_SalD_

Float Test With all the electronics installed, I thought it would be a good time to give the ship another float test. As you can see, there’s a slight list to the port side, and the bow sits a bit high. To correct this, I plan to use lead shot salvaged from an old diving weight belt as adjustable ballast. After draining the tub, I realized that the list may have been influenced by the battery placement, as it’s relatively heavy and it might have been positioned off-center. I’ll verify this next time by temporarily relocating the battery to confirm whether it’s the primary cause of the imbalance. Oh, and still no leaks.

Now that the hull is nearly complete, I decided to begin work on the upper cabin. I started by installing the exterior deck planking using the kit-supplied material. Next, I added the cap railing and applied a stain. Once everything had dried, I finished the rail and deck off with three coats of wipe-on polyurethane. Next I decided that since this ship will be operational, it needed a captain at the helm. I found one I liked from Motion RC — the Bancroft 1/50 Scale Civilian Mariner figure. After placing him at the wheel, it quickly became clear that a little lighting was in order. I picked up a Chip Light Kit from Evans Designs and installed the mini LEDs — and now, we have light! That said, I really need to plan a little better next time. I had already installed the cabin roof, so I ended up having to fit both the captain and the lights through the cabin windows — not exactly ideal, but it worked!

Jimbo, I appreciate the kind words and you taking the time to check out my build

Thanks, Alan. Like I mentioned, I was a little disappointed at first with how dark the deck turned out—but it’s definitely growing on me. I think using lighter colors for all the attachments will help balance it out. Thanks, Popeye—I really appreciate you checking in and the kind words!

Cap Rail and Main Deck Planking With the hull painting completed, it was time to move on to the main deck. The first step was installing the cap rail above the bulwarks. Before gluing the rails in place, I sanded the edges to round them off. Then I stained them, and once dry, applied three coats of wipe-on polyurethane. For the deck planking, I used leftover material from a previous build. Since the deck features three hatches and a winch along the centerline, I decided to install the first six planks—three on each side of the centerline—as single, full-length pieces running from the cabin to the bow structure. The remainder of the deck was planked using a three-butt shift layout. To make the job easier, I treated myself to a razor cutter. Honestly, I should have bought one ten years ago—it made a huge difference when cutting all those planks. Deck Completed. I also installed the bow trim pieces at this time. I was slightly disappointed by how dark the stained deck turned out. I had tested a strip beforehand, which looked considerably lighter. Still, I do like how the darker tone complements the blue of the hull, so I can live with it. After the stain dried, I applied three coats of wipe-on poly to the finished deck. Battery Access Hatch The next step was a bit nerve-racking. I needed a way to install and remove the battery, so I decided to cut an access hatch into the deck. Using an X-Acto knife, I carefully cut through the deck in the area where the two deck hatches will go. I also used an X-Acto saw to cut through the bulkhead frames. Battery Installed. Hatch in Place. Thanks for looking in and for the likes.

Thanks for the advice, Rob — and no need to apologize. I can use all the help I can get when it comes to electronics! As for changing out the antenna, that's definitely way above my pay grade. So, you think I can keep the antenna inside the cabin? I was under the impression I needed to run it up through the cabin roof and keep it vertical, kind of like a car radio antenna (not that cars really have those anymore). Good advice, I will definitely do that before putting it in the water.

I finished painting the hull, applying the blue paint above the waterline. Once the paint had dried, I proceeded to install all the electronics along with the propeller. The only thing I'm still unsure about is what to do with the antenna and how to support it. Thanks for looking in and for the likes.

Thanks, Rob! To be honest, I have to give all the credit to my wife—she asked ChatGPT what color would best match the Nordkap fishing vessel, and this is what it came up with. Just remember, always be nice to AI so when it takes over the world it will be nice to you.😄

Thanks, Alan — I really appreciate the kind words and you taking the time to check out my build.

Painting the Hull and Sprucing Up the Pilot House I started painting the hull after carefully taping off the waterline. The paint I’m using might be a bit unconventional for a model, but my wife had a coupon for free paint samples—so I figured, why not give it a try? For the area above the waterline, I’m using Benjamin Moore’s Palace Blue, and for below the waterline, Barret Brick. I’m still not confident enough with my airbrush, so I’ve been applying the paint by hand with a brush. Three coats later… I went off on a bit of a tangent with the pilot house and decided to spruce up the interior a bit. I’m planning to use different planking for the main deck than what came with the kit, so after painting the interior walls, I repurposed that kit-supplied planking for the pilot house flooring. Then I thought—if you’re sailing the North Sea, you definitely need a navigation chart. I printed out a reduced copy of a chart and made a small frame to mount it in. The pilot house is now finished, complete with the ship’s wheel and compass. My only concern is that once I put the roof on, it might be too dark inside to see all the details. Thanks again for all the likes.

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.