Piet

Impressive work Kees, it looks real! Cheers,

Wow, that looks rather nice for a prototype John! Yeah, CA can be a problem with plastics but even with the frosted condition it looks great. Two part epoxy perhaps? Cheers,

Nice looking paint job there Sjors. That poor guy is in for a rather rough ride though Cheers,

That'll look fantastic John - a relationship between the base and the ship itself. Cheers,

Thanks for the info Jan. Yes, my mailbox was full but I have just now emptied it and send you a message. I was afraid you would mention it that there were quite a few more belaying points then I have. I was already prepared to add more but don't know quite yet where all. As you can see on one of the photos looking at the quarter deck from the front, there are two large knights with four sheaves each in them, on the bottom and on the top with a total of 16 sheaves. I have two 4 sheaf knights ready to put on the quarter deck behind the main mast. They can go to the left and right go that grating. I have only two eye bolts on the quarter deck right behind the main mast but can add more . There are two rather limited belaying pin boards against the bulwarks on the quarter deck, these should be lengthened with possibly "kruishouten." problem is that there is little space on the quarter deck bulwarks. I kinda like the parel belaying points on the masts, gives it a nice look. I have a drawing by Hoving, plan 1 / sheet 4/4 Pinas Witsen, 1:96 scale. The other drawings don't show where they are located but this drawing show how they look like. I don't have the Valkenisse book, pity The Prins Willem book is also not very clear, at least not to me. The upshot is to add more eye bolts to the deck - perhaps; try to add "boardknechten" or kevels, again is where. Add the two 4 sheaf knights on the quarter deck and those parel belaying thingies to the masts. Then the kruishouten and longer belaying boards to the bulwarks. Bulwark space or the lack of it, is my main problem. If you have and drawings or sketches of all that stuff, that would certainly be helpful. Hope your Christmas was a good one and thanks again for your help. Cheers,

Thank you Patrick, Mobbsie, Cees, Jan, JesseLee and Anthony for your kind comments and best wishes for the holidays. And of course to all those who clicked the like button, thank you. Well, yes, the more I pick at it and keep touching things up and redoing a few things here and there, she's bound to improve a little at a time Not everything goes easy, some things test my patience like the quarter deck door. I finally had the hinges remade and cemented on when I found that the top hinge pin was also cemented to the "gudgeon" part. Hmmm, yeah okay, a little careless, domkop me However, I managed to free it up by using a small pick I made two lifetimes agi from welding rod. Painted the "iron works" flat black. The only thing left is putting a coat of poly on it. Next came cementing the two eye bolts into the frames at the starboard side so I can hook the rope to it that'll keep the capstan poles secure. I made the small hooks and "spliced" the rope to them and hooked them on. Painted the poles a dark oak to match the wales and stowed them away. Now I have a question for Jan or perhaps another Dutch ship expert. Because my ship is rather large for that era I have been loo0king at the "Prins Willem" in Herman Ketting's book as well as some of the other drawings I have obtained by Ab Hoving. In Ketting's book on pages 50 and 51 are three belaying items indicated. I think I can disregard the "boordknechten" (sorry, don't know the English word for it) because they were primarily used on smaller ships. On page 51 I see they bolted "kruishouten" to the bulwarks on the "verdek" between the main mast and mizzen mast. In my case this area is now below the quarter deck. Would I need to install such belaying items on my model and to the quarter deck bulwarks? ​On the same page is illustrated "hornklampen" on the lower part of the masts. These are used to belay the "parten" coming from above. If I need to add these belaying items to my ship now is the time to it. It's getting crowded now at the quarter deck bulwarks with the capstan pole storage and the galley chimney. Could I add another pair of "knechten" to the quarter deck behind the main mast instead? The Prins Willem does show a few behind the main mast. Nothing like starting with building a ship without any data where now, years later, one has obtained enough drawings. Much is now after the fact, which makes it rather difficult and challenging. Okay, all water over over the dam and we're going to plug along as best as we can. Here is the pic with the quarter deck door installed and the capstan poles stowed away. Cheers,

So good to hear that Judi is on the mend and hopefully home for the holidays. Have a great Christmas! Several good ideas about the window glass issue, I'm sure you'll find the right one. The CD cases sound rather promising though. Cheers,

