David Lester

Small update this morning -
 
I've been working on the wheel house.
 
The first thing was building up the depth of the roof -


Then the assembly was quite simple. The walls are made out of very thin plywood and I didn't like the idea of the exposed edges, so I applied a narrow strip of Tamiya tape over the joints, which both hid the raw edges and more or less replicated the look of the real thing.
 

I noticed that the real wheel house has one operable window, while the rest are all stationary, so I tried to replicate that with the cross bar in the one window. You can't see it in this picture, but I also added an actual steering wheel, which you can see when looking straight one.
 
I also built what is referred to as a cargo scow. I assume it's designed to be towed across snow/ice. It has curved ends and sits on runners. For some reason the kit shows this component as a simple box.
 
 
It's shown below along with the hatch, both of which are not installed yet, but just sitting in their approximate locations.
 

You can also see two of the six gooseneck vents which are not included in the kit. I bought some from Cornwall Model Boats and cut them down to size -

 
I also made the three water outlets, which are not included in the kit, using the valves which are not needed for the vents.
 

To make these I used some 1mm brass rod and some brass tubing just big enough to fit the brass rod and the stem of the valve.
 
That's it for this morning. I'm currently working on a number of the other small deck details.
 
Thanks again for checking in!
 
David
 
 
 
 
 
 

Small update this morning -
 
I've been working on the wheel house.
 
The first thing was building up the depth of the roof -


Then the assembly was quite simple. The walls are made out of very thin plywood and I didn't like the idea of the exposed edges, so I applied a narrow strip of Tamiya tape over the joints, which both hid the raw edges and more or less replicated the look of the real thing.
 

I noticed that the real wheel house has one operable window, while the rest are all stationary, so I tried to replicate that with the cross bar in the one window. You can't see it in this picture, but I also added an actual steering wheel, which you can see when looking straight one.
 
I also built what is referred to as a cargo scow. I assume it's designed to be towed across snow/ice. It has curved ends and sits on runners. For some reason the kit shows this component as a simple box.
 
 
It's shown below along with the hatch, both of which are not installed yet, but just sitting in their approximate locations.
 

You can also see two of the six gooseneck vents which are not included in the kit. I bought some from Cornwall Model Boats and cut them down to size -

 
I also made the three water outlets, which are not included in the kit, using the valves which are not needed for the vents.
 

To make these I used some 1mm brass rod and some brass tubing just big enough to fit the brass rod and the stem of the valve.
 
That's it for this morning. I'm currently working on a number of the other small deck details.
 
Thanks again for checking in!
 
David
 
 
 
 
 
 

Small update this morning -
 
I've been working on the wheel house.
 
The first thing was building up the depth of the roof -


Then the assembly was quite simple. The walls are made out of very thin plywood and I didn't like the idea of the exposed edges, so I applied a narrow strip of Tamiya tape over the joints, which both hid the raw edges and more or less replicated the look of the real thing.
 

I noticed that the real wheel house has one operable window, while the rest are all stationary, so I tried to replicate that with the cross bar in the one window. You can't see it in this picture, but I also added an actual steering wheel, which you can see when looking straight one.
 
I also built what is referred to as a cargo scow. I assume it's designed to be towed across snow/ice. It has curved ends and sits on runners. For some reason the kit shows this component as a simple box.
 
 
It's shown below along with the hatch, both of which are not installed yet, but just sitting in their approximate locations.
 

You can also see two of the six gooseneck vents which are not included in the kit. I bought some from Cornwall Model Boats and cut them down to size -

 
I also made the three water outlets, which are not included in the kit, using the valves which are not needed for the vents.
 

To make these I used some 1mm brass rod and some brass tubing just big enough to fit the brass rod and the stem of the valve.
 
That's it for this morning. I'm currently working on a number of the other small deck details.
 
Thanks again for checking in!
 
David
 
 
 
 
 
 

Ratlines Complete!!!

Onwards! 🍻

Hello Everyone,
Well, I have finished my restoration of this old model and I'm reasonably happy with the result. I have to thank Bill again for sending me the plans; I don't think I could have done it without them. I've tried to keep it as similar to the original modeler's vision as possible. I resisted the urge to replace a couple of parts that I could likely have done better and I kept the paint scheme the same, even though it doesn't correspond exactly to the plan's directions. The only two major changes I made that I thought had to happen were the addition of ratlines - I'm not sure why they had been omitted - and I redrew the waterline which now corresponds to the plans. The result here is a slightly larger yellow section.
 
