David Lester

I use only spotters and shaders (flat bristles like a full size paint brush) in those sizes plus 18/0, 10/0, and sizes up to 8. I’m not sure I still have any round brushes left, if I do I don’t use them.  I only use the Masters cleaner after a project is complete, it does restore over worked brushes well.  In addition to rinsing in a jar water I have a second jar at my work space for Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner.  A dip in water, a dip in W&N, back in water, wiped with paint towel, back in the brush jar. I buy high quality brushes and with care they last years.  I’ve tried and quickly gave up on an angled brush. I am a bit of a fanatic about it admittedly.  
 
Glad you discovered this, appreciate your sharing it.  I enjoy detailed paintwork as well.

Painting my models is always one of the aspects I enjoy the most, but I have always been plagued by two persistent problems -
 
The first is I can never seem to find the right brush for very small detail work and the second is I can never seem to maintain a brush for any length of time. I believe I have found solutions to both problems. This will no doubt be old news to many of you, especially if you're also artists or painters, but it's a revelation to me.
 
First problem - finding a suitable small brush for detail work.
It seems that when I buy even the very smallest brushes, I still can't control them easily and often they still deliver too much paint. A little research online suggested that I have been using the wrong brush. Most of these small brushes that are readily available are called "round", but what I learned is that there is another brush called a "spotter." These are also round, but they have much shorter bristles. That makes them stiffer and as a result, it increases the control considerably. I discovered that not every art supply source sells them, and surprisingly, some had not even heard of them, but I did find some and I bought four sizes (l to r - 20/0, 5/0, 3/0, 0 - very small to small.)

 

 
They come in both straight and angled. I decided to try both and have been experimenting with them. So far, I prefer the straight, but I know the angled ones are going to come in handy in actual practice. (I've painted many hot water rads over the years and know how helpful an angled rad brush can be.)
 
Second problem - cleaning and maintaining brushes.
I have always found it hard to maintain my brushes. It seems no matter how careful I am, (which admittedly, is not always all that careful) they still end up looking like this in very short order.

 
That brush started out as a beautiful fine round tip and now it's virtually useless.
 
I discovered a product called Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver and I think it's going to be a game changer.
 

 
You clean most of the paint out of the brush in water (or solvent for oil)  and then rub it into the Masters. You can rinse and repeat as necessary. When the brush is thoroughly clean, you can leave some of the "soap" on the brush which will help to maintain its shape.
 

 
Here is the same brush again.
 

 
The hint of red that was still at the base of the brush is now gone, and it is somewhat restored to its original shape. In truth I fear this particular brush may be too far gone to be restored completely, but leaving the coat of soap on it will cause it to retain its shape and  is sure to make it still usable.
 
If I care for my brushes this way right from the start I don't think I will have many problems with them again.
 

 
For example, I have been practicing with these new brush extensively using both black and red paint and there is no trace of either near the ferule. (That's not black paint you see closer to the tip, it's just variations in the colour of the bristles) and the shape is as good as when I started.  The seller calls the bristles on these brushes "synthetic sable."
 
There are dozens of videos on Youtube demonstrating the use of Masters, which I found to be helpful.
 
As I say, this all might be old news to many of you, but it's new to me and I believe it's going to be so helpful, that I thought I would share it.
 
David
 
 
 
 

Painting my models is always one of the aspects I enjoy the most, but I have always been plagued by two persistent problems -
 
The first is I can never seem to find the right brush for very small detail work and the second is I can never seem to maintain a brush for any length of time. I believe I have found solutions to both problems. This will no doubt be old news to many of you, especially if you're also artists or painters, but it's a revelation to me.
 
First problem - finding a suitable small brush for detail work.
It seems that when I buy even the very smallest brushes, I still can't control them easily and often they still deliver too much paint. A little research online suggested that I have been using the wrong brush. Most of these small brushes that are readily available are called "round", but what I learned is that there is another brush called a "spotter." These are also round, but they have much shorter bristles. That makes them stiffer and as a result, it increases the control considerably. I discovered that not every art supply source sells them, and surprisingly, some had not even heard of them, but I did find some and I bought four sizes (l to r - 20/0, 5/0, 3/0, 0 - very small to small.)

