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It does fit perfectly, Eric. Eberhard, I look forward to having you along for the journey.

Thanks Ronald for your reply... Yes, these creations really start to come alive with the deck fittings.

Quite good progress made today on 1:500 version.

Knowing a little bit about Dutch flat bottom boats, they’re not all the same size, even though they share the same design (the Lemsteraak, for example can be built anywhere from 8.5m long to well in excess of 16m long). Likely AL used a different size “prototype” for the 1/35 scale kit. Andy

You shouldn't miss too many. Not too long ago, the moderators went through all the build logs (an enormous task) and tagged all of the existing logs. Was it a chore? Yes, it was -- but y'all are worth it!

Got a chance to look over the newer AL 1:35 scale Botter from AL along side the older 1:50 scale Botter. AL must have some weird measuring devices as the newer 1:35 model is considerably smaller than the old kit. Any ideas why this is so?

Well, I’m happy to report that the BONDO experiment was a success! I made a few fleur and shell casts to see how the material might release from the moulds. They released with even less effort than the Allumalite resin castings. As with the resin, small air pockets were an issue, but the crispness of detail was very satisfying, overall. For the squiggly scrolls, I decided to press a small amount of BONDO into the moulds with the pad of my finger, hoping to press out any air pockets. I then applied a thin backing layer so that I’d have something to hold onto, as I wasted away the ground. This time, perfect castings: Wasting was easy with the Dremel drum sanding attachment, followed by lap sanding across a sanding stick with finger pressure. Checking against a back-light, you can see where the ground is thicker or thinner, and you can adjust your finger pressure accordingly. You sand until you can just begin to see the castings releasing from the ground. I cleaned up a set to see what they looked like on a panel. I’m on the fence about this, at the moment: I also took some time to trim the panels so that they fit precisely within the parameters of the drawing. Because all 6 panels are produced from only two master drawings, they don’t all perfectly mirror to the other side of the drawing. A little fine-tuning was necessary: I made the yoke for the bell. The iron bands are simply black construction paper: I’ve also made the six breast-rail stanchions. I realized that the knees I patterned (left stanchion) were a little too heavy and out of scale, so I trimmed them back a bit (right): I guess I didn’t save the bell (90’s reference), so I’ll have to turn one from Screetch! RIP, Dustin Diamond

Thank you all, your support means a lot! ☺️ Deck framing preparations Here is the "final" deck layout that I settled on. Knee shape is quite approximate and would be refined on the model, but the carlings are all in their final spots. Ledges are omitted for clarity, but they would be placed on the top and middle part of the deck, leaving the bottom one fully bare. Depending on the visuals I might add the bottom row of carlings later on. If anyone can spot any mistake - please let me know before it is too late! Always a difficult decision point for me - what colour scheme to use for the next phase of the build? I want some contrast, but not too much. After hours of scrolling through amazing build logs here on MSW as well as photos of classical models - settled on the following palette: Carlings: boxwood, same as the beams. Lighter boxwood would represent the "heavy" timbers of the deck. Lodging knees: light pear, non-steamed. Hanging knees, beam arms: Swiss pear, steamed (darker variety) Ledges: have not decided yet, will try cherry. Something dark, but not black. Hope cherry is not too grainy for these tiny pieces. Here are the wood sheets planed to thickness and sanded. I will likely keep it unfinished, and use finish only for the top decks that might be touched. Next is milling the stock for carlings. It took too much effort for pillars, so trying to refine my technology. Ideally I just need a proper thickness sander, but I don't have one (or a space/time for the DYI variety), so was curious if my Proxxon FET table saw can do if I treat it with some love and care? Any tool shines better if you actually spend time tuning it.. At least the fence angle needs to be adjusted to avoid pushing wood into the blade (or away from it), it does make a difference! First was trying a slitting blade with 1mm kerf and no set. It leaves a fairly smooth finish, but tends to burn the wood and is harder to control. Switched over to the regular carbide tipped blade which has an effective kerf of almost 2mm. Sounds wasteful, but it is easier to control, so fewer planks would end up in the scrap bin. No burning, but the blade marks are slightly more visible. Close-up of test pear strips cut with both types of the blade, the surfaces are quite different: I do not have a proper "thin strip jig" that acts as a bump stop on the other side of the blade, but this saw also has a micro-adjuster that I have never tried before. Fiddly to use, but once you get the hang of it - it actually allows to move the fence quite precisely. If I need 4.0mm piece - I move the wheel to 6.0mm and with a blade kerf of almost 2mm I do get consistent 4.1mm thickness (with, say, +/- 0.05 tolerance). Not too bad for a saw that is not really designed for that kind of precision! They are 0.2mm oversized, leaving just 0.1 on each side to remove saw marks and any imperfections Boxwood carling blanks straight out of that saw, with no touch-up / sanding / scraping: Then some very careful planing in my thicknessing jig, taking care to not take too much material. I was worried that strips would fall on a side and I will end up with parallelograms instead of squares, but with the narrow face of 2.5mm and a crisp edge it was not an issue, they were standing upright. Now I have a bunch of blanks ready. They are straight, smooth and satisfyingly square in all directions and with dimensions down to +/-0.02mm! I did not expect to enjoy it that much