Sorry to hear about the cancellation but in reality it's a blessing in disguise. Hope your dear bride will feel better soon. These viruses are a bummer. The small guns are looking pretty good Dave. Cheers,

Yup, that'll work Patrick. As they say, where there's a will, there's a way. And it looks like you found the way to build the removable decks. Hey, nothing like a good challenge, keeps the gre matter young. Have a great Christmas and i'll see you before new year's I hope. Cheers,

Hey Dave - - - thanks for your confidence in my abilities, I'll give it a bloody go. Mom's chicken soup eh. Well yes, she made the best, allo from scratch. Got the chicken bones, necks etc from the butcher and made her own stock. Hmmmm, think I need to try making it someday. Enjoy the holidays. Cheers,

Beautiful work John. It's a pleasure watching the progress. Merry Christmas and a happy 2016. Cheers,

I like that picture too! Cheers,

Magnificent John! Congrats with a beautiful job well done. Cheers,

Thanks Remco and George for your kind comments and thanks to all who came and visited and clicked the like button. Yeah, the greyed green does look pretty good I must say. Also, as I go along I seem to redo a few things which take time. Some of the intentionally rough and unfinished parts will be covered by carvings. I have rotated the build dock and almost completed the repaint on the port side. A few more tough-ups and that's done. I have made new hinges for the door in the starboard side of the quarterdeck bulkhead and am about ready to install it. I am also now making the capstan holding rack to the starboard side bulwark. A plank on the lower part of two frames and 2 eye bolts a little higher up to attach a rope with hooks to them to keep the poles from coming out. I don't know what'll be next. Carving of a bunch of dolphins for the railings? Knight-head heads? Our daughter and grandson are coming for a week stay so there won't be much work in shipyard. All yuns on MSW have a merry Christmas and a good 2016. Cheers,

Ah, she's alive now Nils. Crew members all over the place. Magnificent job. You and your family have a very great Christmas and a happy 2016. Cheers,

Our best wishes to you and your family Nenad. Cheers,

Good to hear that you have your son home. Merry Christmas and happy 2016. Cheers,

Beautiful planking Mark. Gwen and I wish you and the family a merry Christmas and a happy and foremost healthy 2016. Cheers,

Great safe on the cannons Dave. I had to reduce my gun carriages also on the Surabaya. What a nice looking carving, great job. I kinda dread starting on mine, never did carving. Have a very merry Christmas and happy New Year with the family. Cheers,

Beautiful work Pete. Cheers,

Wow patrick, your Mahellan looks like it's going Mag 3! You and your family have a very merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous and healthy 2016. Cheers,

Really nice work JesseLee. Merry Christmas and have a prosperous and healthy 2016.

Hi Kevin, Dobbie is a darling! Gwen and I wish you, Ruth and of course Dobbie also a merry Christmas and a very prosperous and healthy 2016. Cheers,

Well done John, she looks really good. Cheers,

Thank you, thank you, thank you - - for all the praises heaped onto me. I'm truly humbled but very much appreciated. Also my thanks to all who clicked the like button. Yeah, that different color green makes it look more authentic and we are quite happy with it. Hi Lawrence and welcome back to the shipyard. Don't be a stranger now and drop in anytime. Gwen and I wish you and your family also a very Merry Christmas and a healthy prosperous 2016. Actually let me extend our best wishes to all. Hey Sjors, good seeing you here too. Drop in any time and chat. Terima kasih banyak No Dutch, no English, no Dutchlish either Ah, who would have guessed - - this is Surabaya dialect of course for - thank you very much. Sorry, I couldn't resist this one, well, after all, we are on the ship Surabaya pffffffffff Thanks for the pic of the galley chimney Tadeusz. Looks rather nice but mine is not as ornate though, just a plane jane. See pic below. The build dock has been turned around so I can paint the port side and do some added detail work on the starboard bulwark like making a rack for the capstan poles and reworking the other door to the helm's man area. I had to use some heavy persuading to get that door off and now need to remake the bottom hinge and then cement the hinges back to the door. I gave up trying to make the cap on the hood from wood. After three tries with the wood splitting and cracking I used good old cardboard. Done in a jiffy. I also installed the door to the helm's-man location but had to re-solder the bottom hinge. I also painted the inside of the door and the large window for the helm's man. Cheers,