 

 
They come in both straight and angled. I decided to try both and have been experimenting with them. So far, I prefer the straight, but I know the angled ones are going to come in handy in actual practice. (I've painted many hot water rads over the years and know how helpful an angled rad brush can be.)
 
Second problem - cleaning and maintaining brushes.
I have always found it hard to maintain my brushes. It seems no matter how careful I am, (which admittedly, is not always all that careful) they still end up looking like this in very short order.

 
That brush started out as a beautiful fine round tip and now it's virtually useless.
 
I discovered a product called Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver and I think it's going to be a game changer.
 

 
You clean most of the paint out of the brush in water (or solvent for oil)  and then rub it into the Masters. You can rinse and repeat as necessary. When the brush is thoroughly clean, you can leave some of the "soap" on the brush which will help to maintain its shape.
 

 
Here is the same brush again.
 

 
The hint of red that was still at the base of the brush is now gone, and it is somewhat restored to its original shape. In truth I fear this particular brush may be too far gone to be restored completely, but leaving the coat of soap on it will cause it to retain its shape and  is sure to make it still usable.
 
If I care for my brushes this way right from the start I don't think I will have many problems with them again.
 

 
For example, I have been practicing with these new brush extensively using both black and red paint and there is no trace of either near the ferule. (That's not black paint you see closer to the tip, it's just variations in the colour of the bristles) and the shape is as good as when I started.  The seller calls the bristles on these brushes "synthetic sable."
 
There are dozens of videos on Youtube demonstrating the use of Masters, which I found to be helpful.
 
As I say, this all might be old news to many of you, but it's new to me and I believe it's going to be so helpful, that I thought I would share it.
 
David
 
 
 
 

Painting my models is always one of the aspects I enjoy the most, but I have always been plagued by two persistent problems -
 
The first is I can never seem to find the right brush for very small detail work and the second is I can never seem to maintain a brush for any length of time. I believe I have found solutions to both problems. This will no doubt be old news to many of you, especially if you're also artists or painters, but it's a revelation to me.
 
First problem - finding a suitable small brush for detail work.
It seems that when I buy even the very smallest brushes, I still can't control them easily and often they still deliver too much paint. A little research online suggested that I have been using the wrong brush. Most of these small brushes that are readily available are called "round", but what I learned is that there is another brush called a "spotter." These are also round, but they have much shorter bristles. That makes them stiffer and as a result, it increases the control considerably. I discovered that not every art supply source sells them, and surprisingly, some had not even heard of them, but I did find some and I bought four sizes (l to r - 20/0, 5/0, 3/0, 0 - very small to small.)

 

 
They come in both straight and angled. I decided to try both and have been experimenting with them. So far, I prefer the straight, but I know the angled ones are going to come in handy in actual practice. (I've painted many hot water rads over the years and know how helpful an angled rad brush can be.)
 
Second problem - cleaning and maintaining brushes.
I have always found it hard to maintain my brushes. It seems no matter how careful I am, (which admittedly, is not always all that careful) they still end up looking like this in very short order.

 
That brush started out as a beautiful fine round tip and now it's virtually useless.
 
I discovered a product called Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver and I think it's going to be a game changer.
 

 
You clean most of the paint out of the brush in water (or solvent for oil)  and then rub it into the Masters. You can rinse and repeat as necessary. When the brush is thoroughly clean, you can leave some of the "soap" on the brush which will help to maintain its shape.
 

 
Here is the same brush again.
 

 
The hint of red that was still at the base of the brush is now gone, and it is somewhat restored to its original shape. In truth I fear this particular brush may be too far gone to be restored completely, but leaving the coat of soap on it will cause it to retain its shape and  is sure to make it still usable.
 
If I care for my brushes this way right from the start I don't think I will have many problems with them again.
 

 
For example, I have been practicing with these new brush extensively using both black and red paint and there is no trace of either near the ferule. (That's not black paint you see closer to the tip, it's just variations in the colour of the bristles) and the shape is as good as when I started.  The seller calls the bristles on these brushes "synthetic sable."
 
