Moonbug

Nothing works like elbow grease Mark.  Nice work. I'm becoming super envious of the laser cutter though.  How long til Father's day when I can make up an excuse to buy something else?  Heh

Nothing works like elbow grease Mark.  Nice work. I'm becoming super envious of the laser cutter though.  How long til Father's day when I can make up an excuse to buy something else?  Heh

I spend the weekend in the shipyard doing some initial repairs, then some new work.  Because Augie hadn't been able to work on the Confederacy for quite some time, it had collected a little bit of dust and had a small amount of disrepair, including some deck planks that had separated a bit and seemed uneven. So I cleared off some of the cannons and fittings, resurfaced the deck, filled in gaps with sawdust from sanded down Swiss Pear,  then applied some tung oil and a light coat of satin poly.  I also ended up touching up some of the black and red paint that had been negatively affected by dust, etc.
 

 
    During the course of that - I noticed that the steering wheels that had come with the ship, well - just weren't that awesome.  After doing some searching for bits and pieces, it turns out it's actually pretty difficult to find good wheels that are not metal and painted.  So I set about creating new ones. 
 
Attempt #1
 

 
I cut off part of a dowel that was 15mm in diameter - the same diameter as the existing wheels.  I mounted it onto my Dremel vertically, using a small screw attachment to create a version of a lathe.  Then I used dental tools to notch and carve the piece giving it texture.
 

 
However, because the kind of wood I used was hard, but a little too porous and brittle, it crumbled when I attempted to cut it off the end of the dowel with it's new shape.
 

 
Drat.
 
Attempt #2
 
During the second attempt, I used a softer, but more dense piece of wood for the framing of the wheel.  This wood is actually from an old pen case that I had from somewhere.    You never know what you're going to dig up in the extra supply bin.
 

 
I cut it square, rounded the edges, then mounted it on the Dremel as before.  I smoothed out the top and bottom and used my mini level to make sure it was even.
 

 
I used miniature files to care out the edges and give the wheel some shape. 
 

 
For the spokes, I used a strip of boxwood, split it to 2mm, then rounded it with sand paper.  Once again mounting it into my Dremel Lathe, I used a miniature file to shape the spokes. 
 

 
I then mounted them around a center piece, and sanded my frame out to fit, notching the edges slightly to give room to the spokes.
 

 
For the outer handles, I used the same process, and notched the frame out to fit the pieces.
 

 
Finally, I lightly sanded and added a cherry mini-wax stain.  When it's dry, I'll sand it out with 1000 grit sand paper.
 
Now I just have to do another one!  heh

I noticed this afternoon that there was a strip of molding missing from the bow of the ship. Not sure if it dropped off somewhere, or if Augie was waiting to put it on after the  timber heads were installed, but it was nowhere to be found.
 

 
  Now, I didn't inherit the handy little scoring tool from Chuck and the fine folks at Model Shipways, so I had to take a couple cracks at it old-school style. I laid my metal ruler along the wood, and first scored it with my X-acto knife to ensure a straight line.  Now, when I say "ensure" - I mean took me a couple of tries and a couple of wasted little strips of wood.
 

 
Then, I gouged out the score a little wider with these handy tweezers.  And finally, I folded a piece of 400 grit sandpaper in half, and sanded the groove.
 

 
After mounting the strip, it was time to dig back through the log and find out how to match the coloring.  Turns out, Augie favored a coat of Miniwax prestain, followed by Miniwax "Natural" color, and finally an acrylic coat.  As luck would have it - I have a pretty extensive "Mini-wax" collection, so I think I got her pretty close match to the upper strip.
 

I spend the weekend in the shipyard doing some initial repairs, then some new work.  Because Augie hadn't been able to work on the Confederacy for quite some time, it had collected a little bit of dust and had a small amount of disrepair, including some deck planks that had separated a bit and seemed uneven. So I cleared off some of the cannons and fittings, resurfaced the deck, filled in gaps with sawdust from sanded down Swiss Pear,  then applied some tung oil and a light coat of satin poly.  I also ended up touching up some of the black and red paint that had been negatively affected by dust, etc.
 

 
    During the course of that - I noticed that the steering wheels that had come with the ship, well - just weren't that awesome.  After doing some searching for bits and pieces, it turns out it's actually pretty difficult to find good wheels that are not metal and painted.  So I set about creating new ones. 
 
