Well Steve with the caprail it is a fine line between too thin and too wide. I made mine wide enough to accommodate the deadeye chainplates – but probably too wide. I think that your (and Mike’s) caprails look more in scale, certainly more elegant.

I also used a single sheet of basswood to make the caprail. It took me about three hours and a couple of tries to get it the correct shape and size. But that seems much better than bending a rail as the instructions suggest!

Also, a while back I mentioned using wire for the chainplates. I don’t know if you would like to use this method (it is not as accurate), but it might work better with the thinner caprail. After bending a loop in the wire I glued the deadeye in to keep it secure. Then I cut the wire (leaving the same length as the chainplate) and put it through a small hole drilled in the caprail. Then I glued the wire to the hull at the correct angle.

Not perfectly accurate – but very effective and not very obvious.

~Clay

Hey Clay,
How are you? How's the Phantom coming? I'm still projectless...my son wanted to buy the Ben Latham for me so I will let him. I can't convince him to give it to me before Christmas!!!
Well, Merry CHRISTmas to you all and Happy New Year.
Mike

FYI-Phantom
As I understand;
Pilot Schooners Phantom and Pet were built c 1868 for the Pilots Association in Boston. They were built to a Denison Lawler design and details of similar vessels can be found in Chapelle's AMERICAN FISHING SCHOONERS. Phantom was sold to the Sandy Hook (New York) Pilot's Association sometime before 1886. In 1886 she was insrumental in the SS Oregon rescue. She was wrecked in a snowstorm the following year.
JS

I wonder if ModelExpo would just send you another one for free? They do offer to replace lost or missing pieces right?

Noticed that you put in a grate. Did you scratch build that? I have been considering using some of the same leftover planking that you mentioned to build a grate. I tried it once and it was out of scale, so perhaps I will try again after sanding the pieces down as you did for your roof.

~Clay

Steve, I am continuously impressed with your Phantom build. Good idea on the walnut planking for the grate; I will give that a try. You deck looks better than I can hope to produce myself. That is okay with me though, it is all about having fun and building up skills.

Hope that everyone has a great holiday! :santa_smile:

~Clay

Steve,
Your Phantom looks great!!!

I've completed the coppering and started roughing out the bulwarks and deck. I will have to figure out how to put a camber on the deck face. has anyone had a problem with this phase?

Shes looking real fine steve. The Phantom does make a great little model for the money. I am enjoying this thread a great deal. Thanks for sharing the photos.

Chuck

Been awfully quiet in the forum lately. I am still working on carving the bulwarks and prepping the deck area. This i a bit slower than I thought it would be. but no complaints. Am enjoying every second of the work...

Hey guys,
It has been quiet, hasn’t it? I have been out of the loop for a while myself – but I am ramping back up. I have enjoyed seeing the work you guys are doing, the pictures are great. It was fun to see Mike complete his build; and it looks like you are almost done Steve. Dan, your coppering sure looks nice. I still wish that I had taken the time to cut my plates down to scale too.

Sometimes I get excited thinking about what I have learned and how much better prepared I will be for my next build. And then I think about what I want to build etc. I have to stay grounded and focus on the Phantom! Ha! There are so many great possibilities out there though.

I think that by next weekend I will be working on mine again and can start posting pictures again too. Though they will pale in comparison to the great work that you guys are doing.
~C :coffee:

Hi Everyone!

Well, reading all your posts have gotten the better of me. I ordered the Phantom! LOL

The reason for my post though is a little different. I read somewhere in here that someone was looking for dremel attchments/bits etc. If you have access to a Canadian Tire Store (not sure if you can order online or not) you may want to keep your eyes open on their weekly sales.

Every four or five weeks it seems that they have some kind of sales on Dremel and various other Rotary tools, attachements etc. For example, this past week they had a 1000pc Dremel Accessory kit on sale for about $25.00 CAD.

Just thought I'd mention it in case someone is still looking.....

If you are not rigging sails on your model then that eye bolt doesnt have a rigging line attached to it. That eye bolt is used for the main sail tack. It holds the corner of the sail tight against the boom.

