NMBROOK

Thank you Nigel. I am following your Nuestra Senora build & it looks like a really nice kit.
 
Mark

I haven`t posted for a while - been planking. The first planking from the main deck down to the keel is now done & sanded. No filler was needed  . I was careful to add small shims & file a little as I planked. next will be cutting out the gunports & adding the mounting blocks for the cannon barrels. I will probably not be adding guns to the ports that are blocked by the bulkheads.
 

 

 

 

 
Mark

Thank you very much mate for your kind compliments!! :D
 
And some more photos... Unfortunately the rigging thread  i use (caldercraft's black  thread 0,75mm) that i have is finished. The thick rope that the kit include is natural color which is no comfortable to use.. Cornwall models is out of stock for now ...   So i have to wait for a while!!!
 
Cheers
Dimitris

Simply fabulous my friend!!
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Simply fabulous my friend!!
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thank you , thank you , thank you mate!!!!
 
Cheers
Dimitris

Simply fabulous my friend!!
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hello shipmates, Greg thank you for your nice comments!!
Many thanks for all the comments and likes!!
 
The masts are glued in place...Also I tied the first ropes to the three masts!! :)
 
Cheers
Dimitris

Excellent work my friend
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Excellent work Bob  Gosh.you really have 'motored' along since my last visit
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Excellent work Bob  Gosh.you really have 'motored' along since my last visit
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Excellent work Bob  Gosh.you really have 'motored' along since my last visit
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Can,t believe it,s been 3 weeks since my last post but i have as usual been tryng numerous variations in an effort to please my now worrying desire to achive the possibly unachievable .So i have decided to try to describe my failed attempts which may save others precious time and keep a record for my own future use .I had been looking forward to starting the rigging and had many ideas in my head as to how i would accomplish the look i was after . Little did i know !!!! .Forgive me if some ideas sound like the wanderings of a complete novice but after all thats what i am and what i finish up with may seem obvious to many as it now does to me ???
 I,ll start with the mainstays .  Apparently they are served to just below the mouse ,.My first snag was forming an eye in a served rope that looked realistic .The normal seized end just didn,t look right so i reckoned the joint needed to be spliced and then served , easier said than done ,by me anyway ,On the thiner ropes i found it easier to to form the eye unserved and only serve from that to the mouse . On the mainstays i served close to the eye and then finished by splicing and finishing the serving of the eye by hand , tedious but the only way i could manage it  ,just about acceptable ?
 

 
Next was worming the mainstays ,in the first pic i wormed it completely with 3 runs of black thread but later decided that it looked too much so in the next pic the finished version only has 1 run of black thread and IMO is enough to highlite it without overdoing it .I briefly attempted the weaving between the 2 stays but soon decided it wasn,t worth it .
 

 
Next was the shrouds , . I left the finishing of the top of the masts untill later which ment i could measure and fit the shrouds for the deadeyes and then remove them to fit the deadeyes and their seizing of ship.Care should be taken to make sure that the loop on the shrouds is a tight fit on the mast to ensure it sits correctly when tightened , first pic shows them too loose and the second how they should IMO look .
 


 

 
Unfortunately i had gone to far before i realised how it looked so i will have to live with it
.I didn,t fit hooks to the futtock shrouds on the mizzen as i thought they looked to bulky but ran into problems fixing them to the main shrouds as i was trying to attach them and the catherpins to the staves with as few knots as possible plus the seizings look oversized 
 
will have to be redone !!!
 

 
Moved to the mainmast and decided to fit the hooks and again the serving plus seizing looked out of scale so after several variations i finally came up with sensible and now obvious solution 
 
with a bit of measuring and marking i simply one end of the thread with the other end leaving no bulky seizing and a smooth run from hook to thread . It,s difficult to simulate seizing without it looking to large
 

 
Again i had problems keeping the tension correct so rethinking the futtock shrouds to the main shrouds ,this may also have to be redone !!!
 
The plan now is to serve the futtock shroud  as before and clip of the end used for serving then with a needle pull it through the main shroud and seize with very fine thread 
 

 

 
the stave holding the catherpins will be attached later . Thats enough giberish for tonite ,i will let you know if it works later . 
 
 
 
 
 

Rigging continues but hopefully now that i have figured out the basics it won,t take much longer to finish it .As you will see from the pics only the ratlines on the foremast need doing but have thought on another idea for fixing the futtock shrouds etc and will go into more detail if it works ????
 

 

 

 
Have been distracted lately and could not resist Daniel Dusek christmas offer so bought a Santa Maria and a couple of longboats . I still intend to finish the Vic before i start another build but as the longboat is an add on to it i reckoned it would be a change from the rigging 
 

 
What you get for £3.00 
 

 

 
It,s  a kit on its own and so far everthing fits well . at this price scratch building would not make sense , but time will tell .

