David Lester

Hi Dave,
Your stern windows look great.
I'm glad you were able to bend the stern piece with success. I don't believe it's identical to the one on my Mamoli Rattlesnake, but it's very similar. Mine had to be bent to fit too, but I wasn't quite as successful and broke it. However it wasn't really a problem (it actually made it easy to fit) and I was able to fit it without the repair showing up

I know there are many different ways to paint this kind of part, but here's a method that I discovered in a BlueJacket newsletter and I found it worked really well for me.
 
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/News--tips--and-happenings-from-BlueJacket-Shipcrafters--Inc-.html?soid=1105166336677&aid=EmTQZTxYvqc
 

 
David
 
 

Hi Dave,
Your stern windows look great.
I'm glad you were able to bend the stern piece with success. I don't believe it's identical to the one on my Mamoli Rattlesnake, but it's very similar. Mine had to be bent to fit too, but I wasn't quite as successful and broke it. However it wasn't really a problem (it actually made it easy to fit) and I was able to fit it without the repair showing up

I know there are many different ways to paint this kind of part, but here's a method that I discovered in a BlueJacket newsletter and I found it worked really well for me.
 
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/News--tips--and-happenings-from-BlueJacket-Shipcrafters--Inc-.html?soid=1105166336677&aid=EmTQZTxYvqc
 

 
David
 
 

Hi Dave,
Your stern windows look great.
I'm glad you were able to bend the stern piece with success. I don't believe it's identical to the one on my Mamoli Rattlesnake, but it's very similar. Mine had to be bent to fit too, but I wasn't quite as successful and broke it. However it wasn't really a problem (it actually made it easy to fit) and I was able to fit it without the repair showing up

I know there are many different ways to paint this kind of part, but here's a method that I discovered in a BlueJacket newsletter and I found it worked really well for me.
 
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/News--tips--and-happenings-from-BlueJacket-Shipcrafters--Inc-.html?soid=1105166336677&aid=EmTQZTxYvqc
 

 
David
 
 

I've added most of the deck fittings.
 
First thing was drilling the many holes for the brass bushings and other fittings. It's hard to believe but there are over 70 1mm holes on this deck! Of course, as we all know, the drilling is pretty easy, it's the locating that's the hard part -

 
The rest of the furnishings are minimal and very easy. I had already assembled the various structures -
 



This is not too complex a build. I actually think I spent more time painting the hull than I have on everything else to this point. So next up is the mast and rigging. It doesn't look to be too difficult and the plans and instructions are quite clear.
Thanks again for checking in.
 
David
 
 
 

I've added most of the deck fittings.
 
First thing was drilling the many holes for the brass bushings and other fittings. It's hard to believe but there are over 70 1mm holes on this deck! Of course, as we all know, the drilling is pretty easy, it's the locating that's the hard part -

 
The rest of the furnishings are minimal and very easy. I had already assembled the various structures -
 



This is not too complex a build. I actually think I spent more time painting the hull than I have on everything else to this point. So next up is the mast and rigging. It doesn't look to be too difficult and the plans and instructions are quite clear.
Thanks again for checking in.
 
David
 
 
 

I've added most of the deck fittings.
 
First thing was drilling the many holes for the brass bushings and other fittings. It's hard to believe but there are over 70 1mm holes on this deck! Of course, as we all know, the drilling is pretty easy, it's the locating that's the hard part -

 
The rest of the furnishings are minimal and very easy. I had already assembled the various structures -
 



This is not too complex a build. I actually think I spent more time painting the hull than I have on everything else to this point. So next up is the mast and rigging. It doesn't look to be too difficult and the plans and instructions are quite clear.
Thanks again for checking in.
 
David
 
 
 

I've added most of the deck fittings.
 
First thing was drilling the many holes for the brass bushings and other fittings. It's hard to believe but there are over 70 1mm holes on this deck! Of course, as we all know, the drilling is pretty easy, it's the locating that's the hard part -

 
The rest of the furnishings are minimal and very easy. I had already assembled the various structures -
 



This is not too complex a build. I actually think I spent more time painting the hull than I have on everything else to this point. So next up is the mast and rigging. It doesn't look to be too difficult and the plans and instructions are quite clear.
Thanks again for checking in.
 
David
 
 
 

I've added most of the deck fittings.
 