There are dozens of videos on Youtube demonstrating the use of Masters, which I found to be helpful.
 
As I say, this all might be old news to many of you, but it's new to me and I believe it's going to be so helpful, that I thought I would share it.
 
David
 
 
 
 

Hi Derek,
It's a real trick of the light. The deck actually has the same finish in all the picture, but for some reason it looks quite different in the last two. In reality it looks like the first couple of pictures. I applied a thin gray wash using acrylic paint and then rubbed it with steel wool.
 
David

Hi Derek,
It's a real trick of the light. The deck actually has the same finish in all the picture, but for some reason it looks quite different in the last two. In reality it looks like the first couple of pictures. I applied a thin gray wash using acrylic paint and then rubbed it with steel wool.
 
David

I've spent the last little while working on the bulwarks.
 
The first job is to remove the bulkhead extensions. This was quite easy to do; most of them just popped off -

 
 

 
Bow and stern areas painted. I'm using Admiraly Red Ochre -

 

 
Fitting the deck. It fit perfectly and didn't need any fine tuning at all -

 
The first plank -

 
The rest of the planking - The kit calls for the same 1x4 mm pear as is used for the hull planking, but I opted to just use some basswood I had in my stash. I'm afraid I might run out of the pear when I plank the outer hull around the gun ports. Planking above the wales and cutting around the gun ports is a really critical part of the build and it's very unforgiving. The odds of my having to do one or more "do overs" before I get an acceptable result are pretty high and I really don't want to run myself short of the pear because of that, so I can see no downside to using this basswood for the bulkwarks.
 
As it turns out, cutting around the ports for the bulwarks went without any problems, so that bodes well for the outer planking. I hope it goes as smoothly.

 
 
Drilling the holes for the guns and cleats - There are many ingenious design elements to this kit and this is certainly one of them. The places to drill are marked on the outside. They can be located perfectly and are a lot easier to drill from the outside than they are from the inside. The only caveat is to be sure not to allow any tear-out. I placed a piece of masking tape on the inside, and while it doesn't show it in the picture, I also held my finger behind the spot where the drill would emerge. (didn't hurt too much!)


Sanded and ready to be painted -

 
Finished bulwarks -

 
And now with some trepidation, (but plenty of pear), it's on to the outer planking.
 
Thanks,
David

I've spent the last little while working on the bulwarks.
 
The first job is to remove the bulkhead extensions. This was quite easy to do; most of them just popped off -

 
 

 
Bow and stern areas painted. I'm using Admiraly Red Ochre -

 

 
Fitting the deck. It fit perfectly and didn't need any fine tuning at all -

 
The first plank -

 
The rest of the planking - The kit calls for the same 1x4 mm pear as is used for the hull planking, but I opted to just use some basswood I had in my stash. I'm afraid I might run out of the pear when I plank the outer hull around the gun ports. Planking above the wales and cutting around the gun ports is a really critical part of the build and it's very unforgiving. The odds of my having to do one or more "do overs" before I get an acceptable result are pretty high and I really don't want to run myself short of the pear because of that, so I can see no downside to using this basswood for the bulkwarks.
 
As it turns out, cutting around the ports for the bulwarks went without any problems, so that bodes well for the outer planking. I hope it goes as smoothly.

 
 
Drilling the holes for the guns and cleats - There are many ingenious design elements to this kit and this is certainly one of them. The places to drill are marked on the outside. They can be located perfectly and are a lot easier to drill from the outside than they are from the inside. The only caveat is to be sure not to allow any tear-out. I placed a piece of masking tape on the inside, and while it doesn't show it in the picture, I also held my finger behind the spot where the drill would emerge. (didn't hurt too much!)


Sanded and ready to be painted -

 
Finished bulwarks -

 
And now with some trepidation, (but plenty of pear), it's on to the outer planking.
 
Thanks,
David

I've spent the last little while working on the bulwarks.
 
