I was nearing the end of the Cux 87 build when I did this. I was waiting for an aspect of the rigging to dry, so I could manipulate it further. as I sat there, plotting my course, as to what to do next.....I began to think of the Gothenborg kit, and how I had noticed that the parts were starting to warp, when I last looked into it. on the day I received the kit, I did what I always do......I looked over the kit and took out the instructions to study for when the day comes to start the build. the first things I noticed was that there was no lower deck in the build and that there were no cannons. I also saw that, unlike American and British warships of this era, there is no center hatchway opening where one could look down into the lower deck. the kit, from the bow stem, to the stern stem, measures 18 inches, being a 1:100 scale kit. so far, I have not found too much information on the ship, or any concrete evidence that such a hatchway exists, but I will keep looking. as for the cannons, so far, I am drawing a blank....as far as the scale goes. I tried to compare the cannons from my 1:96 scale Revell kit of the U.S.S. United States {a plastic kit}to it, but these scales must be based on different ratios, because they are out of spec. I do like to embellish my builds, no matter the scale, in an effort to add a special touch to them.
My transition from plastic to wood hasn't been that bad. I made a few mistakes, but as long as one learns from them, it makes the change go more smoothly. this will be my third build of wood, a bit different than the other two, as part of this hull will feature "bare" wood. yes, there will be stain and clear coat, but it will be a light color stain......glue marks will not be a problem, unlike if I were to use a darker stain.
Other aspects that I notice that will require some thought, will be the planking and the keel. in other builds that I have seen, there is the use of a "false keel", an addition to the keel frame of the kit. the use of rabbits are also absent with this kit, making me wonder how the planks butt against the keel at all points. I am so used to plastic kit instruction sheets, that I am finding wooden kit instructions very hard to decipher......but in the end, I usually figure them out.......just takes a bit more study. my third venture into the kit box found me taking the frame parts and dry fitting them together......to see how it would look. I am itching so bad to start this kit......but I have other builds I have to finish before I can start it....admiral's orders! fitting the ribs onto the keel frame, I saw how close to the edge they go.....a false keel may be in the picture for this one. then I noticed how warped the parts were. I'm sure that adding the joices to the framework will correct this contortion of the frame and pull it into line.
Just adding the deck platform helped it out a bit, but the deck is also a little warped. where the deck meets the #9 rib, is shows a bit of misalignment. as I said, the joices should correct this, but I think that if I glued a "beam" under there for the deck to sit on, might be a big help. it would also give the stern section a bit more rigidity.
I took some measurements and drew a line where the "beam" should go, after making sure that it wouldn't be in the way of anything. in other builds, I've seen where the use of "blocks" of balsa was used to help shape the bow. there are some of these blocks in the kit for the stern to help create the transom. this is another area that I would like to take a good look at.....to see if some sort of embellishment could be done here. it is very well detailed as the kit stands, but there is always room for more. this dry fit lacks the parts that form the transom section, but doing this will help me form some ideas as for making these quarters more "fleshed out".
This scale doesn't leave much room for structural embellishments......but I still want to try. one thing I did do with this kit, that I wished I did with the other kits was to do a tracing of the ribs and the keel frame. I scanned them onto my computer and I will blow them up to an even larger size. from there, I will determine the scale and go from there. it will become a scratch build, something that my friend Dan has been urging me to try. here are a few pictures of the framework without the deck. you will see the line I drew on the #9 rib.
It should prove to be a fun build, that is, when I get it started. unfortunately, it won't be for a while yet.....but when I do, I will be sure to do a build log on it. AHOY!