Chuck first; us buying stuff from you second. Take the time to rest and recover, Chuck!! John

When creating a new build log for myself, I usually search for other builds either on modelshipworld itself or on google by typing in the name of the model and using site:modelshipworld.com (such as "grand banks dory site:modelshipworld.com") to see how others have tagged their build logs (and try to use the tags most build logs have used). The primary way I search for other build logs of a model I'm working on is by using tags. I'm sure I've probably missed some potentially useful build logs that don't use tags.

I'm coming to the end of my Beagle build, and I can only confirm that the instructions get worse the further you go. When we get to the rigging, the paper instructions are completely wrong and omit essential connection points, the video instructions for the same ropes don't make it clear what goes where, but firmly contradict the paper instruction, but at least there's an option on the box photo showing a third way to get it wrong. As an "entry level" model for Occre, I'm amazing anyone ever buys another of their kits after their experience of this one.

Painting means painting...

On my 3rd time through sanding, wood filler, sanding, primer, wood filler in shadow areas, sanding, primer, etc, etc, etc . Will eventually get that smooth blemish free surface over the entire hull.

Thanks for the review. I haven't acquired any of the Shipyard models yet but am sorely tempted. They certainly seem to be the be pinnacle of card models. I suspect they're a bit out of my league for now but eventually I'll break down and get one (or more!).

He does look a lot like Richard Burton.

What a lovely little gem of a model! How did you manage to train spiders to do the rigging for you?

It’s frustrating and baffling in equal measure. I could prepare a better set of instructions for this kit than OcCre have and I’ve been building model ships for all of 10 minutes.

Looks like you're getting down to last steps. She looks great!

Just so! At the time I was working weekends and had a couple of weekday off when the Admiral was at work. 😉

I've been out of touch for a while. But this turned out superb!

Sounds vaguely ominous! 😬 In this instance, I think any kind of doubling technique would adversely impact the scale of the part -- but your description of the process is intriguing! I can easily envision this conversation going down at the Coyle household later: Mrs. Coyle: "Honey, what are you burning?" Me: "Me? Nothing. Why?" Mrs. Coyle: "It smells like melting Ziploc bags in here." Me: "Hmmm. Can't imagine why." 😝

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you like painted models better, then paint them. If a paying customer wants bare wood, then leave it bare!

Have you tried Necroscoping? A couple of years ago I was designing a Zeppelin model (there's an old build log on the Paper Modelers forum under the user name 'Kugelfang') and I used the technique to laminate some pieces. Basically, I took plastic from a zip lock bag, sandwiched it between the two pieces of card I wanted to laminate, encased the whole thing in a folded piece of 20# paper and ran a medium (or low?) temperature iron over it to melt the plastic and bond the two pieces of card stock together. It also added considerable rigidity to the piece--which is why it might be worth trying. As a matter of fact, when I get back to my skipjack build I think I'll try this technique for the frame of the winder which will be similar to your support girders. Just a thought....

4 Years later, I just finished going through your entire build and wish I'd have found it earlier. You did an amazing job and your ideas and techniques are now a learning experience for me as I'm building the same ship now. Though I made a lot of terrible and rookie mistakes with the hull. Thanks for posting!!!

Hi Captain Amateur, I stopped using the instructions a couple years ago as I found that they did not give the proper sequence of assembly and they are very vague. If you follow the instructions as they suggest, it will get you into a bind in the long run. The 2 lines that you are referring to are for the 2 babbets and bearding lines that need to be carved. The first one is for the first layer of planking. If you look at my post #53 I show where I carved out the second babbet and bearding line to recieve the second layer of planking. I ran my first layer all the way to the stern post and went back and carved the babbet and bearding line out removing some of the first layer of planking. This is optional as you can stop your first layer planks at the line shown on the drawings. I decided to run the planking all the way to the stern post as I figured this would add strength plus I needed the practice. There are a few build logs on MSW and only one that I am aware of that completed the Bellona at this scale. Halaquen completed this kit and did a very good job describing his build. I use it as a reference quite often. I hope I answered you question and that it helps you on your journey building this amazing ship. Cheers Nearshore