The first job is to remove the bulkhead extensions. This was quite easy to do; most of them just popped off -

 
 

 
Bow and stern areas painted. I'm using Admiraly Red Ochre -

 

 
Fitting the deck. It fit perfectly and didn't need any fine tuning at all -

 
The first plank -

 
The rest of the planking - The kit calls for the same 1x4 mm pear as is used for the hull planking, but I opted to just use some basswood I had in my stash. I'm afraid I might run out of the pear when I plank the outer hull around the gun ports. Planking above the wales and cutting around the gun ports is a really critical part of the build and it's very unforgiving. The odds of my having to do one or more "do overs" before I get an acceptable result are pretty high and I really don't want to run myself short of the pear because of that, so I can see no downside to using this basswood for the bulkwarks.
 
As it turns out, cutting around the ports for the bulwarks went without any problems, so that bodes well for the outer planking. I hope it goes as smoothly.

 
 
Drilling the holes for the guns and cleats - There are many ingenious design elements to this kit and this is certainly one of them. The places to drill are marked on the outside. They can be located perfectly and are a lot easier to drill from the outside than they are from the inside. The only caveat is to be sure not to allow any tear-out. I placed a piece of masking tape on the inside, and while it doesn't show it in the picture, I also held my finger behind the spot where the drill would emerge. (didn't hurt too much!)


Sanded and ready to be painted -

 
Finished bulwarks -

 
And now with some trepidation, (but plenty of pear), it's on to the outer planking.
 
Thanks,
David

I've spent the last little while working on the bulwarks.
 
The first job is to remove the bulkhead extensions. This was quite easy to do; most of them just popped off -

 
 

 
Bow and stern areas painted. I'm using Admiraly Red Ochre -

 

 
Fitting the deck. It fit perfectly and didn't need any fine tuning at all -

 
The first plank -

 
The rest of the planking - The kit calls for the same 1x4 mm pear as is used for the hull planking, but I opted to just use some basswood I had in my stash. I'm afraid I might run out of the pear when I plank the outer hull around the gun ports. Planking above the wales and cutting around the gun ports is a really critical part of the build and it's very unforgiving. The odds of my having to do one or more "do overs" before I get an acceptable result are pretty high and I really don't want to run myself short of the pear because of that, so I can see no downside to using this basswood for the bulkwarks.
 
As it turns out, cutting around the ports for the bulwarks went without any problems, so that bodes well for the outer planking. I hope it goes as smoothly.

 
 
Drilling the holes for the guns and cleats - There are many ingenious design elements to this kit and this is certainly one of them. The places to drill are marked on the outside. They can be located perfectly and are a lot easier to drill from the outside than they are from the inside. The only caveat is to be sure not to allow any tear-out. I placed a piece of masking tape on the inside, and while it doesn't show it in the picture, I also held my finger behind the spot where the drill would emerge. (didn't hurt too much!)


Sanded and ready to be painted -

 
Finished bulwarks -

 
And now with some trepidation, (but plenty of pear), it's on to the outer planking.
 
Thanks,
David

I've spent the last little while working on the bulwarks.
 
The first job is to remove the bulkhead extensions. This was quite easy to do; most of them just popped off -

 
 

 
Bow and stern areas painted. I'm using Admiraly Red Ochre -

 

 
Fitting the deck. It fit perfectly and didn't need any fine tuning at all -

 
The first plank -

 
The rest of the planking - The kit calls for the same 1x4 mm pear as is used for the hull planking, but I opted to just use some basswood I had in my stash. I'm afraid I might run out of the pear when I plank the outer hull around the gun ports. Planking above the wales and cutting around the gun ports is a really critical part of the build and it's very unforgiving. The odds of my having to do one or more "do overs" before I get an acceptable result are pretty high and I really don't want to run myself short of the pear because of that, so I can see no downside to using this basswood for the bulkwarks.
 
As it turns out, cutting around the ports for the bulwarks went without any problems, so that bodes well for the outer planking. I hope it goes as smoothly.

 
 
Drilling the holes for the guns and cleats - There are many ingenious design elements to this kit and this is certainly one of them. The places to drill are marked on the outside. They can be located perfectly and are a lot easier to drill from the outside than they are from the inside. The only caveat is to be sure not to allow any tear-out. I placed a piece of masking tape on the inside, and while it doesn't show it in the picture, I also held my finger behind the spot where the drill would emerge. (didn't hurt too much!)


