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Author Topic: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage  (Read 2156 times)

Andy M

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1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« on: September 11, 2021, 08:23:43 pm »

Having seen a tiny cnc boat kit online and a build blog, I had the idea in my head of getting a small kit of some sort. That one was about 70mm long and was £20, I wanted something a bit bigger, so I forgot about it for a while as I never had funds for even the £20 one.
 I still have a few projects to finish off, which wont take long, but I am not able to manage them right now.
I have always restricted building activities to my shed, now I am restricted to the house, namely the couch in the living room, for a while yet anyway, so I decided to get this little ship kit. I loved the look of it right away and there shouldnt be an awful lot of sawdust involved so I can build it in the living room.
 I thought that 10 quid odds delivered is exceptional value if it takes my mind off things for even just a little while. I know it will take a while to build it, but I am not going anywhere.
 Looks nicely cut, in the photos anyway, this will be my first laser cut kit, and also my first attempt at plank on frame, so I am really looking forward to it.
 Cant remember last time I bought a boat kit, all the parts nicely cut out, no raking through my scraps boxes to find a big enough bit or bodging 2 bits together. And it comes with instructions too! Chinese instructions are sometimes pretty amusing in themselves, just need to wait a week till I find out, theres a couple of half decent photos I can use if the instructions dont have everything, then theres winging it for any remaining areas 😁
 All through the build, I am going to keep getting the thought 'this was only a tenner! 😁'
 Even if I dont manage to finish it, I can always make a diorama with some guys still building it! Pair of ladders and some bits lying around.... Lol, its a win win.
It is 1/70 scale so could even be salvage for my 1/72 cargo/crane ship, only need to manage the bare bones of the keel and bulkheads and some planking attempts for that one.
 I am sure I will get it further on than that though, just a waiting game now until it arrives.
 I am not good at waiting, so will be getting on with some 1/32 balsa construction in my cargo ship wheelhouse in the meantime, see if I can detail it up a bit.
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Andy M

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2021, 04:37:05 pm »

The ship came within the specified time, my friend had ordered it for me.... four days after I asked him......ah well, it is here now.
 First impressions are the small size of the kit, compared to kits I have bought in the past, but thats mainly why I chose it, the hull is about 10 inches long so not tiny. It is big enough not to be too fiddly. Next is how precise the parts look, I sat with the instruction sheet and identified the parts on their sheets, they are all marked but I like to  familiarise myself with them before I do anything else. Plus, I just liked looking at the sheets of lovely parts. 😁
 Anyway, I started building by removing keel and pressing the bulkheads into position, quite a tight push fit that didnt require glue at this stage, they are tight. I sanded the mating faces of the smaller bulkheads at the stern so they wouldnt break while fitting. The deck is a precise fit too, requiring care to ease it down onto the perfectly aligned bulkheads, it curves in two directions, across deck and also dips in the middle. The deck conformed to this very well and looks good.
 The planking and positions of some parts is lightly etched on the deck surface, not the big dark lines as I have seen on some decks, but a subtle effect that looks just right.
 I built some of the sub assemblys and glued them in position, I also made up my masts....... this brings me to the instructions......... My copy is slightly dark but I have downloaded brighter pics that I can use where its hard to see on my copy. The instructions are two sides of a single sheet, as shown in one of the photos. Adequate for building if you have some modelling experience but not what you would call comprehensive.
 The masts..... no measurements are given for any of it. I chose the length of all the bits by measuring the masts on the largest  drawing of the ship and calculating from them and the sail plan, not exact, but its a 10 pound kit and I am not going to get overstessed if something is a few mm out. It isnt hugely detailed anyway. I am not going to get carried away or distracted by wanting to add loads of stuff to it, I will see how it goes, but it will probably be a basic build as per the 'plans'
 Canvas is provided for sails, but its quite thick, I may just have it as bare masts and rigging. The rigging shown is quite basic and thread is provided.
 The advert picture on ebay showed a finished model, however, the kit does not contain any rigging blocks or anywhere near enough thread to do ratlines etc. It was a tenner, and the advert showed exactly what you do get, so I cant complain. I will see how it develops, it is mainly the woodwork I am interested in doing just now, rigging will be decided on after I finish planking, I am sort of looking forward to trying that. I glued my first plank on each side, so I have made a start on it. 😁 Thats the easiest looking bit though......
 So far I am very happy with the kit, extremely precise, nice wood. Well worth the money but let down slightly by instructions that could very easily be a lot better, a side and front view would be so easy and would provide all the correct mast and spar lengths, rigging positions etc etc.
 It is definately keeping my brain occupied working out the sizes of stuff they  havent specified so its all good.
 I have always wanted to build a plank on frame kit, although I had always thought I would make a bigger version than this. I thought this would be a good one to try first before committing to a big build.
 I would imagine that most kits have some parts that arent explained well in the instructions, and are only apparent when you get to that point.
 This one is quite simplified, but could be detailed more if you wanted to spend a bit more time than just building the basic kit.
 