First thing was drilling the many holes for the brass bushings and other fittings. It's hard to believe but there are over 70 1mm holes on this deck! Of course, as we all know, the drilling is pretty easy, it's the locating that's the hard part -

 
The rest of the furnishings are minimal and very easy. I had already assembled the various structures -
 



This is not too complex a build. I actually think I spent more time painting the hull than I have on everything else to this point. So next up is the mast and rigging. It doesn't look to be too difficult and the plans and instructions are quite clear.
Thanks again for checking in.
 
David
 
 
 

I've added most of the deck fittings.
 
First thing was drilling the many holes for the brass bushings and other fittings. It's hard to believe but there are over 70 1mm holes on this deck! Of course, as we all know, the drilling is pretty easy, it's the locating that's the hard part -

 
The rest of the furnishings are minimal and very easy. I had already assembled the various structures -
 



This is not too complex a build. I actually think I spent more time painting the hull than I have on everything else to this point. So next up is the mast and rigging. It doesn't look to be too difficult and the plans and instructions are quite clear.
Thanks again for checking in.
 
David
 
 
 

I've added most of the deck fittings.
 
First thing was drilling the many holes for the brass bushings and other fittings. It's hard to believe but there are over 70 1mm holes on this deck! Of course, as we all know, the drilling is pretty easy, it's the locating that's the hard part -

 
The rest of the furnishings are minimal and very easy. I had already assembled the various structures -
 



This is not too complex a build. I actually think I spent more time painting the hull than I have on everything else to this point. So next up is the mast and rigging. It doesn't look to be too difficult and the plans and instructions are quite clear.
Thanks again for checking in.
 
David
 
 
 

Good Morning All,
 
So I've been spending quite a bit of time getting the hull painted and it was a bit of a process arriving at a finished hull.
 
The first question was what colour should it be? There just aren't many resources out there. I cannot find any pictures at all of the original yacht. There are pictures of the current Shamrock, but it's a totally different vessel than the 1930's one.
 
The kit includes pictures of two different finished models. In each case the whole hull is green, with a broad white stripe at the waterline
 
In this one the whole hull is a dark green, with a slight bluish cast

Here it's a more yellowy green

Initially I painted the hull to match the first picture above, the darker green, which I managed to match quite well and for some reason it looked terrible. Then I rediscovered the picture with the lighter green inside the box and thought that it might look better. Before changing it, I decided to do a little more research on line and became quite confused as to what to do.
 
The current version of the Shamrock is a very dark green with a dark contrasting lower hull, with a broad white stripe at the waterline and a narrow stripe (maybe yellow) higher up -

I discovered a number of different pictures of models of the Shamrock out there but no two of them were the same - green tops, black bottoms - white tops, green bottoms - green tops, red bottoms - green tops, copper bottoms etc. etc.
 
However, this one I found by model maker John Adela (ageofsail.net) caught my eye -

So I consulted with my friend, whose model this is. (I keep forgetting that I'm not getting to keep this one.) He decided that since we don't really know how the original was painted, it was more a matter of choosing the look he liked best and he settled on the colour combination by John Adela.
 
So I stripped my first paint job off the hull and started over and the results this time are much improved -
 


For some reason, this was the hardest waterline to draw. I simply could not secure the model well enough to draw the line in the way I usually do. I usually place the hull upside down and use some cedar shims to make the hull level side to side and to adjust the height at each end. I clamp a pencil to a square and draw the line on. It's worked easily every time - but not for this hull. I had no better luck with the hull right side up either.
 
In the end, I marked the point at the bow and stern where the waterline would terminate and then placed a strip of narrow masking tape on the hull and continually adjusted it until it looked ok to the eye. This took quite a bit of adjusting and readjusting. When I was happy with it, I drew a pencil line along one side of the tape. By this time the masking tape had been man-handled a lot, so I replaced it with a new strip placed along the pencil line. This worked, but I wouldn't want to have to do it this way every time.
 
So next up is touching up the black around the edge of the deck and then finishing the deck details.
 
Thanks for checking in and Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends!
 
David
 
 
 
 

Good Morning All,
 
So I've been spending quite a bit of time getting the hull painted and it was a bit of a process arriving at a finished hull.
 
