I just worked on getting the decking in as well; I used CA to glue it in and that worked fine for me. I have made a template (on graph paper) for the waterway incase more than one attempt is necessary to get a perfect fit.

The manila folder that I have on hand does not match too well with the decking. Has anyone else noticed this as well? Are there variations in color with these folders? I sure like the idea of using it for the waterway; it will look much better than what is recommended in the kit instructions.

I was looking at the waterway in the pictures on the Model Expo site (image attached to this post) and noticed that the bulwark and stanchions are painted white. I decided to go with that option as well. I also decided to paint the step at the waist white as well. I did this mostly because I could not find a bottle of “cream” paint at the hobby shop.

Has anyone drilled the mast holes yet? I am wondering how people are doing that. I will probably use my drillpress, but it is a complicated setup

My manilla folder color didn't match perfectly either but I like the faint contrast so it didn't bother me too much. I painted the inside of the bulwarks, stanchions, and caprail all cream (buttermilk to be exact)
I have drilled my mast holes already. I cut a piece of foam to the angle that the instruction manual (I'd like 5 minutes alone with the guy who wrote that useless thing) indicated and used a hand drill. I first located the holes and cut away the decking with the exacto. I then started off with a 1/6 bit held against the foam to the approximate angle and started drilling. I then used the 5/32 bit to finish off the hole. When I inserted the masts and held it against the plans the rake angle was off so I did a little more drilling to widen the hole a bit. This way I can shim it to the right angle when I step the mast.
I also put two coats of waterbased poly on the deck to protect it and bring out the highlights.
Last night I finished almost all of the cap rail hardware, fabricated the chainplates, installed them and tied on the deadeyes. To be honest I really enjoyed doing it. The only problem is that I used the 1/32 x 3/32 for my cap rail and it didn't really hang out over the bulwarks enough for me to put the chainplates through so I cut some VERY small pieces of 1/32 x 3/32 and "extented" the caprail at the chainplates to fake it. I've seen this on many bigger ships and figured that although the Phantom didn't have them it was nautically acceptable.
Anyway, I wish you luck on using the drill press. I think that if you use a hand drill (one with variable speed) you can do it by hand/eye. As long as the hole is in the right place and you drill so that there is some play you can shim it later. In fact, the practicum suggests shimming becuase most humans aren't able to drill a hole accurately when there are two axis to consider.
Well, tonight I start building deck structures. Should be fun.

Mike, it looks like (from you most recent photo) that you penciled in the deck caulking. If so, I wonder if you did this before or after applying the poly. I have already “drawn” in the caulk lines, but don’t know if brushing on a clear finish will lift or smear the lines.

It sounds like you are really moving along – I would enjoy seeing some pictures. I plan/hope to have the waterway and stanchions done by mid-week, and will post a couple more pictures then.

How did you bend the stern portion of the caprail? I am going to try Chuck’s suggestion of cutting it out of a thin sheet of basswood. When I was at the hobby shop I noticed that there were also thin sheets of walnut and mahogany. I considered using that for the caprail and structure roofs – but it would have cost quite a bit more than the basswood (which can be stained after all!).

Clayton,
You are correct, I did pencil it in. I did it befor the poly and because the poly is water based it didn't smear the graphite. I only used two coats because I didn't want it to be too glossy.
I bent the stern rail by steaming it and forming it as I installed. I have been using brush-on CA (what a Godsend). I sarted on the starboard side and glued about 1/3 of the rail. I then held the starboard side down (just in case) and applied glue to the middle third and worked it/pressed it down. I then did the same with the port side and finished it up that way. I cut the angle where the stern cap met the port and starboard cap by eye before installing it. It worked out well but if I had to do it all over again I would have done it as Chuck suggested becuase I like the look of having more overhang to the outboard.
I guess I'm moving fairly quickly but I am really trying to take my time. I usually work on it for 2, sometimes 3 hours at a time. I'll tell you, doing the chainplates and tying the deadeyes was quite a challenge but a lot of fun.
My camera batteries ran down this weekend and my charger was at the office so I will take some pictures tonight.
Take care.
-M

New idea?
I don't know if anyone does this or not but I just came up with it this weekend. Many metal parts need to be painted black. I've been looking at some close-ups and notice that the paint looks very "globby" on the smaller items. I have a patience problem and washing, sanding, priming every small metallic part just isn't going to happen with me. So what I now do is use a black Sharpie marker. It covers anything with a nice thin coat of black without needing to prepare the surface too much. It also takes a second coat very well and should be "permanent" especially if the finished model is kept under glass.
Any thoughts?

