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