The first question was what colour should it be? There just aren't many resources out there. I cannot find any pictures at all of the original yacht. There are pictures of the current Shamrock, but it's a totally different vessel than the 1930's one.
 
The kit includes pictures of two different finished models. In each case the whole hull is green, with a broad white stripe at the waterline
 
In this one the whole hull is a dark green, with a slight bluish cast

Here it's a more yellowy green

Initially I painted the hull to match the first picture above, the darker green, which I managed to match quite well and for some reason it looked terrible. Then I rediscovered the picture with the lighter green inside the box and thought that it might look better. Before changing it, I decided to do a little more research on line and became quite confused as to what to do.
 
The current version of the Shamrock is a very dark green with a dark contrasting lower hull, with a broad white stripe at the waterline and a narrow stripe (maybe yellow) higher up -

I discovered a number of different pictures of models of the Shamrock out there but no two of them were the same - green tops, black bottoms - white tops, green bottoms - green tops, red bottoms - green tops, copper bottoms etc. etc.
 
However, this one I found by model maker John Adela (ageofsail.net) caught my eye -

So I consulted with my friend, whose model this is. (I keep forgetting that I'm not getting to keep this one.) He decided that since we don't really know how the original was painted, it was more a matter of choosing the look he liked best and he settled on the colour combination by John Adela.
 
So I stripped my first paint job off the hull and started over and the results this time are much improved -
 


For some reason, this was the hardest waterline to draw. I simply could not secure the model well enough to draw the line in the way I usually do. I usually place the hull upside down and use some cedar shims to make the hull level side to side and to adjust the height at each end. I clamp a pencil to a square and draw the line on. It's worked easily every time - but not for this hull. I had no better luck with the hull right side up either.
 
In the end, I marked the point at the bow and stern where the waterline would terminate and then placed a strip of narrow masking tape on the hull and continually adjusted it until it looked ok to the eye. This took quite a bit of adjusting and readjusting. When I was happy with it, I drew a pencil line along one side of the tape. By this time the masking tape had been man-handled a lot, so I replaced it with a new strip placed along the pencil line. This worked, but I wouldn't want to have to do it this way every time.
 
So next up is touching up the black around the edge of the deck and then finishing the deck details.
 
Thanks for checking in and Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends!
 
David
 
 
 
 

Thanks for the comments, guys.
 I've learned the hard way how important it is to get the masking tape really well sealed. I have a pick from an old set of picks for Christmas nuts. The rounded smooth back side of the pick is perfect for rubbing the tape down really well. Then before I apply the second colour, I seal the edge of the tape with a couple of coats of paint the same colour as the paint that's under the tape, then if there is any bleeding, it won't show up and it blocks the second colour from bleeding through at all.
 
It took a few coats of paint to cover and I only did one side at a time, so it seemed a long wait to find out if I had sealed the tape well enough or not. 
 
That finish is just brushed on, but the paint went on really smoothly and evenly. I hesitate to tell  you what kind of paint it is, because it won't seem sophisticated enough, but it's just Americana Satin Acrylic. I think this paint is made for craft projects and folk art and that type of thing, but I was really impressed with how nice it is to work with and how smoothly it went on. It also seems to have a really hard finish. The level of sheen seems just right to me too. Many of the model paints only come in flat or glossy finishes and it's hard to find something in between with a soft sheen. There wasn't a very dark green available, so this is one they call 'Beret Green' which I mixed with some black.
 
David

Thanks for the comments, guys.
 I've learned the hard way how important it is to get the masking tape really well sealed. I have a pick from an old set of picks for Christmas nuts. The rounded smooth back side of the pick is perfect for rubbing the tape down really well. Then before I apply the second colour, I seal the edge of the tape with a couple of coats of paint the same colour as the paint that's under the tape, then if there is any bleeding, it won't show up and it blocks the second colour from bleeding through at all.
 
It took a few coats of paint to cover and I only did one side at a time, so it seemed a long wait to find out if I had sealed the tape well enough or not. 
 
That finish is just brushed on, but the paint went on really smoothly and evenly. I hesitate to tell  you what kind of paint it is, because it won't seem sophisticated enough, but it's just Americana Satin Acrylic. I think this paint is made for craft projects and folk art and that type of thing, but I was really impressed with how nice it is to work with and how smoothly it went on. It also seems to have a really hard finish. The level of sheen seems just right to me too. Many of the model paints only come in flat or glossy finishes and it's hard to find something in between with a soft sheen. There wasn't a very dark green available, so this is one they call 'Beret Green' which I mixed with some black.
 