Sanded and ready to be painted -

 
Finished bulwarks -

 
And now with some trepidation, (but plenty of pear), it's on to the outer planking.
 
Thanks,
David

Good Morning,
I've made good progress with the planking.

 

 

 
This is not too difficult a hull to plank. I didn't soak any of the planks. I just used my new steam iron to bend the planks laterally at the bow and I also gave them a slight bend at the stern as well. With this "game changing" method they all fell into place very nicely.
 
I had no serious problems or issues, but if I'm being totally honest, I did have to correct two small missteps. I discovered a glaring gap between two planks that I had failed to notice as I was working on them. It was just too big to fix with filler, so I had to remove a couple of planks below the gap. I brushed on acetone and was able to salvage them. I replaced them with new planks and saved these salvaged ones for a location below the water line.
 
Also, initially I had the garboard planks located quite far down so that a portion of the keel would have been covered by them. I wasn't sure if that was right or not, but it occurred to me that the width of the the copper piece provided for the keel would indicate how much of the keel should be exposed. From that it was clear that the full depth of the keel needed to be exposed and the garboard planks were in fact too far down,  so I planed and sanded them back and everything appears to line up correctly now.
 
So now it looks like it's on to the the inner bulwarks and deck.
 
Thanks for checking in and the likes.
David 
 

I've just started the second planking. I have the stern area done. So far, so good.
 
This wood is very nice to work with.

 

 
That's all for now. I'm afraid it's back to raking leaves. We are knee deep in maple leaves. However, there are still plenty more to come down which always presents a challenge. There's always a very small window between the last leaf falling and the first snow. At this point it's just a matter of volume reduction.
 
Thanks for checking in.
David
 
 

Here's the little jig I made to hold the 1mm planking. The two strips in the foreground are 1/8" high and the two behind are 1/16" high.
David

A little more progress on Speedy -
 
I have finished the first layer of planking. This is not a difficult hull to plank and the whole process went smoothly. I chose not to line off the hull, creating belts. The instructions didn't indicate that this was necessary and I decided since it is a small hull, I shouldn't have any problems if I didn't do it. So I just eyeballed the amount of tapering for each plank at the bow, taking off just about half or slightly less and planning to address any issues once I got to the bottom. I worked straight down, but installed the garboard before added the final two planks above it. There really were no problems to speak of, just a matter of fitting the last plank against the garboard.
 
I used my new little Lee Valley plane to taper the planks and I found it to be very effective and pleasant to use. (which I'm relieved to discover, since it was about the same price as a used Hyundai!)  I can never seem to hold a ruler firmly in place when using a knife. This way, you just hold the plank on its edge and run the plane along it. It works really well and you have quite a bit of control. I didn't ruined a single plank this time, which is not typically the case for me with a knife and ruler.
 

 
 
 
Having really only built Model Shipways kits before, I am used to drawing the bearding line and reducing the centre keel before adding the planking. This kit doesn't include that step, but rather asks you to simply apply the planking first and then sand the stern area to a very thin width afterwards. I wasn't sure how easy a task this would be to do, but it proved to be easier than I anticipated and I think I have an acceptable result. I know it looks rough in the picture, but that's only because of the the contrast in colours. It's actually very smooth where the planks feather out.
 

 
I think this is the first hull I've planked where I don't need a gallon of filler (and I'm talking imperial gallons!) I will use some though, just to even out a couple of spots, but I think it will need only a minimal amount. And that's it for now.
 
Thanks again for comments, likes etc.
David

I am determined to improve my planking skills with this build, so have been trying a couple of experiments with the first layer. 
 
I tried my hand at two of Chuck's suggestions - the first was spiling and the second edge bending with an iron. The spiling works well in that it certainly solves the problem of the planks tending to "step" at the bow. However, it presents its own set of challenges and it needs some wider stock to work with. I tried one spiled plank on the port side, but no need for a picture of it - it's a bit rough and once you see it, you won't be able to "un-see" it. I don't want to ruin anyone's day.
 