Attempt #1
 

 
I cut off part of a dowel that was 15mm in diameter - the same diameter as the existing wheels.  I mounted it onto my Dremel vertically, using a small screw attachment to create a version of a lathe.  Then I used dental tools to notch and carve the piece giving it texture.
 

 
However, because the kind of wood I used was hard, but a little too porous and brittle, it crumbled when I attempted to cut it off the end of the dowel with it's new shape.
 

 
Drat.
 
Attempt #2
 
During the second attempt, I used a softer, but more dense piece of wood for the framing of the wheel.  This wood is actually from an old pen case that I had from somewhere.    You never know what you're going to dig up in the extra supply bin.
 

 
I cut it square, rounded the edges, then mounted it on the Dremel as before.  I smoothed out the top and bottom and used my mini level to make sure it was even.
 

 
I used miniature files to care out the edges and give the wheel some shape. 
 

 
For the spokes, I used a strip of boxwood, split it to 2mm, then rounded it with sand paper.  Once again mounting it into my Dremel Lathe, I used a miniature file to shape the spokes. 
 

 
I then mounted them around a center piece, and sanded my frame out to fit, notching the edges slightly to give room to the spokes.
 

 
For the outer handles, I used the same process, and notched the frame out to fit the pieces.
 

 
Finally, I lightly sanded and added a cherry mini-wax stain.  When it's dry, I'll sand it out with 1000 grit sand paper.
 
Now I just have to do another one!  heh

I spend the weekend in the shipyard doing some initial repairs, then some new work.  Because Augie hadn't been able to work on the Confederacy for quite some time, it had collected a little bit of dust and had a small amount of disrepair, including some deck planks that had separated a bit and seemed uneven. So I cleared off some of the cannons and fittings, resurfaced the deck, filled in gaps with sawdust from sanded down Swiss Pear,  then applied some tung oil and a light coat of satin poly.  I also ended up touching up some of the black and red paint that had been negatively affected by dust, etc.
 

 
    During the course of that - I noticed that the steering wheels that had come with the ship, well - just weren't that awesome.  After doing some searching for bits and pieces, it turns out it's actually pretty difficult to find good wheels that are not metal and painted.  So I set about creating new ones. 
 
Attempt #1
 

 
I cut off part of a dowel that was 15mm in diameter - the same diameter as the existing wheels.  I mounted it onto my Dremel vertically, using a small screw attachment to create a version of a lathe.  Then I used dental tools to notch and carve the piece giving it texture.
 

 
However, because the kind of wood I used was hard, but a little too porous and brittle, it crumbled when I attempted to cut it off the end of the dowel with it's new shape.
 

 
Drat.
 
Attempt #2
 
During the second attempt, I used a softer, but more dense piece of wood for the framing of the wheel.  This wood is actually from an old pen case that I had from somewhere.    You never know what you're going to dig up in the extra supply bin.
 

 
I cut it square, rounded the edges, then mounted it on the Dremel as before.  I smoothed out the top and bottom and used my mini level to make sure it was even.
 

 
I used miniature files to care out the edges and give the wheel some shape. 
 

 
For the spokes, I used a strip of boxwood, split it to 2mm, then rounded it with sand paper.  Once again mounting it into my Dremel Lathe, I used a miniature file to shape the spokes. 
 

 
I then mounted them around a center piece, and sanded my frame out to fit, notching the edges slightly to give room to the spokes.
 

 
For the outer handles, I used the same process, and notched the frame out to fit the pieces.
 

 
Finally, I lightly sanded and added a cherry mini-wax stain.  When it's dry, I'll sand it out with 1000 grit sand paper.
 
Now I just have to do another one!  heh

I noticed this afternoon that there was a strip of molding missing from the bow of the ship. Not sure if it dropped off somewhere, or if Augie was waiting to put it on after the  timber heads were installed, but it was nowhere to be found.
 

 
  Now, I didn't inherit the handy little scoring tool from Chuck and the fine folks at Model Shipways, so I had to take a couple cracks at it old-school style. I laid my metal ruler along the wood, and first scored it with my X-acto knife to ensure a straight line.  Now, when I say "ensure" - I mean took me a couple of tries and a couple of wasted little strips of wood.
 

 
Then, I gouged out the score a little wider with these handy tweezers.  And finally, I folded a piece of 400 grit sandpaper in half, and sanded the groove.
 