David

Thanks for the comments, guys.
 I've learned the hard way how important it is to get the masking tape really well sealed. I have a pick from an old set of picks for Christmas nuts. The rounded smooth back side of the pick is perfect for rubbing the tape down really well. Then before I apply the second colour, I seal the edge of the tape with a couple of coats of paint the same colour as the paint that's under the tape, then if there is any bleeding, it won't show up and it blocks the second colour from bleeding through at all.
 
It took a few coats of paint to cover and I only did one side at a time, so it seemed a long wait to find out if I had sealed the tape well enough or not. 
 
That finish is just brushed on, but the paint went on really smoothly and evenly. I hesitate to tell  you what kind of paint it is, because it won't seem sophisticated enough, but it's just Americana Satin Acrylic. I think this paint is made for craft projects and folk art and that type of thing, but I was really impressed with how nice it is to work with and how smoothly it went on. It also seems to have a really hard finish. The level of sheen seems just right to me too. Many of the model paints only come in flat or glossy finishes and it's hard to find something in between with a soft sheen. There wasn't a very dark green available, so this is one they call 'Beret Green' which I mixed with some black.
 
David

Thanks for the comments, guys.
 I've learned the hard way how important it is to get the masking tape really well sealed. I have a pick from an old set of picks for Christmas nuts. The rounded smooth back side of the pick is perfect for rubbing the tape down really well. Then before I apply the second colour, I seal the edge of the tape with a couple of coats of paint the same colour as the paint that's under the tape, then if there is any bleeding, it won't show up and it blocks the second colour from bleeding through at all.
 
It took a few coats of paint to cover and I only did one side at a time, so it seemed a long wait to find out if I had sealed the tape well enough or not. 
 
That finish is just brushed on, but the paint went on really smoothly and evenly. I hesitate to tell  you what kind of paint it is, because it won't seem sophisticated enough, but it's just Americana Satin Acrylic. I think this paint is made for craft projects and folk art and that type of thing, but I was really impressed with how nice it is to work with and how smoothly it went on. It also seems to have a really hard finish. The level of sheen seems just right to me too. Many of the model paints only come in flat or glossy finishes and it's hard to find something in between with a soft sheen. There wasn't a very dark green available, so this is one they call 'Beret Green' which I mixed with some black.
 
David

I've added the deck planking, and it's a bit different than that of other models I've done.
 
The planking is square - it's 2x2 mm. The first step is two strips laid down each side of a centre line. Then the outermost plank and it's simply laid flush with the hull. From here it's a matter of laying the planks working toward the centre.
 
The planks were easy to install and they take the curve of the hull without any soaking or pre-bending. On one side of the centre line, the planks went out even and the last one fit in width perfectly. On the other side of the centre line, the last gap was just a bit too big and I finished it off by adding a last 3/64" plank from my stash. It went very quickly as the hull is only just over 17" long, so there really wasn't much area to cover.

 
Quite a bit of sanding was required. There was a lot of variation in the thickness of the planks, but with 2mm to work with, there wasn't much fear of sanding right through. This was a very easy deck to sand - it's flat and there are no sides of the hull to interfere. In fact I used an electric palm sander.
 
I applied one coat of shellac to seal the wood before adding the filler at the point where the hull meets the deck.
 

I have applied the first coat of wood filler ( or stucco, as the Italian instructions call it.) I think it will likely take at least one more coat before it's ready to paint.
 

So that's my progress so far. With a pre-made hull, it really doesn't take very long to get to this point.
 
Once the filling is done, then I think it's time to paint the hull
 
Thanks for looking in, comments and likes.

David

Thanks for the comments, guys.
 I've learned the hard way how important it is to get the masking tape really well sealed. I have a pick from an old set of picks for Christmas nuts. The rounded smooth back side of the pick is perfect for rubbing the tape down really well. Then before I apply the second colour, I seal the edge of the tape with a couple of coats of paint the same colour as the paint that's under the tape, then if there is any bleeding, it won't show up and it blocks the second colour from bleeding through at all.
 
