me just just a fun hobby that gives me (with no real life to speak of :) something to do when I'm not out in the yard picking tomatoes or feeding birds, rabbits and sqjirrels. Oh... And riding my Harley. Been riding since I was 13. That's about 64 years. Though not nearly as much fun now as there aren't really any 'backroads' anymore. Cars everywhere.

I have mostly faired in the bow area about 1/2 way back towards the stern. I ran a thin, narrow strip over the area and glued in some strips on the few bulkheads that were too low.
 
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Hi,

How is the kit designed?

Does the kit have a gun port template - a single piece running from bow to stern with the gun ports pre-cut, installed outboard of the ribs? This plus the outer bulwark planks would diminish the cap rail overhang. After installing the gunport template the ribs are snapped off.

In other words the outboard edge of the rib does not represent the final outboard edge of the hull.

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Hi Rich. No template. You fabricate the gunports and set them in between the bulkheads. There is a small rail overhang. The rail is flush on the inside and overhangs on the outside.

Per the instructions:
A point of note: The plans show the cap rail, and other rails are similar, as built on the Rogers model. The inboard
edge o f the rail is flush with the bulwark ceiling (inboard plank) while the outboard edge of the cap rail extends
beyond the plank and is slightly rounded. The normal practice for a real ship would be to have the cap rail overhang
slightly both outboard and inboard (a bit more outboard than in). You can make this change if you so desire.

I don't know who Roger is. It might have been a buid on modelshipworld??

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Henry Huddelston Rogers donated his collection of model ships to the Naval Academy when he passed away in the 1930's I believe. Look him up, he's an interesting man.

I see you noticed that the main rail would overhang on both sides but on the model it is flush with the interior planking. That's the fun of this particular build. You can choose to follow the Rogers model in the Naval Academy when you want to or you could make your build a little more accurate.

The Rogers Model for example does not have a waterway however the kit properly shows one. The mast top is simplified in the kit and matches the Rogers model as well. It's up to you to detail or not.

Takes the pressure off of everything having to be exact. A lower level of detail in a consistent manner would not detract from the final result. Not saying that anything goes, that would be bologna, but you can relax a little and if you miss something you will still have a beautiful model in the end.

If you're looking to go bat guano crazy I posted a list of good resources for people to use, search Fair American 1780 general information.

Bruce
 
lakedaisy said:
How in the heck would your know that!!!
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One of the fun things for some model builders is looking at contemporary information. Some do, some don't. As you say, it is a hobby and we all have choices in what will make the hobby fun. Regarding contracts, for ships built in private yards, there are some contracts on the RMG Collections website. There are more at the National Archives in Kew, England but unfortunately for most of us, they require visit to the archives to access them.
Allan
 
Ok... I worked on port side to bring the bulkheads out to match the ship plans. The starboard side was okay. There were 5 bulkheads on the port side that were off too much to try to plank. So I cut new half bulkheads on that side of the ship to bring them out to where they should be. I had cut a template from diagram showing the tops of the bulkheads.
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then cut the 5 bulkheads that were not correct... Could have been an installation error on my part? Don't know. Doesn't really matter.
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And glued them in place, matching up with the template... then 'faired' them again.
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A couple of the bulkhead stanchions for the interior bulwark are much too narrow. On both sides. The stanchions were just cut too narrow. I'm gluing some spacers on them. Then I can sand the inside of the stanchions to match the curve for the waterway.
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edit... thanks Doc. Was thinking about tossing the kit, either that or buy another and start over. I think this will work out ok. I really like the looks of this model and didn't want to give up on it.

the plans call for 2 layers of planking. Basswood first, then thin walnut on hull and bulwark. I'm thinking about trying to plank one layer only with either boxwood or swiss pear. Don't know how that will work out with fillers only at bow and stern.
 
I haven't gotten anywhere. Still not pleased with some of the bulkheads. I have cut 3 of my own from the plans. When I pulled to original out of the keel to replace with the new bulkheads, the old bulkheads didn't align, even accounting for the sanding I did in fairing. I should have compared each bulkhead to the plans diagram before I glued them in place.

I was considering buying another of the same kit and start over, but thought I have some large blocks of basewood, a bandsaw and a brynes thinkness sander. So decided to cut some new bulkheads. I may make several more. Don't know yet.

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AHHH.... I took a bulkhead I just cut from the plans. Laid it on the plans diagram and it looked fine. I reversed it on the diagram, port side laid on the starboard side of the diagram. The centerline of the bulkhead was not even. When I reversed the bulkhead on the drawing, the port side extends out over the diagram lines and the starboard side doesn't reach the diagram lines. This is the reason I've had to add material to one side of the bulkheads.

Rather than cutting more buikheads, I'll go back to my origianl plan on adding shims where necessary and sanding where necessary. Right now I'm trying to get the inside of the bulkhead stanchions to align by shimming and sanding. I don't want to make the waterway or start any hull planking until I feel better about the shape of the bulkheads.
 
lakedaisy said:
Got the bow and stern fillers installed...View attachment 602453

Like everyone else, the bulkheads come nowhere near the bearding line. I glued strips to all 16 bulkheads on both sides and sanded them flush with the bearding line. and tapered them into the bulkheads. i think the hull is ready for planking.
View attachment 602454View attachment 602455View attachment 602456View attachment 602457
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Thanks for showing how important this is, realize it needs to be taken care of….
 
I pretty much worked the bulkheads again from the beginning. Cut a few more from the ships diagram. Think I've beat this fairing and internal bulwarks to death. Time to move on.

Cut the waterways from boxwood. And cut the bevel per the plans. Stained the wood with a couple airbrushed coats of oak stain. I'm not going to cover the interior of the ship with red paint. Just can't cover up beautiful wood with paint, even though paint is the correct way. Plan on airbrushing a lighter coat of oak on the bulwark boards and probably a white hollly, unstained, on the deck.

Waterway...
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Bent the boxwood with water and heat to match the curve of bulwark...
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Finally got the bulwark stantions to the shape I wanted, them bent the wood to fit.
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Plans call for a 'covering board' over the waterway. Haven't decided if I will do this. Don't recall seeing this on any other build.
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I decided to make the 'covering board' from the previous post. Don't know what the purpose of it is?? Cut 2 1/16 x 1/8 strips from boxwood, The covering board has a rounded edge. Still learning my CNC so thought I'd round the strips using it. Since the strips are 1/16" tall I used a 1/32" rounding bit and cut each side. Turned out good. The 2 airbrushed coats of Oak stain and a thin coat of wipe on satin poly.
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I decided to start planking with the Wales as I can use the Waterway from the deck as a reference. The instructions cal to start at the cap rail at the top of the bulkheads. I don't trust the height of the bulkheads as they are plywood and some have fallen apart due to fairing plus I cut a few bulkheads of my own. The Waterway has a smooth curve to it and is a good reference. The bulkhead tops are all over the place and would be hard to curve accurately.

There are 2 wales. They are thicker than the hull planks and are going to be harder to bend. Right above the 2 wales is a Black Strake (instruction calls it this). It's the same thickness is the hull planking at 1/16". It's wider than the hull planks at 3/32". Per the diagrams the black strake top edge follows the waterway bottom edge. I glued this on first.
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