Model Shipways "Sultana" Group Build 2006

Forgive this cut and paste from MSW. I'd say the same things anyway. :)

Like the cheeks and knees at the bow, I had a lot of "fun" building the poop rails and gun stanchions. I break at least two small pieces every session and end up rebuilding one or doing a repair. Luckily it is not time-consuming to rebuild some of these pieces. I've finally learned to stop putting my fingers on the bow for support and breaking off the head timbers. This model is just too small for my fat hands. 

One major lesson I learned is that aligning things early on is vital since the inaccuracies gang up on you over time. My original cat rails are not quite horizontal which gave my poop rails a lean inboard and some of the poop rail stanchions are not abeam each other. I've learned to pay more attention to scanning the ship from all angles before cutting or gluing.

I also see all the imperfections in my joins and painting that look glaringly obvious to me. I'm sure I shall improve. Better brushes would help I think. Does everyone cringe over their imperfections I wonder? I'm sure they will not be obvious in the glory of the finished model, especailly behind glass. These are just some thoughts I am going through as I build.

So here are the latest photos before I move on to the bowsprit.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Donnie. :)

 Your rigging looks mighty fine. Very ship-shape. I can't wait until my Sultana looks as advanced as yours. 

Fippy,

I am glad to see you make progress. I certainly do not see anything wrong with your cheek knees. Looks great to me. You will not get an argument out of me

Here are some shots of my rigging on the Bowsprit section - mighty tedious !!!

Donnie

Most of these shots are just repetitous, but what the heck.

Well I finally made some more progress. I fought for quite some time with the bow cheeks, knees and head timbers and just couldn't get them right. They are too fiddly. The photos show what I finally came up with. Not exactly accurate but I'd rather move on than just get frustrated.

 Now I'm working on the deadeyes along the chains. It took me a few nights to make 16 wrapped deadeyes. Damn fiddly little things :) I broke a few along the way and superglued my fingers a few times too. But they're done at last and tomorrow I hope to assemble them.

Thank you Fippy - it does take a certain amount of concentration to do this. It isn;t that hard, just takes alot of focus. It takes about 5 to 7 minuites for me to tie each step. I would say that it takes me about 5 to 6 hours to make one complete shroud. I am going to do thr two at the front of the ship and then focus my attention on the Main Boom. I found some ultra tiny beads at the local Hobby Lobby that I am going to use for the parrals.

Donnie 

Hi Greg,

it is nice to hear from ya !

Donnie 

Fippy,

Don't worry, you couldn't have asked for a better kit to learn the "ropes" on. The Sultana's rig is simular to any other square rigged ship like the Victory or Cuttysark; yet it just isn't as complex.  Also, being, wood, it is much more forgiving then learning on a plastic kit.  Tying ratlines is just like tying flys.  You sit down, put on some music or a good TV program, place your cardboard pattern behind the shrouds, and just weave your way up one knot at a time.  You may be surprised how much you'll get done in an evening and really enjoy it.  My mother in law tells me it is just like needlepoint.  Its not the quantity of knots, its the quality of the time enjoying doing the work.

Scott 

1 down and maybe 30 more to go?  A couple hundred knots for the ratlines.

Nice thing with a ship like the Sultana, there is a moderate amount of deadeyes to rig up that makes the build comfortable.  Much better then looking at 168 for the Constitution and the more than 2000 knots for the ratlines and shrouds. 

Hey Scottrc - thanks for tuning in.

I have some new photos for everyone - starting on the ratlines.

Donnie

Hi Donnie,

I'm sorry for not getting to participate in this GB.  The usual delays in getting my kit got in the way such a work, and the addition of two pre-teenagers to my houshold has kept me busy.  I hoped to start on the Sultana after Nationals was over, but I ended up doing a commision build as a Christmas present, then I started a 1/96 Consititution for my new master bedroom (that is still not sheetrocked).  Good priority eh?  Build the ship before the room is done.

I am still going to build this kit, and maybe plank it since I like the all natural wood look.  I have been staying close to this build and am impressed with everyones craftmanship.  We seem to have a lot to learn from each other and it feels that we are all in good company. No professional egos to get in the way.

For being the only wooden sailing ship GB here, I say that this GB has been doing well.  6 months and there is still activity.  I have been in AC groupbuilds that, although popular, seem to die within 6 days. 

 The folks at Model Ship World are expecting at least two years to be on the HMS Triton GB.  It will be interesting to see how some will progress.  I look forward to this GB lasting another 6 months.  Maybe with all new posters.

