Billings Adrea Gail

This is my after Christmas present to myself  I wanted to buy this kit earlier in the year, but no one had it in stock. Browsing the internet after Christmas I found this on CMB's web site and ordered immediately. It arrived today. This is a static model.



This is the first 'modern' Billings kit that I have built - it will be interesting to see if they have improved. At least it is laser cut - not die cut - so hopefully the ply will be of better quality. The instructions also appear more comprehensive - they don't stop as you get to the difficult bit - at least that's the first impression.

Barrie

Hi Barrie does it look any good any chance of some pictures of the box contents
cheers
coastie

Hi Coastie - I thought it did until I made a start this morning. I'll show you the first problem tomorrow when I've taken some photos. I'll also replace the upside down photo above.

Barrie

Thank You

These are the contents of the box -

plus the piece of MDF as a building board

No plan, but this full size drawing in elevation and plan view


The quality of the thicker is ply is very good, but the thinner sheets are very hard. There is some very fine detail in these sheets which I think will be tricky to cut free.

The problem I have encountered is illustrated in the following photo. There should be a notch in the half keel as indicated but its missing



a slight annoyance is also that the slots in the hull, as well as being too many, are slightly too wide.

This is where I have got to



Barrie

Thanks Barrie. Doesnt look to be much there for the money. hope you checked all the wood and fittings are there.
last one i did was shocking wood looked like it had been chewed by the factory dog half the fittings were missing plywood was warped took pictures of the crap in the box. give them there due got a replacement kit within 4 days direct from Denmark. seems there cut out in germany now.
Will watch your build with interest.
coastie

Do you think the extra slots may be so they can use this profile for other boats with different hull layouts? If seems wasteful to program the laser for no reason. If you need crew for it I'll get a 3d print of myself done I'm a close match to George Clooney or was it Formby?

Hi Coastie - Bought if from Cornwall Model Boats - cheapest I could find by quite a lot. I still don't know about the quality of the planking. At first glance it wasn't very promising, but I wont know until I start to bend it and fix it. As usual with Billings the brass fittings are excellent.

Swab - yes obviously the keel is used for another model - or was designed for one. I just wish they had included the correct cut outs for this one

Barrie

Hi Barrie I have some 20 year old billings wood which is miles better than the wood that was in the last kit. Model shop was closing down he had billings wood display box full of timber so I bought it off him
Rudder shaft looks like its going to be fun drilling it
Coastie

I was hoping to start planking today, but it took longer than expected to finish fitting the bulkheads and decks. I had to be careful not to stick the decks to the building board. There was no way of using clamps, so in the end reverted to using superglue



Having taken a good look at the planks supplied, then I revise my opinion - they're RUBBISH . A very heavy grain which will take considerable sanding and filling to achieve the smooth finish required as this was steel hulled vessel.

Barrie

looking good so far
coastie

Planking started! I think you can see what I mean about the quality of the timber I started using superglue, but have switched to aliphatic, although I may need to switch back when the going gets tough

Barrie

boy that is rough doesnt even look likes its been planed or sanded.
coastie

Well - that's the easy bit  Had to stop here as the pins were getting in the way. When I restart I will use superglue so the pins can come out more quickly. I started sanding the top part - it will take a lot to get it smooth so I guess the whole lot will have to have a coat of filler.

Looking at the bow the second bulkhead appears to me to be wrong - its too low. Can't do anything about it now except to use more filler if it still looks wrong after sanding.

Barrie

Swipe me that's rough Billings quality control need to come back from furlough! I'm confident you'll sort it though

A few more planks added. Its slow going. I've sanded the top part and its still rough
I have no option to continue with this side, but I think I may have enough lime stripwood to do the other half. If so, the model will be displayed with that side showing

barrie

despite billings looking good Barrie

Side one finished Not my best bit of planking - thank goodness its going to be covered in filler
I don't think all the problems are mine. I'm sure some of the bulkheads are incorrect. There are bumps and hollows which don't look right at all.

I will continue to sand and then start filing while I build side 2. I have already removed all the parts from the sheets and mounted two of the bulkheads.

Barrie

see the skegs got broken off like i did on one mine can i suggest you plank the other side to make it stronger can always be fared in later.
just noticed another problem looking at there instruction manual on the bulk heads the deck support looks very very flimsy

Coastie - yes it got broken when I tried to remove the half keel from the board to cut the slot that was missing. I have it and will stick it to the other side when I have fixed both sides together. Not sure what you mean about the deck. It sits on the top of the bulkheads. What I am concerned about is how the bulwarks fix to the deck - but that's for the future. For now there's another side to build
I'm going to be using some wood that is at least smooth - not sure how pliable it is. I think its some I rejected from another build

Barrie

Hi Barrie part number 25 bulwarks as a top piece that supports a deck piece be tempt to jump up a bit and fit the deck part no  31 save breaking the supports off.
coastie

Coastie

Are you sure you are looking at the same model? This is the 1/60th scale display version of Andrea Gail. There is (was?) a 1/30th scale working version. The decks fit direct to the top of the bulkheads. The bulwarks appear to sit on the deck - no supports to break off.

Barrie

bit where wonky arrow is pointing have to be careful until decks fitted some cut ends off when decks fitted others leave it whole

See what you mean Coastie - hadn't got so far in my planning yet! My instruction book is in black and white - did you download yours?