Now, I will reorganize my workbench and open my Fresh Prince of Neufchatel kit and it's time to start thinking about what kit to get to have waiting on the shelf. I'm finding that I'm increasingly drawn to these American privateers, Baltimore Clippers etc, so I'm considering the Pride of Baltimore II, but my concern is that it's pretty similar to this Virginia privateer. My other thought is the Charles W. Morgan, for a real change of pace and it appears to be quite challenging. As much as I would like to build the Victory and especially since my visit to see it last September, I really don't think I'm up for another mammoth build, nor for such a massive model to have to find a spot for. So I will keep pondering and I'm sure the right answer will come to me.
 
Thanks for the likes and comments,
David



 


 
 

Hi All,
I finished my Rattlesnake model yesterday and here are a couple of photos. The rigging went very smoothly without too many red-dos. (Don, you may notice that I changed the pendants for the braces from natural to black.) This is not a very large model, but boy does it ever have a lot of rigging. The little coils that hang on the belaying pins always drive me crazy. They need a drop of glue on the back to hold them, but if you get a bit too much, it bleeds through to the front and looks terrible. Because they don't have the heft that the real lines do, they need a fair bit of fiddling with to hang half decently. Most of my do-overs involved these.
 
I'm taking a break now until the holidays are over, and I'm not sure which of my two projects I'll start on next in the new year. Either my Prince de Neufchatel or my Virginia Privateer restoration - I'm not sure yet. 
 
I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!
 
David

Thank you. It was a bit of a surprise to me that the mitres came out as well as they did, because the deck house isn't square. I pinned the boards down first without glue, overlapping them at the corners and marking the intersection points. To my amazement, it seemed to work!
Thanks again,
D

So, here are some pictures of my progress.
 
I wanted to replicate the steel cladding on the hull and wasn't sure how to do it. I ordered some thin foil, but unfortunately when it arrived, it was much too heavy to manipulate, so a thought occurred to me, and here is the result:

I used masking tape. The beauty of it is, it will stretch in more than one direction. I don't know what the longevity of it will be, but to be honest I don't care. I'm old and realistically, how long does anyone need this thing to last?
 
I represented the nails, or rivets, or whatever they should be called, with a mechanical pencil with no lead in it. It was the ideal tool to make the round indentations. They don't show up too much from a normal viewing distance, but just enough.
 

First, I built up the raised area
 

Then tapered it.
 

Then I applied the masking tape, trying to duplicate the actual pattern, and used multiple layers to get the effect needed.
 
Next up was the deck house. This was actually a bit trickier to position correctly than I anticipated. I planked each of the four walls first and after a quite a bit of swearing, got everything more or less square and secure.

The plastic port holes are going to look just fine. They need another coat of paint, of course, and I still have a bit of "corner work" to do.
 
The roof had me concerned for a moment, It's a one-piece sheet of thin plywood, which is intended to be planked. My concern was how to treat the edges. On the real boat, there is a nice overhang on all sides, which is finished with a bullnose. There was no real overhang with the provided roof and I wasn't sure how to treat the edges, so I decided to discard the plywood roof and thin planking, in favour of using heavier 1/16" x 3/32" planks for the centre area and 1/'16" x 1/4" planks for a frame. It was easy to give the 1/16" stock a nice looking bullnose.
 

First I added some framework.
 

The I rounded over the outside edge of the edge pieces.

I handled the centre section, where the pilot house sits, separately.

Then I filled in the rest and it's ready to be painted and have the crazy complicated collection of things added on top.
 
Many thanks for checking in!
David
 
 

So, here are some pictures of my progress.
 
I wanted to replicate the steel cladding on the hull and wasn't sure how to do it. I ordered some thin foil, but unfortunately when it arrived, it was much too heavy to manipulate, so a thought occurred to me, and here is the result:

I used masking tape. The beauty of it is, it will stretch in more than one direction. I don't know what the longevity of it will be, but to be honest I don't care. I'm old and realistically, how long does anyone need this thing to last?
 
I represented the nails, or rivets, or whatever they should be called, with a mechanical pencil with no lead in it. It was the ideal tool to make the round indentations. They don't show up too much from a normal viewing distance, but just enough.
 

First, I built up the raised area
 

Then tapered it.
 

Then I applied the masking tape, trying to duplicate the actual pattern, and used multiple layers to get the effect needed.
 
Next up was the deck house. This was actually a bit trickier to position correctly than I anticipated. I planked each of the four walls first and after a quite a bit of swearing, got everything more or less square and secure.