It took a few coats of paint to cover and I only did one side at a time, so it seemed a long wait to find out if I had sealed the tape well enough or not. 
 
That finish is just brushed on, but the paint went on really smoothly and evenly. I hesitate to tell  you what kind of paint it is, because it won't seem sophisticated enough, but it's just Americana Satin Acrylic. I think this paint is made for craft projects and folk art and that type of thing, but I was really impressed with how nice it is to work with and how smoothly it went on. It also seems to have a really hard finish. The level of sheen seems just right to me too. Many of the model paints only come in flat or glossy finishes and it's hard to find something in between with a soft sheen. There wasn't a very dark green available, so this is one they call 'Beret Green' which I mixed with some black.
 
David

Good Morning All,
 
So I've been spending quite a bit of time getting the hull painted and it was a bit of a process arriving at a finished hull.
 
The first question was what colour should it be? There just aren't many resources out there. I cannot find any pictures at all of the original yacht. There are pictures of the current Shamrock, but it's a totally different vessel than the 1930's one.
 
The kit includes pictures of two different finished models. In each case the whole hull is green, with a broad white stripe at the waterline
 
In this one the whole hull is a dark green, with a slight bluish cast

Here it's a more yellowy green

Initially I painted the hull to match the first picture above, the darker green, which I managed to match quite well and for some reason it looked terrible. Then I rediscovered the picture with the lighter green inside the box and thought that it might look better. Before changing it, I decided to do a little more research on line and became quite confused as to what to do.
 
The current version of the Shamrock is a very dark green with a dark contrasting lower hull, with a broad white stripe at the waterline and a narrow stripe (maybe yellow) higher up -

I discovered a number of different pictures of models of the Shamrock out there but no two of them were the same - green tops, black bottoms - white tops, green bottoms - green tops, red bottoms - green tops, copper bottoms etc. etc.
 
However, this one I found by model maker John Adela (ageofsail.net) caught my eye -

So I consulted with my friend, whose model this is. (I keep forgetting that I'm not getting to keep this one.) He decided that since we don't really know how the original was painted, it was more a matter of choosing the look he liked best and he settled on the colour combination by John Adela.
 
So I stripped my first paint job off the hull and started over and the results this time are much improved -
 


For some reason, this was the hardest waterline to draw. I simply could not secure the model well enough to draw the line in the way I usually do. I usually place the hull upside down and use some cedar shims to make the hull level side to side and to adjust the height at each end. I clamp a pencil to a square and draw the line on. It's worked easily every time - but not for this hull. I had no better luck with the hull right side up either.
 
In the end, I marked the point at the bow and stern where the waterline would terminate and then placed a strip of narrow masking tape on the hull and continually adjusted it until it looked ok to the eye. This took quite a bit of adjusting and readjusting. When I was happy with it, I drew a pencil line along one side of the tape. By this time the masking tape had been man-handled a lot, so I replaced it with a new strip placed along the pencil line. This worked, but I wouldn't want to have to do it this way every time.
 
So next up is touching up the black around the edge of the deck and then finishing the deck details.
 
Thanks for checking in and Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends!
 
David
 
 
 
 

Good Morning All,
 
So I've been spending quite a bit of time getting the hull painted and it was a bit of a process arriving at a finished hull.
 
The first question was what colour should it be? There just aren't many resources out there. I cannot find any pictures at all of the original yacht. There are pictures of the current Shamrock, but it's a totally different vessel than the 1930's one.
 
The kit includes pictures of two different finished models. In each case the whole hull is green, with a broad white stripe at the waterline
 
In this one the whole hull is a dark green, with a slight bluish cast

Here it's a more yellowy green

Initially I painted the hull to match the first picture above, the darker green, which I managed to match quite well and for some reason it looked terrible. Then I rediscovered the picture with the lighter green inside the box and thought that it might look better. Before changing it, I decided to do a little more research on line and became quite confused as to what to do.
 
The current version of the Shamrock is a very dark green with a dark contrasting lower hull, with a broad white stripe at the waterline and a narrow stripe (maybe yellow) higher up -

I discovered a number of different pictures of models of the Shamrock out there but no two of them were the same - green tops, black bottoms - white tops, green bottoms - green tops, red bottoms - green tops, copper bottoms etc. etc.
 
