GuntherMT

Thank you Keith.  I may try this blackening on a bit of scrap brass and see how it works, and just blacken all the brass if that's what it should actually be.  I may have to just paint the chain-plates though, as they are already mounted to the ship, and I'm not going to pull them off for that, as they are attached with  CA and nails.
 
The AVS that I ordered expecting a mid-late October delivery showed up today.  I opened it up and took inventory, and am sort of wishing I hadn't now.  Every single thing about that kit makes the Carmen kit look cheap in comparison, and apparently, wildly out of scale.  The AVS is 1:48, while the Carmen is 1:80, yet all the little fittings (eye bolts, deadeyes, blocks, etc.) on the AVS are actually smaller (and very much sharper and better quality) than the fittings on the Carmen.  All of the wood is much nicer, and the laser cut pieces absolutely blow away the pre-cut pieces on the Carmen both in sharpness, and in the quality of wood.
 
Oh well, I still think it's looking nice and will turn into a nice looking model, but it certainly points out that there is a huge variation of quality between the two kits.  Does the quality within a specific manufacturer vary a lot as well?   I.e. is the Constructo Constitution better quality, or similar to the Carmen.  Makes me wonder for future kit purchases.
 
Finished up the 2nd mast, and have the bowsprit all shaped and fit to the bitt that I modified.
 
Edit: Eh, I'm wishy-washy.  After I blackened the cast fittings, I played with the brass a bit, and decided since the chain-plates are brass, I'm just going to leave all the brass fittings as brass to match them.  Time will tell if that's the right decision, but I've started putting in the eye-bolts, so it's decided now.

2 years without TV in November Keith.  Don't really miss it, and I certainly don't miss sending that $75 per month to the cable company for something I rarely used.
 
Not a huge amount accomplished in the last couple of days, but - First mast!
 

 
This assembly has reminded me to check the measurements on the plans - for *everything*, as I built the crows nest thing (not sure what the platform is called on this small ship) with the measurements in the instructions, instead of the measurements from the plans.  So the openings for the masts are too wide and I had to carefully put a 'step' in the sideboard things to fill that gap. 
 
A better man would have deconstructed to start over probably.  
 
One of the things that has been bugging me about this model for a while now, is that the ships wheel is not only a terrible looking cast part that appears to be completely out of scale:
 

 
..but it's also 'per the instructions' just mounted to the rear bulkhead directly with a nail.  Like so...
 

 
This just didn't seem right to me, so I spent a long time going through pictures of every sloop and schooner build I could find in the build logs here, in the tips and tricks, finished kits, and books and online.  I finally found a fairly simple ships wheel that was mounted to the rear bulkhead like this, with no rope showing, but it was mounted with a large barrel/shaft coming from the bulkhead, and the wheel was supported to the forward with an a-frame arrangement.
 
So, I sanded down a piece of dowel and drilled a hole in it, and then spent some time with a little piece of basswood, and came up with a first-time scratch build thingie on my ship I swore I would build 'out of the box' for this first time.
 
It's nothing compared to the amazing scratch build stuff on many of these builds, but after everything is stained and painted, who knows, might look halfway decent, and can't really help but be better than the little wheel stuck to the bulkhead.
 



 
I figure I can replace that cast part with something better someday if I decide I want to as well.

Yesterday I worked on the cabins, so here are a couple of pictures of that process.  I was worried that they would look very bad based on what I started with, but I think they ended up turning out alright, and will look better after finishing.
 

 
For the port holes in the cabins, I used some parchment paper and traced the plans, then held them to the side of the cabins and used a punch to set the center point of the holes for drilling.
 

 
The more I looked at the plans problem mentioned in my prior post, the more I began to think that there are probably no plans missing, Constructo just expects you to 'figure it out' without proper detail diagrams.  I also came to realize, that for these parts (bitts, pin racks), if the heights of the cross pieces weren't exactly right, nobody would ever know, so I traced them out as best I could from the plan views I had, and got to work.
 
The plans/instructions give no indication of what size hole to use for the pin racks, so I measure the belaying pins at their thickest point with calipers, and then used a slightly larger sized drill (1.7mm).
 
I was ridiculously pleased with myself when I finished my first piece of pin-rail.  It was about as perfect as I could have hoped for (pictured here next to the bitts that wasn't quite so perfect, but is ok).
 

