BobG

Thanks Jeff! I look forward to seeing your progress on your build.

I've been on a little hiatus since I completed my Medway Longboat a few weeks ago and I have been mulling over too many choices of what to build next. I have 10 models on the shelf which is way too many and, in addition to those, I was considering the Cheerful by Syren and the Lady Isabella by Vanguard. The Cheerful will have to wait since Chuck is temporarily closed and having problems with the USPS and the Byrnes table saw I was going to get is temporarily out of stock due to a shortage of 120V motors. I decided to wait on the Lady Isabella too since I would like to try my hand at weathering a working vessel like the Lady Isabella and I want to learn to use my airbrush before I dive into that kind of a build So that left me deciding on a model that I already have and two of them kept drawing my attention: the Pride of Baltimore II by Model Shipways and the Pen Duick by Artesania Latina. I had picked up the AL model of the Pen Duick last year on eBay. It was out of production and, of course, AL is no more. After looking over the 3 Pen Duick build logs here on MSW and reading more about its owner, Eric Tabarly, and his phenomenal history racing the Pen Duick, my interest in her grew and she got the nod. It will also give me a chance to learn to use my airbrush that was a Christmas gift from my wife this year. There have been a series of 6 Pen Duick ocean racing yachts. The original Pen Duick, a gaff rigged cutter, was built in Ireland in 1898. Eric Tabarly's father acquired her in 1938 when Eric was 7 years old and taught him how to sail on her. Eric went on to become one of the most legendary, long distance racing sailors in the history of the sport winning and setting records in transatlantic and transpacific races among many others. The Pen Duick eventually fell into disrepair and the hull rotted after World War II. Eric began restoring her in 1956 and completed the restoration in 1958 with a new polyester resin hull. Tragically, Eric Tabarly drowned in the Irish Sea on the night of June 12-13, 1998, when he was knocked overboard by a spar. His body was recovered by the trawler An Yvidig on July 20. Eric Tabarly in 1990: The Pen Duick: The AL model of the Pen Duick is based on the boat after she was restored in 1958. I found the materials nicely packaged and everything appears to be there although I haven't inventoried it yet. The false keel and bulkheads are nice plywood and the laser cutting is clean. There are also some mahogany laser cut parts. Planking strips of ramin and mahogany along with some African walnut dowels for the mast etc. The brass fittings are very nice and there are some white metal fittings and brass strips. The belaying pins are the typical, ugly, bulbous ones that are in so many kits. I'm sure I'll end up making new ones and I will probably replace the blocks and rope with some from Syren. The sails leave a lot to be desired and they don't match up in size with the plans. I might have to learn how to sew.... There are two, large, double sided sets of plans and they appear to be 1:1 but that is not indicated on the plans. The sails certainly do not match up with the plans either; they're too small. The instructions are in several languages including English but they are very brief. The instructional photos are a bit more help but I'll still be flying by the seat of my pants trying to figure things out. I want to try and do the deck planking with joggles as shown below. The kit simply has a straight piece of mahogany laid down the middle of the boat from the stem to the stern. The build by hof00 here on MSW was done this way and he explains how he did it. I think it will be tough to get all those joggles laid out and cut correctly and to be able to plank the deck so it's symmetrical on both sides. This will be a long shot for me but I'll give it a go and see how big of a mess I can make.... I picked up this used book on eBay hoping that it would have some nice photos in it but it's more about the various versions of the Pen Duick and their racing history. It is a very good read though. I have the feeling, for whatever reason, that this build may turn into a rather directionless adventure for me. I hope some of you will take an interest in following along and, perhaps, steer me in the right direction when you see me veering off into the abyss. So here we go...

Really good, Dave!

My Medway Longboat is finished and I finally got around to taking some final photos. I started my build back in November and it took me 6 months to complete...what can I say, I'm pretty slow. It certainly wasn't always smooth sailing for me but I managed to navigate my way through some of the rough spots and, in the end, I ended up with a model I quite proud of. It was essentially my third model and it was by far the the most complex of the three. I had never done any rigging before and was really apprehensive about that part. Curiously, it ended up being one of the most satisfying steps of the whole build for me. It was as if the model really came to life with the rigging since it gave the boat so much more interesting detail. We've found a nice place for her to be displayed on top of a small bookcase next to my modeling desk. I find myself looking at it quite often and can barely believe that I actually made it. A great sense of satisfaction comes with the realization of all the hours and care that went into building it. It certainly was a labor of love and that love will be passed on to my son when he inherits it some day in future. He has followed along as I built her and I think it will mean a lot to him when it's his to keep. I'm not sure I would have made it to the end without the support of those of you who took the time to follow my progress and give me advice and and offer kind words of encouragement along the way. Believe me, it helped me get to the finish line and I'm very much appreciative. So a big thank you to each and every one of you and I very much look forward to seeing each of you get to the finish line as well. Cheers!

Thanks, Mark, I'll have to give it a try. Does it blacken as well as some of the other more popular blackening solutions like Birchwood Casey Brass Black and Jax Pewter Black?

Hello Candice, I have had problems with using a brass blackening agent only to have it flake off. The advice I got form some forum members here was that the brass must be rigorously cleaned in order for the blackening agent to work well. Click on the arrow in the upper, right hand corner of the link below to take you to an informative post by Bob Cardone: I've never heard of liver of sulphur. Any chance you could post of few photos of the eyelets you blackened with it? Better yet, you could start a build log and so we could follow the progress on your model. There are many very experienced modelers here who would be happy to give you advice on any questions you might have or problems you may run into. Good luck on your build!

