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after I left here,  I took a look in the camera.   I have a few pictures from the other day....for cry'in out loud!   I even have a picture of the deck with a coat or two of lacquer Don.   I prefer the semi gloss......it tends to leave a slight sheen,  but not overwhelming on the deck.  decks,  I feel,  should be close to flat,  since they see the weather.   the lacquer I decanted is a flat......actually it's called dull coat {after reading what it said on the cap}.   this leaves the deck dead flat........a little too flat,  than what I prefer.

as can be seen in this picture,  the rub rails have been added.   having marked them off,  both sides were installed.

the transom was a bit tougher to do.  after soaking two pieces of strip stock,  they were bent and fitted.......one didn't make it.

a short time later,  it was trimmed and cemented in place.   that's when the filler came into play.......I went over the hull,  filling in all the imperfections I could see.   this included the transom,  filling in all that nonsense and what gaps were in the transom rail.


more sanding was done after,  evening up the stern keel {you can see the bulge there},  and anywhere else that needed help.   .......and then it happened!   the bottom paint was added.   I thought about doing the copper thing,  but thinking how small the the pieces would be,  I opted just to do the paint.   this is the Billing's paint - copper......the same paint I used on the AmericA build.   it's a different hue than the Testor's copper paint.........I have at least five or so bottles of it.  back when I was doing my first United States build {back in the 90's},  I ran out of copper paint and couldn't find any anywhere.  come to find out,  there was a shortage of copper {so I was told},  and all copper reserves were being used to make coin.........no copper products were being produced because of it.   my admiral and a friend of hers were out shopping one day,  and spotted a model paint display,  which had several bottles of copper paint.  she called me and asked me about it......needless to say,  I directed her to buy as many as she could.......I got all seven bottles.    so,  I've had this supply since then........and when Billing USA went out of business,  Tom sent me what was left of his inventory of paint.   this also had four or five bottles of copper paint.......I am lousy with copper, gold,  and silver paint {meaning,  I have a lot of it}.   the Testor's copper paint is more vibrant in hue, than the Billing's copper........it also dries to more of a flat finish.  the hull was masked of and painted.

  you see the blotch I did with the archive pen........actually,  the tip of the pen wasn't damaged by it either.....it lives to mark another day     then came the sad part.......    after allowing this to dry for the rest of the day...this morning,  I decided to paint the upper part of the hull.   I chose a nice green....Testor's paint.   I was about to add some thinner to it.......opening the cap,  I noticed that the paint had solidified!  I took my pick,  thinking that it just might have skinned over,  and tried to pull the layer off of it........wasn't happening.   it was jelly underneath.   oh well.......what to do, what to do.........I have nothing in the Billing's paint........unless you like Brunswick green {too dark}.   the only thing I have,  is a bottle of Model Master med green {FS34102}.  shaking the bottle and looking at it........I liked the color better....a better hue than the Testor's green I was going to use.   so......on it went!   I like it...........it's still a little blotchy because it's not totally dry,  but I think {I hope},  it will go away.


I have a little touch up to do on the starboard side,  but other than that,  it looks good.   I'm going to add a bit of tension here.....kinda make this a nail biter......the blotchyness did not go away.   I'm thinking of what I can do to alleviate it.   ....a second coat.......?   I did both colors with a brush........shows how much technique I've lost,  since I started to use an air brush.  I wouldn't have had this problem,  if I had used one in the first place!!   I have the Spraycraft compressor {I have a complete outfit of this brand of air brush}.......I could have set it up and used it,  instead of the compressor set up I have in the garage {it's still too cold out}.   I wasn't happy with the copper either........now that it is closer to being fully cured,  it seems to have taken on a faded,  dusty appearance.   I'll usually will do a primer coat before the color coat......I didn't in this case.   am I to pay dearly for it?  .....fine mess I've gotten myself into!   putting on the painter's cap......I have an idea.   icky-mae!

