Lets put our ideas,Questions and suggestions here.

sixpac2k

additionaly pay attention to the decking strips on the real Yacht the deck boards were nibbled into a single large strake at the bulwarks. There are a couple of good articles about that on this web sight.

Tim, do you have any leads to where I can find some real pictures of the AMERICA? I've been searching but have yet to find anything. I'm going to try to dig up the articles that you mentioned as well.

I'm about 60% finished with planking the deck and the instuctions say to "trim off the excess" when finished. What do you guys suggest using to trim off the over hangs?

Finished planking the deck and have moved on to the cockpit. Tim, I'm not sure what scale your America is but the Constructo's is 1/56 and the plans call for cutting out a 39 mm circle of the assembled and glued latice work for the cockpit. What did you use to cut out the circle? Any suggestions on cutting this out? See the attached picture......

You fellows are ahead of me, I am still putting on the first layer of planking on the hull.

To cut out the round grid, I would mark it with a compass or a circle guide, then cut it with a scroll saw (fine blade) outside the mark, and then sand it down to size. I would use a disc sander, but anything would work. There are a ton of ways to cut this out, and this is just the approach I would take. My way is neither the only one nor perhaps the best one. I learned long ago to cut outside the line and then work it down to it.

Tommy,

So I take it that you're planking the hull before the deck? Since this is my first ever model I'm following the plans as is and the Constructo (I'll never buy a kit from them again most likely) instructions call to plank the deck before the hull. Thanks for the suggestion on the circle.....I probably would've gone for cutting it out on the line instead of sanding it down to the line which is a much better idea. How would you go about trimming off the excess overhangs from the deck planks?

Bryan

Seems odd to me to plank the deck before doing the hull, but I suppose it would work either way. With the hull planked, you know exactly where the bulwarks are going to be and you can set your nibbling strakes accordingly. Nibbling strakes are the long edge pieces of the deck planking that follows the line of the bulwarks. The deck planks are squared off at the ends and fitted into the nibbling strake. This allowed the planks to be caulked without having to get the caulking iron against the bulwarks and kept the planks from getting too thin at the ends. Chances are your kit does not show nibbling strakes, and that is OK, they are a royal pain to do properly and 99% of the people who see the model wouldn't know the difference. When you plank the deck, if you rub a soft pencil against the edge of the planking, it will look like caulking between the planks, which looks more authentic.

My guess is that you have the planks on already and they are running over the edge of deck, and you want to trim them. If they sticking out a ways, you will have to trim them with a small saw or an exacto knife, leaving a little extra and then sanding down to the edge. If they don't overhang very much, I would just sand them down to the edge. You will probably have to lay in a small strip between the bulwarks and the deck edge to cover any mismatches that you get.

Thanks for your input Tommy. I do have the deck fully planked and you are right about my instructions, they do not mention anything regarding the nibbing. Sixpac2k mentioned the same thing when starting this thread but since this is my first build I decided I wouldn't attempt the nibbing.

One thing that is beginning to concern me is the painting/staining layout or scheme. There is none in my instructions and all I have to go by is the pictures on the box, which doesn't do a very good job. In some pictures in the instructions it looks as if the deck planks have been stained but then in others it doesn't, it's very confusing. I know I should be painting/staining some of, if not all of the pieces as I go through the project so I'm not left with a lot of hard detail work at the end. Should I just go by what I can see in the pictures on the box? I've searched for better pictures of a completed model and haven't found anything that is better than the box. Any suggestions on this from anyone?

Bryan

Bryan:

I did a quick Google image search on "Yacht America" and ended up with several useful photos of models and a few paintings that will help me as I get further into this model. I also bought a book "The Low Black Schooner: Yacht America 1851-1945" which has photos and paintings and a fair amount of history.

As far as color goes, based on the Google results, there does not seem to be any standard. Most show a black upper hull with light wood decks, but not all. At one time in her career she was painted white, and several paintings show this. My kit shows a coppered bottom from the waterline to the keel, and black above with light colored stained deck planking. It also shows white trim at the mast feet and tops, white booms and white bowsprit, and white trim around the steering pit, and white on the capstan as well. I intend to paint mine whatever color I would paint her if I owned her. After all, it is my ship and I will be the builder!

Sorry guys been real busy getting ready to move into another house. The book tommy mentions is the only real reference I have found. I have copper-ed my hull and painted the upper hull black. I oiled the deck and plan on staining and varnishing all of the deck furniture as this would be correct for the period. I don't know how your plans tell you how to build the walls of the cockpit mine said to glue vertical strips to a piece of paper on both sides so that the wall can be formed. Did you see the band around the hull in the plans? A copper-ed hull would also be period correct. I used a exacto knife handle with a saw blade in it to cut out the cockpit and to trim up the deck planking. I am still trying to correct my bulwarks and make them presentable.