However, the iron method works really well and is pretty much foolproof. I bought a cheap iron ($21.99) and set up an ironing station.
 

 
The hold-down is important, because without it, it's still possible for the plank to "buckle." With the hold-down, it works very smoothly.
 

 
And here is the plank in position -

 
I am now a convert to this method. I'm expecting it to be especially helpful for the second layer. In the past I have sometimes found the second layer more difficult and frustrating because if the plank doesn't lay perfectly flat, the glue doesn't hold and sanding results in gaps. I think this is going to improve things for me considerably.
 
Thanks for checking in.
David
 

I've made a little more progress on the Speedy. It is impossible to overstate how perfectly the pieces fit together and what a pleasure they are to work with.
I added the upper sub-deck which popped into place beautifully. Fairing the hull seemed a relatively easy chore. The mdf is a lot nicer to work with than plywood and with the lower deck and upper sub-deck in place, which essentially serve as guides, it was hard to go too far wrong. I did get a little over zealous on the the second to last bullkhead when I pre-sanded it before its installation. I had to fix it with a thin strip.

 

 
The gunport strips were causing me a lot of anxiety, because I knew that they can be a bit tricky and I've never built a model that uses them before. However, the job wasn't too bad and again, I think it is because they are so perfectly designed and cut to fit.
 
Like almost everyone else, I had a small bit of wrinkling with the bow sections,  but nothing that can't be easily fixed with some sanding.

 

 
The two sides meet up really well with the the two stern pieces. I needed a very small amount of sanding on the port side and just a tad more sanding on the starboard, side.

 
Gunport strips installed -

 
First strip of planking added -
You can see the two spots where there was a little wrinkling and I've done some "experimental" sanding. It isn't fully sanded at this point, of course, but I just wanted to discover if it could be easily sanded out and I believe it can be.

 
I have a new tool - a miniature block plane from Lee Valley.

 
It's hard to tell from the picture, but this thing is small; just 2 1/2" long and 3/4" wide. I intend to use it to taper planks and to bevel their inner edges. I used it on the one plank I've installed so far and it worked very nicely; especially for beveling the edge.
 
That's my update for now. Thanks for looking in, comments, and "likes."
David
 
 
 
 
 

Good Morning,
It's been a while since I have been active in the forum, but that doesn't mean I haven't been active in my workshop. I have just finished my second Bluenose model, this one for my daughter. I didn't do a build log for it as it would be virtually identical to my first one.

 

 
I ordered and receive the Speedy for my next project, but it no sooner arrived that I got a call from my near-by fellow ship modeller, Peter, who asked me if I would like to take on an Agamemnon. It had been his late father's who had started it, but been unable to finish it. Peter already had other things on his model-building plate, and since this particular type and era of vessel is not his chief area of interest, he thought it might appeal to me. He was right, however it is a pretty daunting project.
 
The first planking is finished, the gunports are framed, the framework for the stern installed and the lower deck is planked. Everything to this  point is beautifully done; I hope it isn't downhill from here. I will soon start a separate build log for this project.

 
 
For the first time ever, I have two projects at once. I think I may work on them simultaneously. The idea of being able to move back and forth as the spirit moves me has some appeal.
 
So with all that preamble over, here is my work on the Speedy so far. I have to admit that I am approaching this build log with a great deal of trepidation. There is some pretty impressive work out there and the bar has been set very high.
 
I almost can't believe how precisely the parts have been cut - they fit together perfectly.
 
I did a little pre-beveling on the first and last bulkheads.

 
Notwithstanding the shiny bright finish on the deck of my Bluenose, for these naval vessels, I always prefer a grey finish. I've noticed that not too many others finish their decks that way, but I tend to like them. I wasn't sure how it would work on the etched deck of this model, but fortunately I was able to experiment on the lower deck which is almost completely unseen.
 
I use artists' acrylic paint and make a very thin wash of gray, tempered with some yellow and/or brown. It worked quite well with this etched deck. The lines between the planks show up just the right amount. In a few spots the wash had overfilled the lines, so I ran a razor blade along them very lightly and it worked beautifully.
 
