_SalD_

Finally, it was time for another tub test. With everything installed, including the battery, the ship was still riding high at the bow and listing to starboard. To address this, I added approximately one pound of lead shot between bulkheads 11 and 12, up near the bow. This step was a bit tricky, given that everything else was already in place. To get the shot to the bow, I rolled up an 11” x 17” piece of copier paper to create a chute. With the battery access cover removed, I carefully poured the shot down the chute into the space between the bulkheads. This helped bring the bow down and corrected the list. However, as you can see from the pictures, there's still about a ½” more the ship can come down before she reaches the waterline. At this point though, I’m leaning towards leaving it as is. If anything I might just move the battery farther up towards the bow.

Bob, your Harriet Lane looks great, congratulations on your build. I'll be looking forward to your Wasa build.

@Michael Mash, thank you for the nice words.

@Lost and Confused, I think we’ve all been in the same situation—I know I have. When building my Syren, I must have knocked the dolphin striker off three or four times. After that, as paul ron said, you just need to be careful and stay aware of parts that are easily knocked into. Good luck on the build.

Yves, I plan to do one more tub trial to work out the ballast and thank you for the nice words.

@Ian_Grant, @ccoyle, @Paul Le Wol, @Ronald-V, @Knocklouder Thank you all so much for your incredibly kind words and for following along—it truly means a lot to me. I also want to say that I would absolutely recommend this kit to others, whether you’re building it as a static model or as an RC model. At first, it can be a bit of a challenge figuring out where each part goes, but with a little patience and support from others, it all comes together nicely in the end.

As I was wrapping things up, I realized I still needed two things: a flag and a much sturdier base. For the flag, I did some digging to see if there was a real trawler named Nordkap. With a little help from AI, I figured out it’s actually a generic model of a North Sea trawler rather than one specific ship. Since the name "Nordkap" is Norwegian, I decided a Norwegian flag was the way to go. I printed out a few different sizes to see which looked right and ended up picking the mid-sized one. The original base felt a little flimsy to me, so I built a new, beefier one. It feels a lot more solid now, which will definitely come in handy when I’m setting the boat down outside while taking her out for a sail. With that I believe I'm finished with the build, the only thing left is sea trials. Completed model I’m not sure if this is the proper place for the trawl net, but I wanted to position it where it wouldn’t interfere with removing the cabin or accessing the battery hatch. And I only had a few parts left over. I have no clue what these are for or where they go. I’d like to thank everyone for the kind words of encouragement throughout my build, as well as for all the likes and support. Along the way, I learned a great deal—including new skills related to remote control components and seamanship. While the building phase is now complete, there’s still work ahead to prepare the ship for sailing.

Based on @Kenchington's suggestion, I decided to create a new day shape for when the ship is underway. Using a wooden dowel, I sanded down the end to form two cone-shaped pieces. These pieces were glued together, and eyelets were added to each end to make it easier to connect the halyard. The entire shape was then painted black. I tied two small hooks to the ends of the halyard, allowing for quick and simple shape swaps. I kept the original round day shape and made a few modifications so it could be easily reattached to the halyard when the ship is sitting on the shelf. I'm always impressed as to how much knowledge is shared on this forum. As more of a modeler than a sailor, I'm always grateful when people take the time to share their expertise with those of us who aren’t as well-versed in seamanship as others. Thank you all for all the likes and have a Happy New Year.

@Kenchington, thank you for the information and the nice words. I did some additional research on the topic of day shapes for ships and found the following. I’ll see if I can come up with a fishing day shape.

@Ian_Grant, thank you for the kind words

Getting close to the end The cables running from the deck cranes to the windlass were run along the deck and through the deck pulleys. Next I installed what might be a forestay running from the masthead down to a gusset plate at the bow. From this stay, a halyard was rigged down to a handrail post located on the bow deck. On this halyard I installed a wooden ball that was shown on the plans, though initially I had no idea what it’s called or its purpose. After showing a photo of it to my brother-in-law— an experienced sailor—I learned it’s an anchor signal ball. Further research confirmed that an anchor ball (or "day shape") is a black spherical marker used by vessels to indicate they are at anchor during daylight hours. Learned something new! Next, what I assume are antenna wires were installed running from the masthead aft to the wire support tower at the stern. These wires need to be easily removable so the cabin could be lifted off the model. To achieve this, I incorporated small hooks at the ends of the lines that attach to the wire support tower at the stern, allowing for simple detachment and reattachment. I also attached small hooks to the wires that run from the antenna wires down to the cabin roof deck for easy removal and reattachment. The ship’s number decals were added, The plastic fish were painted and placed into the fish storage bins. (they don't look to fresh 🫢) I also added several rope coils Nameplate installed Overall to date. Thanks for looking in and for the likes

@mandolinut Just discovered your build and spent some time going through everything. You're doing an amazing job, and I really love all the extra details you're adding. I'm also a former diver, and I was influenced by Jacques Cousteau and, of course, Lloyd Bridges in Sea Hunt. Keep up the great work!

lets try. @palmerit, well that was easy. @palmerit thank you

Please forgive me if this is covered somewhere in this forum. I’ve looked through a number of posts but couldn’t find anything that answers this. I’m sure this is obvious to those who are more text-savvy, but could someone tell me how to create those blue shaded name tags? (See picture below.) Thank you.

Maybe I’ll just keep her on the shelf and watch the propeller go around 😄😉. Kidding, of course. Damn the torpedoes—full speed ahead.