Building the schooner Albatros

A couple of hours ago, I started building a model of the schooner Albatros. I've started this blog to document and reflect on the process. Additionally, I enjoy writing and this is a nice way to do that, too.

This is my first foray into model ship building, and the first model -- other than a few LEGO kits -- I've built in at least 15 years. Even then, my previous model-building was with basic plastic-only kits, and my adolescent impatience meant skipped steps, shortcuts, and only accidental success. Hopefully, 33-year-old me will be more deliberative, especially around the bits requiring a knife.

My girlfriend bought me this kit for Christmas. While watching Battlestar Galactica, I mentioned to her my desire to build a wooden ship like William Adama does. She scoured the interwebs and found a package that seemed well-suited to the beginner: a straightforward kit with good directions, a pair of monographs about model ship-building, and a beginner's supply of paint and tools. I know: great girlfriend! Fortunately for me, she became my wife a few months later.

My work surface

A tight apartment and limited surface area precluded beginning the model right away. However, things have changed around a bit, and the final piece for building this model came just a few days ago: a wide desktop from Pottery Barn provides enough room to work and to keep other ancillary desktop items nearby. (And, because it's Pottery Barn, there's also plenty of cardboard to protect against knife-nicks -- we'll deal with paint later.) Let the novice shipwrighting begin!

Tonight's initial construction began with about an hour of reading the directions and reviewing the photo sheet. The directions are translated (well) from Spanish, and very clear diagrams and color photos accompany every step. I felt confident starting.

Step 1: cut the wooden pieces free. Okay, no problem. There are four flats of wood, with the pieces laser-cut out save for one or two nubbins connecting them to the frame (see picture below). Let me get my knife...

Ugh, is this thing sharp enough? I have nice kitchen knives that sleepily slice through the most stout resistance; not getting instant satisfaction in a cutting endeavor was new to me. Let me try a bigger knife...

Ugh, no: this isn't going to work for some of the tight spots, and it's not going any faster. The issue wasn't the blade's sharpness, but rather that the blade was being pinched between the frame and the piece, and not having enough space to comfortably move against the connecting nubbin. Okay, back to the small guy.

Cutting pieces

Small knife was the right choice. What I found worked was scoring both sides of the frame, and then giving a twist or just tilting back. With some more space between the piece and the frame, my knife could maneuver, either to cut back-and-forth or to simply act as a pry.

After about the second piece, I realized all these interior frames looked pretty similar; I did a quick consult with the piece inventory to very tinily write the part number on each wooden piece. After about the ninth, I realized all of these would be hidden inside the final product, and adjusted my numbering size accordingly.

Step two: insert the interior bulkheads into slots in the keel. The directions said something about test-fitting them and sanding as necessary, but 13-year-old me took charge and started putting them together. Then pushing them together. Then squeezing very hard for another smidge. Thirteen-year-old me is an idiot and lucky he didn't break anything.

Really, though, lesson learned: a few of these pieces did not want to go as far down as they should, sticking a few disastrous millimeters too high. I fretted about breaking the model just 90 minutes after starting, and how frustrated both my wife and I would be.

But, a few things went my way. For the aft ends, I whipped out a tiny file to do things right, and things went right! Pretty smooth movement and good fits. I think the first of my self-discovered ship-building rules is, If you're using force, you're doing it wrong. This might've been in one of the two monographs, but I read them a few months ago and some of the salient details might've escaped me.

The first 13 pieces

The other thing that happened is, over the span of about 30 minutes, I found that previously stubborn pieces began to slide a bit more freely. It was still a struggle, but eventually they all wound up as far down as they should have. I am curious as to whether being cut free from those sheets did anything to give the wood breathing room, or whether changes in ambient temperature had an impact (think hardwood flooring installation, and letting the slabs sit in their destination room overnight). I'll have to look it up.

After a couple of hours, I can comfortably say I have the beginnings of my first ship. Piece 1 (keel), 2-10 (bulkheads), 11 (some kind of subfloor-ish looking piece at the stern), and two 12s (some kind of boot/support for the masts, I think), all came together pretty smoothly. It's starting to look like a ship!