This is as far as I have gotten so far. I decided to use the drillpress to drill the mast holes. There is some set-up time involved, but the system works with the modeling base that made and the angles come out fairly accurate.

The bulwark stanchions are done on the aft deck. To help keep the model looking crisp I painted the basswood strip white after sanding it down to the correct size. Then I cut the individual stanchions as close to the correct length as possible so that I would not have to sand them down too much after gluing them on.

It's looking good! It is tedious isn't it? I sanded the strips down first too but I didn't paint them. I also cut them down to about 1/16 above the bulwark top and then ground them down with a fine disk on my dremmel. I painted them and the bulwarks after they were installed.
I've gotten as far as the aft traveller. If you notice, I added little platforms for the chainplates because my cap rail didn't extend outboard enough.
The traveller took me about an hour to do. I didn't have the 1/8 brass to make the traveller top from so I took the 1/16 brass strip that came with the kit, cut two lengths and filed a small slot in each one. I then super glued both halves together onto a piece of 1/64 plywood that I bought. After that I cut the assembly out and cut the slot through the plywood and cleaned it all up. I had some gardening wire that was about 22 gauge so I cut it to length to make the legs. I think it came out pretty good although when I zoom my camer to its limits I can see EVERY tiny blemish. Perfection...such an unattainable goal for we humans.
Mike

Mike the fairleads look good. Were they difficult to make? I know that they are simple in concept – but they are so small! I am going to have to get a good set of pliers…

So there was enough brass left over after making the chainplates to make the top of the traveler? That is a good idea.

Say, I purchased a sheet of thin brass, mostly to construct the pintles and gudgeons. Has anyone cut thin metal like this before? I am planning to use an exacto blade to cut it, but if anyone has a better idea I am all ears.

~Clayton

Clayton,
Thanks. The fairleads weren't hard to do. What I did was put a touch of super glue on the bottom of the deadeye and kind of stuck it onto the caprail right above the chainplate. Before I did this I used two tiny clothspins that I bought a Michael's Craft and Hobby to hold the line out and down on either side of the chainplate as I glued the deadeye down. After the glue set I simply pull each side of the line up along the groove in the deadeye and tied a double knot at the top. I then applied a touch of super glue to the knot and cut it. The next time I do this I am going to only tie a single knot and glue it so that the ends don't stick up so high. I used a set of lockable tweezers to hold the deadeye and I wear magnifying headgear so it wasn't too hard to do.
As far as the traveler top, yes there was just enough brass strip.
Tonight I finish the aft companionway. I am going to try to add a door that will slide up out of the entrance when the top is slid back. It should add a touch of realism.
Cutting the brass could be tough. How thick is it? An exacto sounds like the way to go but you could also take a sharp chisel and give it a good whack along a pre-drawn line.
-M

This is as far as I got tonight – completed the bulwark stanchions. They sure add a lot of scale and detail to the model.

I did start on the rudder; got as far as painting and coppering it. But I can’t decide how to attach it. I had considered using copper tape for the pintles and gudgeons but the copper does not seem to paint very well. What are you-all doing? Mike (imforgvn) mentioned using a permanent marker to color item black but I noticed that CA tends to re-liquefy the ink so I am worried about smearing. Mike, did you use the marker after gluing the items on?

The caprail is also becoming a challenge for me. Chuck’s idea with the manila folder waterways works so well that I thought I could use the same material for a pattern for the caprail. Boy am I glad that I did that! If I had tired cutting the caprail right out of the 1/32” sheet of basswood I would have wasted a lot of wood.

How is everyone else doing? Have any of you begun your Phantom build yet?

~Clayton

Clay,
Great job with the stantions! For the rudder I kind of used Chucks picture as a guide. I used black electrical tape. First I wrapped 3, 1/16 pieces of electrical tape around the rudder as grudgeons before I coppered it. After coppering the rudder up to the waterline, I glued 3 small strips of tape above the grudgeons. I then glued the rudder stem into the hole in the hull (beforehand I made sure that all of the grudgeons were spread apart to port and starboard) and then cut the grudgeons to size and glued them to the hull. You can see how it worked out by the picture. After I had done it I noticed that I didn't align the middle set very well and will probably redo them at some point but the process worked.
As for the Sharpie, I only use it on the tiny metal parts so I haven't any experience with CA making it reliquify.
Last night I spent a lot of time making the hatch on the aft companionway so that it would slide back and forth. It worked but I didn't like it and tore it off. I have thought of another way to make the channels so I will try that tonight. I think I'm going to start drinking beer while working...
Mike

Mike – your rudder looks great. Your idea of using the electrical tape is a good one. I had been considering the use of automotive pinstriping – but I doubt that is any better than electric tape. Did you use CA to glue the tape on? I have a vague memory of reading somewhere that CA could tarnish or cloud copper. What method did you use?

