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Ahoy, Jeff. Good point, I thought so too. I also ordered more boats than I needed. It would be a really good idea if they made boats and accessories for specific boat types. That would make things a lot easier. And we have the same opinion about the wooden decks. I also wish I had gotten a deck for the Bismarck from Scaledecks. It was out of the question, and eventually I gave up and used the wooden deck from Pontos because I wanted to get further. And it wasn't suitable for the Mikasa either, since they don't even offer one for that boat. I even wrote to the company and asked if they could consider producing one for the Mikasa. I never received a reply. 🫤 Thanks for the flowers, Jeff. I'm taking a little break from model building at the moment. I have a lot of other things on my plate and don't want to lose focus while working on the Mikasa. 😉

Good morning, Jeff. Let's not misunderstand each other, you're talking about the Bismarck's group listening device, right?! (Gruppenhorchgerät) Arrow on the photo.

Days work; instructions aren’t the best

Added the thimble. It’s taped to hold in position, following the Modelkit Stuff method.

After 2 years at sea and nearly 3000 hours of sweat, tears, exhilaration and admiration... the Revenge is finally dry-docked for repairs and retrofit. The remaining crew are making final preparations before leaving the ship at night... for most needed rest.

Assembling this thimble.

Congratulations, very nicely done! Good call on redoing the rigging to get it right, it looks excellent.

Greeting all, Rigging is getting his toll... The more I do it, harder it seen to get. It is getting more like work than fun lately. I think it is time for a break of few weeks. I want to get my hand on painting model Armor vehicles... and maybe a modern warship in the horizon. Slowly returning to rigging sails for time to time... BUT ONLY when it is fun again! It is at a stage where it can be display... in little disarray without spars and sails but quite presentable. Time to sail to the dry dock for some repairs... Few overall pictures coming soon.

This is the next bit on the plans to do. A bit more complicated. I’m showing a drawing from Lennarth that Modelkit Stuff showed in Video 19 of the Sherbourne build.

Following your Erebus build now so that I can see what you have learned / are changing since your Terror!

Good Thursday night MSW. A brief update tonight, more fine tuning than impressive progress. I finished the cap railing and moldings and sanded down the cross sections of the planking on the sides. Then I added the channel, which had to be sanded down thinner to match the width of the molding. I wasn't confident it would stay put with only glue so I pinned it as well. I managed to drill all the way through the bulwarks with all 3 pinning holes so beware future builders. I used epoxy and 20g brass wire which fit the holes loosely allowing me some wiggle room, and yellow glue. It's pretty solid now. After it was fully dry I realized I put the channel in upside down (the edge slots for the deadeye strops are not the same at each end, one is closer to the edge than the other) but I can't easily unattach the thing so its staying. I noticed in the Speedwell book (Vol II, pg 47) Greg and Gave show the deadeyes all the same size. They also chose to add a swivel mount directly over the channel, in between the 2 bolsters. I don't think I'm doing the swivel but maybe my brain will betray me. Again. We'll see. It might make the model a little too busy. Then I made the bolsters, which were straight-forward sanding exercises and pinned them as well. I used superglue for the pins. Both feel secure. And finally I manned up and attached the base pieces. They were not perfectly square to each other so I have some sanding in my future before I add the curved molding to ease the transition to the base. I also added the waterway piece, which in hindsight should have been holly so it matched the decking instead of the AYC i used but oh well. I also drilled out the scuppers and used #2 pencil to darken them as per the directions. They don't connect and you can't tell. and now I started on the cannon carriage. Thats it for tonight. Tomorrow the family and I are flying to not-sunny old England for a week of vacation. I bargained hard for a day to see the Victory and in return had to give up all control of the other 6 days. Pictures will be posted. thanks for reading, Cisco

Working on the thimbles. The plans show one line that connects both thimbles. I can’t easily see how to do that. So like the Modelkit Stuff build, I’m going to do two separate lines. I was able to do the thimbles and add a bit of seizing. I think it’s going to be easier when the thicker seizing thread I ordered arrives. This 16/0 is tiny and hard to use. It’s hard to see (even with a magnifier), hard to tie, and it moves all over with the slightest breath.

