JSGerson

Peter: When I planked the gun deck, I started from the center and worked to the edges because I wanted to ensure the planking to look symmetrical. Any inconsistences would be at the waterways and would not be visible due the guns and visual access. On the spar deck, I also started from the center for the same reasons. However, at the stern, the planks taper to match the narrowing at the transom and curve following the shape of the bulwarks. I wanted clean looking planks especially at the waterways due to their high visibility, so I also planked from the water waters inward. Following the method from the practicum, the planks were tapered from full width from the last hatchway to half their width at the transom. That worked pretty well. As the two planked areas approached each other, I had to make some minor adjustments due to my workmanship and subtle differences in the supplied plank widths. For the bow, once more, I started from the center to ensure symmetry. This time the planks did not taper, but the planks bordering on the waterway had to be custom fitted as they intersected the bow curve. Once more for their visibility, I started the planking from the waterways inward to ensure proper fit. As the two planking areas approached each other, I could see that some planks had to be narrowed a bit to ensure the last plank to fill the gap between the two areas was the proper width. Gregg: The bowsprit dowel has not been shaped other than the base to fit into the square hole in the bulkhead. It is not glued into place. It does however slide into its seat easier enough when I move it in and out of the model. All the mast holes have been tested to accept their respective dowel pieces at their proper rake angles. The mast seating and rake angles were set when I was adding the structure elements to support the spar deck. As for staining the deck, I’ve made some initial tests of different stains and combinations but have not yet taken the plunge and committed myself yet. Jon

Obviously, my color scheme will be based on a dry deck. On a working ship, however, I would assume the deck would look different because the sailors would periodically swab the deck and scrub with holystones, saltwater and sand. Also, because of the cut away areas coincides within the high traffic areas, a lot of the brownish gray areas won’t be shown on the model. There is one last area that still needs to be planked, the small area around the spar deck capstan. I left that open till I at least fabricate the capstan base. I don’t know yet if I need to plank around the base or if I can plank under it. So, in keeping true with one of Murphy’s Laws, “No matter what you have to do, you must do something else first,” before I can install the captain’s skylight, I must at least sand the planks, prepare for the capstan, and stain the deck.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the reason I had to plank the spar deck at this point was so I could install the captain’s skylight. Well, that will have to wait a bit more as I must sand and stain the spar deck first. And this brings up the question: What color is the spar deck? Well, it depends on several factors like whether the deck is dry or wet, was it sunny or cloudy when the photo was taken, is it a high foot traffic area (think tourists) or not. The main thing I noticed is there are two distinct color zones Low traffic orange tint - The area of the guns from the waterway to the end of the gun carriage and some spots along the centerline of the deck High traffic brown/gray - The public area for tourists. They tend to deposit dirt from their footwear, soiling up the walked area of the deck.

Unlike the stern, the 3/32” x 1/32” planks are not tapered as they approach the bow. The planks remain straight and those bordering the waterways were customed fitted into the curving bow. I planked the bow in the same manner as I did the stern, from the waterways inward and from the center outward. It did not surprise me, as the planking approached each other and as open space narrowed, I had to taper the widths a bit of some of the planks to ensure a proper fit when they merged.

That was beautifully done! Jon

The wheels look like a fun little project, so I'm saving them as my incentive and "reward" to complete the spar decking and the carronades first. I've also got to fabricate the spar capstan too. Jon

As you may know from reading my blog, I purchased two Syren ship's wheels a number of years ago in anticipation to replacing the kit's. Those kit metal wheels you painted look really good. What technique and color did you use? It's nice to know that if I screw up, I have a fall back option. I still have a ways to go before I can start assembling them, so it looks like I'll be following your lead. Jon

Out of curiosity, why did you cut the filler block such you had to mill out the notches in the top half blocks? If you had made the top half blocks thinner and the bottom half blocks thicker, you could have used your scroll saw to cut out the notches. The end product would have been identical, just simpler. In any case, you did a nice job. Jon

Beautiful!! Jon

Looking good. Gregg Jon

That's one handsome looking hull Jon

Good choices Jon

Here are a few images of the eyebrows. I have not seen anywhere what they are made of, but they look either like painted canvas or copper plate for water proofing. That being said, the flat wrinkly part looks very thin while the lip bordering it is just an inch or two. Jon

Let’s go back to the basics. You are building a model of a real ship albeit stylized with your choice of color palette. The real ship is black with a white gun stripe. It also has “eyebrows” and gun port hinges. Your model is stained dark where the actual ship is black, light-colored wood, where it is white and has brass for all the metal parts. the The "eyebrows" on the real ship are black and the hinges are painted white. Therefore, following that color palette, the color for the “eyebrows should be included on the model and match the dark stained wood, and the hinges should be brass. Granted, there will not be any contrast between the “eyebrows” and the hull, but neither is there any on the real ship. If you are not consistent, I fear the model will lose some of its handsome character. Just my personal thoughts. Jon

Where did I state 10 days? I'll correct the error if I can. It was 10 months. Jon