James H

I have actually used iron pigment on them since painting too.

Crack on! Fix those parts and get planking!

Time for an update. The hull is now pretty much built, down to the various rigging points on the outside hull. Here is another abridged series of photos which will feature in the instruction manual. It had been decided very early on that First was to look very different from Speedy. That wasn't just with the white bottom hull and earlier riggings, but also with selective use of period colours. The kit itself is quite different to Speedy, with different materials used in places, necessitating new laser cut files specifically for this release. Instead of leaving the upper bulwarks in pear, I sat the swivel gun post support patterns against the cap rail and marked the area to be painted blue, with a pencil. The adjoining areas were then masked and several thin coats of Humbrol 25 Blue brush painted into that area. The patterns were then glued into position and the areas they lay over the gun and oar ports, snipped away and trimmed back. The catheads were now assembled and painted before being installed. These were very much a perfect fit, which really pleased me! The bow timbers and head rails were now fitted. This was probably the most fiddly aspect of the model so far, and what I thought would be a 20 minute session turned out to take about 3hrs before I was happy enough with it. I also fitted the depth markings etc. The dark area you see around these is where I've sealed them in polyurethane varnish to give them extra protection. Those areas will blend in to the last full coat of varnish I apply. Note I also added the vertical swivel gun timbers, but in Humbrol 74 Linen (ochre) to give some contrast against the other elements. Thought I'd have a small diversion and make the four anchors. The only metal in these is the ring. The stocks are also made up from two parts as per the real thing, and black cartridge paper used for the bands. All belaying pins and racks are now fitted. These are also pinned as well as being glued with PVA. I prefer this glue for things like this, as CA can fracture if stressed. As with the belaying pin racks, the channels are also pinned and glued with PVA. The chainplates in this kit are provided as single pieces. You need to open them up to sit the deadeye in them, then close back up. Some touching up with black paint is also required. All chainplates are now fitted and pinned to the wales. All my previous work in making the deck fittings and furniture can now be put into play. The small steel balls for the cannon shot, are burnished in metal blacking fluid. And here we are so far! Hope you like it.

Not an assembled model. Maybe you should try a couple of easier vessels and then the Brig Aris?

There's nothing wrong with that at all, in fact you've less stepping around the bow than I did. Looking forward to seeing this progress.

Nice to see this coming along again.

Moved to correct forum area.

Moved to correct forum area...

Sure can! It's Plastikote red oxide primer. I generally give all parts a finish with 320 grade paper and then spray. If necessary, I will sand an d reapply. https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Plasti-kote-25002-400ml-Primer-Oxide/dp/B006XBST08/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=plastikote+red+oxide+primer&qid=1590226003&sr=8-1

They sure are fiddly. I find the stern more difficult than the bow, and this one is planked with 2mm x 1mm strips (narrower than Speedy's 3mm strips). Still, it should look ok when done, fingers crossed.

The little 18ft one that sits atop Flirt's deck.

Cheers. I'm building the little cutter at moment, as I'm still waiting for my blue paint to use on the upper, outer bulwarks.

Hi Alan, The nails are only in the first planking, and the reason you can't see the holes is because the sanding filled them in. If I was to blow on or brush that surface, you'd have seen them again. I just used pliers to pull them out. Bevelling the engraved bulkheads is for most of the bevelling work. You still need to fine tune that and slightly bevel the other bulkheads so a plank will lay flat over them.

Looking great. You'll not find much testy here though 🤣

Yes, form those planks in Amy way you can. You will have to twist that lime as it runs under the stern area.

You build in card better than anyone I know and your stuff gives a lot of the top-flight plastic models a run for their money. Absolutely outstanding!

She looks beautiful, and you took some great photo angles there too.

Can't wait to see those planks hit that hull 😁

Both Fifie and Zulu were a delight to build. So much enjoyment 😊

Is is very easy to clamp the outside edges of the deck down onto the false deck below. I use a lot of 2 inch clamps for this, with rubber tips. I just use lengths of bubble-wrap for this, suspended on lollipop sticks taped to the reflectors 🤣

Hope the moves goes well. Keep us up to date.

No. Those are generally far too limiting for something like this, especially when comes to having to photograph something the size of Victory. My setup has two formats. I can switch from small scale which is what I've been using in these photos, to large scale which is what I'll use when I start masting this. The screen is a pure white blind that I just draw down from high up on the wall. All images are processed with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Camera is a Nikon D5100 DSLR

Despite any errors you've made, that is a fine model for your first attempt! Don't beat yourself up. There are some great kits out today that even exceed the quality of the one you bought. I really do hope you can share a new build log with us in future. Oh.... and

Couldn't resist putting the finished deck stuff on the hull, to see how this will look later. Nothing here is glued on. It's now all removed and work on painting the lower hull in white is now underway.

Instead of just posting my work in regular build order, I thought I'd post an idea of exactly what I've been doing, including working on stuff that's further ahead than the regular sequence. As this is for the manual, it doesn't allow me to sit idle and twiddle my thumbs as parts and paints dry. Instead, I go off on a tangent and work on other things. First up, I'll show you where I currently am with the hull. One task I love doing is removing the bulkhead ears from above the deck. At this point, I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere with a build. These are just snapped off with a pair of pliers and the stubs sanded flush with the false deck. Before I can fit the deck, I spray some red oxide primer around the inside bow and stern areas, as these would be difficult to paint later. The standard laser-engraved limewood deck is then installed using Titebond and then clamped down around the edges to make sure it sits perfectly to the false deck. Once the deck is down, the inner bulwarks are planked. All planks are first painted. Painting the lowest plank at least helps to stop paint splashing onto the deck. I was unlucky with my planking as the gaps I needed to fill meant that more or less all paint was stripped back down to the woodwork so I could apply some acrylic wood filler. This was then sanded smooth and the various holes in the ply bulwark drilled through to the inside for the various eyebolts etc. The red oxide paint is now reapplied after completing the exterior pear planks and sanding the whole hull exterior smooth. The only wales I'll be visiting this year with lockdown are the ones I'll be gluing to the exterior of this hull. The top of the first per plank that was laid is now marked with a pencil to identify where the 3mm x 1mm pear strip will fit. This is two planks below the bottom of the newly cut gun ports. After fitting the 3mm wide plank to each side, a 4mm plank was then butt up directly below it. Masking tape was now applied to either side so I didn't damage the surrounding pear. Sandpaper is now used to smooth the exterior. Things start to take further shape as the outer prow is fitted, along with the keel and stern keel post. Some of the supplied clamps are used to keep everything in alignment. Whilst that was setting, I made the rudder. Although you'll see copper gudgeons and pintles on this, they are a leftover from the original Speedy kit I have. There Flirt kit will be supplied with these in brass as there's no copper plates on this kit. Cartridge paper is used for the iron bands at either side of the tiller arm location. The original masking tape for the wales was removed, simply because I didn't want to risk any sanding dust being lodged in there. The outside edges of the wales were again carefully masked, followed by the rest of the model, and Plastikote black spray applied. There will be no black paint on the bow area as this is being left in bear pear, along with some new laser-engraved per parts. I did say I'd been working on some other stuff, and here it is. We have some grate frames, bitts, windlass, ladders, pumps, capstan and cannon. I still have a lot of work to do on the cutter yet, but as you can see, things are moving at a nice pace. More when I have it...