Royal Caroline 1:50 YuanQing/ZHL [COMPLETED BUILD]

[Heinrich]

Very good working on the decorations, Reggie! Just be careful with your final planking at the bow. At the same point where you are now with the first layer, I would already have started narrowing the planks. Some of them don't butt up nicely against one another. Now, it's not an issue, but just take note during the final planking.

 

[dockattner]

Hi Reggie, I'm often impressed by those of you (all more experienced than me) when you show significant variations from the plans and from the kit provided parts. I find I am too timid to make those changes out of fear for collateral problems down the line. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[WarrLight]

Very good working on the decorations, Reggie! Just be careful with your final planking at the bow. At the same point where you are now with the first layer, I would already have started narrowing the planks. Some of them don't butt up nicely against one another. Now, it's not an issue, but just take note during the final planking.

Thanks for the comments @Heinrich my friend. Will fix the gaps at the bow section later with some filler. I started narrowing the bow planks to 50% of their width starting with the 4th strake from the top. I expect the remaining lower planks will have to be narrowed even more. Planning to resume planking by doing the garboard plank next in order to establish the lines at the bottom of the hull. Keep safe always.

 

[WarrLight]

Hi Reggie, I'm often impressed by those of you (all more experienced than me) when you show significant variations from the plans and from the kit provided parts. I find I am too timid to make those changes out of fear for collateral problems down the line. Thanks for the inspiration!

Thanks for the kind words Paul @dockattner ...this is only my 2nd build so I consider myself quite a newbie still. But it's amazing how much I learned building my first ship just by reading and learning from others in the forum. I feel I have more confidence now to apply my own take on various aspects of the build. Keep safe always.

 

[Jeff T]

Hey, Reggie, just joining the party. Nice progress so far. I look forward to more of your commentary on why you are taking various steps with your build. Keep up the grea work.

 

[WarrLight]

Continuing with the first layer of planking. I must say, this is probably my least favorite aspect of the build, mainly because it is so hard to complete the job without some misstep or miscalculation. There are always one or two (or 10) strakes that just refuse to behave the way you want them to. So, no matter how hard I try to fair my bulkheads properly, the end result is some strakes are sunken, while some sit high, some get crinkles, while some leave gaps. Fortunately, wood is a forgiving material, and most problems can be fixed with a bit of wood filler and sandpaper.

After gluing the first three full-width strakes, I put in a temporary batten and allowed it to folllow its natural curve. Knowing that I will have to narrow the strips towards the bow and the stern, I decided, for expediency, to trim the strips to the maximum half of their width(rather than going thru the complex calculations of measuring the vertical distances of the various bulkheads).

Using my xacto knife, I cut a master strip to the proper width which I then used as a pattern to cut more strips. I alternately glued each strake on the port side and then the starboard side, trying to make sure that the strakes are aligned with each other.





I then went down towards the keel and worked on the garboard plank.

After trimming the edge of the planks to the appropriate shape, I soaked them in water and after a while clamped them against the keel. The garboard plank has to be twisted quite severely, because it has to go from a 90degree angle against the keel, to almost a flat towards the stern and bow. Once clamped, I hit it with heat from a blow dryer for a few minutes, in order to keep its shape.

I do the above process for the 2nd plank as well.




I proceeded to glue the garboard and the 2nd plank using CA gel glue at the contact points and Elmer's wood glue along the length of the strip. The model has a false rabbet at the bow where the tips of the planks neatly get tucked into.


Towards the stern the garboard lies flat on the deadwood area. I tried to let the plank follow its natural curve towards the stern, but it winds up too far up (down?) Along the deadwood area.




I had to wrestle with it a little bit to get it to lay along the edge of the last bulkhead. I chiseled part of the deadwood area so that the planks will lay level and not bulge too much for the 2nd planking. The plan was to chisel about 1mm on the deadwood area and sand down the plank to a thickness of 1mm, so the net result is a flat level area which would then receive the 2nd plank, with the net result that it will be the same thickness as the rudder.