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Andy M

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2021, 04:39:04 pm »

Photos
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Andy M

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2021, 04:40:28 pm »

Instructions
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Andy M

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2021, 04:44:22 pm »

I have a few more photos to post but they wont load just now, I will try later, should have more progress to report.
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Martin (Admin)

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2021, 04:57:01 pm »


          :-))
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Andy M

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2021, 06:35:51 pm »

I used the wood for the lower sections of main masts at the length provided, however, looking at the sail size and position, they look a bit long, resulting in the lower sail looking a bit high up, as shown in first sail picture, cutting a bit off the bottom of the mast would result in height shown in second pic, which I think looks better, anybody have any thoughts on this?
Also do the mast tips look too tall for the hull, my friend kindly put that thought in my head.
 
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warspite

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #7 on: September 24, 2021, 12:36:43 pm »

I would presume the extra length is to account for possible damage to the ends during transport, fitting etc and allow you to cut them down to suit a preference.
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Andy M

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #8 on: September 24, 2021, 11:48:01 pm »

There are six bits of dowelling, 2 of each diameter, for masts, booms etc. all are overlength, I assumed lower masts were correct length but it looked wrong. I can cut them to length later.
 I suppose having no measurements and inadequate instructions means you cant do it wrong?
 Anyway, the masts....... there wasnt actually enough to do all the masts, bowsprit and booms, never mind the spars, not a huge problem but still a bit annoying. I overcame this with 3mm kebab stick and some 2mm bamboo I have from a window blind. Recycling, love it, and its cheap!
 I tapered the ends with a cordless drill and sandpaper and ended up (pretty quickly) with a full set of nice looking booms and spars. I had already glued the masts before I thought about tapering the tips.......Were they tapered in real ships? I need to do some research or do I just go for it, keep this a straightforward build? It has potential to be detailed more, the rigging shown on the instructions is pretty minimal, in fact theres loads still to go on. I may even add ratlines, it would look funny without them. I have made some thread ones before for a plastic model as its ratlines were incredibly thick. They definately added to the model and looked much better than the plastic ones from the kit.
 Anyway, I got few more planks in place on the hull, leaving gaps for the gun ports. As I wanted the gun ports to have nice edges before adding the little frames, I glued the short lengths of plank in place first, then the longer rear sections which I left slightly overlength, then the front sections, leaving enough extra to allow fettling in to place at the bow where they meet the keel. I got a bit carried away and glued on maybe a few too many planks which might restrict access to get in to trim the ends. I did have a reason for this, the bowsprit goes through here and I need to individually trim each plank to fit nicely into this area.
I have a question if anyone can help, the rear of the bowsprit, how far back does it (usually) reach, and should it be under the assembly at the front of the deck, lashed to it?
I hope that anyone reading this isnt put off by the points I have raised, it is a lovely little kit, in nice wood, small enough for a first attempt but large enough to not need tweezers very often. I have used them on the really small bits to avoid losing them in the carpet or the dog eating them.
 I have thoroughly enjoyed what I have done so far, no real problems, I have coped with bad instructions before, the quality of the parts cutting more than makes up for this. Having to make spars etc was enjoyable too. Makes it worth keeping my old bamboo window blind for 20 odd years. Might still manage to get a 1/72 bridge over the river kwai out of it yet...........
 I will hopefully feel up to doing a bit more on my ship soon, I am still pretty much restricted to my couch all day so no excuse apart from lack of concentration just now.
 The bowsprit has to be fitted before I can trim the planks to fit, I am dreading the trimming as it could end up bad if I am not really careful, or I am clumsy/unlucky and snap one. I suppose I can always cut the plank  back to a suitable bulkhead and glue in a shorter length. I should really have trimmed up the fronts and glued them in place first then a straight cut at the gunport. Ah well, will see how I get on doing it the hard way. 😁 Its good experience.
 Anyone got any suggestions for a bigger build? Around 1/72 scale? Around 2 to 2 and a half feet maximum and must have all fittings and rigging stuff.
 Not too complex but must be good instructions, I get hung up on things if I dont have any plans to follow. I know that my friends would never know if my bowsprit was fitted wrong, but I would.
 I suppose thats why I have built a few 'made up' ships recently, very semi scale, but incorporating anything I want. My cargo ship even presented me with an opportunity to build an R.C. crane, which has been on my 'must build' list for years. I also got to make lots of satisfying little boxes, cable drums, pallets, woodpiles and fuel drums etc.
 I love this hobby, whether it is making balsa or depron planes, a jeep  bodyshell, giant r.c. wasps or building boats, my long time favourite.
 I also made a 1/32 set of village buildings, bridge, farm buildings and barricades for my son, all from scrap ply from furniture people had given me for my stove in the shed.
 My brother, who isnt interested in models, said it was a form of meditation though. Which I thought was very true. It is certainly helping me at the moment.
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Andy M