Best regards,

Scott 

Got started on my Chain Plates.  Got to get those timberhead cut down - they are too high

Here's a somewhat blurry (sorry) photo of the catheads, gunposts and timberheads on my model. I'm currently fighting with all the cheek knees and details. I keep breaking them :(

Fippy,

I am thankful for your attitude and encouragement. I am or was afraid that you might become discouraged as well.  Just keep up the good work. I don't think there is a rush to finish.

I have got my fore and main mast done. No yards or anything of the sorts. I get distracted too.

Donnie 

Yeah, don't worry about it Donnie. Don't compare it to other groups. All that matters is that we are having fun and learning from each other, whether that is 2 people, 5 or 50. I for one am REALLY glad you started this group. It was the first mention of the Sultana I came across in terms of people building it, and actually still remains the only one I know. I think that if this group had not existed I probably would have got bogged down in MS's instruction book and given up. :( You and Chuck and occassionally others here have kept me going. So although I am biased, I am very thankful that this group exists.

You're going great guns. I don't expect to finish perhaps even by May/June which I think will be a whole year. Not that I care about that. It's the journey: the fun and the relaxation I get from modelling, that I got into this hobby, less than actually having the completed ships. I bet everyone takes a really long time on their first build.

I'm glad I started in a small group too. I think if I had been modelling alongside 50 people I would have felt threatened and a need to keep up. This group has been an ideal start for me.

In summary, this has been a fantastic group for me. I'm very glad it got started. Don't give up on it yet. :)

Hi Donnie,

Sorry to have been absent so long - I still have issues with the not so new job (I'm off to school again in a couple of weeks) but I have made some progress.  My wife and I decided to do some renovations around the house now that all our kids have moved away and I now have a bedroom that has been converted into a hobby/office area.  I'll post pictures sometime this week.  In the mean time I have had little time to work on the model but I have begun shaping the hull - and I still think I will plank all of it.  For lighter fair I have been working on a couple of plastic models - need decent decorations for my office.

You and jiffy have been making great progress.  I like what you've both accomplished and look forward to seeing the pictures - gives me great ideas and techniques to use as I get to where you guys are now.  Don't be discouraged about the group, I think most of us are still here just nowhere near where you 2 are at this point.  I hope to be posting more often from here on in, but I've said that before and ended up with less time right after, so I'm a little hesitant to say it now.

Keep up the good work.

Cmac

Well,

it really has been quiet in the SGB. I had some time to write so I have some thoughts. You know, it has taken alot longer to build this ship than I thought. However, I guess it is due to my wanting it to look somewhat decent.

I subscribe to a magazine Seaways Publishing. My latest Magazine that came had an article, well actually it was Seaways interviewing the owner of Model Expo.  He said that one of the key ingredients in building a first class ship to be proud of is "patience".

I recon since he is the owner and has the most experience in this, I guess he would have to be right.  The next key ingredient that he said that will build out a first class ship is "exceptional plans" to work with and then the materials.

At any rate, I guess I don't feel so bad that this Group Build started back in June. I feel that this group build got lost somehow. I see other group builds flourishing and taking root with alot of attention and fervor.  Sometimes, I feel discouraged becuase there are only a couple that are really only building at this point and it seems that Fippy and I are the only ones hanging in there.

Oh well, I should present a better positive attitude, but hey, I remember that we started out with several people (about 5 people) I guess that was really on fire about this.

Was it me that discouraged? Was it a lack of enthusiasm on my part that caused it to die? Was it the ship too hard? Was it nobody liked dealing with wood?  Was it taking too long to build? Nobody really interested in this ship?

I don't know but for some reason, it seems that this Group build has died and passed ! I see other group builds like the HMS Victory and other USS ships that seem to have a "timeless" end to them and keep on going.

I will continue to post my work -

I am almost finished with installing the Mast and need to get images of those up soon. I am hoping that I will get the entire ship finished by mid February. I want to encourage Fippy to continue as he and I are the only ones left building.

Thanks for those that have tuned in at least.

Donnie D. 

WOW !

Fippy - that is great ! You really have put alot of work in your ship. It is spectacular. I like your binnacle. I was too lazy to do anything to mine, but paint the cast one that I had (hehe) Ohwell, I want to congratulate you on your fine ship. It is really going to make a fine vessel when you are done. I am sure that you are proud of your accomplishments so far.