 
My smugness ended abruptly after coming back from a dinner break, looking at the parts remaining to assemble the rest of the rack, and realizing that I'd used the wrong piece (too long) between the uprights.  Doh.  Set my pretty little pin rack section off to the side and started over. 
 
The completed pin racks didn't come out perfect, but I think they are good enough for this first run.
 
Here everything up to this point is set onto the deck in the approximate final locations.  Nothing is glued.
 

 
Pretty happy with how things are looking.  Once varnished, should fit right in.
 
Things I've learned over the last couple days:
 
- I should have purchased stock in Micro Mark (and Amazon) the day I bought this kit.
- I ordered a Dremel drill-press/work station that will be here tomorrow or Friday.  It would have been *really* helpful for the pin racks, I think I ruined about 5 pieces trying to get the holes drilled acceptably.
- I need to find a source for some scrap wood to make jigs and crap (and a building board in the future), and to drill into instead of using a perfectly good basswood block.
- The flexi-shaft attachment thingie for the Dremel is the best bleeping thing.  How did I ever use a Dremel tool without one of these?
- One skill that has remained intact after 25+ years of not touching a model; I'm still really good at using too much glue and getting it all over everything.
- Buying drill bits from #80 to #60, and from 1mm to 2mm (in .05 and .1mm increments) was a very good thing.  Should have ordered metric bits from 2mm up also, those are on order.
 
Looking a number of steps ahead, the instructions have the pin racks and other pieces set onto the deck and glued in place permanently prior to setting the masts.  It seems to me that it would be much easier to set the deck stuff in place with the masts set, than it would be to set the masts with all that stuff in the way.  Thoughts on that?  Advice welcomed.
 
Oh yea, the bitts (that's what the instructions call it anyway) where the bowsprit will mount - should it be vertical in relation to the deck, or vertical in relation to the waterline when it is mounted?  The deck has an upward sweep in that area, which would give it a slight backwards slant if mounted vertical to the deck.
 
Thanks for visiting, and please feel free to throw advice, comments, or whatever else my way.

So this afternoon and evening have been pretty productive (what happened to the last 6 hours anyway?  I seem to have forgotten dinner).
 
After I repaired the hole in the hull, the next thing on the agenda was planking the bulwarks and stern.  I found a new use for alligator clamps!
 

 

 

 

 
Then on to the guard rails, where I found a new use for battery clamps (and lots of rubber bands).
 

 

 
Then I cut these little boards for the insides of the bulwarks.  The instructions just call them 'rough timber', so I'm not really sure what the actual nautical terminology is for them.  They'll be supporting the inside of the deck railing.
 
I had to remeasure the spacing for these little guys and remark them 4 times before I got the spacing where I was happy with it relative to the plans, and the spacing to the future location of the knightheads.  Seems that 0.15 ~ 0.25 mm makes a fair bit of difference when it's multiplied by 14.  Glad I bought that digital caliper!
 

 

 
During all the work on the hull, I often forgot to place something soft under the ship while I was working on it, and the result of that is some damage to the poop deck planking that I need to pull off and replace now.
 
The gap between the bulwark and the planking is caused by my very early mistake on the stern block placement and shaping, but it should be covered by the trim and railing later.
 

 
Still unsure on what to do with the hull, but I've read a bit today about using sawdust and white glue as filler to match the wood, so I'm considering using an X-acto knife to try to cut out the putty that shows up so well, and use that method to re-fill the hull and see how it looks and whether I can then get away with leaving it natural.
 

 

 
Tomorrow I'll trim the 'rough timber' and start forming the deck railing after work.
 
Oddball question about the forum etiquette.  Is there a 'normal' number of pictures per post, and should I continue to use the forum attachment system, or host them off-site myself?
 
Thanks,
 

So, to bring this up to date.
 
This was about the point where I realized that I should have been narrowing the planks at the stem starting with the second plank, due to how many more plank widths are needed in the middle of the hull vs. the stem and stern.  Woops, not nearly enough space left to fix that.  Another lesson learned.
 

 
I just 'faked' it as best I could, using inserts and stealers until I had it all closed up.  Pretty ugly, but I certainly learned a lot of things not to do when planking.  Hopefully other first time builders can learn from my mess.
 

 
I sanded it down, used some wood putty on the gaps I couldn't otherwise fix, and sanded again.
 

 
Figuring that there is no better time than the present to find out if it will work as natural wood, or will need to be painted, I went ahead and prepped it and varnished.  Paint it is!
 