 
After mounting the strip, it was time to dig back through the log and find out how to match the coloring.  Turns out, Augie favored a coat of Miniwax prestain, followed by Miniwax "Natural" color, and finally an acrylic coat.  As luck would have it - I have a pretty extensive "Mini-wax" collection, so I think I got her pretty close match to the upper strip.
 

I noticed this afternoon that there was a strip of molding missing from the bow of the ship. Not sure if it dropped off somewhere, or if Augie was waiting to put it on after the  timber heads were installed, but it was nowhere to be found.
 

 
  Now, I didn't inherit the handy little scoring tool from Chuck and the fine folks at Model Shipways, so I had to take a couple cracks at it old-school style. I laid my metal ruler along the wood, and first scored it with my X-acto knife to ensure a straight line.  Now, when I say "ensure" - I mean took me a couple of tries and a couple of wasted little strips of wood.
 

 
Then, I gouged out the score a little wider with these handy tweezers.  And finally, I folded a piece of 400 grit sandpaper in half, and sanded the groove.
 

 
After mounting the strip, it was time to dig back through the log and find out how to match the coloring.  Turns out, Augie favored a coat of Miniwax prestain, followed by Miniwax "Natural" color, and finally an acrylic coat.  As luck would have it - I have a pretty extensive "Mini-wax" collection, so I think I got her pretty close match to the upper strip.
 

Good morning,
 
      I accomplished some actual work last night on the Confed.  After several hours of research and trying to get a good handle on where Augie was headed, how some of his ideas differed from the the plans (leaving some rails natural instead of painting, etc.), what he'd left for later, and what he'd done -  I picked up with something simple just to get me going; adding the timber heads to the railing. 
 

 
      After separating the timber heads, I beveled the top of each one.
 

 
      I started by mounting the lower portions of those on the bow, then matched up the top half. 
 

 
     Finally, I spent a little time looking up and matching paint combinations and painted.  I still owe them a couple more coats then a finish of clear lacquer.  
 
 
Off we go...!  

Good morning,
 
      I accomplished some actual work last night on the Confed.  After several hours of research and trying to get a good handle on where Augie was headed, how some of his ideas differed from the the plans (leaving some rails natural instead of painting, etc.), what he'd left for later, and what he'd done -  I picked up with something simple just to get me going; adding the timber heads to the railing. 
 

 
      After separating the timber heads, I beveled the top of each one.
 

 
      I started by mounting the lower portions of those on the bow, then matched up the top half. 
 

 
     Finally, I spent a little time looking up and matching paint combinations and painted.  I still owe them a couple more coats then a finish of clear lacquer.  
 
 
Off we go...!  

Hello all,
 
      We all lost a dear friend, great supporter and member of our Shipbuilding family when Augie Bruno passed in December.  No one was as proud of his work or shared in his enjoyment of the hobby more than his lovely wife Diane.
 
    After being contacted by Popeye, Diane expressed how helpful and wonderful it would be if someone were able to finish Augie’s work on the Confederacy – both as a tribute to Augie, and as a way to keep us all connected with his memory. As Augie and Diane’s home is only about 15 miles from me, I was asked if I would be willing to take over Augie’s build.  
 
    I had the pleasure of sharing a cup of coffee, some delightful cookies, and even more delightful stories with Diane – and she assured me that this is indeed what Augie would have wanted.
 
     So, it is with a warm heart, and substantial amount of humility that I’ll pick up where Augie left off.
 
     Thanks already - and in advance to Anja, Popeye, Mark and Sjors for their support. I’ll do my best give Augie’s build justice, and do right by Augie and Diane.  
 
    As it stands – I’m embroiled in research, as this is my first American built ship, and I feel it’s important to get to know her as much as I can before I continue the build. Hope to have some actual progress to show soon, but in the meantime – here she is in her new shipyard.
 

 
 
- Bug

I spend the weekend in the shipyard doing some initial repairs, then some new work.  Because Augie hadn't been able to work on the Confederacy for quite some time, it had collected a little bit of dust and had a small amount of disrepair, including some deck planks that had separated a bit and seemed uneven. So I cleared off some of the cannons and fittings, resurfaced the deck, filled in gaps with sawdust from sanded down Swiss Pear,  then applied some tung oil and a light coat of satin poly.  I also ended up touching up some of the black and red paint that had been negatively affected by dust, etc.
 

 
    During the course of that - I noticed that the steering wheels that had come with the ship, well - just weren't that awesome.  After doing some searching for bits and pieces, it turns out it's actually pretty difficult to find good wheels that are not metal and painted.  So I set about creating new ones. 
 