I think I have just a bit too much yellow in my gray mix on this lower deck. For the upper deck, I'll make the colour just a bit grayer. It was great having this "practice" deck to work on.

 

 
That's it for now.
Thanks,
David
 
 
 
 

Good Morning,
I've made good progress with the planking.

 

 

 
This is not too difficult a hull to plank. I didn't soak any of the planks. I just used my new steam iron to bend the planks laterally at the bow and I also gave them a slight bend at the stern as well. With this "game changing" method they all fell into place very nicely.
 
I had no serious problems or issues, but if I'm being totally honest, I did have to correct two small missteps. I discovered a glaring gap between two planks that I had failed to notice as I was working on them. It was just too big to fix with filler, so I had to remove a couple of planks below the gap. I brushed on acetone and was able to salvage them. I replaced them with new planks and saved these salvaged ones for a location below the water line.
 
Also, initially I had the garboard planks located quite far down so that a portion of the keel would have been covered by them. I wasn't sure if that was right or not, but it occurred to me that the width of the the copper piece provided for the keel would indicate how much of the keel should be exposed. From that it was clear that the full depth of the keel needed to be exposed and the garboard planks were in fact too far down,  so I planed and sanded them back and everything appears to line up correctly now.
 
So now it looks like it's on to the the inner bulwarks and deck.
 
Thanks for checking in and the likes.
David 
 

I've just started the second planking. I have the stern area done. So far, so good.
 
This wood is very nice to work with.

 

 
That's all for now. I'm afraid it's back to raking leaves. We are knee deep in maple leaves. However, there are still plenty more to come down which always presents a challenge. There's always a very small window between the last leaf falling and the first snow. At this point it's just a matter of volume reduction.
 
Thanks for checking in.
David
 
 

I've spent the last little while working on the bulwarks.
 
The first job is to remove the bulkhead extensions. This was quite easy to do; most of them just popped off -

 
 

 
Bow and stern areas painted. I'm using Admiraly Red Ochre -

 

 
Fitting the deck. It fit perfectly and didn't need any fine tuning at all -

 
The first plank -

 
The rest of the planking - The kit calls for the same 1x4 mm pear as is used for the hull planking, but I opted to just use some basswood I had in my stash. I'm afraid I might run out of the pear when I plank the outer hull around the gun ports. Planking above the wales and cutting around the gun ports is a really critical part of the build and it's very unforgiving. The odds of my having to do one or more "do overs" before I get an acceptable result are pretty high and I really don't want to run myself short of the pear because of that, so I can see no downside to using this basswood for the bulkwarks.
 
As it turns out, cutting around the ports for the bulwarks went without any problems, so that bodes well for the outer planking. I hope it goes as smoothly.

 
 
Drilling the holes for the guns and cleats - There are many ingenious design elements to this kit and this is certainly one of them. The places to drill are marked on the outside. They can be located perfectly and are a lot easier to drill from the outside than they are from the inside. The only caveat is to be sure not to allow any tear-out. I placed a piece of masking tape on the inside, and while it doesn't show it in the picture, I also held my finger behind the spot where the drill would emerge. (didn't hurt too much!)


Sanded and ready to be painted -

 
Finished bulwarks -

 
And now with some trepidation, (but plenty of pear), it's on to the outer planking.
 
Thanks,
David

I've spent the last little while working on the bulwarks.
 
The first job is to remove the bulkhead extensions. This was quite easy to do; most of them just popped off -

 
 

 
Bow and stern areas painted. I'm using Admiraly Red Ochre -

 

 
Fitting the deck. It fit perfectly and didn't need any fine tuning at all -

 
The first plank -

 
The rest of the planking - The kit calls for the same 1x4 mm pear as is used for the hull planking, but I opted to just use some basswood I had in my stash. I'm afraid I might run out of the pear when I plank the outer hull around the gun ports. Planking above the wales and cutting around the gun ports is a really critical part of the build and it's very unforgiving. The odds of my having to do one or more "do overs" before I get an acceptable result are pretty high and I really don't want to run myself short of the pear because of that, so I can see no downside to using this basswood for the bulkwarks.
 
