bigcreekdad

Chuck...after some serious sanding and a semi dark stain, it still looks like crap. I am going to replank.

Jaager...not understanding your first sentence...please clarify.

good idea....thanks

I'm going to scrape with the razor blade, as advised, and the apply a medium dark stain. If I'm not satisfied, I'll plank over it. 

This is doubly frustrating as I bought and milled my own planks with some very nice maple I got at Woodcrafters.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Live and learn I guess. I do want to treenail my next ship (Fair American), so I will put way more thought into it.

Used my smallest drill bit. Hole alignment leaves much to be desired, but I'm more disappointed in how this looks other than alignment.

I used wood filler.....maybe too dark, but I'm not at all thrilled with this.

Any thoughts? I'm far from looking for someone to convince me it looks good, so have at it.

I've built 4 ships....the Convulsion was my favorite. Go for it!!

Thanks to all.I've picked up some maple. I'm going to partial plank it...treat it (maybe gun oil) and see what it looks like.

Thanks Grope....oak was on my list. 

John-Wilmer...perhaps you should send me that piece before ages too much.

Doesn't mean I don't want to hear them. C'mom man!

And how do you finish it?

Actually...didn't sleep on it. Decided to quit whining and proceed. Keel has no warping, and half the bulkheads are installed.

I just finished the Pickle, and after cleaning up, thought about my next build. On the shelf were both the Fair American and the Dos Amigos. I decided on the Amigos, and pulled out all the box contents. I was quite surprised at the wood quality of the laser cut parts....seemed thin, flimsy, and....well, cheap.

I usually read a few build logs of others of the ship before going too far. I found only two for this ship, but both builders seemed to  echo my thoughts. It appears that other wood was substituted in some cases. 

I have a bit of pear and boxwood that I plan to use on my Triton cross section build, as well as to plank above the wales on the Fair American, and I really don't want to use it on the Dos Amigos.

I'm half tempted to put it all back in the box, and switch to the Fair American. However, I know if I do, the DO kit will remain on the shelf.

 Been used to the higher quality (IMO) of the Jotika kits (Pickle, Sherborne, and Convulsion), and Model Expo (Bluenose).

Gonna sleep on it.

I'm rigging my Pickle build. Plan sheet 4 of 6 shows 2 tackle pendants  on both the main and the foremast. I see no rigging attached to them in any further plan sheets.

Any Pickle builder out there to help me out?

I've been trying gun oil....seems to look good

More

Is there any easy way to do this, without investing in a loom?

I read on another site of modelers being very pleased with this thread. I looked to buy some to try on Amazon, but it does not give sizes. Does anyone use this, and ,if so, how do you diirentiate sizes?

Thanks

A bit more progress. This is the fun part. You can see that I needed a cheater piece. One rib out of whack, but replacing it is out of the question at this point. All will be covered anyway. Next time try I try one of these or, good God!, a full build I will have to be more of a perfectionist with the ribs.

Pete

Just getting ready to do the cross beams on the lower deck of my build. I was really worried about how to proceed, but after looking thru your log of that part of the build I feel much more confident. Thanks much!!

John

I'll take the advice given by both of you....thanks!

Hmm...this photo really emphasizes the color mismatch of the two outward walnut pieces...the ones next to where cherry begins again. Odd....I've used the same sheet of walnut. 

It bothers me....would you replace them?

a bit more progress

A few more planks added. Used cherry this time (a new piece, with no breakage problems). Need to decide at this point whether to continue with cherry, or alternate with walnut. Anyone have any opinions?

Also, when cutting planks with the Byrnes saw, what blade do you use?

Pete...not sure. I've tried gun oil on some test pieces and that brings out color as well. Ever try it?

I was intending to use cherry for the inner planking, but yet another piece of cherry broke as I was feeding a piece into my Byrnes thickness sander. I'm convinced I picked up some bad cherry at Woodcraft. So, I decided to use walnut (also from Woodcraft). No problems with this, and layed 4 pieces. Wow...do I love the contrast of the walnut and the cherry!

What do you think?