I have started on constructing my Mast. I cheated (again). I needed to "taper" my mast - so I used a small drill press that I have. I mounted my dowel in the press and turn on the drill press. With a piece of sandpaper, all I did was run the sand paper up and down the dowel until I achived my taper. It took about 5 minuites or so to do this to the level of satisfaction of my liking. Oh well to each there own ( I can here it now). I am sure that Mr. Tilley will have a fit if he knew that I did this. But hey - got my mast done !  I also used a very small disk sander to make the upper head end of the mast. The only thing I did by hand was that at the lower end of the mast that inserts into the ships deck, I used a file to file off that Octogon shaped area.

When I get one mast done I shall submit the photo on that one too.

Donnie 

Thanks for your kind comments guys.

So, here are photos of the completed deck furniture: In one of the photos you can see the new toy I got for Christmas, a Dremel variable speed tool!

Fippy,

it looks like everything is going fine to me. I am waiting until you post your deck photos.

Donnie 

Fippy,

Happy holidays first of all.  Your pumps arent half bad considering they are a first attempt.  They are a heck of a lot better than the cast ones supplied.  It is a smart move that you are scratch building most of the parts from the start.  Even if you are not 100% satisfied you will advance much quicker if you dont use the castings supplied.  I just finished the pumps for my Mayflower and mentioned how it is difficult to get practice making such fittings.  If you think about it, with a ship needing only a pair of them you dont have the opportunity to practice frequently.   Depending on the model you are working on you may only build a few pumps per year.  I believe I might have made a dozen or so log pumps over the last 10 years.  Hardly enough to experiment with the many techniques and methods for making them.

 Great job so far on your model.

 Chuck

Here's a couple of photos showing the bits of my pump and the final results. I'm certainly not a master craftsman as you can see, but not bad for my first attempt.

Well I like your guns. It is entirely up to the builder to build for accuracy or looks. I know to some people accuracy is everything and I must admit that I would like to be as accurate as possible, but at the end of the day we all have to look at our own models in the display cases.

Yeah, I'm finding it hard to get good consistency from the MS paint too. I put it down to one or more of the following factors: a) I'm not a good painter :), b) It comes with experience, c) I have cheap brushes, d) The paint isn't good. Like you I have about 6 coats on some of my parts.

I've heard that the paint that Caldercraft recommends is excellent quality. My next build is probably going to be a Caldercraft (either the William or the Pickle). By the way, do you know that Jotika are publishing Caldercraft manuals, one every Friday, as PDF's? Their manuals are far superior to MS ones.

On a recommendation from Tim over at MSW, I used BIN primer (shelac based) on metal parts and he's right: It definitely sticks to the metal much better than the MS primer. Great stuff. I bought it at Lowes, a whole quart for $11. That should last me for ever.

Deck furniture is almost done! Expect photos in a day or two. I am really looking forward to moving onto the bow and rails and to be able to stick to just black for a while. :)

Happy Holidays! 

Well, you bring a big smile to me.  Actually, you know what, I just used the plain ole Model Shipways paint for everything (even though it is totally agreevating !). I just dab it on until it is convered on the Guns.  I used testors (Gold) for the Gun handles and moutning brackets. Why did I do this? Don't know, just lile the "flare" of things I guess. I wanted to the guns to have more of an ornamental look to them. I know that from a reality stand point, they are not even close to being acurate, but I think it adds. Just my thoughts. And hey, didn't someone say that we are allowed to decorate it the way we wish???

The glossy-ness of the ship does not look that glossy - the camera and the lightning just makes it look too glossy. I really like Chucks ship and I am not sure how he got that smooth natural look. I thought I would never get the front railings done and the figurehead and all to look like I want. I am really not too pleased with it, but hey, its ok with me I guess.  I took that idea as close as I could from the Sultana Project website. The Figure head again, just using the white Model shipways paint. I did not gloss the figure head.

About that Model shipways paint, well, I hate it. I don't know what the deal is with that paint, but I simply do NOT like it. period. I must be missing something about how to use it. But, I am always adding a little water to it so that it will paint smooth. It has to be babied alot to get it to do right. I have to use alot of coats over and over and this also takes away from the natural beauty of the ship. I bet I have about 6 coats of white paint on the bottom hull, and I can still see the gray primer that I put on. Again, I must be missing something or Model Shipways needs to come up with a better paint. I ordered some stain from them and I love the stain. I used the stain on the bowsprit mast that is in construction.

Thanks for your compliments - it makes me more interested in the project and keeps me from getting burned out. We started this SGB back in June of 2006 and I am just now almost getting the Hull completed. The timbers need to be cut down I know this. I am getting a new dremel tool with cutting attachments that can do this for me. Other than this, the only tools that I have used on this ship is a couple of files, and xacto knife, and a set of dividers for measuring.

The metal alligator clips have really come in handy.  

Alot of work here !

Enjoy !

Donnie