Instruction manual

COMPLETING THE BASIC HULL STRUCTURE
1. Correcting & Sanding
After all the planks are installed, look over the entire
hull. If you find seams with starved glue joints, rub
some wood glue in the cracks and, if necessary, add
some wood filler. When seams are filled, sand the
entire hull and deck plank smooth.
2. Gunport Lids & Interior Rail
The gunport lids can be made now or you could add
them later. Make the gunport lids from three planks,
1/32” thick, or you may use a solid piece. Make the
hinge straps from brass strip. Inboard, add the small
rail across the gun ports (see figure 29).
3. Swivel Gun Stocks
A swivel gun stock is a post with a hole in the top that
guns can be set upon and pivoted. Some ships have
several stocks along the bulwarks. There are two stocks
on the
Pride of Baltimore II, one port and one starboard.
These stocks are shown on the outboard profile of the
plans but are actually “fake” stocks (as shown). Each
stock should stop just below the main rail. The swivel
gun for each stock should be set into a hole in the cen-
ter of the main rail both port and startboard (rather
than in the top of the stock). This is interesting because
Tom Gillmer’s original design drawings show an actu-
al stock extending above the rail with the swivel gun in
the stock itself. This was just another change made dur-
ing the building process.
Notch out the fake gun stocks to fit the hull shape
along the planksheer.
4. Natural Wood, Double Plank Option
Most wooden ships have single-thickness planking, as
does the
Pride of Baltimore II. Furthermore, the kit is
intended to be painted the colors of the real ship. Many
modelers, however, are familiar with the European
double-planked kits, or want to have a natural wood
tone finish on the hull, typical of the Admiralty type
models. Also, after the planking job is completed, some
modeler’s wish to try again to improve the looks of the
job. If this is your desire, you may double plank the
model right over the basswood planking.
To complete the double planking task, thin wood strips
in mahogany, walnut, and some other types of exotic
hardwood can be purchased from Model Expo. For the
Pride of Baltimore II, you will need 85 strips sized 0.5mm
x 5mm x 20 inches long. This amount includes about 20
percent increase for waste and errors.
The natural wood planks will cover the existing plank-
ing, but you will still have a basswood planksheer and
main rail exposed. You could substitute these initially
with the wood of your choice, cap them with the
strips, or simply stain them to look similar.
When applying the strips, proceed exactly as you did
for the basswood planking process. You may want to
work with longer strips since the basswood planking
already defines the plank shapes. Simply lift dimen
-
sions from the hull and cut the natural wood strips.
When completed, sand and finish the hull with Flo-
quil oil or glaze, or tung oil. Finally, add a coat of wax
and then polish it.
20
STAGE C