Blue Pilot

I have always liked this model and it makes for a great diorama. Looks great!

Amazing, I wonder if they were prepared to do that kind of heavy maintenance at sea or did they cary spares like that to have on hand for after they limped into a shipyard? Long ago as a C-130 First Mechanic we carried spare parts but nothing that would require special lifts or cranes. I can only imagine looking at that piston the size and weight of the engine head! Even simply changing the piston on a car is a big job so I am guessing if they carried this as a spare it would be for use in a maintenance facility or am I wrong?

I admire your tenacity sir! I take my hat off to you. It makes me scold myself for my inner whining when I consider my rework troubles and repairs I need to do and keep putting off in order to move forward on my POB II.

I just returned myself after a long absence. It has been really refreshing to get back into the swing and I am please to find that MSW is the same fantastic supportive forum it has always been. Happy Holidays and welcome back! Cheers

Every time I think wow thats amazing what more could you possibly add, you continue to astound me with taking it to even higher level. The mechanics look great!

First off Mery Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! A little progress in the shipyard. I have cut out all the laser cut pieces. Notice the kit even includes laser cut pieces for spacers between the bulkheads to stiffen prior to fairing. Nice touch! This could of been scratch made but its nice that these are included. I have attached a better photo. After I posted my first I noticed I should have flipped the pieces over to the clean side. It would have made a much more attractive photo. Sorry Toni. I guess that's why I am not a professional photographer or work in marketing 😁

Haha isn't that the truth!

Wow, just incredible!

Merry Christmas to you too! The fairing and blocks look good.

Thanks Gary for the explanation. It is looking good I think the cherry deck and rail sound like they will look really nice.

Thanks Nic I had not thought of either of those solutions. I will keep fairing the hull for now and make the keel pieces and see then how it fits. Then I will have a better idea of the actual fit and I can decide which of your solutions seems best. Thanks for your guidance. Mark

I have also used Model master and had good luck.

Hi Mark your work is always an inspiration. I don't mean to go to far off topic if I am please let me know but your health problems with the sanding got me thinking I should be waring a mask too. I asked a friend of mine who does fine woodworking his thoughts. He told me reactions to the dust can be the result of allergies to certain kinds of wood as others have mentioned above but he said the real danger and most issues come from the sandpaper itself due to micro silica. I never considered that or that in extreme cases it could lead to Silicosis according to my friend. So I am glad you mentioned this. I thought I would bring this up to share with others who like me may be reading MSW or your log and have been too hard headed to ware one. Looks like I need to go shopping.

This is a fascinating build log. I really appreciate the research and history you have done and posted as well as watching the ship itself come to life. It is very educational for me.

What a great job of pushing forward! Chucks right in the end it will look great.

Thank you for the sincere note Tom. I wish you great success in the future for both you and CAF Modeling.

I have been looking closely at your photos of your planking. I was hoping you might expand on how you dealt with the hull and keel to accommodate the planking. I ask because I am watching your log closely and hope to use some of your ideas when I plank my Smuggler Hull. Did you just sand it down a bit more over all? I have been trying to figure how to establish a bearding line and a rabbit if needed? Did you establish these or just sand off more of the solid wood? I notice at the bow it appears you are just tapering it onto the keel piece. It is harder for me to see how you went about the garboard strake and how it meets the keel? Also how did you taper the planks at the stern post? Any details would be greatly appreciated if you don't mind sharing. I know this is a lot of questions! I am really enjoying watching your progress. Even though I am building a different ship it is giving me a lot of ideas. Thanks

Beautiful work

Thanks. I already received it she applied the discount when I ordered.

Thanks all. BobG I am glad you mentioned the NRG discount. I am a member and I totally forgot to mention that!

Oh my gosh a few more details he says! Incredible detail.

I am hoping for some input Nic or from others here with experience with solid hulls. I am having trouble with fairing the bow. I am afraid to take any more off of the forward portion of the bow. I hope from the images here and above you can see the gap near the bow. The gap is smaller then when I started but I am struggling to bring that fully in. It could be the cardboard template, it does have some flex. The stern looks good now after a lot of rasping and sanding. I have placed a level on the flat area where the keel will be glued to illustrate. I am thinking perhaps I need to shave this down more on the forward portion to correct my problem. I did do a bit with a thumb plane but not sure if I should take any more off. I got a little carried away at the stem with the disc sander so I may be a little short in overall length now so I am hesitant to take any more from the leading edge of the bow. I hope these pictures will show what I am trying to say. Perhaps it is good enough and I can just make further adjustments when I make and fit the keel pieces. However, I have learned sometimes these kind of errors can come back to haunt me later if I don't get it right now. Any thoughts?

Planking a hull is still something of a mystery to me, as I am sure it may be for some of you. In the past I successfully planked two POB hulls with the help of very detailed practicums writen by outside sources. Despite that I in no way would I say I am proficient or even confident in my abilities. Thats why I am so excited about this build. It is designed specifically as a hands on kit that will teach you step by step how to plank any hull properly not just this kit specifically. It looks like it will be very educational as well as fun. It also makes a very nice looking finished ship model. I plan to mount mine on a nice board to hang on the wall once finished. I am hopeful that once finished I will have done more then learn but will walk away with new confidence that I can take any kit or scratch built hull and do a reasonable and historically accurate job of planking. The kit comes from the Nautical Research Guild (NRG) as shown. The kit is very reasonably priced in my opinion at $65. It includes a very nice PDF building manual from NRG sent to me via email. I printed the manual at home then took it to the print store and had them cut and spiral bind the pages. This cost $3.20 and is well wort it. It keeps the manual organized and it will open and lay flat on my table as I work. It also includes a detailed tools list. Another nice thing with this kit, it doesn't require anything special in way of tools. in fact just some basic tools that anyone coming into the hobby would want to purchase or in my case already own. I have glued the plans which come with the kit to a piece of 3/16 foam board. This will serve as a building board. Thats all for now. I know it isn't a great deal to see at this point but I wanted to at least get this build log started. I am hoping that this and other logs will lead the way and help to generate some excitement for this kit.

Looking good Jo I have a love and great interest in these old working ships and the men and women that sailed on them and who's lives were so close linked to these ships and the sea for their livelyhood. This looks like it will be a beautiful model when done. I have always wanted to try making sails. When you fair the hull you will be really happy you took the extra time to beef up the bulkheads either with some scrap wood or filling in the areas with balsa as others have said. Fairing the hull is tricky enough as it is and you can easily break the bulkheads as they are. Don't ask me how I know this!

Very nicely done! You should be proud, she looks great.