HMS Enterprise 1774 28 Gun frigate

[mitchel]

Hello everyone

Great to be here. I am attempting to build the 28 gun frigate HMS Enterprise. This is a kit from the Polish site called Shipyard. This is my first ever attempt at something like this so I am exited and nervous all at the same time. With the help of all you good people here I will hopefully make a good go of her.

So..a few photos..

Here is the kit as I opened it. It came in a flat pack box and inside was a 'Book' with different thickness sized pages in it.
The book has pictures demonstrating the build and thicker pages that are the cardboard formers for the ship.





Here is a photo of the book showing the building sequence and also a close up. The formers are numbered and as you can see, I am crossing off the numbers in the pictures to make sure that I do not miss something that I will need later.





While putting the hull formers together I turned the model upside down and every which way trying to get everything to fit and I damaged the focs'le tabs. Any advise how to fix?





In this next photo you can see the numbering of the cardboard bulkhead formers..



I wasn't too happy with the sturdiness of some of the bulkhead formers so I attached some paper strengtheners...not the neatest job I have ever done..



Here is a photo of the whole ship before I put the transom formers on..



Unfortunately the transom formers proved to be incredibly fragile and I have broken one..





And this is where I am now..

Any and all comments welcome guys/ gals.

 

[PaperAir]

nice start looking forward to watching this one

 

[zathros]

Looks great!! I wouldn't worry about "sistering" any fragile pieces, you won't see them, and as long as they don't interfere with the mounting of a part, "sistering" is a common practice. The framework gets far more rigid as you get further along.

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

One of the things that you can do (which is something that I do on a regular basis) to solve this problem, is to just glue the tabs so that they do not (continue to) delaminate. It will also add strength to the part as well (just be very sparing with the glue. You do not want to add too much bulk to the parts. Otherwise, it will throw everything off).

it looks like you are off to a GREAT start.

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!

 

[mitchel]

Thank you for the reply guys appreciate the advice. @zathros thank you for your pm but for some reason I got an error message when replying.

I have had a slight accident in work and my knee is playing up especially when I sit down. Its proving to be quite painful and interfering with my effort here. But not to worry, I'm sure it will be a short term thing.

 

[zathros]

Yeah, I kow what you mean. I had 16 cervical injections on the facets of my spine. I am going to be sore for a week or so before I start feeling better!

 

[mitchel]

Yeah, I kow what you mean. I had 16 cervical injections on the facets of my spine. I am going to be sore for a week or so before I start feeling better!

Geez, and I thought I was in pain!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

 

[sgt.prometheus]

when i saw the headline thought it was a startreck ship XD but looks very nice as a sail ship

 

[zathros]

Nice to see a reality based ship, isn it!

 

[bgt01]

This ship is beautiful. Enjoying your build.

 

[silveroxide]

So far it looks like you are off to a great start. Sometimes, you can repair a damaged part, by making a template of the original. You are building according to the plans, I tend to bend the rules every now and then. Keep on doing your best and I can't wait to see the nemesis of all ship builders, THE RIGGING. Enjoy and see you around the forum.

 

[mitchel]

Thanks again for your comments. The transom is proving to be troublesome. The tabs are far too flimsy for my fingers/tweezers. I have covered the outside of the transom with the paper 'skin', and this has really stiffened things up. Such a pity I didn't know to do this earlier. The rounded stern rail should sit on top of the transom tabs but the repairs I have done are not too clever. Not to worry though, I will sort it out. @silveroxide....maybe I should make an Admiralty model and leave the rigging out?......not a chance. The rigging MAKES the ship!!

One thing. I looked at other builds and often the models are 'skinned' several times. 1)Vertical light paper skin following the frames, 2)Horizontal heavier paper skin (usually along the ships length, 3) final 'ship sides looking' skin.

It doesn't show this method in the manual but I wouldn't mind giving it a go if it would make the model sturdier. Any thoughts.

 

[THE DC]

Thanks for sharing your efforts. We'll all benefit from learning.

Regards!

 

[mitchel]

Hi again
I have started the first skin with 'normal' paper, the stuff you use in a printer. I have overlaid it onto the edges of the bulkhead formers. The idea here is to create a larger surface area for the second thicker skin to adhere to.





Here you can see the second skin being added to the transom.



Talking of the transom, I did more damage, but now that I have skinned the outer part of the hull it is now quite sturdy, so repairs should be easier to do.



Now that I have started the second skin I need to think about the final planking. First I will need to make sure the hull will be smooth. Looking at this picture, you can see a small overlap between part 25 +26 and I am sure that this will happen all over the hull. What would someone recommend to smooth it? With wood I would use sandpaper, but what would I use for paper? I tried scraping with my knife but the cardboard just 'fuzzed up'.



Anyway guys/gals, that's all for now.

 

[ennder]

Wellllllll, Paper is made from wood, so you can use sandpaper on it. I have seen several methods used from using mutli layers and sanding down, to using contour putty (Bondo for models) and sanding it smooth. It just depends on what you are most comfortable with.

Hope this helps

Wes

 

[Master-Bruce]

I like this! I've thought about building a model like this many times but never got round to it. I'll be watching this one.

 

[Longbow]

You could try 'painting‘ the hull with glue. After drying sand it with course to fine paper. After that paint with glue again, apply putty where needed, sand it again.
Takes a lot of time, but the result should be smooth before the last layer. Painting with glue strengthens your model as well

 

[mitchel]

Great tip Longbow, I will try this. Do I need to dilute the glue first?
I recall a few years ago making some wooden toys and I had some glue blobs that I did not clean off properly and had to really make an effort to sand smooth.
Perhaps weakening the 'glue paint' will help?

 

[Longbow]

Mitchell,

When you take glue for wood diluting usually is not necessary. I usually take water based glue. When diluting with water: take care that it does not get too thin because it will warp the paper when the glue is too ‘wet‘. Use sandpaper with grain 100 to start, 240 to finish.
After sanding you could use some putty to even out even further.

Good luck !!!!

 

[mitchel]

@Longbow
Many thanks for your reply.
Cool!
I will give this a go.