The wood putty I used shows up glaringly here as you can see.  If it wasn't for that I think I'd go ahead and leave it natural, even with the planking blemishes, but I don't know of any way to make the putty issue go away other than sand it down and paint it.
 
From a hull/planking perspective, I wonder if a larger model wouldn't actually be easier.  While it would be more time consuming, the larger number of planks, and their size relative to the hull size would make the bends less severe, and require less spiling on each plank to make everything work I would think.
 
The other solution of course would be to double plank it, but I think I'll just go with paint on this one, as the entire point of this project for me was to learn about the entire model ship building process, and to determine if it's something I want to take on as a long-term hobby.  So far I'm certainly enjoying the process, and I think I'll just keep moving forward, blemishes and all and see where it takes me.
 
Tackling the poor alignment of the top plank vs. the deck line for the bulkheads is next.

Sunday morning, I removed the clamps, and was amazed by how well the stringers kept their shape.
 

 
When I removed the final clamps, I discovered that the stringers were actually stuck to the deck, and had to pry them off with a small screwdriver.  After they were unstuck, they did spring out a bit and not stay exactly shaped to the deck, but they were very close, and quite easy to hold in place with very little force, so I added glue, and clamped everything to dry.
 

 
After the stringers, the next item in the instructions is hull planking.
 
The forming method I've been using has been a combination of wetting and then holding over a soldering iron to dry while holding a bend, and sometimes clamping to the bulkheads and repeatedly wetting over time.
The first plank on either side went in quite well, but I managed to mess up the alignment against the deck on one-side.  I'll have to make a small insert when I'm done to meet up with the bulwarks where I did this.  The first plank I was able to do just fine using nothing but a bunch of rubber bands to hold them in place against the bulkheads to dry.
 

 

 
For the second plank on each side, I took a bunch of binder clips, and glued a small piece of craft stick cut to size with super glue, and made myself a set of ghetto 'plank clamps'.  They worked pretty well for about 3 planks, until I started to run out of room on the bulkheads for the clips to grab onto.
 

 
I got four planks on each side by Wednesday, but with a meeting on Thursday night, and going out on Friday night, no progress was made on those days.
 
On Friday, my new work bench was delivered (up to this point I'd been occupying the kitchen table), so I stayed up late Friday night assembling it, and then moving everything to the new bench in my library/office (probably not the best choice of rooms, and eventually I'll clean out another room to turn into a work room).
 

 
Yesterday I continued to work on planking, but now that there isn't much room on the bulkheads for my little binder clips, I'm using all sorts of different clamps depending on what I can make work.
 

 

 
Today I've been continuing to work on planking, but now I'm starting to insert extra planks in the middle, and stealers at the stern.
 
And that brings the project up to current as of this morning.
 
 

In my introduction thread, numerous folks suggested that I do a build log, so this will not only be my first ever wooden ship, but also my first ever build log.  Life is full of new things.
 
I've been getting the itch lately to get back into modeling, which is something I did with gusto when I was much younger.  I did the typical plastic type models, everything from 1/35 scale cars, to 1/48 tanks, 1/72 aircraft, all the way to 1/700 scale ships (small!).  My last modeling project was a super detailed 1/350 scale model of the German battleship Tirpitz, which was packed away into a box at about 20% completion when I was moving, and was never unpacked, although I still have it.  That was about 25 years ago.
 
As I was looking at that model and trying to make a list in my head of all the stuff I would need to start up again, it occurred to me that since I was starting from scratch as far as materials and tools, that I didn't need to go back to plastic.  Wooden models have always interested me, so I started looking around without too much seriousness, about what was available.  I was astounded at the variety and detail of the kits I found on the web, so on Friday the 15th, after work, I set out to a hobby shop that I had found in the internet that had tons of ship models.  The shop was a massive disappointment, with a terrible selection of plastic models and no wood stuff at all.  So, my trek began, as I went from one hobby shop location to another (several found online weren't even there anymore).  Eventually I decided to visit what was one of the best hobby shops in the valley (Phoenix) when I was younger, but was stupidly far away from both my home and my office.  I ended up at Hobby Bench in the far north valley (some 50 miles from my house).  Hobby Bench did not disappoint on selection, with 3 full shelves dedicated just to wooden ship models!  There were probably 40 or so kits to choose from.  Unfortunately nobody in the shop that evening had a clue about wooden ship modeling, so I just randomly picked the Carmen by Constructo as it looked nice, and didn't look super complicated or difficult as compared to the big square riggers, nor was it a simple one-piece hull model.
 