John: good approach. And be aware they light is located on both sides of the ship at the same spot. Great progress.. As mentioned they are doing major restoration on her right now and she isnt open to the public. This is year 2 of the restoration. Based on the progress I suspect they will be at it next year as well MIKE

john: They are doing a major restoration on her right now.. the hull has been completed and they are now working on the structure above deck.. I imagine there has been some scraping and sanding going on at this point. MIKE

Great finishing work, Matt! Your Pram looks magnificent! 🏆

Well, we’ve had a spell of extremely hot weather in the Kansas City area, with recent “feels like” temps over 100o, so it’s good to spend some time in my cool shipyard. Therefore, another small update… BULKHEAD PLACEMENT After doing what I can to the bulkheads and the bulkhead former to prepare for the bulkhead placement, it was time to get them secured in their spots. So, I got the obligatory Legos back out and, beginning with Bulkhead A, went through the slow process of painting a thin strip of Titebond glue on the contact points and then sliding each bulkhead firmly in its slot, matching the reference lines and securing the Lego blocks for the 90o placement while the glue dries. Then moving on to the next bulkhead. At the locations where I will be installing the ladders going from the gun deck to the berth deck, I wanted to have small “landing areas” for the ladders to rest on, so using some thin scraps of strip wood, I glued some support strips and small sheets at those ladder locations as I was permanently securing the applicable bulkheads. Also, in order to provide additional support and strength to the bulkheads, I measured and cut (using my small bench top cut-off saw) some scrap 3/8” square dowel to use as struts between each bulkhead. This gave me the opportunity to make sure the distances between bulkheads on the port and starboard sides were equal (or as close to equal as possible when measuring in hundredths of millimeters). A view of the full ship at this early stage and it’s shaping up nicely… COUNTER & STERN FILLER BLOCK The Model Shipways kit provides a couple of large basswood blocks to use for these pieces. First, let’s work on the counter. The plans suggest a block size of 5” x 1¾“ x ½“, but I started with a 6” x 2” x ½“ block. I used a thicker block so that, in order to drill the hole for rudder stock at a slight angle, I would have room to place a ¼“ dowel underneath the block as I was drilling the 5/16” hole. That worked out well. Once I had the rudder hole placed and drilled, I then repositioned the cut-out counter drawing on the block to trace the outline. I could then, using my scroll saw, cut down the shape of the counter to a more manageable size (less cutting and sanding required). The only recommendation to do differently is to reduce the thickness cut from ½“ to somewhere between 7/16”-11/32”. More on that in a bit. But the initial cuts and sandings had the counter thickness at just about 7/16”, it looked “ok”, and a quick test-fit of the counter and the rudder was successful. I then moved to working on the two stern filler blocks. As suggested in the plans, I cut the blocks to 2-3/4“ x 2-3/8“ x 1-1/8“ sized pieces. I fit the blocks against Bulkhead R and traced the rear profile for the required cuts. I then used the scroll saw again for the initial curved cuts. Then, using the plan and profile lines on the Stern Filler Block Detail 2-H plans, I drew the shape lines on each block piece to help me with the sanding and shaping and… made a whole bunch of sawdust! Using just my Dremel with the sanding disks (went through several of the disks in this process) and my hand-held sanding block, I was able to shape the two stern filler blocks to their required shape. What helped me in gauging the shapes needed were two thin and flexible 0.51mm brass rods that I cut to the lengths shown on the Detail 2-H “plan view” for the C & D waterlines. The A & B waterline marks were so small I could gauge those by eyeballing them to shape as needed. But on the larger curves, the brass rods definitely helped me get to the curvature and shapes needed. As a side note, I really do like the hook & loop “velcro-like” sandpaper sheets and sanding block I have been using. I bought the assorted sandpaper grits that come in rolls in a box and you can cut off what is needed to place on the sanding block. Works really well, and much more convenient than the sanding block I was using previously that I had to measure and cut strips from full sheets. So, as I was once again test-fitting the stern filler blocks and the counter and seeing how everything looked placed against Bulkhead R and the counter sitting on top of the sternpost, I noticed a height level difference between the top of the counter (which will serve as the floor of the Commodore’s cabin) and the rest of the gun deck level on all of the bulwarks. The Commodore’s cabin floor is going to be higher than the rest of the gun deck. Well, crap, shouldn’t these obviously be at the same level?!? When I made the decision to have a detailed gun deck, I followed the lead of others who have done this previously with the Model Shipways kit, and I trimmed 3/32” from the bulkhead former and bulkheads, but I did not trim the section of the bulkhead former directly behind Bulkhead R, where the sternpost attaches. I don’t recall any of the other builders commenting on that piece specifically, but maybe it was just assumed that when you trimmed, you trimmed everything. So, I trimmed that section off, as well. Even with that piece now trimmed, though, the counter was sitting a bit too high. That’s when I gave a shoutout to one of my fellow Constitution builders, Jon @JSGerson, to ask his advice, since it looked like in his pictures, his transom counter sat flush with the gun deck. Jon, confirmed for me that, nope, there actually is a height difference and his photo made it appear to be an optical illusion. Magic…..! Once the front wall (including the buildout for the sofa area) is fully constructed, you can’t see the difference. Very interesting, Jon! Thank you!! He did, though, remind me that Bob Hunt’s practicum does emphasize the importance of getting the transom counter thickness down to that 11/32” point. So, I continued to sand that block until I got to that measurement (with a little more on each side to account for the deck curvature) and, ya know what? I think once we add the gun deck base sheet and the deck planking, the cabin floor should be right at the same level as the rest of the gun deck. Sweet! Sorry for the long explanation but thought it might be worthy of documenting my perils. My concern now is what I might have done to the sternpost in bringing that down the additional 3/32” and will that cause problems with aligning the hull planking, the stern frames, the quarter galleries, etc. The rudder still fits in its eventual place just fine. I guess “we’ll cross that bridge…”. When I was making the cuts into some of the bulkheads and the bulkhead former to allow for the ladders going down to the berth deck from the gun deck, I failed to also make a cut into Bulkhead R prior to placement for the sofa area buildout. According to the US Navy plans, if I am measuring the small scale plans accurately, that buildout area looks to be 8’ wide, which at our 1:76.8 scale, converts to 1.25”. So, I cut that area out of Bulkhead R. I did make a couple of notched cuts at the top of that extraction so that, when necessary, a new support beam can more easily be placed at the top of that cabin wall. With that opening completed, I think I was ready to permanently secure (glue) the two stern filler blocks. Of course, additional sanding and shaping will be necessary once the planking is placed, but I think we’ve got the stern area about where it needs to be for now, While I placed the counter on top of the stern filler blocks for looks, I have not glued the counter in place yet. In looking ahead at the work I am going to be doing with the transom frames and their locations, it may be wise to keep the counter loose for now, so that it will be easier to cut the slots in the counter where the frames will be seated. For now, though, I think I will move to the bow filler blocks, the knightheads and the timberheads. I hope I am doing things well. I certainly have a treasure trove of available insights and information from prior build logs. Thank you! And thanks to all for reading, following, commenting, advising and criticizing! You are all appreciated!