My Mamoli kit has a novel approach to coppering the hull. After laying down the first layer of planking, and smoothing and filling as needed, you mark the waterline. Then you second plank above the waterline following the hull contours just as the real planking would, except you stop at the waterline. The kit includes a package of green colored small rectangles, scale copper plate size, that you then glue on below the waterline. One row following the waterline and then the remaining rows straight fore and aft, not following the contours.

After this, you sand some of the green color off, then paint with copper colored paint, then wipe with green paint, then seal with clear. I think I will try a test patch off the model first. I also think you could make a good looking coppered hull by using the small squares, then carefully applying some "Rub'n Buff" and wiping off any excess, letting some of the green show through. Rub'n Buff comes in various colors, and I used to use it a lot to restore gold trim on furniture and picture frames. If you've never used this, you should give it a try. Very handy stuff.

Last night I marked the waterline, no progress since then.

Speaking of the water line no where in my plans or instructions (by Constructo) does it show me how to mark this. Any suggestions on coming up with it on my own?

Bryan: A simple way of marking the waterline is to mark on the stem and stern piece where the waterline is (this should be on your plans!) then turn the hull upside down and block it such that the two marks are at the same height.

Next, take a soft pencil, mount it horizontally on a block(s) such that the pencil is at the same height as the marks on the hull. Now carefully slide the pencil/block assembly around the hull, marking the waterline as you go. You might need to do it several times to get it right, it is hard to keep the pencil "just so" on the flatter parts of the hull. Just go slow and careful, and if you goof, erase the pencil line and mark it again. Pencil lines are cheap.

You can do this with the hull upright as well, but I think it is easier upside down, you can see better what you are doing.

Based on your questions, I think you would benefit very much from a book or two on basic shipmodeling. One that I think highly of is "How to Build Ship Models- a Beginner's Guide" by A. Richard Mansir. Another is "Historic Ship Models" by Wolfram zu Mondfeld. A great resource for ideas and information is "Ship Modeler's Shop Notes" compiled by Merrit Edson.

Have fun!

If your plans dont show the waterline drop me a private message and I will try to copy the marks from my plans and Email them to you. Additionally another excellent book is ship modeling simplified it is always listed at the bottom of the main forum page and readily available online or at your local borders.

Forgive me as I did jump the gun on questioning how to mark the waterline. I've read over my instruction booklet probably 8-10 times now and that procedure isn't in there so that prompted my question. I'll have to take a close look at the included plans tonight to see if it's in those. I just finished reading Frank Mastni's Ship Modeling Simplified: Tips and Techniques for Model Construction from Kits this weekend while on a small vacation.....I'll be constructing his recommended jig for marking the waterline when the time arrives. I also have Keith Julier's New Period Ship Handbook and Ben Lankford's How to build first rate ship modles from kits that have been great resources thus far.

I'm about ready to start planking the hull and last night I dry fitted some of the planks to get an idea of how much chamfering I need on a few of the bulkheads. I'm concerned on what to do with bulkheads 2, 8, and 9 (starting from the bow towards the stern). Those 3 are protruding out past the deck (see attached pics). I can secure a plank on top of these and meet the height requirements (above the deck) that the instructions indicate but then the next plank will not be flush under the uppermost plank due to the protruding bulkheads. I know the stern has a unique design and from I can see from pictures and on my model it's bulkhead #10 and the stern knighthead that creates this unique feature, not bulkheads #8 and #9. So again I'm questioning whether or not I need to sand these bulkheads down to be flush with the deck, it seems that this is the only way I can have a smooth hull that is also flush with the deck.

Tommy, thank you for your instruction of marking the waterline and Tim I'll check my plans tonight to see if the waterline is marked on them.

Your kit is different from mine. My bulkheads were cut fairly well, but I still had to do some trimming and shimming to get the planking to run true. This is normal. The front bulkhead that is protruding probably just needs trimmed to match its mates.

The protrusion on the rear just at the deck level and below is a characteristic of the America. My kit forms this not with the bulkheads but by putting down double thick planking over this area, which is then sanded it to shape.

Before you plank the hull, be sure you form the edges of the bulkheads such that the planks fit flat on them. A small sanding block and a not-too-coarse wood file work very well for this. Dry fit planking along the bulkheads to make sure they are in alignment, and fix where it is not.

Yesterday I put a zillion fake copper plates on one side of the hull. I made up a test plate, and bought some copper spray paint. By spraying lightly over the green wood plates, I get a pretty good rendition of oxidized copper plating. I was impressed!