This is a very interesting model and you are doing a fantastic job on the weathering. How did you weather the deck and how did you make the salt streaks?

You are making a fantastic build log of this historic ship. Your build log will be of great help to other modelers if you continue to document your progress as well as you have already. That's the way to do it. Making sure that everything is square will save you lots of problems later on in your build. I would like to know the answer to this also. I ruined a plywood keel once by soaking and then pressing it flat over night with some heavy weights. Good luck on your build. You're off to a great start!

You have an impressive collection of completed models, stuglo. It would be great if you would post some photos of those models in the gallery here on MSW. I would also love to see you make a build log of the Victory bow section you are currently building. That's and interesting model and think a lot of forum members would follow your build. Cheers!

The Ponte Berlin is going to look great when your done with it!

That's a beautiful boat. I love these working vessels and I especially like the one's like this one that has lateen sails. I Googled Artesania Latina Grand Lijon and nothing came up so thanks for the photos. Start a build log. I'll follow along for sure.

I have found that sanding off the laser char is only really necessary on those surfaces you want to finish as the natural, bare wood. You will see conflicting opinions about whether the laser char should be sanded off of surfaces that will eventually be glued but, I followed Chuck's advice, and found that it wasn't necessary. I tried a test where I glued a few scraps together with the glue applied to surfaces with and without the laser char and they both made strong bonds. Some model kits have terrible laser cutting where the char is extremely heavy and the cutting is uneven. I will sand those surfaces very lightly just so I can get a flat seal between the glued pieces. Be careful to keep the edges square when sanding the char off any flat edges. It's easy to round them somewhat and then you end up with gaps when you glue your pieces together.

Great to see you back in your shipyard and posting again, Dave. I've never heard of this model. It would be great to see a picture of it...or better yet...a build log... I hope you are safe and well during these crazy times.

Now that's funny! You've made a great choice of models to get back into the hobby. I look forward to following your build. Good luck, Ernie, and enjoy the ride!

I'm sorry to hear that your business is being adversely affect by the pandemic. I was just about to pull the trigger on a table saw and maybe even the belt sander and thickness sander. Hopefully, your 120V motors will arrive sooner than later.

Congratulations on this beautiful build of the Pen Duick. I think the Pen Duick is one of the most stunningly beautiful sailboats ever made. I've had this kit on the shelf for a while and I'm seriously thinking of having a go at it. I am concerned about the nearly inadequate instructions and the poor quality of the sails but your model has given me the inspiration to go ahead and attempt it. I want to try and joggle the deck like you did but it will probably be an adventure for me trying to figure out the layout even with your instructions. I love the lines of this boat so much that I figure I might as well jump in with both feet and see how much trouble I can get into! I hope you will be available to lend me some advice along the way with the inevitable problems I'm sure I'll run into or, more than likely, the problems I'll create. I'll be pleased if my boat turns out half as well as yours.

Many thanks Chuck and Glenn for your replies. I do understand that the Cheerful is a semi-scratch build with options regarding how many things you can select or not to build from scratch. I would probably buy all the optional packages and only scratch build what is absolutely necessary since this would only be my 4th build. I've read several logs and, even with buying all the optional packages, this build would be a significant challenge for me at my current skill level. I think I could make a reasonable go at it with the excellent instructions and some help from other Cheerful modelers. I'd certainly make mistakes along the way and would probably ask some questions that would make people roll their eyes but, I'd swallow my pride and simply try to learn and enjoy the journey. I loved using Alaskan Yellow Cedar in building the Medway Longboat. It looks beautiful and is easy to work with. I did find that I needed to wear a dust mask when sanding it though. I seem to have a sensitivity to it and it would set me off coughing pretty quickly when I would sand it without a mask.

I hope you will one day continue to finish this stunningly beautiful sailboat. Your craftsmanship is outstanding. I have the Artisania Latina Pen Duick model and I'm thinking it may be my next build even though it will not come close to being as beautiful as the one you are building from scratch.

I'm following along as well, Glenn. I'm currently between builds at the moment having just completed the Medway Longboat and the Cheerful is on short my list. The Medway Longboat was a big step up in complexity for me and the Cheerful would be yet another very big step up in the learning curve for me. Have you already purchased all the Cheerful materials you will need to complete the entire build including such things as the various, optional Cheerful packages plus rope, blocks and deadeyes, etc? I would like to make a list of everything I would need to buy plus some extras of various materials. I've browsed the Cheerful on the Syren website but I'm not sure that I'm am fully understanding what would a complete list of everything consist of. If you have such a list and could post it, that would be great. Thanks.

I really enjoyed serving ropes on my Medway Longboat using Chuck's serving machine. It was fun to use and I got much faster with a little practice. I would apply an extremely tiny spot of CA with the sharp point of a dental tool exactly where I needed it to secure the thread, and I used my lighted magnifier to be able to see exactly where to place the glue on the thread. This process worked well for me.

You're doing a fantastic job on this beautiful model! I'm hope to be able to eventually begin to build a model from scratch and this model is one that I have been thinking about. Do you think this would be a good model for a first time scratch build?

You've made a wise decision to select a good model for your first wooden ship build. Be sure to start a build log and don't hesitate to ask any and all questions you may have. There are a lot of very experienced modelers here who are more than willing to help you successfully complete your model. Good luck and enjoy the journey.

She looks terrific and the flag and sails are wonderful!

Well you've certainly be committed to this build and, from the looks of it, it's worth it. She's beautiful!

I'll be watching this build too. I've looked at these models and am really curious as to why they use the unusual method of stitching the model together with copper wire. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.