Well done, Matt! A very nice result.

Yes, Keith, it most certainly is.

Great to hear from you, Trevor! Yes, I will be following Phil's sound advice (I have already laid those two extra booms aside that I cut this morning). It is now my belief that one could take various tomes to hand and find conflicting ideas about any nautical subject in most of them. History is just like that.

In part I was delaying the continuation of my Sherbourne because I was waiting for the Modelkit Stuff Sherbourne build to go past me. He’s now well past me in that maybe he has one more video to complete the model. His Video 19 (around time stamp 23:54) describes how to rig a couple of the blocks I hasn’t seen described in other sources.

I sincerely hope that you have enough material(s) in your kit. As you may have read in my log, I was rather frustrated by the lack thereof in mine. Take care of the small components as I found that there were just enough.... I am finding, at this juncture, that there are not nearly enough Blocks, I am glad I have plenty from other builds. Cheers....HOF.

Thanks to everyone who followed along, commented, and liked throughout this build. I learned a lot working through this kit. When I first started, I didn’t expect it to take quite this long, but with a young kid and a demanding job, life has a way of happening… often. I’ve already noticed dust collecting on both the dory and the pram, so I’d like to put them in a cabinet or case. They’re not particularly special models, being that they're small beginner kits so I don’t think they warrant a custom case, but if anyone has suggestions for a cheap way to cover or display them, I’d really appreciate it. Originally, I wasn’t sure whether I’d start the Polaris from OcCre or the Lobster Smack next, but I’ve decided it’ll be the smack. I’d like to get it started soon, but first I really need to tackle the long overdue relocation to a more permanent, modeling friendly workspace. Something I've been putting off for about a year now, but it looks like I'll be continuing with this hobby! Before that, I still need to complete the oars for this one. I’ll likely return and post a photo or two once they’re finished, but for now, I’m calling this build complete. Thanks again, Matt

@Kusawa2000 Looks like winter must take its toll on her. She looks be in ruff shape requiring constant maintenance. John

Thanks Mike, Great shots of the lighting. Good confirmation of the type of lighting. My research has shown the use of a Dyno for electricity on board. I will be placing an LED in those cavities along with the inside lighting and over cargo doorways, staircases, etc… John

I’m finally back to my Sherbourne for a bit. I had set it aside to continue to research ways to do rigging. I started on rigging on my Ranger and figured maybe I should try to finish my Sherbourne first. After all, it is my first model ship.