BTW, Bryan, in your photo from the front I can see your overall plan on the wall. That sure looks like a waterline shown on the hull. On the America, the copper plating was right to the waterline.

I've posted several photos of my hull under construction, you can see how the first layer of planking went on, then how the hull was second planked normally above the water line and with simulated copper plates below the waterline. I spent several days gluing on all those little plates, one by one, trimming as necessary. I have now painted the simulated plates with some spray copper metallic paint, and I think they look pretty good. I haven't made a photo yet of the painted plating.

Another problem I had was trying to attach the tiller to the rudder. The only suggestion I have is make sure the top of the rudder will fit into the tiller and insert it through the tiller as you place the rudder on the gudgeon's. I suggest you finish the cockpit before the rudder because it will be very difficult to do once the tiller is in place.

I haven't put the rudder on yet, although it is finished, plated and painted. Like you, I quickly realized that putting the tiller on would be a real chore if I waited until after I installed the rudder to fit the tiller. I plan to make the tiller, fit it into the rudder end, then after the steering cockpit is finished install the rudder onto the gudgeons and then install the tiller into the pre-fit hole in the rudder.

Currently I am installing the deck planking, but I am doing it the lazy way without nibbling strakes. I just cut the planks to 70 mm each per the plans then glue them onto the deck ply plate. Pencil darkening on the edges, of course. Photos later.

Do you know if there was some sort of seal on the actual ship to keep water from coming into the steering cockpit thru the hull area where the rudder comes through? I would assume so, but I don't know just what they did.

Thats a really good question! I have no idea other that the top of the rudder should be well above the waterline under normal circumstances. Probably some kind of rubber boot or something along those lines. Acutualy it was probably leather I dont think rubber was real popular then.

Progress, slow but steady. I have posted five more photos of the ongoing construction of the Mamoli America. These photos show the bulwarks and rail installation, the rudder, and a preliminary fit of some of the deck furniture. I have chosen a dark teal color for the upper hull, and light gray for the trim. I think they look good together.

I soaked the rails for a time in water, then used an iron to steam them and dry them into the proper curvature. Worked quite well. For the rear railing, I made up a cut out piece from some basswood sheet. Since the railing will be painted gray, and the scarf joints will be filled and sanded, it will look like one continuous piece. I use medium cyanoacrylate glue to adhere them. The bulwark uprights are pieces of plastic strip, it is easier to work with in this case than wood, and again, it will be painted so who cares what the material is?

Comments are welcome!

Lokks awesome tommy! I wish I had thought of using plastic for the uprights in the bulwarks. After hours of sanding I finally got mine right. Found another web site with historical inf on AMERICA and a beutifull scratchbilt model showing inside details.http://www.jrusselljinishiangallery.com/pages/mccaffrey-pages/mccafferyimage-america.htm Tim

Progress..finally! I have gotten back to the America model now that the California trip is past, and I have posted a few more photos showing the current state of the hull.

I've installed the rudder and all the cockpit trim. The tiller is attached to the rudder and they swivel together. The bowsprit is attached, the anchor windlass and support stucture are in place, as are the cat heads. The gold trim on the bow is attached, but I am still trying to get a decent looking eagle for the stern. I have the masts finished, but not stepped yet. It should not take me too long to get to the rigging stage, and since this is a simple two-masted schooner, that should not be too tedious.

We are traveling again in another week or so, so once again progress will be on hold until we return. Stay tuned...

Lokks awesome tommy! I wish I had thought of using plastic for the uprights in the bulwarks. After hours of sanding I finally got mine right. Found another web site with historical inf on AMERICA and a beutifull scratchbilt model showing inside details.http://www.jrusselljinishiangallery.com/pages/mccaffrey-pages/mccafferyimage-america.htm Tim
Tom:
Beautiful work on tne America! Working on the same kit Mamoli. Have you fin ished yours? I'm about done, putting things together on the hull. Did a slightly different building sequence. Looks like some of the fittings are different, bow gold trim is very different.
Were you able to translate the Italian to find all the right parts? If I was not a boater, it would have been a real puzzle.

Bob:
Not a lot of progress on the America since my last post. We took two long trips and other things as well have eaten into my time.

The masts are stepped, the lower deadeyes are installed, the gaffs are finished, most of the blocks are made and and those on the spars and gaffs are installed. Everything on the deck is installed. About all that remains is the rigging itself, but my plans are screwy. They show the main topsail and fore topsail fastened both to the gaff and the mast, but that would be impossible in real life because then you could not lower the gaff to reduce sail on the mainsail or foresail. I am going to rig these sails like a Gloucester fishing schooner instead. I am still trying to decide whether or not to include the sails.

More to follow as I make progress!