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2021, 07:44:22 pm »

I made a decision on the bowsprit and glued it in place so I could continue with planking. I have shaped and glued a few more planks on, takes a while and I still need more practice/patience.
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Andy M

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2021, 04:54:31 pm »

I finished the planking, it wasnt as neat as I would have liked, I kind of rushed through it, eager to see how it looked and knowing I could paint it if it doesnt turn out very good. Getting the planks to sit against each other and conform to the bulkheads was a challenge, and planks are quite thin and narrow to work on. I could have worked each plank a bit more but figured some distinction between the planks would look good anyway, like caulking, especially as the planks are black edged from laser cutting. The first pics show hull before any sanding. I am quite happy to have finished the planking, even though its not perfect, the sanding is levelling things out nicely, I have still to spend a while on the hull sanding till I am happy with it  and then get some more nice laser cut parts fitted on the hull.
  I have more than had my £11 worth already, with a good few hours of enjoyable boat building to help pass my time while I am still restricted to my couch.
 I still have a lot left to do, got 2 anchors to make, toprails to fit to the hull, couple of other little bits then its up into the masts and rigging. I may varnish the hull before I do the rigging. Dont know whether to use matt or gloss varnish. Might test a bit of leftover wood for a comparison.
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Andy M

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #11 on: October 01, 2021, 06:25:12 pm »

After some sanding
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Laker

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #12 on: October 01, 2021, 10:49:16 pm »

Hi Andy - thanks for the great thread and photos - I love it.  I had no idea that kits like this existed.  How things have changed with these new technologies!  I will follow this with interest and lovely to hear that it's helping you through a difficult patch as well.  Best wishes for the rest of your build.
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RST

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #13 on: October 01, 2021, 11:26:30 pm »

Hui Andy,

Your unpunctuated posts are simply too much to read so just skimming the salient details -pictures tell the most:

  • You seem to have done very well for a kit that cost -can't believe even the postage covers it -not to encourage it!
  • Saw a post on another forum complaining they bought a £10 chinese kit expecting it to be the same quality of something more realistic of western kits more like £60 0r 70
  • Re: sail pattern -I looked out of interest fior ages and it seemed to span a few things so no right or wrong but didn't look too far wrong from your original picture vs instructions.  Someone like Bob W* would shudder at night but as long as it looks about right that's all it's probably meant to be.  I learned something about sail patterns myself thanks
*  presume you know but for the uninitiated on modelboats forum https://www.modelboats.co.uk/forums/memberpostings.asp?c=43476
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Andy M

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Re: 1:70 scale plank on frame kit for under £11 including postage
« Reply #14 on: October 02, 2021, 11:45:05 am »

Thanks, I have been impressed with the results from a kit that is so cheap. It isnt highly detailed but the details supplied are nicely cut out.
It has nice lines and should end up as a pretty little model.
My planking doesnt do the rest of the ship justice, but it has been interesting to have a go at planking on something cheap.
Much better than forking out for a big kit to start with, it is good practice for most of the techniques required and a test of your commitment to build a bigger, more complex model.




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