The plastic port holes are going to look just fine. They need another coat of paint, of course, and I still have a bit of "corner work" to do.
 
The roof had me concerned for a moment, It's a one-piece sheet of thin plywood, which is intended to be planked. My concern was how to treat the edges. On the real boat, there is a nice overhang on all sides, which is finished with a bullnose. There was no real overhang with the provided roof and I wasn't sure how to treat the edges, so I decided to discard the plywood roof and thin planking, in favour of using heavier 1/16" x 3/32" planks for the centre area and 1/'16" x 1/4" planks for a frame. It was easy to give the 1/16" stock a nice looking bullnose.
 

First I added some framework.
 

The I rounded over the outside edge of the edge pieces.

I handled the centre section, where the pilot house sits, separately.

Then I filled in the rest and it's ready to be painted and have the crazy complicated collection of things added on top.
 
Many thanks for checking in!
David
 
 

So, here are some pictures of my progress.
 
I wanted to replicate the steel cladding on the hull and wasn't sure how to do it. I ordered some thin foil, but unfortunately when it arrived, it was much too heavy to manipulate, so a thought occurred to me, and here is the result:

I used masking tape. The beauty of it is, it will stretch in more than one direction. I don't know what the longevity of it will be, but to be honest I don't care. I'm old and realistically, how long does anyone need this thing to last?
 
I represented the nails, or rivets, or whatever they should be called, with a mechanical pencil with no lead in it. It was the ideal tool to make the round indentations. They don't show up too much from a normal viewing distance, but just enough.
 

First, I built up the raised area
 

Then tapered it.
 

Then I applied the masking tape, trying to duplicate the actual pattern, and used multiple layers to get the effect needed.
 
Next up was the deck house. This was actually a bit trickier to position correctly than I anticipated. I planked each of the four walls first and after a quite a bit of swearing, got everything more or less square and secure.

The plastic port holes are going to look just fine. They need another coat of paint, of course, and I still have a bit of "corner work" to do.
 
The roof had me concerned for a moment, It's a one-piece sheet of thin plywood, which is intended to be planked. My concern was how to treat the edges. On the real boat, there is a nice overhang on all sides, which is finished with a bullnose. There was no real overhang with the provided roof and I wasn't sure how to treat the edges, so I decided to discard the plywood roof and thin planking, in favour of using heavier 1/16" x 3/32" planks for the centre area and 1/'16" x 1/4" planks for a frame. It was easy to give the 1/16" stock a nice looking bullnose.
 

First I added some framework.
 

The I rounded over the outside edge of the edge pieces.

I handled the centre section, where the pilot house sits, separately.

Then I filled in the rest and it's ready to be painted and have the crazy complicated collection of things added on top.
 
Many thanks for checking in!
David
 
 

So, here are some pictures of my progress.
 
I wanted to replicate the steel cladding on the hull and wasn't sure how to do it. I ordered some thin foil, but unfortunately when it arrived, it was much too heavy to manipulate, so a thought occurred to me, and here is the result:

I used masking tape. The beauty of it is, it will stretch in more than one direction. I don't know what the longevity of it will be, but to be honest I don't care. I'm old and realistically, how long does anyone need this thing to last?
 
I represented the nails, or rivets, or whatever they should be called, with a mechanical pencil with no lead in it. It was the ideal tool to make the round indentations. They don't show up too much from a normal viewing distance, but just enough.
 

First, I built up the raised area
 

Then tapered it.
 

Then I applied the masking tape, trying to duplicate the actual pattern, and used multiple layers to get the effect needed.
 
Next up was the deck house. This was actually a bit trickier to position correctly than I anticipated. I planked each of the four walls first and after a quite a bit of swearing, got everything more or less square and secure.

The plastic port holes are going to look just fine. They need another coat of paint, of course, and I still have a bit of "corner work" to do.
 
The roof had me concerned for a moment, It's a one-piece sheet of thin plywood, which is intended to be planked. My concern was how to treat the edges. On the real boat, there is a nice overhang on all sides, which is finished with a bullnose. There was no real overhang with the provided roof and I wasn't sure how to treat the edges, so I decided to discard the plywood roof and thin planking, in favour of using heavier 1/16" x 3/32" planks for the centre area and 1/'16" x 1/4" planks for a frame. It was easy to give the 1/16" stock a nice looking bullnose.
 

First I added some framework.
 

The I rounded over the outside edge of the edge pieces.

I handled the centre section, where the pilot house sits, separately.