I bought the kit, a bunch of random stuff that I thought would be useful, and headed home, where I opened up the box and saw that there was certainly some assembly required!
 

 
Now that I had the kit, I was excited to begin, and being somewhat of an impatient person by nature anyway, I dug right in on Friday night at about 8:00 and started assembly.  In retrospect, this was probably a bad idea, as I did not do many of the things that I've since read on articles and build logs about squaring up the keel and bulkheads, so my false keel & bulkhead assembly is not true.
 

 
The other very early mistake I made was with the stern blocks.  The plans are fairly muddy for a complete newbie like myself, and I thought the blocks needed to be squared up against the bulkhead as seen here.
 

 
Unfortunately, the truth is that they should be aligned with the top of the false keel, not the bulkhead.  This means that my poop deck will not have the correct angle, but I think that once it's complete, I'll probably be the only one that knows it's wrong, I guess time will tell.
 
This shows that the assembly is not square.
 

 
I stayed up was too late playing with my new project, and in the wee hours of Saturday morning, just before 4:00am, I had something that was at least shaped somewhat like a ship.
 

 
After some much needed sleep, I got up, and did some web time, found this site, got on Amazon and ordered some miscellaneous tools and a copy of Historic Ship Models by Wolfram zu Mondfeld.  After lunch, I went back to work on the Carmen.
 
I started off with the shaping of the stem and stern, as the blocks were obviously not the correct shape.  In this area the Constructo plans are seriously lacking, as there are no plans to layout the correct shaping of these pieces.  I did my best guesses from the photographs and what seemed to make sense to me.
 

 

 

 
At this point my plan was to rough shape everything, then move forward and do more/final shaping when I reached a point in the model where other items would give me better reference points.
 

 

 
Continued next post, as I begin on the deck planking...
 

I decided to fake the planks, and scribe cuts, enhanced with pencil marks.  Made small holes to represent nails, but realised too late that these split the grain a little - too late!
 
Then it was on to the step and quarterdeck planking.  Didn't seem too difficult - but wait!
 
Without flash:
 

 
 
With flash shows different colours:
 

 
 
After adding the mock doors, hinges and handles:
 

 
 
It was later I noticed that there should be space to the sides of the doors for ladders.  My ladders are going to be very narrow!
 
The problem is, as a real amateur, I follow orders without question.  When the practicum said to use 5 planks in the centre, then make the door trims a specific size, I blindly followed.  Unfortunately my planks are a little wider than spec, whereas I think Mr Hunts were a bit narrower than they claimed.  Oh well - if only it was possible to read and understand (and remember) the entire construction before beginning a build!
 
Next the cannons.  How time consuming and fiddly are they?  I think I got the idea of a jig from Ken's log.  These were the carriages part way through, with the jig, and a few attempted quoins:
 

 
 
And assembled and in place but not yet finished or glued:
 

 
 
As I began the cannon rigging, I soon decided to leave out the blocks etc.  Just too damned hard and fussy.  I think they look complete with just the basic rigging (that's my excuse!):
 

 
 
As you can see, at this stage I have also added some ringbolts, the smoke stack, riding bitts, and other deck stuff:
 

 
 
There is some painting/sealing etc needed, but I still think I'm going to keep much of the walnut unpainted.  It is only my second build, and I'm still feeling my way with finishes.  And starting to figure what I should build next!
 
Cheers,
 
Brett

On the last leg of this voyage. Running rigging nearly complete.



I have a problem with a couple of the lines that are fixed close together twisting on themselves. You can probably see them in this photo. I will have to re-do them.


 
 

Yards and booms fitted.



 

A productive weekend in the shipyard. All the standing rigging is complete and ready to fit yards and booms.



 

A little bit more progress on my build. Having to work for a living is no good when you have hobbies or other pastimes. There never seems to be enough time to enjoy them. As you will se from tees pics, i have started on the rigging. Even after studying other build logs here, there still needs to be a lot of thought and planning before starting. I have made quite a few mistakes and had a few re-does, but am finally making some progress.

I hate how close up shots show flaws that you can't see with the naked eye.


 
The rain has started here now and we are supposed to have a wet weekend. Hopefully I will be able to get more done on the build.
 
Dave.