As it turns out, cutting around the ports for the bulwarks went without any problems, so that bodes well for the outer planking. I hope it goes as smoothly.

 
 
Drilling the holes for the guns and cleats - There are many ingenious design elements to this kit and this is certainly one of them. The places to drill are marked on the outside. They can be located perfectly and are a lot easier to drill from the outside than they are from the inside. The only caveat is to be sure not to allow any tear-out. I placed a piece of masking tape on the inside, and while it doesn't show it in the picture, I also held my finger behind the spot where the drill would emerge. (didn't hurt too much!)


Sanded and ready to be painted -

 
Finished bulwarks -

 
And now with some trepidation, (but plenty of pear), it's on to the outer planking.
 
Thanks,
David

I've spent the last little while working on the bulwarks.
 
The first job is to remove the bulkhead extensions. This was quite easy to do; most of them just popped off -

 
 

 
Bow and stern areas painted. I'm using Admiraly Red Ochre -

 

 
Fitting the deck. It fit perfectly and didn't need any fine tuning at all -

 
The first plank -

 
The rest of the planking - The kit calls for the same 1x4 mm pear as is used for the hull planking, but I opted to just use some basswood I had in my stash. I'm afraid I might run out of the pear when I plank the outer hull around the gun ports. Planking above the wales and cutting around the gun ports is a really critical part of the build and it's very unforgiving. The odds of my having to do one or more "do overs" before I get an acceptable result are pretty high and I really don't want to run myself short of the pear because of that, so I can see no downside to using this basswood for the bulkwarks.
 
As it turns out, cutting around the ports for the bulwarks went without any problems, so that bodes well for the outer planking. I hope it goes as smoothly.

 
 
Drilling the holes for the guns and cleats - There are many ingenious design elements to this kit and this is certainly one of them. The places to drill are marked on the outside. They can be located perfectly and are a lot easier to drill from the outside than they are from the inside. The only caveat is to be sure not to allow any tear-out. I placed a piece of masking tape on the inside, and while it doesn't show it in the picture, I also held my finger behind the spot where the drill would emerge. (didn't hurt too much!)


Sanded and ready to be painted -

 
Finished bulwarks -

 
And now with some trepidation, (but plenty of pear), it's on to the outer planking.
 
Thanks,
David

I've spent the last little while working on the bulwarks.
 
The first job is to remove the bulkhead extensions. This was quite easy to do; most of them just popped off -

 
 

 
Bow and stern areas painted. I'm using Admiraly Red Ochre -

 

 
Fitting the deck. It fit perfectly and didn't need any fine tuning at all -

 
The first plank -

 
The rest of the planking - The kit calls for the same 1x4 mm pear as is used for the hull planking, but I opted to just use some basswood I had in my stash. I'm afraid I might run out of the pear when I plank the outer hull around the gun ports. Planking above the wales and cutting around the gun ports is a really critical part of the build and it's very unforgiving. The odds of my having to do one or more "do overs" before I get an acceptable result are pretty high and I really don't want to run myself short of the pear because of that, so I can see no downside to using this basswood for the bulkwarks.
 
As it turns out, cutting around the ports for the bulwarks went without any problems, so that bodes well for the outer planking. I hope it goes as smoothly.

 
 
Drilling the holes for the guns and cleats - There are many ingenious design elements to this kit and this is certainly one of them. The places to drill are marked on the outside. They can be located perfectly and are a lot easier to drill from the outside than they are from the inside. The only caveat is to be sure not to allow any tear-out. I placed a piece of masking tape on the inside, and while it doesn't show it in the picture, I also held my finger behind the spot where the drill would emerge. (didn't hurt too much!)


Sanded and ready to be painted -

 
Finished bulwarks -

 
And now with some trepidation, (but plenty of pear), it's on to the outer planking.
 
Thanks,
David

Hello - further progress. One step I'm glad to get done - the 1st planking. Although not great it is least a sound base for the 2nd planking - hopefully.
 

 

 
 
 
The Stern area - started the second planking.
 

 

 
 
Thank you for looking in and the past comments and 'Likes'.
 
Regards
 
Doug