KeithAug

Phil, Keith, John - thank you for the feedback. One day I will have to learn to do it properly by carving.

Keith - It seemed to be much enjoyed by both the Bean and her aunty "Stinkey" (my daughter). They played happily for hours.

I have to agree with Keith that she in now looking pretty damn good John.

More than one way to skin a cat. I usually follow the thin lamination method and your method had never crossed my mind but I will log it for possible future use. Thank you.

Excellent work Hakan. Pity about the rework but we all suffer from it.

Still catching up the post with work completed pre Christmas. I finished the various bits of decoration. I put on a second coat of metal paint and left it for a couple of days before overpainting with Vallejo gold paint. The under-paint turned out to be still a bit soft when I applied the gold which fortuitously produced a textured finish which I felt was better than a smooth finish. The decoration was quite flimsy and this allowed it to be easily contoured to the hull. I held the decoration against the hull with an elastic band and a plank and then dripped CA glue into space around the decoration to permanently attach it.

A Happy New Year to you all.

More story gems Phil, oh and solid work on the transom.

Thank you the twins! Druxey - thank you and complements of the season to you and yours. Thank you Glen - I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Hopefully Andy. Because she is with her alternate grandparents in Lyme Regis she won't be getting it until 1st January when we go to "sit on" the Grandchildren before they return to school / nursery. Anyway back to the main event and a start on reporting the few jobs that I managed in parallel with the dolls house build. I tried both versions of your suggestions for cutting out the gingerbread. The reverse blade method worked but I found it a bit slow so I glued the 2 sheets of brass together with double sided tape and attached them to a third sheet of 1/16" plywood. This worked well. The cutting was somewhat quicker than the reverse blade method but still slow enough to provide an acceptable degree of control. "Somewhat quicker" is a relative term as it took me ages to work my way around all those nooks and crannies. The length of the decoration was circa 7" and my jewellers saw only has a 3" throat so I has to make the decoration in 3 pieces. The next photo is part way through the first piece, and features the first broken blade. And here is the first piece completed. And then the second piece - sawing completed but still mounted on the backing plywood. Then separated, using white spirit to dissolve the double sided tape. I then applied a first coat of metal paint to start building the thickness. I also started building up the prow decoration. The scroll was turned and glued in place. Next i turned the elongated "bead" before shaping it and attaching it to a piece of 1/32" ply. The next photo shows it temporarily in position with a couple of extra bits of carving also in place. The 4 beads in front of the scroll are .04" ball bearings. I have still much to do in this area to reproduce the finished article and of course much of it will be painted gold. I'll catch up a bit more before the New Year.

Nor are the jaws perfectly aligned, which makes them pretty useless. I have bought on line and from reputable modelling suppliers but both sources have by en large failed. I think jewellers may be a better source.

It happened a long time ago. The story goes - a British car manufacturers delegation went to China to do a deal but after their Chinese hosts had plied them with booze they woke up to find they had signed over the rights to the MG brand without getting anything substantial in return. MG's are quite common over here as a well specified but rather uninteresting cheap car option. They are cheap enough to sell well. Chinese cars continue to wreck the western car manufacturers!

Yes John , it will be good to see meteor taking a leap forward.

Lovely Keith, particularly when weathered.

Interesting Mark. I just renewed my Humbrol white so It will be interesting to see if I encounter the same problem. Hull looking very neat.

Ouch! I hope all is going well and that you enjoyed Christmas. The boat yard can always wait until spring.

She looks beautiful Hakan. Best wishes for the new year - nearly 3 years now. Hopefully many more to come.

Beautiful work Valeriy.

He only just made it. Nice bit of detail.

Yes - what Eric said. I hope your Christmas was wonderful.

Excellent work on the hull Phil. You have been busy. The stories keep me well entertained.

Thank you Pat, unfortunately only got one, the second turned out to be a boy. Hope you had a great Christmas. Yes John but it was a bit touch and go. Not as much fun as boatbuilding. Phil, I was a bit worried we might get hung in the toilet.😬 Keith - Fingers crossed! She might just reject it in favour of some tech!

Fabulous news Graham. The world best Christmas present. Congratulations. And to your family, Ole Bob and the Wonky Donkey too Keith.

"God bless you merry gentlemen" and ladies. I am sorry I haven't been around for a few weeks. Dolls house building and Christmas shopping have decimated my time in the shipyard. The good news is that the dolls house (and shop) is finished sufficient to be delivered to Bean (Eve) by Santa. Bean and Ben are being entertained by their alternate grandparents this year but Santa is delivering the dolls house to her home address in time for our New Year visit. I hope Bean won't be too worried about Santa's delivery mistake. My son has been at pains to remind me the dolls house is to be "played with". His way of telling me that finesse isn't required. I hope that I have met his criteria. I leave you all to judge. Thank you all for following along with my build over the last twelve months, as I look back I see that progress has been somewhat slow. Fortunately I have made a bit of progress since my last post so I will post an update later this week. With a bit more time on my hands I hope to catch up with all your build logs before the turn of the year. In the mean time I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Great work around the rudder post - very nice detail. Ditto the bow strengthening plates.

It is impressively regular, I marvel that you managed to do it with a knife. The finished awning is wonderful.