Before coppering my rudder I cut three notches in it, as shown in both the instructions and Chuck’s guide. I regret that now because I will have to fill them in or make a new rudder.

To securely attach the rudder to the sternpost I used two 1/2” long x 0.03” diameter brass rods. First I drilled two holes in the sternpost and glued the rods in. Then I pressed the ruder into the rods to mark their locations and drilled corresponding holes in the rudder. This way I can slide the rudder on and off while working on the pintles & gudgeons. And eventually I can glue it to the rods if I need to.

Great idea about the pins. I just have it secured to the hull at the top. I drilled a small hole and just glued the end of the rudder stem into it. The tape for the grudgeons is actually under the copper so I didin't glue it at all. The small peices of tape for the pintles I glued right to the copper. Any excess CA I just delicately scraped off with the tip of my exacto. I don't know about CA discoloring copper but I'm probably going to use amonia or something to tarnish the copper when I'm done. I think a bit of a weathered look would be better than having a pristine, shiny copper hull.
I like the idea of the rods. It would have made it a bit easier for me to work on the rudder. If you keep the rods in, will they show or is the rudder so closely fit that they won't be noticeable?
You know, I had the hardest time trying to figure out how to make a cradle to hold the hull while I worked on it. I was so focused on making it level so I could draw an accurate waterline that I couldn't get my mind around how to set it up. What I ended up doing was installing the rods f(or mounting it to the launching ways) in the hull and using the same procedure you described to locate a couple of holes in a scrap piece of wood. I then inserted the rods into the piece of wood and that is my holder.

The rudder sets so close to the sternpost that the rods are not visible. I also tried to place them where they would be covered by the gudgeons.

To make my base I used two of the hull shaping templates (perhaps #2 and #7, but I cant recall for sure) to trace a line on 1/8" plywood. Then I marked the waterline on the plywood and cut them so that the lines would be level. Then I just cut dados with a table saw in a 1X4 to hold the plywood.

The neat part is that I used sticky back rubber to line the plywood. I got a sheet of the rubber at a hobby sore for about $1.50. This stuff is perfect. It pads the model and keeps it from sliding around (it grips very well). You can see the base/holder in the attached picture.

Your cradle rocks!!! (pardon the pun). I'm such a moron. Since I'm a greenhorn and most plans I've seen and used in my life were not 1:1 scale, I didn't notice that sheet 1 of the plans was in fact 1:1 scale. I guess I could have gotten the waterline measurement from that but the plan instructions were useless so I just did it by eye. I couldn't figure out how to establish the height of the two cutouts for the cradle so that the hull would be level yet at the correct height for the waterline to be acuarately scribe. I'm probably not making much sense but I'm still speechless from the realization that 1) I'm an idiot and 2) your cradle is so far superior to my setup...
Oh well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger (smarter too).
Mike

That is the great thing about this forum; we can all learn from each other. Keeping up with posts on this thread have encouraged me to keep working on my build, and to do the best that I can.

Steve - welcome back from the mountains! Keep us updated, I would enjoy seeing some pictures.

~Clayton

I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to complete the caprail. It took me four attempts with manila folder patterns/prototypes to get the rail just the right size. I cut it out of one piece of 1/32" basswood, and and glued it on oversized and then sanded it down. That was a VERY good suggestion from Chuck’s practicum. Had I not cut the rail oversized I don’t think I could have glued it on exactly right. As it is I had to make two attempts at gluing the rough rail on.

Is anyone else painting the caprail? I used the light brown paint that came with the kit – and it contrasts nicely with the white bulwarks. I am considering painting the roofs of the deck structures the same color. Any ideas on that?

Also got the rudder complete and on tonight. I followed Mike’s method (from 7 posts previous) for the pintles and gudgeons except I used copper tape. Then I painted the tape once it was on.