I was too much of a scaredy cat to chisel too much of the keel, so I wound up with still a slight bulge around the deadwood area. I will try to fix later on with sandpaper.




I had a minor problem with the garboard where it bends abruptly after the first bulkhead. The plank got a noticeable crinkle due to the severe angle. I will fix later on with a bit of filler.


So after the first 2 planks are glued, it was just a matter of adding more planks to close the gap.




The last gap is always problematic, as it requires planning and trial and error to close it. I employed a mixture of stealers wedges, drop planks and fillers. It wasn't the prettiest job, but it got it done.


By the way, I wanted to show my approach to prepare for my display mounting bolts. The model comes with two pedestals where I plan to drill holes for a 3mm bolt. Before planking, I inserted reinforcing blocks on the inside of the keel. I drilled (very carefully) a hole thru the keel, about 15mm deep. I cut a portion of the keel so that I can position and glue the threaded nut directly over the drilled hole.




Will continue to the next post.

 

[dockattner]

Continuing with the first layer of planking. I must say, this is probably my least favorite aspect of the build, mainly because it is so hard to complete the job without some misstep or miscalculation. There are always one or two (or 10) strakes that just refuse to behave the way you want them to. So, no matter how hard I try to fair my bulkheads properly, the end result is some strakes are sunken, while some sit high, some get crinkles, while some leave gaps. Fortunately, wood is a forgiving material, and most problems can be fixed with a bit of wood filler and sandpaper.

After gluing the first three full-width strakes, I put in a temporary batten and allowed it to folllow its natural curve. Knowing that I will have to narrow the strips towards the bow and the stern, I decided, for expediency, to trim the strips to the maximum half of their width(rather than going thru the complex calculations of measuring the vertical distances of the various bulkheads).

Using my xacto knife, I cut a master strip to the proper width which I then used as a pattern to cut more strips. I alternately glued each strake on the port side and then the starboard side, trying to make sure that the strakes are aligned with each other.

View attachment 212874
View attachment 212876
View attachment 212875

I then went down towards the keel and worked on the garboard plank.

After trimming the edge of the planks to the appropriate shape, I soaked them in water and after a while clamped them against the keel. The garboard plank has to be twisted quite severely, because it has to go from a 90degree angle against the keel, to almost a flat towards the stern and bow. Once clamped, I hit it with heat from a blow dryer for a few minutes, in order to keep its shape.

I do the above process for the 2nd plank as well.

View attachment 212877
View attachment 212880

I proceeded to glue the garboard and the 2nd plank using CA gel glue at the contact points and Elmer's wood glue along the length of the strip. The model has a false rabbet at the bow where the tips of the planks neatly get tucked into.
View attachment 212878

Towards the stern the garboard lies flat on the deadwood area. I tried to let the plank follow its natural curve towards the stern, but it winds up too far up (down?) Along the deadwood area.


View attachment 212885

I had to wrestle with it a little bit to get it to lay along the edge of the last bulkhead. I chiseled part of the deadwood area so that the planks will lay level and not bulge too much for the 2nd planking. The plan was to chisel about 1mm on the deadwood area and sand down the plank to a thickness of 1mm, so the net result is a flat level area which would then receive the 2nd plank, with the net result that it will be the same thickness as the rudder.

I was too much of a scaredy cat to chisel too much of the keel, so I wound up with still a slight bulge around the deadwood area. I will try to fix later on with sandpaper.
View attachment 212881

View attachment 212882

I had a minor problem with the garboard where it bends abruptly after the first bulkhead. The plank got a noticeable crinkle due to the severe angle. I will fix later on with a bit of filler.
View attachment 212884

So after the first 2 planks are glued, it was just a matter of adding more planks to close the gap.