Then I filled in the rest and it's ready to be painted and have the crazy complicated collection of things added on top.
 
Many thanks for checking in!
David
 
 

A quick update today -
 
I've been working away at a variety of things.
 
I've added the stanchions (which are not part of the kit's plans) including the curved transition piece where the deck levels change. This recreates the actual boat quite closely. The stanchions are much closer together in the centre part of the boat and further apart at the bow.
 

I've also been working on the decking.
 
 

I didn't use the provided decking material, which is that .5 x3mm stuff of indeterminate origin which I don't like very much. Instead I used some 1/32" x 3/32" basswood. The decks on the St. Roch appear to be painted, so that's how I finished these decks too. I have never painted a deck before and I was afraid that it would completely obscure the planking, so I tried something I've never done before and that was to paint the planking before installing it. It's not likely that I would ever do it this way for a deck that was finished in one of the more usual ways, but for this painted deck, I think it worked quite well.
 

I also added waterways, which the kit doesn't provide for, but I did make a compromise. On the actual boat the waterways sit higher than the decking, but I have opted to make them all level. With the slightly thicker planking that I used, It was getting a bit too tight along the bulwarks if I made the waterways any higher than I did. This is a small compromise that I can readily live with.
 
A couple of other little things -
 
I made the chimneys from scratch using 3mm brass tubing. I am really bad at soldering and don't really like doing it very much. However after several stabs at it, I managed to get an acceptable result.
 

I've finished the rudder, which is now ready for paint, as well as made a spare one to sit on the deck, as per the actual boat. The kit doesn't reference this spare rudder, but it does provide two rudders. The spare had to be modified to be made longer as the one to be installed on the stern only just reaches the bottom of the hull.
 

The kit provides four life rings which are plastic and I decided that once they were painted up they looked as good as any cast metal upgraded version would. So I chose to use these ones rather than replacements like I'm doing for so many of the other fittings.
 

That's it for tonight. My next challenge is to try to figure out a simple, but effective way to replicate the steel sheathing on the bow of the hull.
 
Many thanks for checking in.
 
David
 

Good Monning,
Look what I am the "lucky" recipient of -
 

I have a friend who is interested in all aspects of history, but especially naval and military history. When I mentioned to him that I was building St. Roch, he was the first person I had spoken to who knew the vessel I was talking about, knew its history and even knew its captain's name. Furthermore, he said he had a picture of it that I needed to have (or he needed to be rid of, I can't quite remember.)
 
For some reason my wife does not want to see it hanging over our fireplace, so I guess it will be my basement shop for the time being.
 
David

A quick update today -
 
I've been working away at a variety of things.
 
I've added the stanchions (which are not part of the kit's plans) including the curved transition piece where the deck levels change. This recreates the actual boat quite closely. The stanchions are much closer together in the centre part of the boat and further apart at the bow.
 

I've also been working on the decking.
 
 

I didn't use the provided decking material, which is that .5 x3mm stuff of indeterminate origin which I don't like very much. Instead I used some 1/32" x 3/32" basswood. The decks on the St. Roch appear to be painted, so that's how I finished these decks too. I have never painted a deck before and I was afraid that it would completely obscure the planking, so I tried something I've never done before and that was to paint the planking before installing it. It's not likely that I would ever do it this way for a deck that was finished in one of the more usual ways, but for this painted deck, I think it worked quite well.
 

I also added waterways, which the kit doesn't provide for, but I did make a compromise. On the actual boat the waterways sit higher than the decking, but I have opted to make them all level. With the slightly thicker planking that I used, It was getting a bit too tight along the bulwarks if I made the waterways any higher than I did. This is a small compromise that I can readily live with.
 
A couple of other little things -
 
I made the chimneys from scratch using 3mm brass tubing. I am really bad at soldering and don't really like doing it very much. However after several stabs at it, I managed to get an acceptable result.
 

I've finished the rudder, which is now ready for paint, as well as made a spare one to sit on the deck, as per the actual boat. The kit doesn't reference this spare rudder, but it does provide two rudders. The spare had to be modified to be made longer as the one to be installed on the stern only just reaches the bottom of the hull.
 

The kit provides four life rings which are plastic and I decided that once they were painted up they looked as good as any cast metal upgraded version would. So I chose to use these ones rather than replacements like I'm doing for so many of the other fittings.
 

That's it for tonight. My next challenge is to try to figure out a simple, but effective way to replicate the steel sheathing on the bow of the hull.
 
Many thanks for checking in.
 
David
 

A quick update today -
 
I've been working away at a variety of things.
 