Tied my last ratline so thought i would take a few pic to celebrate , Plenty of mistakes but from a reasonable distance i,m happy !!!    I eventually give up trying to get them perfect !!!!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

It has rained for several days in usually sunny south Florida. Rain means no golf. No golf means more modeling. All of this is a long way to say that I've done a number of items of work on the hull. Included in this list are the opening for the rudder in the transom and the extension of the stern post; the stern gun port lids; the timber heads; the hull steps; the jib outhaul fixed block on the stem; and the scuppers.
 
All of this work was straightforward and doesn't seem to require explanation. The last photo shows the hull as it looks to this point. I am now working on the channels and waiting for the arrival of brass strip for the chainplates.
 
Bob

Deck planking is now complete. I've done the starboard side, using the same procedures and materials set out in my prior post on deck planking. After sanding and finishing the planking, I touched up the red interior paint, where needed.
 
To me, this use of curved tapered deck planking was a perfect example of why we should not be afraid to try new things, or do something that may seem too difficult at first glance. Even old dogs can learn some new tricks. 
 
Next will be a variety of items on the outer hull.
 
Bob

Work on the deck planking is now well underway. I have completed the center and port side portions. After seeing how 
Chuck did the curved and tapered planking, I knew that I had to give that a try. I had considerable fear that it would be very difficult and turn out badly. To my surprise, it turned out to be much easier than I had feared.
 
My deck planking is holly, using 3/16" and 1/4" strips from Crown. The center portion is done, as is Chuck's, with straight pieces between the deck items (hatches, companionway etc.). The procedure for the curved planks was as follows: take a long strip and edge bend it (the holly bends quite easily); after bending, taper the strip to meet the dimensions that I had measured out at various points using tick strips; when the strip was bent and tapered, cut it into planks to meet the butt joint pattern; use a pencil to imitate the causing on one side and end of each plank; glue the individual planks into position.
 
Like Chuck, I used two hooked scarfs at the bow and three at the stern. These were made using the wider strips.
 
After completing this area of the planking, I chose, for two reasons, to to do the tree nailing on it before going on to do the starboard side. I like to break up the tree nailing, and I was eager to see what finished planking would look like. I chose to use a golden oak filler, that was lighter in color than the filler that I had used on the boxwood outer hull planking. After tree nailing, I applied Wipe-on Poly as a sealer and finish. I'm generally pleased with the result.
 
Now it's on to the starboard side.
 
Bob

I've taken the first step in the deck planking process. I made and installed the margin planks and waterway. I am doing the deck planking in holly, so the the margin planks were done with holly sheet and strip. The bow sections were cut from holly sheet, using card templates. The remaining sections were done by edge bending holly strip. The small pieces at the stern were shaped and beveled to fit. The waterway was made from 1/32" square strip that was rounded and painted red before installation.
 
I also painted black the areas under the gratings and skylight. Finally, before moving on to the deck planking itself, I drilled holes for the bulwark eyebolts and ringbolts. This was done now to avoid interference during drilling from the deck structures that will be installed prior to deck planking. The eyebolts were installed now. The ringbolts will be done at the time that the guns are installed and rigged.
 
Bob
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you very much Nigel!!
 
Cheers
Dimitris

Excellent work my friend
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hello shipmates,many thanks for your visits, encouragement words and the likes!!
The blocks on fore and mizzen masts are in place... It is time to prepare the jaws for the main boom and gaff on the mizzen mast.
 
Kind Regards
Dimitris

Hello shipmates, many thanks for all the likes and visits to my build log!!! Much appreciated!!
 
All the blocks on the main mast are in place...
 
Cheers
Dimitris
 
 

Hello shipmates , all pin racks and eyelets are in place also to the bow deck. Τhe time has come for me to begin  preparing the masts before glued in place! (pulleys and bases from the yards).. I have to buy a new table to the admiral for the living room...
 
Cheers
Dimitris

I dabble in bonsai as another hobby, and this Japanese vendor came very highly recommended by folks on the bonsai boards that I frequent.  Great quality tools, excellent customer service, and very fast delivery from Japan (on the order of less than a week).
 
http://kaneshin.shop.multilingualcart.com/index_en_jpy_9.html
 
 
While on their site, I noticed that they offer a full line of various types of tweezers.  It's been hard for me to find good tweezers for modeling.  I think I've bought and otherwise gone through about a dozen tweezers, and really only have one pair that seems to do it for me.  So, I bought a few from that website figuring I would try them out.  
 
Wow, the quality, feel and fit are fantastic on their tweezers.  Much better than what I was trying from vendors like Micromark.  A good chunk of their tweezers may larger than what we need building model ships, but they have a few shorter ones that work very nicely.
 
Anyway, just thought I'd pass their name along in case there are others that use tweezers a lot and have had a hard time finding good ones.  I'm not affiliated with them in any way, just a very satisfied customer.