However, this one I found by model maker John Adela (ageofsail.net) caught my eye -

So I consulted with my friend, whose model this is. (I keep forgetting that I'm not getting to keep this one.) He decided that since we don't really know how the original was painted, it was more a matter of choosing the look he liked best and he settled on the colour combination by John Adela.
 
So I stripped my first paint job off the hull and started over and the results this time are much improved -
 


For some reason, this was the hardest waterline to draw. I simply could not secure the model well enough to draw the line in the way I usually do. I usually place the hull upside down and use some cedar shims to make the hull level side to side and to adjust the height at each end. I clamp a pencil to a square and draw the line on. It's worked easily every time - but not for this hull. I had no better luck with the hull right side up either.
 
In the end, I marked the point at the bow and stern where the waterline would terminate and then placed a strip of narrow masking tape on the hull and continually adjusted it until it looked ok to the eye. This took quite a bit of adjusting and readjusting. When I was happy with it, I drew a pencil line along one side of the tape. By this time the masking tape had been man-handled a lot, so I replaced it with a new strip placed along the pencil line. This worked, but I wouldn't want to have to do it this way every time.
 
So next up is touching up the black around the edge of the deck and then finishing the deck details.
 
Thanks for checking in and Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends!
 
David
 
 
 
 

Good Morning All,
 
So I've been spending quite a bit of time getting the hull painted and it was a bit of a process arriving at a finished hull.
 
The first question was what colour should it be? There just aren't many resources out there. I cannot find any pictures at all of the original yacht. There are pictures of the current Shamrock, but it's a totally different vessel than the 1930's one.
 
The kit includes pictures of two different finished models. In each case the whole hull is green, with a broad white stripe at the waterline
 
In this one the whole hull is a dark green, with a slight bluish cast

Here it's a more yellowy green

Initially I painted the hull to match the first picture above, the darker green, which I managed to match quite well and for some reason it looked terrible. Then I rediscovered the picture with the lighter green inside the box and thought that it might look better. Before changing it, I decided to do a little more research on line and became quite confused as to what to do.
 
The current version of the Shamrock is a very dark green with a dark contrasting lower hull, with a broad white stripe at the waterline and a narrow stripe (maybe yellow) higher up -

I discovered a number of different pictures of models of the Shamrock out there but no two of them were the same - green tops, black bottoms - white tops, green bottoms - green tops, red bottoms - green tops, copper bottoms etc. etc.
 
However, this one I found by model maker John Adela (ageofsail.net) caught my eye -

So I consulted with my friend, whose model this is. (I keep forgetting that I'm not getting to keep this one.) He decided that since we don't really know how the original was painted, it was more a matter of choosing the look he liked best and he settled on the colour combination by John Adela.
 
So I stripped my first paint job off the hull and started over and the results this time are much improved -
 


For some reason, this was the hardest waterline to draw. I simply could not secure the model well enough to draw the line in the way I usually do. I usually place the hull upside down and use some cedar shims to make the hull level side to side and to adjust the height at each end. I clamp a pencil to a square and draw the line on. It's worked easily every time - but not for this hull. I had no better luck with the hull right side up either.
 
In the end, I marked the point at the bow and stern where the waterline would terminate and then placed a strip of narrow masking tape on the hull and continually adjusted it until it looked ok to the eye. This took quite a bit of adjusting and readjusting. When I was happy with it, I drew a pencil line along one side of the tape. By this time the masking tape had been man-handled a lot, so I replaced it with a new strip placed along the pencil line. This worked, but I wouldn't want to have to do it this way every time.
 
So next up is touching up the black around the edge of the deck and then finishing the deck details.
 
Thanks for checking in and Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends!
 
David
 
 
 
 

Good Morning All,
 
So I've been spending quite a bit of time getting the hull painted and it was a bit of a process arriving at a finished hull.
 
The first question was what colour should it be? There just aren't many resources out there. I cannot find any pictures at all of the original yacht. There are pictures of the current Shamrock, but it's a totally different vessel than the 1930's one.
 
The kit includes pictures of two different finished models. In each case the whole hull is green, with a broad white stripe at the waterline
 
In this one the whole hull is a dark green, with a slight bluish cast

Here it's a more yellowy green

Initially I painted the hull to match the first picture above, the darker green, which I managed to match quite well and for some reason it looked terrible. Then I rediscovered the picture with the lighter green inside the box and thought that it might look better. Before changing it, I decided to do a little more research on line and became quite confused as to what to do.
 