I've added the stanchions (which are not part of the kit's plans) including the curved transition piece where the deck levels change. This recreates the actual boat quite closely. The stanchions are much closer together in the centre part of the boat and further apart at the bow.
 

I've also been working on the decking.
 
 

I didn't use the provided decking material, which is that .5 x3mm stuff of indeterminate origin which I don't like very much. Instead I used some 1/32" x 3/32" basswood. The decks on the St. Roch appear to be painted, so that's how I finished these decks too. I have never painted a deck before and I was afraid that it would completely obscure the planking, so I tried something I've never done before and that was to paint the planking before installing it. It's not likely that I would ever do it this way for a deck that was finished in one of the more usual ways, but for this painted deck, I think it worked quite well.
 

I also added waterways, which the kit doesn't provide for, but I did make a compromise. On the actual boat the waterways sit higher than the decking, but I have opted to make them all level. With the slightly thicker planking that I used, It was getting a bit too tight along the bulwarks if I made the waterways any higher than I did. This is a small compromise that I can readily live with.
 
A couple of other little things -
 
I made the chimneys from scratch using 3mm brass tubing. I am really bad at soldering and don't really like doing it very much. However after several stabs at it, I managed to get an acceptable result.
 

I've finished the rudder, which is now ready for paint, as well as made a spare one to sit on the deck, as per the actual boat. The kit doesn't reference this spare rudder, but it does provide two rudders. The spare had to be modified to be made longer as the one to be installed on the stern only just reaches the bottom of the hull.
 

The kit provides four life rings which are plastic and I decided that once they were painted up they looked as good as any cast metal upgraded version would. So I chose to use these ones rather than replacements like I'm doing for so many of the other fittings.
 

That's it for tonight. My next challenge is to try to figure out a simple, but effective way to replicate the steel sheathing on the bow of the hull.
 
Many thanks for checking in.
 
David
 

A quick update today -
 
I've been working away at a variety of things.
 
I've added the stanchions (which are not part of the kit's plans) including the curved transition piece where the deck levels change. This recreates the actual boat quite closely. The stanchions are much closer together in the centre part of the boat and further apart at the bow.
 

I've also been working on the decking.
 
 

I didn't use the provided decking material, which is that .5 x3mm stuff of indeterminate origin which I don't like very much. Instead I used some 1/32" x 3/32" basswood. The decks on the St. Roch appear to be painted, so that's how I finished these decks too. I have never painted a deck before and I was afraid that it would completely obscure the planking, so I tried something I've never done before and that was to paint the planking before installing it. It's not likely that I would ever do it this way for a deck that was finished in one of the more usual ways, but for this painted deck, I think it worked quite well.
 

I also added waterways, which the kit doesn't provide for, but I did make a compromise. On the actual boat the waterways sit higher than the decking, but I have opted to make them all level. With the slightly thicker planking that I used, It was getting a bit too tight along the bulwarks if I made the waterways any higher than I did. This is a small compromise that I can readily live with.
 
A couple of other little things -
 
I made the chimneys from scratch using 3mm brass tubing. I am really bad at soldering and don't really like doing it very much. However after several stabs at it, I managed to get an acceptable result.
 

I've finished the rudder, which is now ready for paint, as well as made a spare one to sit on the deck, as per the actual boat. The kit doesn't reference this spare rudder, but it does provide two rudders. The spare had to be modified to be made longer as the one to be installed on the stern only just reaches the bottom of the hull.
 

The kit provides four life rings which are plastic and I decided that once they were painted up they looked as good as any cast metal upgraded version would. So I chose to use these ones rather than replacements like I'm doing for so many of the other fittings.
 

That's it for tonight. My next challenge is to try to figure out a simple, but effective way to replicate the steel sheathing on the bow of the hull.
 
Many thanks for checking in.
 
David
 

Hi Bill,
I have noticed both early on and to be honest, haven't really given it any thought since. It's a bit confusing, isn't it?
 
I think this is what you are referring to on the top of the pilot house, but it doesn't look to me as though the canvas-covered structure is large enough to contain a steering wheel; certainly not one as large as the one shown in the historical picture. Also the historical picture shows a wide base rather than a column. (It also shows a cowl vent which the boat doesn't currently have.) Clearly changes have occurred over the life of the boat.


 
Another question - if this is a steering wheel, there appears to be no mechanism to connect it to the rudder. There's nothing visible on the ceiling of the pilot house. This leads me to suspect that the canvas-covered structure is not a steering wheel, but if that's the case, I don't know what it might be.
 