View attachment 212887
View attachment 212886

The last gap is always problematic, as it requires planning and trial and error to close it. I employed a mixture of stealers wedges, drop planks and fillers. It wasn't the prettiest job, but it got it done.
View attachment 212891

By the way, I wanted to show my approach to prepare for my display mounting bolts. The model comes with two pedestals where I plan to drill holes for a 3mm bolt. Before planking, I inserted reinforcing blocks on the inside of the keel. I drilled (very carefully) a hole thru the keel, about 15mm deep. I cut a portion of the keel so that I can position and glue the threaded nut directly over the drilled hole.

View attachment 212892
View attachment 212893

Will continue to the next post.

Nice progress on the planking. My first attempt nearly ruined me. Looking back I would say that planking the hull was the most challenging part of the build for me (up to this point). You seem to have it mastered!

 

[WarrLight]

I finished the first layer of planking. But still a lot of filler and sanding work to be done.

Before everything, I made sure I covered up all openings, lest I will have a ship full of shavings.


The night before, I applied wood filler to fill in gaps, even out undulations. Then went to work with sandpaper. Had to take my RC outside for a bit of sunshine (sorry didn't mean to rub it in for our friends in wintry areas).



Some wood shavings gold to save for future filler needs.



She looks a lot better after a good sanding.



Just a few minor things to fix.


That's all for now. Thanks for dropping by.

 

[Tony H]

Nice job on the planking I am always amazed at the way the ships take shape once the bulkheads are covered.
Tony

 

[Jeff T]

Continuing with the first layer of planking. I must say, this is probably my least favorite aspect of the build, mainly because it is so hard to complete the job without some misstep or miscalculation. There are always one or two (or 10) strakes that just refuse to behave the way you want them to. So, no matter how hard I try to fair my bulkheads properly, the end result is some strakes are sunken, while some sit high, some get crinkles, while some leave gaps. Fortunately, wood is a forgiving material, and most problems can be fixed with a bit of wood filler and sandpaper.

After gluing the first three full-width strakes, I put in a temporary batten and allowed it to folllow its natural curve. Knowing that I will have to narrow the strips towards the bow and the stern, I decided, for expediency, to trim the strips to the maximum half of their width(rather than going thru the complex calculations of measuring the vertical distances of the various bulkheads).

Using my xacto knife, I cut a master strip to the proper width which I then used as a pattern to cut more strips. I alternately glued each strake on the port side and then the starboard side, trying to make sure that the strakes are aligned with each other.

View attachment 212874
View attachment 212876
View attachment 212875

I then went down towards the keel and worked on the garboard plank.

After trimming the edge of the planks to the appropriate shape, I soaked them in water and after a while clamped them against the keel. The garboard plank has to be twisted quite severely, because it has to go from a 90degree angle against the keel, to almost a flat towards the stern and bow. Once clamped, I hit it with heat from a blow dryer for a few minutes, in order to keep its shape.

I do the above process for the 2nd plank as well.

View attachment 212877
View attachment 212880

I proceeded to glue the garboard and the 2nd plank using CA gel glue at the contact points and Elmer's wood glue along the length of the strip. The model has a false rabbet at the bow where the tips of the planks neatly get tucked into.
View attachment 212878

Towards the stern the garboard lies flat on the deadwood area. I tried to let the plank follow its natural curve towards the stern, but it winds up too far up (down?) Along the deadwood area.


View attachment 212885

I had to wrestle with it a little bit to get it to lay along the edge of the last bulkhead. I chiseled part of the deadwood area so that the planks will lay level and not bulge too much for the 2nd planking. The plan was to chisel about 1mm on the deadwood area and sand down the plank to a thickness of 1mm, so the net result is a flat level area which would then receive the 2nd plank, with the net result that it will be the same thickness as the rudder.

I was too much of a scaredy cat to chisel too much of the keel, so I wound up with still a slight bulge around the deadwood area. I will try to fix later on with sandpaper.
View attachment 212881

View attachment 212882

I had a minor problem with the garboard where it bends abruptly after the first bulkhead. The plank got a noticeable crinkle due to the severe angle. I will fix later on with a bit of filler.
View attachment 212884

So after the first 2 planks are glued, it was just a matter of adding more planks to close the gap.

