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Rudder and prime coat I permanently installed the rudder so I could begin painting the hull. To ensure the rudder straps stayed securely in place, I added some “rivets” through the straps before epoxying them to the rudder post. The hull, superstructure, and stand were all primed. I chose to use white primer since the final color scheme includes a lot of white.

Bow Deck and Pilot House Superstructure Construction of the bow deck began by gluing together the partition pieces that form a faux interior at the bow. The roof support frames for the bow deck were also glued in place at this stage. Next, the deck and side pieces were attached. The frames and deck sides required a fair amount of sanding to ensure a proper fit. I’d also like to thank robdurant for mentioning in his build log that the holes on the deck are not symmetrical to the centerline—catching this early made it much easier to correct before installing the deck. Finished deck; after some wood filler and sanding. The pilot house assembly went together fairly smoothly, with no major issues once I figured out the placement of all the parts. Lower superstructure Upper pilot house So far so good.

Thanks Rob appreciate the kind words. I apologize for the length of this post but my actual progress is a bit ahead of my updates so I thought I'd try to catch up. I also want to say that this kit is not for the faint of heart. Honestly, it feels like someone tossed a bunch of parts into a box, slapped a picture of a boat on it, and the instructions basically say, “Here, build this.” That said, it took me a while to figure out which parts needed to come together first. So let’s start with the easy stuff. Deck-Top Fish Bin This one was pretty straightforward. No major issues there. Ship’s Stand The stand came next. The instructions provided a few basic dimensions, but not quite enough to properly place all the support members. I ended up building the base first, then positioning it directly over the hull to figure out the correct length for the uprights. Anchorways Now here’s where things got tricky. Don’t mix up the side pieces—they might look the same, but they’re not. One side is slightly larger than the other. I didn’t catch this until after assembling one of them, which caused a bit of backtracking and I’m still not 100% sure I have these right. After cutting them into the hull a little wood filler was used to fill the gaps. Interior Bulwarks I wasn’t happy with the look of the interior bulwarks above the deck because of the exposed planking lines and glue marks. It just didn’t resemble a steel-sided ship and I wasn't sure if just painting the sides would cover everything. To fix this, I cut and installed 1/16” thick birch sheets between the bulkheads to cover the planking. Scrubbers and hull stiffening After that, I moved on to cutting in the scrubbers and attaching what I assume is some kind of hull stiffing on the outside of the hull. Thanks for reading this far and for all the likes.

Waterproofing the Hull After completing the sanding of the hull, I was ready to try something I had never done before on one of my ships—waterproofing the hull. After studying roddurant’s build log, I decided to use Eze-Kote Finishing Resin by Deluxe, along with Deluxe Materials Super Lightweight Fiberglass Cloth (1.0 oz). My first step was to apply two coats of Eze-Kote to the hull, sanding between coats with 300-grit sandpaper. The resin is pleasant to work with—no odor, it goes on easily and cleans up quickly with water. Next, I positioned the fiberglass cloth on the hull, working on one side at a time. I applied the Eze-Kote using a one-inch-wide paintbrush, working the resin into the cloth starting at the keel center and moving outward toward the stem and stern. After allowing the resin to dry overnight, I trimmed the excess cloth and repeated the process on the other side. Cleaning my basement hence all the 'priceless' junk on my work table. Once both sides were glassed and trimmed, I applied two additional coats of Eze-Kote over the fiberglass, again sanding between coats with 300-grit paper. I also applied a single coat of resin to the interior of the hull—at least in the areas I could reach. Then came the big test! I inserted the prop and rudder post and... IT FLOATS. No runs, no drips no errors, as they say.

Thanks Rob and I want to say your build log of the Nordkap has been a great help. And thanks for all the likes.

Sanding the Hull I sanded the hull using my favorite palm sander with 220-grit sandpaper. I know that might seem a bit aggressive, but with a light touch, it works very well. For the stern, I chose not to use the thin wooden veneer sheet provided in the kit to wrap around the aft bulwarks, as I couldn’t get it to form a smooth, even curve. Since the aft bulwarks will eventually be covered by the pilothouse structure, I decided instead to fill the space between them with balsa wood blocking, then sanded it down to match the shape of the stern.

"Planking is complete; now I just need to fill the gaps and start sanding. The stern still needs a bit of work."

Thanks Yves I appreciate the comments. And thanks for the likes.