Chuck

Clay,
How are you? I miss interacting with my Phantom buddies. As you know, I've been working on the Benjamin Latham for the last 5 weeks or so. It is very intimidating, especially the hull. I finally finished the hull planking and have started on the decking. The transom was puzzling and took me a while to figure out how to bring the hull planks together and how to install/plank the transom piece. After studying the plans and not really understanding any better after having done so, I just decided to "wing" it. When I was done, there were a couple of gaps that the plans said should be fitted with a "fashion piece." I used a little bit of wood filler and then faired the transom to the hull. I have to admit, I am quite proud (and a little surprised) at how good it came out.
It's it really a shame that there are no other Latham builders in the forum right now, I really appreciated being able to bounce ideas and see the progress of others. Oh well, I guess I'll start a thread and see if anyone else joins.
Take care. Hope to see some more photos of your Phantom soon!
Mike

Well, it is nice to be back! I was able to spend a few hours working on the Phantom last night (the first time in over a month) and got a couple of things done, like the forward companionway. I made the mast coats out of manila folder that was already painted brown. Not sure if I like that look or not – might end up paining them white. Also got the bollards done. As Chuck suggests, I found it helpful to use brass rod to attach each one to the deck.

I also tried using some “Blacken It” to blacken some brass eyebolts and the anchor. Has anyone else used this stuff? I have to say that I was less than pleased with the results. The brass turned a kind of dusty gray. And it didn’t do anything to the Britannia metal – but I was just hoping there. It would be nice to not have to paint everything black; no matter what I do the paint flakes/rubs off very easily. How are the rest of you getting your paint on so well?
~Clay

Hey Steve, thanks for the compliment and great tips! I have read in a couple of books that Floquil is the only way to go – good to hear it backed up by experience. I will order a couple of bottles and try it out.

I am looking forward to seeing the pictures. I must say that your Phantom looks great.

~Clay

Fantastic, Steve. Great job! As a newbie here, it's very inspiring to see what can be accomplished, and having the record of your trials and tribulations here in the thread is a great reference.

Thanks as well to all of the others who have contributed to this thread so far. As I've been telling Steve via PMs, I have the Phantom kit (my first ship model) on backorder and hope to start building soon. I'm sure that the info in this thread and Chuck's practicum are going to give me a huge boost up the learning curve.

Cheers,
Chris

Your Phantom looks great. A very nice build. I have enjoyed watching everyones models progress and am glad that my guide was helpful. I am sure your Bluenose will look as beautiful when its done.

Chuck

Well Steve, I agree with everyone else – she looks great; first rate work.

For my next build I am considering either the Sultana or the AVS. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the AVS. Perhaps I will be encouraged to take that on as well.
~Clay

Whew, I just made it throught the thread, long read, but really exciting. :realcool:

Just a question for all those with a Phantom on backorder. Has anyone heard from Model-expo as to how long the wait might be? I have tried e-mailing them, but have not recieved a responce yet.

Gary

Hi Gary,

I got a response a couple of days ago that they are expecting them around the 30th...so not much longer to wait!

Cheers,
Chris

Woo Hoo!!!

Looks like we could soon start another round of Phantom building. And I should most definatly be done with my Bluenose by then.

Gary

Sounds good...I plan on posting progress shots and anything new that I might be able to contribute to techniques for building the Phantom. I have some different ideas to try out at various stages, so it'll be interesting to see whether they turn out or not.

I'd love to see some pics of your Bluenose project...I am hoping to use the Phantom credit for the Model Shipways Bluenose, assuming of course that I can reliably carve out the time needed to take on another hobby!

Cheers,
Chris

I should be getting a couple of pics of my Bluenose up in a couple of days. It's nothing very special. It is the first wood model I have done, and I went with what was in the kit.

I was just at the Model-Expo site and they have the kits in!!!!! :banna:

Have fun
Gary

My Phantom was shipped on the 26th to arrive on the 31st. I think I've had as much fun this week doing research on the New York pilot boats of the period than I will actually building the thing. I found this link with a short clip of a pilot boat taken in 1899 which I thought was really cool.

Short movie of a New York Pilot boat (http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/papr:@field(NUMBER+@band(lcmp002+m2b52367)))

If it's already been posted I apologize this is a long thread that I haven't gotten all the way through yet.

Gary, your Bluenose is very nice! I am surprised that it is your first build; your craftsmanship is top notch.

It is good to see that there are still so many people that find this thread useful and have decided to join in. As a consequence of not having very much free time it is taking me quite awhile to finish the Phantom, but I have been benefiting from all of the posts that folks have made.

I have been plugging away at my Phantom, working on both the bowsprit and the masts. Perhaps when I have finished all of the work with the bowsprit I will add a picture or two. One thought: Instead of ringbolts on the stem I opted to use some of the flat brass that is provides with the kit. It seems to work pretty well, but I have not tied anything to them yet. We’ll see how it goes when I rig the bowsprit.

BTW Stephen, very interesting video. It is cool to be able to see something like that.

~Clay