View attachment 212887
View attachment 212886

The last gap is always problematic, as it requires planning and trial and error to close it. I employed a mixture of stealers wedges, drop planks and fillers. It wasn't the prettiest job, but it got it done.
View attachment 212891

By the way, I wanted to show my approach to prepare for my display mounting bolts. The model comes with two pedestals where I plan to drill holes for a 3mm bolt. Before planking, I inserted reinforcing blocks on the inside of the keel. I drilled (very carefully) a hole thru the keel, about 15mm deep. I cut a portion of the keel so that I can position and glue the threaded nut directly over the drilled hole.

View attachment 212892
View attachment 212893

Will continue to the next post.

Thanks for all of the explanation. The wood looks better than what is in the ZHL Black Pearl.

A question for others to debate. Reggie has joined all of his places at the same bulkhead. I would typically try to make joints at multiple bulkheads. Is there any good reason for doing one way over the other?

 

[WarrLight]

Nice progress on the planking. My first attempt nearly ruined me. Looking back I would say that planking the hull was the most challenging part of the build for me (up to this point). You seem to have it mastered!

Thanks Paul @dockattner ..I am convinced I will never master this beast... but like every other aspect of our hobby, I look forward to learnings gained from doing it.

 

[WarrLight]

Thanks for all of the explanation. The wood looks better than what is in the ZHL Black Pearl.

A question for others to debate. Reggie has joined all of his places at the same bulkhead. I would typically try to make joints at multiple bulkheads. Is there any good reason for doing one way over the other?

Thanks @Jeff T ...the RC has basswood planks while the BP Golden Edition had paulownia. I found the basswood easier to work with. Seemed a bit less likely to break.

As far as the joints, you're right. The proper way was to stagger the joints. That would have added a bit more strength to them. But, I must be getting old because I remembered that rule after I cut and narrowed my strakes and just decided to go ahead with what I had.

 

[WarrLight]

I spent the past few weeks working on the 2nd planking of the hull. The kit provides sapele 0.5mm x 7mm strips. They are quite easy to work with as they are flexible and tend to lay flat and not warp. I used mostly white Elmer's glue as it dries clear and is easy to clean up any smears. For certain stress points that require stronger and quicker bond, I used CA glue gel. I must say, doing the 2nd layer planking is so much easier than the first layer, even though I had to make sure everything was neat and tight.

But before I started, I had to do some preparatory work. As I planned to use a natural finish in the middle section of the hull using poly or tung oil, I painted that section dark brown to ensure that the bright basswood first layer does not peek through any gaps in the sapele planks. I didn't need to paint the top part and bottom part of the hull since I planned to paint these turquoise blue and white, respectively and any gaps in the planking can be covered up very easily. I also used brown paint to hide the ugly edge of the plywood in the keel and bow area.




First thing I did was to lay my first sapele strake flush against the level of the head platform on the bow. Then I just let the strake follow its natural path towards the stern. Oops, looks like I have some minor repair work on some teak strips that peeled off.



I then added a couple more full width planks from stem to stern. As the sapele strips weren't long enough to run the full length of the hull, I cut and staggered the joints accordingly. The Elmer's glue served me well. After positioning each strip, I just made sure I immediately wiped off any excess glue smears with a cloth. I then used a blunt instrument (the blunt end of my xacto holder worked great), to run and press all along the strip to ensure full contact with the wood. And then, finally, just as the glue starts to set after a few seconds, I apply pressure all along the length for 15-20seconds at each point. This helps to keep certain areas of the strip from lifting up off the surface. After a few minutes, I use a slightly damp cloth to wipe the entire length in order to remove any glue on the surface. It's a much easier cleanup this way, instead of waiting until later when the glue hardens.




