ccoyle

First coat of varnish on the topside woodwork.

A bit of speculation on my part -- BlueJacket have a good reputation for fidelity to original subjects, and Dusek have been updating the old Mamoli kits as they re-release them, so either of those two is likely to be a good choice.

Hi, Jeff. I merged your update with your original build log. You can add updates in the reply window. I think the work you're doing will produce a much better result than a straightforward out-of-box build. Cheers!

Locking, as this is a double-post. I posted a response in your other thread. EDIT: Oops! My bad for locking this -- guess I didn't pay close enough attention. 😕 Fixed now.

Thanks, Popeye. Not much has been done on this project lately (a little bit, though), since the canoe is currently getting all the available free time.

We have to be careful to distinguish between Amati kits in general and Victory Models kits in particular; Chris designed the latter. I have HMS Fly from the Victory Models line in my possession, and I can attest that the instructions are definitely written and illustrated to facilitate ease of construction for intermediate builders.

Which is awesome. Some manufacturers might have simply shrugged and used the off-the-shelf fittings.

By virtue of the fact that is a larger scale, 1/200 will naturally allow for more detail. However, if you have seen some of the incredible detail sets that are now available in even 1/700 scale, the issue of detail per unit of scale is almost a non-issue. I think for many modelers it would be more a question of cost and available display space.

What you need to know about this is that Chris Watton, who started at Caldercraft, designed the Victory Models line for Amati before starting his own company, Vanguard. Chris is an innovator who doesn't rest on his laurels -- he is constantly seeking ways to improve his kits, including design features, materials, plans, and instructions. There's a learning curve for this trade, as for any profession, so Chris's early work, though very good on its own merits, is not quite as splendid as his later efforts. So, Mercury, being one of his last designs for Amati/Victory, is roughly 2/3 of the way along Chris's career arc. It's a very good design with great instructions, incrementally better than his Caldercraft efforts, but it won't have all the latest bells & whistles seen in his most recent Vanguard offerings.* Basically, you can't really go wrong with any of Chris's designs. * I think that's a fair assessment of Chris's designing career -- he may feel free to correct me if I got anything wrong.

Okay, the third coat went on today. I do not think there is actually enough for a fourth coat. I'm not 100% pleased with my work, although I gave it my best effort. Despite trying to clean away the sanding dust as much as possible prior to painting, I still found plenty of minuscule particles in the finish -- after all, I'm working in a garage, not a clean room, and I don't have a shop vac. Had a few minor runs, too. The glossy finish under bright lighting shows up every flaw quite well! After allowing the paint to become tack-dry, I pulled the tape. Voila! The speckles in the photo are irregular reflections, not bare spots. Can't wait to start throwing some varnish on that bare wood, but I intend to wait 48 hrs before flipping her over onto her tender bottom. Yes, I said that -- there's no need to quote it. 😆

Okay, this is a question for the experts on polyurethane paint out there. I finished scuffing exterior coat #2 last night in preparation for coat #3, and I became mildly alarmed at how easy it is to scuff the paint with 400-grit sandpaper. So, thinking ahead to bumping into rocks, brush, docks, and boat ramps, how durable is marine-grade polyurethane actually supposed to be? It doesn't say anything on the can, but is there a "completely cured" time in excess of the touch-dry/sand-dry times? Thanks!

My el cheapo tweezers have a bad habit of initiating that phenomenon. 🙄

Okay, now we're cookin'! This is the first coat of exterior top color. It's a polyurethane marine paint, so it dries like a hard shell and will add a little something to the hull's integrity. The paint is rolled on with a foam roller, and then I tipped out the bubbles with a soft, angled brush. I decided I didn't like the recommended disposable foam brushes for the latter task -- the regular brush gives me much better control. There are also two coats of interior top color already done, though obviously not visible in this image. 😉 Both interior and exterior will get a minimum of three coats, and the paint coverage has been good, so a fourth is definitely a possibility. Sand -- paint -- wait -- repeat. 😜

Welcome! Great work on your model!