Attempt #1
 

 
I cut off part of a dowel that was 15mm in diameter - the same diameter as the existing wheels.  I mounted it onto my Dremel vertically, using a small screw attachment to create a version of a lathe.  Then I used dental tools to notch and carve the piece giving it texture.
 

 
However, because the kind of wood I used was hard, but a little too porous and brittle, it crumbled when I attempted to cut it off the end of the dowel with it's new shape.
 

 
Drat.
 
Attempt #2
 
During the second attempt, I used a softer, but more dense piece of wood for the framing of the wheel.  This wood is actually from an old pen case that I had from somewhere.    You never know what you're going to dig up in the extra supply bin.
 

 
I cut it square, rounded the edges, then mounted it on the Dremel as before.  I smoothed out the top and bottom and used my mini level to make sure it was even.
 

 
I used miniature files to care out the edges and give the wheel some shape. 
 

 
For the spokes, I used a strip of boxwood, split it to 2mm, then rounded it with sand paper.  Once again mounting it into my Dremel Lathe, I used a miniature file to shape the spokes. 
 

 
I then mounted them around a center piece, and sanded my frame out to fit, notching the edges slightly to give room to the spokes.
 

 
For the outer handles, I used the same process, and notched the frame out to fit the pieces.
 

 
Finally, I lightly sanded and added a cherry mini-wax stain.  When it's dry, I'll sand it out with 1000 grit sand paper.
 
Now I just have to do another one!  heh

I spend the weekend in the shipyard doing some initial repairs, then some new work.  Because Augie hadn't been able to work on the Confederacy for quite some time, it had collected a little bit of dust and had a small amount of disrepair, including some deck planks that had separated a bit and seemed uneven. So I cleared off some of the cannons and fittings, resurfaced the deck, filled in gaps with sawdust from sanded down Swiss Pear,  then applied some tung oil and a light coat of satin poly.  I also ended up touching up some of the black and red paint that had been negatively affected by dust, etc.
 

 
    During the course of that - I noticed that the steering wheels that had come with the ship, well - just weren't that awesome.  After doing some searching for bits and pieces, it turns out it's actually pretty difficult to find good wheels that are not metal and painted.  So I set about creating new ones. 
 
Attempt #1
 

 
I cut off part of a dowel that was 15mm in diameter - the same diameter as the existing wheels.  I mounted it onto my Dremel vertically, using a small screw attachment to create a version of a lathe.  Then I used dental tools to notch and carve the piece giving it texture.
 

 
However, because the kind of wood I used was hard, but a little too porous and brittle, it crumbled when I attempted to cut it off the end of the dowel with it's new shape.
 

 
Drat.
 
Attempt #2
 
During the second attempt, I used a softer, but more dense piece of wood for the framing of the wheel.  This wood is actually from an old pen case that I had from somewhere.    You never know what you're going to dig up in the extra supply bin.
 

 
I cut it square, rounded the edges, then mounted it on the Dremel as before.  I smoothed out the top and bottom and used my mini level to make sure it was even.
 

 
I used miniature files to care out the edges and give the wheel some shape. 
 

 
For the spokes, I used a strip of boxwood, split it to 2mm, then rounded it with sand paper.  Once again mounting it into my Dremel Lathe, I used a miniature file to shape the spokes. 
 

 
I then mounted them around a center piece, and sanded my frame out to fit, notching the edges slightly to give room to the spokes.
 

 
For the outer handles, I used the same process, and notched the frame out to fit the pieces.
 

 
Finally, I lightly sanded and added a cherry mini-wax stain.  When it's dry, I'll sand it out with 1000 grit sand paper.
 
Now I just have to do another one!  heh

Nothing works like elbow grease Mark.  Nice work. I'm becoming super envious of the laser cutter though.  How long til Father's day when I can make up an excuse to buy something else?  Heh

I spend the weekend in the shipyard doing some initial repairs, then some new work.  Because Augie hadn't been able to work on the Confederacy for quite some time, it had collected a little bit of dust and had a small amount of disrepair, including some deck planks that had separated a bit and seemed uneven. So I cleared off some of the cannons and fittings, resurfaced the deck, filled in gaps with sawdust from sanded down Swiss Pear,  then applied some tung oil and a light coat of satin poly.  I also ended up touching up some of the black and red paint that had been negatively affected by dust, etc.
 

