"18th Century Longboat - Model Shipways 1/48" Topic

Hello folks. This really isn't a wargaming miniature, just a display model, but it's what I've been working on recently. I took a break from 1/1200 ship models to try my hand at something a little bigger.

This is Model Shipways' 1/48 18th Century Longboat kit, a plank on frame model made from basswood. It comes with laser cut keel/ stem and frames, and a bunch of basswood strips, besides rigging material and accessories. It was a great deal of fun, and I thought I would do some posts about the building process.

More pictures here, and I will be updating this regularly, now that the model is finished:

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Moving along, here is a second part of my little build log. The frames are all sanded, and the planking gets applied. Pictures and explanations at the link below.

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Looking good. My friend C Passaro designed the kit. He now has his own model company, Syren Ship Model. He has several kits like this as well as ships from the period.

The challenge of this kit when I made it was doing the planking. There is no need to spile if done carefully.

Thanks Dan. That's cool that you know Passaro, I'm a big fan of his work. I poured over his build logs for the prototype for this kit, and to a lesser that of his 1/24 longboat too.

I ordered some fittings from Syren for this kit, as they were such an improvement over what was supplied by Model Shipways. Very nice quality pieces.

I hadn't planked a ship model in a bunch of years, so my planking was a bit clumsy. I did have to do some spiling on the last few planks. Mercifully a painted water line hides a lot of sins.

Looking good. I wouldn't paint it. People think it is a beginner kit, but it really isn't. It is definitely designed to teach planking. My first one was clumsy, but I kept it unpainted.

Dan, you're definitely right that this is not a beginner kit. it's an excellent preparation for doing larger, more complex builds, since it's easier to learn the techniques with a more limited project. But it's not the easiest of kits. Especially since it is single-planked, and the planking is visible inside and outside. It's a lot of fun though.

Moving along with the longboat build, here are some photos of work on the inside and outside of the hull. More can be found here if you're interested:

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If your interested, the SMSNJ meets on zoom a week from Tuesday (7/28). I can send you the link if you want to attend. Chuck is a member but hasn't attended recently due to excess work with Syren.

Thanks Dan, I'd appreciate that. My email is whitejamest at gmail dot com. Much obliged.

James:

SMSNJ sent you an invitation.

Thanks for that Dan, I'm looking forward to it.

Here are a few more shots of the evolution of the model.

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And finally, to wrap this project up, some views of the completed model. It was a great deal of fun, and I highly recommend the kit to anyone looking for a wooden ship model project on a manageable scale.

Lots more shots here if you're interested:
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