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Augie: This is a compromise on my part. Normally, the deck would be painted as well, although it might be a different color. Quite often they used white on the inner bulwarks and grey on the deck. I have used the white margins and natural deck on a model before and it looked good. I just cannot bring myself to hide the lines and subtle shades of the deck planking. Russ

Alfons: Thanks. There is a lot of trial and error fitting with the margin planks, especially up forward. I am also looking forward to the deck planking. However, there is a good bit of work to do before then. I need to complete the margin planking and the bulwarks stanchions. Then the cleats for the stanchions have to go in. Also, the hawse holes and the lips for the pipes have to go in. There will be a doubler on the hawse pipes on the inside of the bulwarks planking between the first stanchion and the knighthead. The chainplates and deadeyes need to be installed along with the railing. After that, the rubrail can go on the outer hull. Once that is all done, I can paint the hull, along with the inner bulwarks and the margin planks. Only after the inner bulwarks and margins have been painted can I plank the deck. I want to have the margins painted and the deck to be left natural. Russ

That was nice work on the hull fairing and deck camber. Russ

Michael: The rope looks good, On the model the shrouds do look a bit thin. Do you have a source for the size of the rigging on this boat? Russ

Glad to see this build log back. This is a great little model and I am looking forward to seeing your progress. Russ

Bob: Well, how about that? I did not look closely enough. At a glance it look like brass strip. That will teach me not to read and write when I am in a hurry. Great work. Russ

Rusty: Nice work. The turned stanchions look very good. Russ

Another way to cut that rabbet is to use chisels. Make the stop cuts along the top and bottom and then gouge it out a little at a time. Russ

Alfons: Not sure why the lugs would not solder, but what you came up with will work. An alternative is to make your lugs with a pin that would go into a hole drilled in the spar. You can glue a paper or poster board band on to the spar and drill holes right through into the spar and then glue the pins of the lugs into the spar. Once the lugs and bands are painted, it looks like the real thing. Question is, will the glue hold? That is why soldering works so well. Russ

Bob: That is a really neat trick for making buckets. Thanks for sharing it. They look really good. On the bands, the brass looks great. Have you thought about using poster board or tape for those? Russ

John: That is remarkable. You know, they have a solution called "Brass Brown". Bluejacket Shipcrafters sells it, but someone else surely must have some such solution. It makes brass look like wood. Russ

David: Thanks. I hope I can make some progress on a regular basis. Russ

BobH: Thanks for the kind words. Actually, the camera fools us slightly. Right after I glued that plank down, I went at with an emory board and worked a good deal of sawdust into that scarph joint. That makes it looks much better than it was. Cap'n Bob: Thanks. I am happy with the stanchions so far. Carl: Thanks. I am having fun making the scarph joints, even if they are not that prominent. Those covering boards will be painted anyway. I will know that the joints are there. Russ

Very nice model. This was a really fun build to watch. Your attention to detail and a little ingenuity really made a great difference. Russ

The only thing about the backstays is that they are part of the tensioning of the rigging. You do not want to have to make too many alterations in the standing rigging after you already have the running rigging in place. I would recommend you get the standing rigging complete before beginning the running rigging. Russ

John: That is looking very good. Nice winch at the base of the mast. I like the iron work on the masthead as well. The sail hoops look great. What material did you use on them? Russ

Josh: Great looking build so far. If this is your first model, you are really doing well. To answer your questions: 1. sanding is essential, filling can be done on an as needed basis, and priming is optional. I prefer to use acrylics and let them soak into the wood, using several thin coats. The first coat will raise the grain, but you can knock that down with some fine sandpaper. After that, another thin coat, let it set overnight, and then anothet thin coat, and so forth. Build up the thin layers of paint until you get the level opacity you desire. 2. The waterline is where the surface of the water meets the hull. Below that waterline, these boats had a coat of anti-fouling paint, usually a reddish color, but sometimes it was blue or green. Red was/is the most common I think. 3. I would plank the deck first before installing the deckhouse and hatches. You can position the deckhouse and hatches, and mark where they sit so you can lay the planks right up to the edge of the structure, but it is easier to get a smooth finish on the deck planking if you have no obstacles in the way. I use a single edged razor blade to scrape the surface of the deck planking smooth. This will yield a better finished surafce than sandpaper. You can use the hatches and deckhouse as gauges to make sure you are getting the planks right up to where they need to be. 4. The hatch plank sounds like the hatch cover. The coamings would have a support area for the ends of the hatch cover so that the covers wuld lay flush with the top of the coaming. The coamings are the frame of the hatch that sits on top of the deck frames. They are set higher than the surface of the deck to help keep water out if the boat gets heavily loaded. Hope this helps. Russ

John: Thanks. I realize these small bits are rather mundane, but they all go towards making the whole. Russ

David: I should clarify that putting in the false deck on a POB model is a very good idea. Establishing the sheer line is important to the hull planking, and the stability it adds is very important. That false deck can take a some knicks and dings and then get planked over in the end. Russ

Michael: THAT looks great. Russ

Vern: I will say that the hull planking can come first, but I know there are many who like to plank the deck first. I like to plank the hull first because it usually the most labor intensive part of the hull. I would rather not have the deck planking, or anything else on the hull while I am turning the hull this way and that, sanding here, gluing there, etc. The hull tends to get knocked around a bit just because it has to be handled a lot during the hull planking process. There is one school of thought that says you can make a better job of the waterways, margin planking etc if the deck comes first. I have no trouble getting the deck planking in after the hull has been planked. I like the idea of having the hull planking in first so I can fit the waterway with a very close tolerance. I question if that would be possible if the deck came first. Others may, and probably will, disagree. Russ

Buck: This usually works well for me. Russ

Michael: Taking a second look, are your deadeyes aligned properly? I think they should be turned around opposite so that the middle hole of the upper deadeye is at the top and the one on the lower deadeye is at the bottom. I do not know why I did not see the first time around. Russ

Andy: The lift lines easy enough to see. Very good work on your rigging. Russ

The paint work looks good. That is quite a shade of yellow. Russ