 
    During the course of that - I noticed that the steering wheels that had come with the ship, well - just weren't that awesome.  After doing some searching for bits and pieces, it turns out it's actually pretty difficult to find good wheels that are not metal and painted.  So I set about creating new ones. 
 
Attempt #1
 

 
I cut off part of a dowel that was 15mm in diameter - the same diameter as the existing wheels.  I mounted it onto my Dremel vertically, using a small screw attachment to create a version of a lathe.  Then I used dental tools to notch and carve the piece giving it texture.
 

 
However, because the kind of wood I used was hard, but a little too porous and brittle, it crumbled when I attempted to cut it off the end of the dowel with it's new shape.
 

 
Drat.
 
Attempt #2
 
During the second attempt, I used a softer, but more dense piece of wood for the framing of the wheel.  This wood is actually from an old pen case that I had from somewhere.    You never know what you're going to dig up in the extra supply bin.
 

 
I cut it square, rounded the edges, then mounted it on the Dremel as before.  I smoothed out the top and bottom and used my mini level to make sure it was even.
 

 
I used miniature files to care out the edges and give the wheel some shape. 
 

 
For the spokes, I used a strip of boxwood, split it to 2mm, then rounded it with sand paper.  Once again mounting it into my Dremel Lathe, I used a miniature file to shape the spokes. 
 

 
I then mounted them around a center piece, and sanded my frame out to fit, notching the edges slightly to give room to the spokes.
 

 
For the outer handles, I used the same process, and notched the frame out to fit the pieces.
 

 
Finally, I lightly sanded and added a cherry mini-wax stain.  When it's dry, I'll sand it out with 1000 grit sand paper.
 
Now I just have to do another one!  heh

I vote for the hot tub!

Nothing works like elbow grease Mark.  Nice work. I'm becoming super envious of the laser cutter though.  How long til Father's day when I can make up an excuse to buy something else?  Heh

I spend the weekend in the shipyard doing some initial repairs, then some new work.  Because Augie hadn't been able to work on the Confederacy for quite some time, it had collected a little bit of dust and had a small amount of disrepair, including some deck planks that had separated a bit and seemed uneven. So I cleared off some of the cannons and fittings, resurfaced the deck, filled in gaps with sawdust from sanded down Swiss Pear,  then applied some tung oil and a light coat of satin poly.  I also ended up touching up some of the black and red paint that had been negatively affected by dust, etc.
 

 
    During the course of that - I noticed that the steering wheels that had come with the ship, well - just weren't that awesome.  After doing some searching for bits and pieces, it turns out it's actually pretty difficult to find good wheels that are not metal and painted.  So I set about creating new ones. 
 
Attempt #1
 

 
I cut off part of a dowel that was 15mm in diameter - the same diameter as the existing wheels.  I mounted it onto my Dremel vertically, using a small screw attachment to create a version of a lathe.  Then I used dental tools to notch and carve the piece giving it texture.
 

 
However, because the kind of wood I used was hard, but a little too porous and brittle, it crumbled when I attempted to cut it off the end of the dowel with it's new shape.
 

 
Drat.
 
Attempt #2
 
During the second attempt, I used a softer, but more dense piece of wood for the framing of the wheel.  This wood is actually from an old pen case that I had from somewhere.    You never know what you're going to dig up in the extra supply bin.
 

 
I cut it square, rounded the edges, then mounted it on the Dremel as before.  I smoothed out the top and bottom and used my mini level to make sure it was even.
 

 
I used miniature files to care out the edges and give the wheel some shape. 
 

 
For the spokes, I used a strip of boxwood, split it to 2mm, then rounded it with sand paper.  Once again mounting it into my Dremel Lathe, I used a miniature file to shape the spokes. 
 

 
I then mounted them around a center piece, and sanded my frame out to fit, notching the edges slightly to give room to the spokes.
 

 
For the outer handles, I used the same process, and notched the frame out to fit the pieces.
 

 
Finally, I lightly sanded and added a cherry mini-wax stain.  When it's dry, I'll sand it out with 1000 grit sand paper.
 
Now I just have to do another one!  heh

Nothing works like elbow grease Mark.  Nice work. I'm becoming super envious of the laser cutter though.  How long til Father's day when I can make up an excuse to buy something else?  Heh

I spend the weekend in the shipyard doing some initial repairs, then some new work.  Because Augie hadn't been able to work on the Confederacy for quite some time, it had collected a little bit of dust and had a small amount of disrepair, including some deck planks that had separated a bit and seemed uneven. So I cleared off some of the cannons and fittings, resurfaced the deck, filled in gaps with sawdust from sanded down Swiss Pear,  then applied some tung oil and a light coat of satin poly.  I also ended up touching up some of the black and red paint that had been negatively affected by dust, etc.
 