Welcome aboard, Dan. I have always like the looks of Lilla Dan -- hope you do well with her when you get around to it. If you are near Fullerton, check out the Ship Modelers Association, one of the largest local clubs in the country and an NRG partner. I was a member back in my SoCal days. Cheers!

That is indeed looking very, very nice. Agree, but I do like the fact that the box art version shows an out-of-the-box build, which is what box art should be. The customer should be able to see exactly what he is getting for his money. Sadly, this is not the case for all manufacturers everywhere, as we are all well aware.

Oh, I wish! 😆

I did the second coat of interior primer last night and rolled on the third during lunchtime today (working from home for a couple of days). It is evident to me that a certain amount of unevenness will remain on the finished product, but I think that choosing a light interior color was a good decision. At least with the primer, the warts are not extremely obvious at normal viewing distances. I will begin applying the interior top color tomorrow. Today's photo shows the second coat of interior primer prior to today's work.

Wow. That barely qualifies as a "kit." It will be interesting to see if you can work some magic with this. Cheers!

Stein, that is a fantastic model! Please, please, please create an entry for her in the gallery!

The idea is that the primer fills in low spots; sanding knocks off the high spots, thus (hopefully) creating a more level surface, i.e. smoother. I still have a few dimples in the seams that I'm not completely happy with. These are spots where the epoxy oozed through to the inside, creating tiny puckers on the outside. They're still water-tight, and they won't be immediately apparent when the boat is upright, but they still bug me. I only have a small amount of the gray primer left, but I'm thinking I'd like to do a fourth coat. I have some foam rollers, so I may give the 4th coat a go with one of them -- it should produce greater coverage. I have been sanding with 120 grit between coats until now, but I will go down to 220 between these last coats. But before that I plan on flipping the boat over and working on the inside. Now that I've seen just how much "filling" the primer will do, I know there's no hope of getting a perfectly smooth finish on the interior (cuz of my amateurish epoxy and fiberglass work), so I won't fret too much about it and will just focus on gittin' her done. P.S. I casually mentioned to The Admiral the other day that now that I had the basic boat-building skills down pat, I needed to add another boat to my fleet, one that could take a small outboard motor. She gave me a long-winded reply that translates as "no." I wasn't too perturbed, because I know we don't have the room for a second boat anyway. 😉

Welcome, nehemiah. Those are all good kits you mentioned. Polotsk will have the simplest rig of the three, being a topsail schooner rather than brig-rigged. Granado and Flirt are both Chris Watton designs, and Flirt is much newer, so that kit will include all of Chris's latest design innovations. But you can't overlook personal preference, i.e. which ship do you best like the looks of? Liking your kit selection goes a long way toward build motivation. Cheers!

Third coat of primer. My paddle and car-top soft racks arrived today. I had quite the time settling on a paddle, but ultimately narrowed the decision to an angler's paddle from either Bending Branches or Best Marine. They were essentially the same paddle -- same design, same length, both two part paddles, both companies have great customer service. I finally opted for the Best Marine paddle, because it has a carbon fiber shaft rather than an aluminum shaft, so it is about 4 oz lighter. Most carbon fiber paddles cost at least $50 more, so I was a bit worried about that, but the company's reviews everywhere were good, so I took the gamble. BTW, did you know that high-end paddles can sell for over $500? Yikes! Now to wait for paint to dry -- again.

The easiest and most beneficial way to dispose of a large number of tools and supplies is to donate them to a local modeling club. The club can then auction the items off to raise funds, and your father's supplies will end up in the hands of people who can appreciate and use them. To find your nearest club, check here.

I love the Corsair, and Baa Baa Blacksheep was one of my favorite shows as a kid (even wrote a letter of protest to NBC when they announced its cancellation -- received a glossy, Robert Conrad-autographed B&W print of the cast as a thank-you gift). The few available card models of the F4U aren't particularly detailed. I'm waiting for Halinski to publish one, then I will be all over it.