The current version of the Shamrock is a very dark green with a dark contrasting lower hull, with a broad white stripe at the waterline and a narrow stripe (maybe yellow) higher up -

I discovered a number of different pictures of models of the Shamrock out there but no two of them were the same - green tops, black bottoms - white tops, green bottoms - green tops, red bottoms - green tops, copper bottoms etc. etc.
 
However, this one I found by model maker John Adela (ageofsail.net) caught my eye -

So I consulted with my friend, whose model this is. (I keep forgetting that I'm not getting to keep this one.) He decided that since we don't really know how the original was painted, it was more a matter of choosing the look he liked best and he settled on the colour combination by John Adela.
 
So I stripped my first paint job off the hull and started over and the results this time are much improved -
 


For some reason, this was the hardest waterline to draw. I simply could not secure the model well enough to draw the line in the way I usually do. I usually place the hull upside down and use some cedar shims to make the hull level side to side and to adjust the height at each end. I clamp a pencil to a square and draw the line on. It's worked easily every time - but not for this hull. I had no better luck with the hull right side up either.
 
In the end, I marked the point at the bow and stern where the waterline would terminate and then placed a strip of narrow masking tape on the hull and continually adjusted it until it looked ok to the eye. This took quite a bit of adjusting and readjusting. When I was happy with it, I drew a pencil line along one side of the tape. By this time the masking tape had been man-handled a lot, so I replaced it with a new strip placed along the pencil line. This worked, but I wouldn't want to have to do it this way every time.
 
So next up is touching up the black around the edge of the deck and then finishing the deck details.
 
Thanks for checking in and Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends!
 
David
 
 
 
 

Good Morning All,
 
So I've been spending quite a bit of time getting the hull painted and it was a bit of a process arriving at a finished hull.
 
The first question was what colour should it be? There just aren't many resources out there. I cannot find any pictures at all of the original yacht. There are pictures of the current Shamrock, but it's a totally different vessel than the 1930's one.
 
The kit includes pictures of two different finished models. In each case the whole hull is green, with a broad white stripe at the waterline
 
In this one the whole hull is a dark green, with a slight bluish cast

Here it's a more yellowy green

Initially I painted the hull to match the first picture above, the darker green, which I managed to match quite well and for some reason it looked terrible. Then I rediscovered the picture with the lighter green inside the box and thought that it might look better. Before changing it, I decided to do a little more research on line and became quite confused as to what to do.
 
The current version of the Shamrock is a very dark green with a dark contrasting lower hull, with a broad white stripe at the waterline and a narrow stripe (maybe yellow) higher up -

I discovered a number of different pictures of models of the Shamrock out there but no two of them were the same - green tops, black bottoms - white tops, green bottoms - green tops, red bottoms - green tops, copper bottoms etc. etc.
 
However, this one I found by model maker John Adela (ageofsail.net) caught my eye -

So I consulted with my friend, whose model this is. (I keep forgetting that I'm not getting to keep this one.) He decided that since we don't really know how the original was painted, it was more a matter of choosing the look he liked best and he settled on the colour combination by John Adela.
 
So I stripped my first paint job off the hull and started over and the results this time are much improved -
 


For some reason, this was the hardest waterline to draw. I simply could not secure the model well enough to draw the line in the way I usually do. I usually place the hull upside down and use some cedar shims to make the hull level side to side and to adjust the height at each end. I clamp a pencil to a square and draw the line on. It's worked easily every time - but not for this hull. I had no better luck with the hull right side up either.
 
In the end, I marked the point at the bow and stern where the waterline would terminate and then placed a strip of narrow masking tape on the hull and continually adjusted it until it looked ok to the eye. This took quite a bit of adjusting and readjusting. When I was happy with it, I drew a pencil line along one side of the tape. By this time the masking tape had been man-handled a lot, so I replaced it with a new strip placed along the pencil line. This worked, but I wouldn't want to have to do it this way every time.
 
So next up is touching up the black around the edge of the deck and then finishing the deck details.
 
Thanks for checking in and Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends!
 