My erratic build continues. It is becoming harder to find enough time lately to sit down and spend any time on my build. I was lucky last week as I was able to spend a couple of un-interrupted hours on it.
 
Some pics of where I am at.
 



After advice from a post here, I decided on Brass Black for my brass fittings. After a bit of experementing, I am happy with the result. I found that soaking the fittings in a diluted solution of Hydrochloric Acid first, the Brass Black gave a much better result.



I have attached the rigging blocks to the masts & yards.



I couldn't help myself, I had to see what she looked like with masts & bowsprit on. Starting to really look like a ship now.
Hopefully more progress soon.
 
Dave
 

Starting to get back into the swing of it again. Hull painted, cap rails on & some of the deck fittings glued into place. I have yet to decide what to use for finishing the deck and bulwark lining.





 
 

I'm making slow progress with the bowsprit. Constructo gives no pre-cut pieces. I've had to fabricate each and every component. I'm not complaining, mind you, just struggling with poor instructions. I'm becoming a very good detective. Take the brass "V" hanging down. Constructo wanted me to shape two pieces of brass wire and make them square shaped? I just bought square bar stock and bent it "V" shaped. I still love this great hobby.

Quite pleased withe the square section on the end of the bowsprit.

But- spot the problem.

I've cut the angle on the wrong side. It's pointing to the side rather than vertically. Doh.
The connecting end was refitted with a piece of dowel and cut again to fit the sprit holder. This is all under the foc'sle so it won't be seen. More care needed.


 
I'm not too flash with filing octagonal sections, of which there's a lot from here on in. More practice needed.

The Granado is my second wooden ship build.  This follows the cutter Sherbourne which you can follow the link to in the MSW gallery.
The Granado was chosen for a vessel offering more than a single mast but still able to be displayed in a reasonable space.
Firstly a tribute to all the prior Granados on MSW's former incarnation - they proved immensely helpful and I owe a huge tribute to you all in helping to spot impending difficulties and work around them thanks to your efforts. 
After wantonly pillaging MSW for help with my first build it's time to add to the basket of knowledge that MSW members have so graciously given to me.
This build is by no means complete but hopefully of use to others as I found previous members' posts.
So on to the build...
The build was started in April 2012 and at this stage I've just completed the second planking above the wales and filed out the gunports.
The Caldercraft kit is all the usual business like efficiency with little in the way of complaints. The fittings are top quality with turned brass cannon, limewood for the first planking and walnut for the second.
 

 
No, it's not a botch. The lens curve making the stem appear out of alignment here.
 

 
One thing to watch for on this kit is setting the gunport patterns correctly. I thought I was being very clever in measuring the placement from the base of the keel. It resulted in patterns not quite meeting the tips of the bulkhead patterns. As a result at least half of the gunports had to be raised slightly.
Better to just fit them to the tops of the bulkheads. Oh well.
 

 
Another thing to watch for is the sweep ports. The instructions don't mention them until after the gunport patterns have been installed despite the plans showing them as illustrated. From there it's the somewhat more difficult matter of cutting them through from the outside and matching them up with the inner spirketting - no easy task. If your want the sweep ports showing on the inside then tak e gauge of where they should be before installing the gunport patterns and adjust once the lot is installed. It's not difficult but comes down to reading the instructions all the way through before taking any steps.
 

 
I found it made more sense to skip ahead in the build and install the lower stern counter before the upper hull sides were planked. It allowed the upper stern counter to be shaped to fit and also allowed the wales to be shaped to fit around it. The black used here is probably a bit too dark to see the chase ports to best effect. That might be looked at later.
 

 
The mortars went together nicely after some cleaning up. The mortars themselves are nicely cast brass that just needs some time with a file to bring out the best. Some brass wire handles were added as per Peter Goodwin's excellent Anatomy of the Sip Grandado book.
The example here is the stern mortar - the smaller of the two on board.
Following shots show the mortar surrounds in place which are identical for each of the two mortars aboard.
 

 

I've finally got all the sundry blocks ready to go for the main and fore yards. I noticed when i added the lifts that gravity plays no part in these small ships, so i have used the slab line to act as gravity and will brace the lifts and jeers.

The cross jack yard complete.

Historically the metalwork is blackened to simulate the forged steel, but some prefer letting the brass shine. Its kind of a personal thing.
 