I may be showing my ignorance here, but there's another thing on the roof that I can't identify -
 

Any ideas of what this might be?
 
David
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks everyone for your input on the placement of the portholes vis-a-vis the rubbing strake. I believe most of you favour placing the portholes so that they just clear the rubbing strake and I think that's the way I will go. I think if I place the rubbing strake over the portholes, it will look like I messed up somewhere along the way, (and since that never happens 😁, why suggest that it did!)
 
Bill, your St. Roch is coming along very nicely. You asked where I found the trim for the hawse holes. They are a BlueJacket fitting. Here's a picture of the fittings I bought from BlueJacket.
 
BlueJacket calls them hawse lips(F0743.) They're in the upper left of the picture. The lower one is how they come and the upper one is after a little squeeze to more closely resemble the real thing. The others are Hawse lips for the anchors (F0451.) Also there is an anchor for the deck (F0506,) the davits(F0071,) these are not quite the right arc, but can be easily bent into the right shape. They are a bit too long, but I can either cut them off or sink them deeper. Chocks for the rail (F0089,) and blocks. The blocks on the real boat are all internally stropped. These ones (7/32" - F0378 and F0403) will work well. I'll paint them. Also, I decided to add a ships wheel (F0291)which I think will be visible through the window.


 
I also added a few things from Cornwall Model Boats. On the real boat there are six gooseneck vents along the waterways, which are not included in the kit. I thought I'd try these ones. I'm not sure that they're quite right. As small as they are, I think they are still a bit overscale. My plan B is to make them from scratch using pieces of 3mm solder that I have kicking around. (It's about 40 years old and dates from the days when I was still suffering from the delusion that I could successfully accomplish my own plumbing repairs.)
 
Even if I don't use those gooseneck vents, there's another reason why I bought them and that was to get the valves that come with them. They aren't needed for the vents, but another detail that can be added is the two or three water spigots. These won't be hard to make from scratch, but the valves would be. These ones should work for that quite well.
 
I also bought a ladder kit as well as a couple of anchors for the side of the hull.
 

I mentioned in an earlier post that although I generally don't like the plastic parts included in the kit, I actually prefer the provided plastic portholes to the provided brass ones. The plastic ones match the real ones quite accurately and since they will be painted they should look just fine. Cornwall offers these, so I bought a few more to replace the brass ones, which I think have too big a rim.
 

 
I want to show the ends of the deck planking under the cabin, so I cut the sub deck back a bit and put in a support to carry the ends of the planking stubs. I then filled in the mini planks. This way it won't throw the measurements of the cabin out of whack, as the provided pieces don't account for the extra 1/32" or so that would result if I placed them directly over the sub deck.


 
So that's it for now. This simple kit is proving to be even more fun that I expected.
 
Many thanks for checking in. I really appreciate it.
David
 
 

A quick update today -
 
I've been working away at a variety of things.
 
I've added the stanchions (which are not part of the kit's plans) including the curved transition piece where the deck levels change. This recreates the actual boat quite closely. The stanchions are much closer together in the centre part of the boat and further apart at the bow.
 

I've also been working on the decking.
 
 

I didn't use the provided decking material, which is that .5 x3mm stuff of indeterminate origin which I don't like very much. Instead I used some 1/32" x 3/32" basswood. The decks on the St. Roch appear to be painted, so that's how I finished these decks too. I have never painted a deck before and I was afraid that it would completely obscure the planking, so I tried something I've never done before and that was to paint the planking before installing it. It's not likely that I would ever do it this way for a deck that was finished in one of the more usual ways, but for this painted deck, I think it worked quite well.
 

I also added waterways, which the kit doesn't provide for, but I did make a compromise. On the actual boat the waterways sit higher than the decking, but I have opted to make them all level. With the slightly thicker planking that I used, It was getting a bit too tight along the bulwarks if I made the waterways any higher than I did. This is a small compromise that I can readily live with.
 
A couple of other little things -
 
I made the chimneys from scratch using 3mm brass tubing. I am really bad at soldering and don't really like doing it very much. However after several stabs at it, I managed to get an acceptable result.
 

I've finished the rudder, which is now ready for paint, as well as made a spare one to sit on the deck, as per the actual boat. The kit doesn't reference this spare rudder, but it does provide two rudders. The spare had to be modified to be made longer as the one to be installed on the stern only just reaches the bottom of the hull.
 