 
    During the course of that - I noticed that the steering wheels that had come with the ship, well - just weren't that awesome.  After doing some searching for bits and pieces, it turns out it's actually pretty difficult to find good wheels that are not metal and painted.  So I set about creating new ones. 
 
Attempt #1
 

 
I cut off part of a dowel that was 15mm in diameter - the same diameter as the existing wheels.  I mounted it onto my Dremel vertically, using a small screw attachment to create a version of a lathe.  Then I used dental tools to notch and carve the piece giving it texture.
 

 
However, because the kind of wood I used was hard, but a little too porous and brittle, it crumbled when I attempted to cut it off the end of the dowel with it's new shape.
 

 
Drat.
 
Attempt #2
 
During the second attempt, I used a softer, but more dense piece of wood for the framing of the wheel.  This wood is actually from an old pen case that I had from somewhere.    You never know what you're going to dig up in the extra supply bin.
 

 
I cut it square, rounded the edges, then mounted it on the Dremel as before.  I smoothed out the top and bottom and used my mini level to make sure it was even.
 

 
I used miniature files to care out the edges and give the wheel some shape. 
 

 
For the spokes, I used a strip of boxwood, split it to 2mm, then rounded it with sand paper.  Once again mounting it into my Dremel Lathe, I used a miniature file to shape the spokes. 
 

 
I then mounted them around a center piece, and sanded my frame out to fit, notching the edges slightly to give room to the spokes.
 

 
For the outer handles, I used the same process, and notched the frame out to fit the pieces.
 

 
Finally, I lightly sanded and added a cherry mini-wax stain.  When it's dry, I'll sand it out with 1000 grit sand paper.
 
Now I just have to do another one!  heh

I vote for the hot tub!

Thanks gentlemen for the likes and comments.  And Thanks Mike - great suggestion, I'll definitely have to try it.

I noticed this afternoon that there was a strip of molding missing from the bow of the ship. Not sure if it dropped off somewhere, or if Augie was waiting to put it on after the  timber heads were installed, but it was nowhere to be found.
 

 
  Now, I didn't inherit the handy little scoring tool from Chuck and the fine folks at Model Shipways, so I had to take a couple cracks at it old-school style. I laid my metal ruler along the wood, and first scored it with my X-acto knife to ensure a straight line.  Now, when I say "ensure" - I mean took me a couple of tries and a couple of wasted little strips of wood.
 

 
Then, I gouged out the score a little wider with these handy tweezers.  And finally, I folded a piece of 400 grit sandpaper in half, and sanded the groove.
 

 
After mounting the strip, it was time to dig back through the log and find out how to match the coloring.  Turns out, Augie favored a coat of Miniwax prestain, followed by Miniwax "Natural" color, and finally an acrylic coat.  As luck would have it - I have a pretty extensive "Mini-wax" collection, so I think I got her pretty close match to the upper strip.
 

Good morning,
 
      One additional bit - As I've said, I think it's obviously pretty important to be familiar with the gal you'll be spending so much time with, so I ordered a couple books, looked at a couple Augie had, and did some research on the Confederacy when she came to the shipyard.
  
       I didn't want to post it here, because I'm sure most people following Augie's log are already much more familiar with her than I; but if anyone is interested, I put a short synopsis of the Confederacy's history on my blog: http://lehmanshipyard.blogspot.com/2016/02/usf-confederacy-history.html for the other folks who follow along but don't have access to MSW.
   
         It's a combination of a few different sources, and there are of course some inconsistencies from author to author. History seems to be nothing if not malleable.   

Good morning,
 
      I accomplished some actual work last night on the Confed.  After several hours of research and trying to get a good handle on where Augie was headed, how some of his ideas differed from the the plans (leaving some rails natural instead of painting, etc.), what he'd left for later, and what he'd done -  I picked up with something simple just to get me going; adding the timber heads to the railing. 
 

 
      After separating the timber heads, I beveled the top of each one.
 

 
      I started by mounting the lower portions of those on the bow, then matched up the top half. 
 

 
     Finally, I spent a little time looking up and matching paint combinations and painted.  I still owe them a couple more coats then a finish of clear lacquer.  
 
 
Off we go...!