I just continued to add more planks, narrowing the ends to about half their original width as I got to the bow and stern areas, and using stealers and wedges as necessary. I tried my best to just let the strips follow their natural course and not attempt to bend them laterally, as this will cause the strips to crinkle and pull up.



After several planks from the top of the hull, I then started planking from the bottom keel section.



I just kept adding more planks until all that is left is a small portion that had to be closed off. I found it useful to dry fit several strips with masking tape, in order to see how they run and to plan out where I needed to use stealers and wedges.





All done. I thought she earned herself a bit of time outside in the sun for a bit of minor sanding and cleanup.



That's it for now. Thank you for dropping by.

 

[Heinrich]

Hi Reggie. That is a LOT of work that you have done and a great result you have accomplished. This piece in the yellow circle requires some more TLC though. When that is done, you can sit back and be very well pleased with a job superbly done.

 

[shipahoy]

i bought this kit a couple of years ago when i only had a few builds under my belt. it sat on shelf for a while until i decided to start the build. problems from the start with poor laser cutting, instructions not usable ( the supplied disc makes a good coaster ), and the resin parts are for the most part garbage. the resin figure head has no head, just a melted stump. it claims to have basswood planking but half of it is limewood ( or some other very soft wood ) making it a planking nightmare and smooth sanding even harder. i bought this kit after hearing about how great the zhl 1:30 kit was and drank the zhl kool-aid that seems to be in the s.o.s. punchbowl. now that i have smartened up i just want to give a word of warning about this kit --save your money and maybe buy the 1;30 kit. i have since shelved this build for now and have started on a scratch build King of Prussia cutter from corel plans.

 

[dockattner]

Beautiful work Reggie. Ah, painting the hull before planking - wish I would have thought of that. The sapele really is lovely...

 

[Heinrich]

Wow @shipahoy ! Are we talking about the same kits here? Reggie seems to be doing a wonderful on his Kool-Aid induced ZHL built!

 

[WarrLight]

Beautiful work Reggie. Ah, painting the hull before planking - wish I would have thought of that. The sapele really is lovely...

Thanks Paul @dockattner. The sapele turned out nice. A bit delicate because they are only 0.5mm thick but they generally were easy to work with. I am debating whether to finish with poly or tung oil. I think the tung will give them a deep, rich look. Keep safe.

 

[WarrLight]

Thanks for the kind words @Heinrich and for your comments @shipahoy . I do understand, and at times even share, @shipahoy's frustrations with the kit. The instructions do leave a lot to be desired. The English instructions on the CD are often confusing and difficult to understand, due mainly to poor translation. They do have other instructions on large format paper that have tons of pictures. These, however, are in Italian and I spent quite a bit of time with Google translate to make use of them. On the whole, though, with a bit of patience, I was able to navigate my way through the build.
I also encountered a certain amount of poor laser cutting. A bit annoying but a problem that is easily overcome.
I disagree with @shipahoy , however, regarding the wood. The kit that I got, I thought, had good quality wood. I found the basswood strips quite easy to work with . The sapele, teak and walnut all were excellent in my opinion. Besides, they are very generous by providing a lot more strips than you need.
My biggest disappointment with the kit is probably with the resin carvings. I had covered this extensively earlier in my build.
On the whole, though, I am quite satisfied with the kit. Probably not as well designed and put together as the ZHL Black Pearl. But so far it has given me hours of enjoyment. I look at its deficiencies as yet another opportunity to learn how to solve problems. I do accept that kits are never perfect so I just soldier on and take it one step at a time.
My two cents worth.
Happy modeling.

 

[WarrLight]

I couldn't wait to add some color to my ship.
For the deck, I applied several coats of poly. I decided that I will use red for the bulwarks.




The upper hull, where the resin carvings will go, I painted turquoise blue. I mixed my own color by using cyan and a touch of yellow to get that turquoise shade.




And then I rested.