The kit provides four life rings which are plastic and I decided that once they were painted up they looked as good as any cast metal upgraded version would. So I chose to use these ones rather than replacements like I'm doing for so many of the other fittings.
 

That's it for tonight. My next challenge is to try to figure out a simple, but effective way to replicate the steel sheathing on the bow of the hull.
 
Many thanks for checking in.
 
David
 

A quick update today -
 
I've been working away at a variety of things.
 
I've added the stanchions (which are not part of the kit's plans) including the curved transition piece where the deck levels change. This recreates the actual boat quite closely. The stanchions are much closer together in the centre part of the boat and further apart at the bow.
 

I've also been working on the decking.
 
 

I didn't use the provided decking material, which is that .5 x3mm stuff of indeterminate origin which I don't like very much. Instead I used some 1/32" x 3/32" basswood. The decks on the St. Roch appear to be painted, so that's how I finished these decks too. I have never painted a deck before and I was afraid that it would completely obscure the planking, so I tried something I've never done before and that was to paint the planking before installing it. It's not likely that I would ever do it this way for a deck that was finished in one of the more usual ways, but for this painted deck, I think it worked quite well.
 

I also added waterways, which the kit doesn't provide for, but I did make a compromise. On the actual boat the waterways sit higher than the decking, but I have opted to make them all level. With the slightly thicker planking that I used, It was getting a bit too tight along the bulwarks if I made the waterways any higher than I did. This is a small compromise that I can readily live with.
 
A couple of other little things -
 
I made the chimneys from scratch using 3mm brass tubing. I am really bad at soldering and don't really like doing it very much. However after several stabs at it, I managed to get an acceptable result.
 

I've finished the rudder, which is now ready for paint, as well as made a spare one to sit on the deck, as per the actual boat. The kit doesn't reference this spare rudder, but it does provide two rudders. The spare had to be modified to be made longer as the one to be installed on the stern only just reaches the bottom of the hull.
 

The kit provides four life rings which are plastic and I decided that once they were painted up they looked as good as any cast metal upgraded version would. So I chose to use these ones rather than replacements like I'm doing for so many of the other fittings.
 

That's it for tonight. My next challenge is to try to figure out a simple, but effective way to replicate the steel sheathing on the bow of the hull.
 
Many thanks for checking in.
 
David
 

A quick update today -
 
I've been working away at a variety of things.
 
I've added the stanchions (which are not part of the kit's plans) including the curved transition piece where the deck levels change. This recreates the actual boat quite closely. The stanchions are much closer together in the centre part of the boat and further apart at the bow.
 

I've also been working on the decking.
 
 

I didn't use the provided decking material, which is that .5 x3mm stuff of indeterminate origin which I don't like very much. Instead I used some 1/32" x 3/32" basswood. The decks on the St. Roch appear to be painted, so that's how I finished these decks too. I have never painted a deck before and I was afraid that it would completely obscure the planking, so I tried something I've never done before and that was to paint the planking before installing it. It's not likely that I would ever do it this way for a deck that was finished in one of the more usual ways, but for this painted deck, I think it worked quite well.
 

I also added waterways, which the kit doesn't provide for, but I did make a compromise. On the actual boat the waterways sit higher than the decking, but I have opted to make them all level. With the slightly thicker planking that I used, It was getting a bit too tight along the bulwarks if I made the waterways any higher than I did. This is a small compromise that I can readily live with.
 
A couple of other little things -
 
I made the chimneys from scratch using 3mm brass tubing. I am really bad at soldering and don't really like doing it very much. However after several stabs at it, I managed to get an acceptable result.
 

I've finished the rudder, which is now ready for paint, as well as made a spare one to sit on the deck, as per the actual boat. The kit doesn't reference this spare rudder, but it does provide two rudders. The spare had to be modified to be made longer as the one to be installed on the stern only just reaches the bottom of the hull.
 

The kit provides four life rings which are plastic and I decided that once they were painted up they looked as good as any cast metal upgraded version would. So I chose to use these ones rather than replacements like I'm doing for so many of the other fittings.
 

That's it for tonight. My next challenge is to try to figure out a simple, but effective way to replicate the steel sheathing on the bow of the hull.
 
Many thanks for checking in.
 
David
 

A quick update today -
 
I've been working away at a variety of things.
 
I've added the stanchions (which are not part of the kit's plans) including the curved transition piece where the deck levels change. This recreates the actual boat quite closely. The stanchions are much closer together in the centre part of the boat and further apart at the bow.
 

I've also been working on the decking.
 