Things are starting to look good! :walk:

You guys are doing a SUPER JOB!!Keep up the great work!!Clayton,you must be learning alot!! :coffee: Walter

Hey Walter. Yeah, I am learning a great deal as I work on this build and from all of the posts people have been making in this thread. This is a lot of fun and the Phantom is a great confidence builder; not a bad kit to start the hobby with.

http://cpassaro.home.mindspring.com/spritrig.gif

I agree..everyone is doing a great job on the phantom. You are all progressing very quickly with your models. I do want to point one thing out to Mike and Clayton that I hope will save both of you some grief later on though. The cap rails you added look really clean and crisp. A fine job. BUT.. Look at the plans where the bowsprit is inserted under the caprail. You will see that there is an iron band that secures the bowsprit outboard. The ends of the iron band are glued to the stem on both sides. Both of your caprails extend too far out over your stem. The folks taking my ship modeling class all did the same thing (including me!) and I am thinking about revising my guide to include a little "NOTE" about it. It will give you a lot of trouble later and you wont be able to add the iron work without removing it. It will be easy to sand the caprail down if you didnt attach the splash rail yet. See the photo above. I hope this helps.

Chuck

Chuck, thanks for the heads-up! Your are right, my caprail protrudes out too far over the stem. I am glad that I read your post before beginning on the splashrail. I appreciate any comments/notes that you might have at any time. I know that it has been said before, but I will say it again. Thank you for the guide (practicum?); both for writing it and making it available. This build simply would not be the same without it.

I have been keeping a Phantom Album (http://shipmodeling.net/photopost/showphoto2837.html) of incremental steps on this forum. My hope is that others who are new to the hobby might find this useful, especially if they are building the Phantom.

If I recall correctly you mentioned in your guide that you blew out part of the deck/waterway while drilling a hawse hole. I found that I could not even drill them out because the bulwark is not tall or deep enough. Is this what happened to you? I am afraid that I simply did not carve the deck far enough down.

Also, I wonder if you could explain how you are pasting your pictures right into your posts? I am sure that it is simple but I just cant figure it out.

Thanks again for the help!
~Clayton

Clayton, I am glad to help if I can. My bulwarks were the correct height but I just drilled at the wrong angle. I remember that it was very late after the rest of the family was asleep. I just made the hole at the wrong angle and gouged the deck pretty bad. I should know enough to stop working when I get so bleery-eyed. If you dont have enough height you could adjust the angle of your hawse holes. Drill them at an upward angle from outbaord to inboard.

I have my own web space where I host the pictures. You could also put them on one of the many free spaces on the web for photo albums. Yahoo has them for instance. Then I link over to them in the post. Click on the insert image button on top of your post and copy the web address in the pop up window that appears. Then click OK. It works well.

Chuck

Chuck thanks for the tips. I will try drilling out he hawseholes as you suggest.

To practice inserting a picture in a post I will include a picture of how NOT to make the forward portion of the caprail.

~Clay

http://scaleships.googlepages.com/caprailtoolong.jpg

Clayton and Chuck,
I was going to do the splashrail last night but I was starting to get "bleary-eyed" as Chuck put it and never got to it. I'm glad I didn't after seeing my mistake on the caprail. Good thing there is enough there for me to sand off so I should be fine. Although I am making progress and learning a LOT, I am not happy with the quality of my "joiner" work. I have rarely worked with wood, never on fine joint work and never, never on such a small scale. I guess the challenge makes it fun. I've discovered I hate painting the small stuff and waiting for it to dry.
I'm almost done with the deck hardware and expect to be rigging by next week. That could be the straw that breaks this impatient, hammer-thumbed camel's back...
I've attached my latest picture. I really wish I had redone the caprail...live and learn.
Mike

Mike, your Phantom is looking great. I am mildly envious of the time that you must have been able to spend on it. I find that usually have just one, sometimes two, evenings a week to work on my build.

I plan to start on the deck fittings and structures this week (after reshaping the forward caprail!). You (Mike) mentioned painting small parts. Have you tried “Blacken It (http://www.kitkraft.biz/catalog/Blackenit-p-2862.html )” to color brass parts? I almost bought a bottle the other day, but after reading the warning label I was not so sure that I wanted to use it. How are you painting the small parts like the eyebolts and cleats?

This “black wire” keeps being mentioned, but I have not been able to find any to buy. Do any of you know what this is and how to get it? I thought about blackening brass wire, but it seems that it would be easier to use wire that is already black. The owner of my local hobby shop had no idea what I was talking about.