David
 
 
 
 

Good Morning All,
 
So I've been spending quite a bit of time getting the hull painted and it was a bit of a process arriving at a finished hull.
 
The first question was what colour should it be? There just aren't many resources out there. I cannot find any pictures at all of the original yacht. There are pictures of the current Shamrock, but it's a totally different vessel than the 1930's one.
 
The kit includes pictures of two different finished models. In each case the whole hull is green, with a broad white stripe at the waterline
 
In this one the whole hull is a dark green, with a slight bluish cast

Here it's a more yellowy green

Initially I painted the hull to match the first picture above, the darker green, which I managed to match quite well and for some reason it looked terrible. Then I rediscovered the picture with the lighter green inside the box and thought that it might look better. Before changing it, I decided to do a little more research on line and became quite confused as to what to do.
 
The current version of the Shamrock is a very dark green with a dark contrasting lower hull, with a broad white stripe at the waterline and a narrow stripe (maybe yellow) higher up -

I discovered a number of different pictures of models of the Shamrock out there but no two of them were the same - green tops, black bottoms - white tops, green bottoms - green tops, red bottoms - green tops, copper bottoms etc. etc.
 
However, this one I found by model maker John Adela (ageofsail.net) caught my eye -

So I consulted with my friend, whose model this is. (I keep forgetting that I'm not getting to keep this one.) He decided that since we don't really know how the original was painted, it was more a matter of choosing the look he liked best and he settled on the colour combination by John Adela.
 
So I stripped my first paint job off the hull and started over and the results this time are much improved -
 


For some reason, this was the hardest waterline to draw. I simply could not secure the model well enough to draw the line in the way I usually do. I usually place the hull upside down and use some cedar shims to make the hull level side to side and to adjust the height at each end. I clamp a pencil to a square and draw the line on. It's worked easily every time - but not for this hull. I had no better luck with the hull right side up either.
 
In the end, I marked the point at the bow and stern where the waterline would terminate and then placed a strip of narrow masking tape on the hull and continually adjusted it until it looked ok to the eye. This took quite a bit of adjusting and readjusting. When I was happy with it, I drew a pencil line along one side of the tape. By this time the masking tape had been man-handled a lot, so I replaced it with a new strip placed along the pencil line. This worked, but I wouldn't want to have to do it this way every time.
 
So next up is touching up the black around the edge of the deck and then finishing the deck details.
 
Thanks for checking in and Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends!
 
David
 
 
 
 

Good Morning,
I've been focusing on two things over the past few days -
 
First, I've been working on the upper edge of the hull. As I mentioned before, the sub deck is glued directly onto the hull and then the deck planking on top of that. It's necessary to get a smooth upper edge to the hull which is supposed to meet crisply with the deck.
 
I had filled the edge with some filler, but before working any further on that, I added the black painted border that goes around the deck -

Then I sanded, refilled and painted the top of the hull -
 

It's not hard to do, but it takes quite a few coats to get it smooth. It will appear to be prefect in one light, then as soon as I adjust the light, I can suddenly see all kinds of imperfections. I applied one quick coat of green to the top and this seems to make it easier to find the tiny imperfections. It's all but finished now, just some very minor touch-ups needed.

The other thing I've been working on is a stand. I thought I would use the one provided in the kit, but it's really pretty flimsy, doesn't really fit the hull very well (despite my efforts to modify it) and it isn't very attractive.
 
I was at a loss as to what a suitable stand for this yacht might look like, but then I found something that I thought was suitable in forum member Ekis's build log for his Endeavour J Class. I though it was quite handsome, so I set out to try to do something similar.
 
In the end I came up with something that is a little less sophisticated than his and perhaps not quite as beautiful, but it's simpler and I think it does the job quite acceptably.
 
It was a bit challenging without a plan to work from, so I just took a trial and error approach. There seemed to be too many variables and no fixed starting point. So I just started in and quickly learned that all I should expect from my prototype was that it would have suitable overall measurements and not to worry about how it looked. I basically just slapped the bracing etc on.  Once I had an established model to work from, ie its height, width and length, I then built a new one, this time paying attention to how it looked. I used some 3/16" square stock from my stash.
 
It's not perfect, but I kinda like it and it's a definite improvement over the little kit supplied one.
 


Thanks again,
David