 

I didn't use the provided decking material, which is that .5 x3mm stuff of indeterminate origin which I don't like very much. Instead I used some 1/32" x 3/32" basswood. The decks on the St. Roch appear to be painted, so that's how I finished these decks too. I have never painted a deck before and I was afraid that it would completely obscure the planking, so I tried something I've never done before and that was to paint the planking before installing it. It's not likely that I would ever do it this way for a deck that was finished in one of the more usual ways, but for this painted deck, I think it worked quite well.
 

I also added waterways, which the kit doesn't provide for, but I did make a compromise. On the actual boat the waterways sit higher than the decking, but I have opted to make them all level. With the slightly thicker planking that I used, It was getting a bit too tight along the bulwarks if I made the waterways any higher than I did. This is a small compromise that I can readily live with.
 
A couple of other little things -
 
I made the chimneys from scratch using 3mm brass tubing. I am really bad at soldering and don't really like doing it very much. However after several stabs at it, I managed to get an acceptable result.
 

I've finished the rudder, which is now ready for paint, as well as made a spare one to sit on the deck, as per the actual boat. The kit doesn't reference this spare rudder, but it does provide two rudders. The spare had to be modified to be made longer as the one to be installed on the stern only just reaches the bottom of the hull.
 

The kit provides four life rings which are plastic and I decided that once they were painted up they looked as good as any cast metal upgraded version would. So I chose to use these ones rather than replacements like I'm doing for so many of the other fittings.
 

That's it for tonight. My next challenge is to try to figure out a simple, but effective way to replicate the steel sheathing on the bow of the hull.
 
Many thanks for checking in.
 
David
 

A quick update today -
 
I've been working away at a variety of things.
 
I've added the stanchions (which are not part of the kit's plans) including the curved transition piece where the deck levels change. This recreates the actual boat quite closely. The stanchions are much closer together in the centre part of the boat and further apart at the bow.
 

I've also been working on the decking.
 
 

I didn't use the provided decking material, which is that .5 x3mm stuff of indeterminate origin which I don't like very much. Instead I used some 1/32" x 3/32" basswood. The decks on the St. Roch appear to be painted, so that's how I finished these decks too. I have never painted a deck before and I was afraid that it would completely obscure the planking, so I tried something I've never done before and that was to paint the planking before installing it. It's not likely that I would ever do it this way for a deck that was finished in one of the more usual ways, but for this painted deck, I think it worked quite well.
 

I also added waterways, which the kit doesn't provide for, but I did make a compromise. On the actual boat the waterways sit higher than the decking, but I have opted to make them all level. With the slightly thicker planking that I used, It was getting a bit too tight along the bulwarks if I made the waterways any higher than I did. This is a small compromise that I can readily live with.
 
A couple of other little things -
 
I made the chimneys from scratch using 3mm brass tubing. I am really bad at soldering and don't really like doing it very much. However after several stabs at it, I managed to get an acceptable result.
 

I've finished the rudder, which is now ready for paint, as well as made a spare one to sit on the deck, as per the actual boat. The kit doesn't reference this spare rudder, but it does provide two rudders. The spare had to be modified to be made longer as the one to be installed on the stern only just reaches the bottom of the hull.
 

The kit provides four life rings which are plastic and I decided that once they were painted up they looked as good as any cast metal upgraded version would. So I chose to use these ones rather than replacements like I'm doing for so many of the other fittings.
 

That's it for tonight. My next challenge is to try to figure out a simple, but effective way to replicate the steel sheathing on the bow of the hull.
 
Many thanks for checking in.
 
David
 

Good Monning,
Look what I am the "lucky" recipient of -
 

I have a friend who is interested in all aspects of history, but especially naval and military history. When I mentioned to him that I was building St. Roch, he was the first person I had spoken to who knew the vessel I was talking about, knew its history and even knew its captain's name. Furthermore, he said he had a picture of it that I needed to have (or he needed to be rid of, I can't quite remember.)
 
For some reason my wife does not want to see it hanging over our fireplace, so I guess it will be my basement shop for the time being.
 
David

Good Monning,
Look what I am the "lucky" recipient of -
 

I have a friend who is interested in all aspects of history, but especially naval and military history. When I mentioned to him that I was building St. Roch, he was the first person I had spoken to who knew the vessel I was talking about, knew its history and even knew its captain's name. Furthermore, he said he had a picture of it that I needed to have (or he needed to be rid of, I can't quite remember.)
 
For some reason my wife does not want to see it hanging over our fireplace, so I guess it will be my basement shop for the time being.
 
David