Planking the hull is ongoing—I'm a little more than halfway through. I'm approaching the stern planking a bit differently than shown in the instructions. Instead of wrapping the planks around the stern as shown, I'm running them continuously from the keel up to the three bulwark planks I installed earlier. It seemed easier to shape the planks this way, and it feels like a cleaner fit overall—if that makes sense.

Thanks Rob, Right now I'm only doing two planks a day so it might take me a while to finish the hull. Maybe I can step it up a bit and do 4 a day. And thanks for all the likes.

Planking the Hull Just a quick update on progress. I’ve started planking the hull, beginning with the three planks above the deck line. The instructional diagram was a bit misleading—it suggests these three planks cover the entire hull area above the deck, but in reality, there's a large uncovered section at the bow. After that, I began planking from the keel upward. I’m treating the planking process much like I would on any plank-on-bulkhead (POB) model, though I'm not too concerned with the precise plank layout. Since the hull will eventually be sealed to make it watertight, the planking won’t be visible in the final build.

Deck, Tiller, and Drive Shaft After the glue had fully dried on the bulkheads, I proceeded to glue the deck into place. To secure it, I used clamps around the access hatch and planking nails for the rest of the deck. I got the idea for using nails from @robdurant’s build log—thanks for the tip! Once the glue set, I installed the pieces framing the access hatch. I assume these parts are designed to help position the cabin above the hatch. I also cut in the access hatch for the tiller. Next, I took a crack at drilling the hole in the keel frame for the tiller. It may have been a bit of overkill, but I used my mini drill press to ensure the hole was vertical and plumb. Now, one thing I’ve learned from Billing Boats is that they assume you know something about RC boats. They don’t provide any instructions on which parts to use for the tiller. After a bit of rummaging through the parts bag, I think I found the right pieces. I wasn’t fond of the cross arm they provided due to the slotted holes—it just seemed like there’d be too much slop in the movement. So, I decided to make my own. After that, I carefully cut out the keel for the propeller shaft. This part was a little nerve-wracking since it was the first time I'd had to cut the keel apart in one of my builds, but it all went smoothly. With everything cut and fitted, the shaft and tiller fit very well. Cutting the stuffing tube and shaft to the right length was pretty straight forward. I also installed the tiller servo and temporarily set the motor in place to check for fit. I wanted to do all of this before planking the hull, as I thought it would give me better control over getting the propeller shaft to fit correctly and ensure the motor was in the right spot. I did a test run and everything worked well. Thanks for all the likes.

Rob, I have to say I've never heard that one before. Sounds great. And please don't hesitate to offer any suggestions I do appreciate them.

Bulkhead Frames All the bulkhead frames and cross pieces were removed from the wooden sheets. At this point, I deviated from the instructions by gluing the cross pieces to the bulkheads before installing the bulkheads onto the keel. To help keep the keel straight and vertical during assembly, I built a support jig using aluminum angle pieces. After reading numerous Nordkap build logs, I noticed a common issue: those who followed the dimensions provided in the instructions often struggled with bulkhead alignment at the deck level. To avoid this problem, I used the deck itself as a template when installing the bulkheads. This ensured proper spacing and alignment. Once the bulkheads were in place, I found an answer to my earlier question about motor placement. The access cutout in the deck only extends as far back as bulkhead #7. Placing the motor at bulkhead #8 would make it inaccessible, so this confirmed that the motor needs to be positioned near the #6 bulkhead. And thank you for all the likes.

Stem, Stern, and Keel Construction I began by gluing the two keel strips to the stem and stern post assemblies. Once the glue had fully dried, I added the additional pieces to both the stern and stem. I believe these form the rabbet for the planking. A quick note: the instructional diagram show two small parts (#31) meant to be attached to the top of the stem. I may have missed them—old eyes—but I couldn’t find these parts on any of the sheets. So, I simply fabricated them using leftover material from the sheet the other parts came from. Now that the keel is laid, I decided to do some preliminary planning for the propeller shaft and motor layout. The stuffing tube is 8 mm in diameter and approximately 9 inches long, though it can be cut to any length as needed. Initially, I was planning to shorten the shaft to about 5 inches, which would position the motor just above the #6 bulkhead. This configuration is shown in the first photo below. The black marks on the tape indicate the top edge of the bulkheads at the ship’s centerline. However, I’m now considering using the full 9-inch shaft without cutting it. In that case, the motor would sit above the #8 bulkhead, as shown in the second photo. The only concern I have with the longer shaft is the potential for increased vibration. I’d appreciate any advice or suggestions on which setup might be better—especially in terms of stability, performance, and vibration. Or if there's another option I should consider. Thanks and thanks for the likes.