Blackening is usually preferred to paint, but paint is less problematic.
Blackening can be a trial by fire, but E&T has done an extensive study on the process.
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/6977-the-blacken-it-trials/?hl=blacken

You should check out E&T's HMS Terror log also, its another good one, along with Dubz Syren and Sherbourne. Dubz Swift is in the finished section also, which is a Pilot boat similar to Carmen

Hello Everyone,
As promised, here is the latest update to my whaleboat. The plans and guide state that the first strake to be placed inboard is the thwart riser followed by the adjacent ceiling. Care must be taken to ensure that the thwart riser is 5/8” below the gunwale between stations 1 ½ and 4 ½. Forward and aft of these point the measurement is 11/16” giving it a gradual slope. The thwart riser starts from the most forward most frame and will continue aft up to the second from the last frame. Once you have placed the thwart riser, it is time to tackle the adjacent ceiling. The adjacent ceiling needs to be trimmed and/or sanded to get a nice tight fit along the thwart riser. Also, you will have to cut and install short wide pieces which cover the frames at the bow and stern.
Once that is complete you can go ahead and trim the slot along the keel to accommodate the centerboard trunk and mast step. The plans are nicely drawn and it is a simple process of getting the measurements for both of these items. Now I must point out that the height of the centerboard trunk is level with the thwart riser. I found it easy to add a strip of timber from the port thwart to the starboard thwart and use that as a guide to get the correct measurement for my centerboard trunk. Now before you glue it into place, make sure that you bore the pivot hole for you centerboard. The mast step is a simple affair so I’ll not go into it with the exception of pointing out that you will not bore the mast hole for it at this time.
Since it was raining today, I had plenty of down time to concentrate on the deck’s ceiling. I started the first plank near the centerboard trunk and work outwards. The first 4 ceiling planks are easy due to the fact that they only receive a 90 degree cut at their ends. The fifth and sixth planks are a little more time consuming because they have extreme angle that need to be cut just so. After the installation of each ceiling, I marked my boards where the simulated treenails would be placed above each frame. The following photos will show you how she’s coming along.
 
 

Once the planking is finished there are several very interesting tasks to finish off the bulwarks.  
 
The first challenge is some circular gun ports fore and aft.  I'd never cut circular gun ports before and they have to be perfect because the kit includes wooden rings to use as gun port frames.  I took a very conservative approach because I wanted them to (1) be the right size and (2) round.  Plus I didn't want to damage the inboard or outboard planking.  I drilled progressively larger holes and then used a fat round file to finish off the ports and was very happy with the result.
 
There is also a double rail with vertical posts that runs almost the length of the ship.  You make the rail by cutting the verticals from thin dowel and inserting them in holes drilled through the railing and into the base.  There is a decorative strip on top to hide the holes.  The challenge here is to get the spacing between the vertical posts just right and also to make sure they are all perfectly vertical.  The kit instructions are excellent and with some careful measuring, marking and slow drilling you shouldn't have any problems.
 
Before installing the vertical posts:
 

 
 
One thing that makes the San Felipe so interesting is the wealth of unusual features.  One is the semicircular rails in the focsle above the officers latrines.  On my version of the kit you had to cut out the semicircular rails from a sheet with a jigsaw and unfortunately I found the quality of the wood wasn't very good.--the grain was very open and the wood split a lot and I couldn't get them to look decent.  So I bought some thin sheets of higher quality wood, laminated them and stained them and they came out really well.  Again the plans are very helpful for assembling the railings and getting the verticals in correctly.
 
The last challenge is to cap the bow railings with a decorative metal strip.  If I knew then what I know now I would have used a similar strip for all of the side railings too rather than the wooden strip provided in the kit.
 
Be sure to take some time to mitre and sand the little strips so you get a nice joint.  Bending the strips into semicircles seemed impossible at first.  What I did was get a piece of pipe of the correct size to use as a form.  Then made two crude wooden handles and stuck a length of the railing metal strip in each handle and heated it over a gas stove until the metal was soft.  I then bent it around the form and tapped it into shape.  I felt like a blacksmith and was happy with the result.
 
These pics give an overview of all the things I've talked about in this post:
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Well..  now I'm hungry.   

Greetings,
 
The port spray shield is complete. The assembly was easy for the most part, I glued the straight part if the shield first then slowly added CA while I worked my way around the bend.
 

 

 

 

 
Cheers,
Tim

Shaping thοse 4mm dowels for the upper 1/3 of the masts is a really nightmare.
After 3 efforts and additional broken dowels, the 4th try was succesive...