Barrie

aye downloaded it from billings to follow your progress

I've now stuck all the bulkheads to the keel for the second side. I hope to start planking tomorrow if my nose will stop dripping
I will probably also put some filler onto side one.

Barrie

Finally got back into the workshop. I've started planking side 2. I am using some stripwood from stock - its much smoother and not as coarse as that supplied in the kit.



I decided not to start filling side one at this point, as I may want to see how I arranged the planks to help with side two.

Barrie

A few more planks on side 2. Its slow going as the pins get in the way This timber is smoother, but harder. The pins don't go in easily
I don't think this will be exactly the same as side 1, but after all the filler it will need that wont matter.
Covid vaccination in the morning so no more work until Sunday.

Barrie

Another couple of planks added today - its slow going because of the need to use clamps. You can see the strange shape at the bows - I'm sure the bulkheads 2, 3 and 4 are wrong.

I also added P38 filler to side 1 - lots of sanding needed here



Barrie

coming along nicely

Almost finished planking side 2 - just the tricky bit at the keel



I also started sanding side 1 - still quite a way to go, and more filler will be required

Here are the two hales clipped together



Barrie

Finally got round to finishing planking side 2. It has now been sanded and had some filler applied. Side 1 had its first coat of filler sanded and some more filler. After sanding this again, I think I will fix the two sides together before more filling and sanding.

Barrie

More sanding The two halves have now been joined together. They will require more filling and sanding before I can move on.

Barrie

More sanding and filling  The other half of the deck has been stuck down - I left it as I thought it would allow me to get a better join. Once the glue and filler is dry, I have to cut and shape some balsa blocks for the stern. Once they and the hull have had another sanding I intend to apply some EzeKote resin. After that I really need to get some primer on the hull so I can check for imperfections.

Barrie

What's the standard of the deck fittings like Barrie?

I've not examined them in detail, but I don't expect problems. Billings fittings are normally pretty good - mainly in brass. I know the stantions are brass.

Barrie

The balsa blocks have been stuck and sanded to shape. More sanding and filling - not quite ready for EzeKote yet. There was a serious discrepancy at the bows on one side, so more filler  
I do hope this is the last. There is also a problem with the hull shape as seen in the photo on the right, but that will have to stay.



Barrie

Sanding finally finished  Two coats of Ezekote have been applied and will be lightly sanded. Ideally I would like to apply some primer to check the surface, but there are some rubbing strips to add, and I think they would be better stuck to resin than primer.

Barrie

The weather has finally eased so I returned to the workshop.
After sanding the hull with wet and dry, I fitted the bulwarks and the first rubbing strip.

Coastie - you were right about the delicate nature of the bulwark. I have already snapped one. I didn't take your advice to fit the deck as I will need to paint that area before I do so or it will be very dificult to paint once the deck is in place.

There are some bits to add to the wall and then I can start painting that area.

Barrie

Second rubbing strip applied - this is in the correct place according to the plans, but not according to the construction picture



The cutwaters on the bow have been fitted and some detail on the step. The large block is supposed to be a freezer I think I am almost ready to spray the whole hull and deck with white primer. I can then paint the step and inside the bulwarks before moving on to the superstructure.

Barrie

After some final filling and sanding this morning I was ready to spray with primer. Whilst waiting for it to warm up outside, I started preparing some of the fixtures that will be needed next. I am not sure if this was the best way of making these. They are laser cut with some very fine pieces of ply which means that I am very reluctant to sand them as they should be done. Just getting them out of the sheet I managed to snap one leg.



Once the weather warmed up, I gave the whole of the hull a spray of white primer.



Barrie

I realised that because of the intricate and delicate superstructure of this ship - and there's even more to come - it was best to paint the hull before I started to place this on deck. So, the decks and upper side of the hull have had one coat of acrylic so far.



The structure in yesterday's photo has on coat of matt white as an undercoat. It is very tricky to paint, not least because it is so fragile.

Barrie

A second coat on the green and first coat on the underside. This will dry matt (I hope). I never quite know what colour to paint the underside - I was going to use Humbrol red/brown, but the tin was almost empty so settled for this. I also gave the tower a coat of satin white, and I think it will need another - the lasered edges take some covering.

Barrie

Do you brush paint your top coats?

Swab - yes normally. I sometimes use a rattle can especially if I have lot of white. I tried airbrushing but couldn't get on with it. All the mixing and cleaning became a hassle, so I reverted to brushing. Until just recently I used Humbrol enamels, but am now using acrylics as well. I have quite a lot of odd colours in enamel, but am using acrylic particularly black and white, plus the green is also acrylic.

Barrie

A second coat on the bottom of the hull - nearly finished the painting now just need to touch up the green on the lower rubbing strip. Added some more white to the tower and other bits, then started on the winch drums for the stern. Very fiddly and rubbish dowel which tears when trying to saw it to length .
Barrie

How do the Humbrol acrylics brush then enamels yes but the quality has declined, I've never used them at all. I've got a really good airbrush but it's only good for fine work on my plastic kits.

The enamels are of very variable quality which is why I started using acrylics. They are reasonably easy to brush and the quality is more consistent.

Barrie

I finished touching up the paintwork on the outside of the hull. I just have to paint the rudder and prop and fit them. The prop is too big - luckily this is a static model and it doesn't have to actually turn
I have been making the winches - there are four of them. These are now ready for painting after a coat of sanding sealer. I have been following the instructions and making blocks from three or more layers of laser cut ply. Today I found that the kit actually includes block wood cut to the correct sizes



Barrie