Looks nice, I have never used lacquer on a build but looking at your results I just may try it 

thanks to all who hit the like button
 
thanks Bob.
 
thanks John........so they would be framed  in between beams.   looking at the stagger lines,  I have them at every bulkhead,  as well as at every half measurement.   on some POB kits,  it might be hard to map out,  due to the bulwark posts.......but on this one,  it could have been done easily,  since the posts are to be removed.   in the future,  I will be sure to map the deck out before they are assembled.   bad on me for forgetting to do it on this one

I also started with the poop deck {aft deck}.   first was to border off the aft cabin.   I ran the archive pen around the inside edges,  just in case there were any gaps around the structure.

it took some doing........that piece of waterway around the transom was very brittle.......it broke a few times,  while I was sanding and shaping it.   it actually came out better than I thought it would, considering what I went through to make it.   add the sides and it was complete.......only some minor trimming involved.
 

then the planking began........

the hole for the rudder.......don't know why it was needed........the rudder doesn't come through it.   the wheel pad was added......there isn't a wheel box,  like the Cutty has.   it still needs to be made yet.   I'll get the rest of this done today........perhaps I'll throw just say the heck with it and do the fore deck too.   I can always snake the anchor chain in place when the time comes.

thanks Patrick.....still more to go    should look pretty good,  when the layout is all put together.  
 
speaking of layout........the main deck is fully planked.   one bit of advice I can give anyone who would be building this model in the future......fill in the hold and aft cabin punch outs  and map them out yourself.   I made a huge mistake in not mapping the deck platform out,  before assembly.......I did it later,  when elbow room was scarce.   but I think the holds are not positioned properly,  slightly off center.  the fore hold could come aft a couple of mm's.........the mid ship hold could DEFINITELY come back a few,  as it's position doesn't give enough room for the cabin structure.  the aft hold could come forward a few mm's and get it away from the bulkhead.  the holds are assembled around the openings......that's how I measured them.  I left an overhang around them {seemed normal to me}, but I see that perhaps they shouldn't have had any.   what spawned from all this was me having to alter the plank widths  in a few rows,  throughout the planking,  in order to keep the rows in sync.
     I did redo one area......partially due to a messed up mast hole,  but the outcome was the same.   the mast hole came out better......that was a plus    further thoughts of redoing it was shot down........if this were a larger scale,  there might be more promise    I also tried something I haven't done before......scraping the deck.   limited due to the small spaces,  but it worked well.....I finished off with sanding.   I've not stained it because I still need to do the aft deck.....so no finishing will be done until the aft deck is planked.  I'll do them both together.



what are the rule concerning butt staggers before or after a hold....especially in the case of a short plank?   should the hold frame work be centered between main beams?

thanks for the good word gents....you may think otherwise when you see how the rest turned out.  I'll get to that when I post the pictures   thanks to all who hit the like button as well.
 
thanks Scott and John    with a scale this size........no,  tree nailing is not an option  
 
thanks E.J.   I'm using the mahogany to simulate teak wood.   I've found that combining different woods,  can have quite a bit of eye appeal.  used in combination with different styles of deck planking, one can also add their own bit of decorative flare.  I was looking at one build the other day,  which I thought was very imaginative.  
 
thanks Pat......with what I've uncovered so far......let's just say that I'm still diligently looking for the ship in this box    ....and to think.....the Syborn has taken a back seat to this one {not really,  but it feels like it}.   I do have to laugh......the size of this hull is nothing that I've dealt with before {oh wait!!!!   I can't say that.....the Billing's AmericA}.  anyway......I'm so used to laying the hull across my lap,  as I work on it.   I had the archive pen in my hand........I went to move and the hull began to roll off my lap!   now it has a big swatch of India Ink on her port side    kinda reminds me of my near damaging experience with my Epiphone bass guitar.   it's shaped like a Gibson......it's called the Epiphone Les Paul for this reason.   the one bad thing about this body design,  is that it's prone to the strap to pop off.   I was at practice one night......and in the middle of a song,  it happened!   it began to drop,  and I grabbed it lightning quick!   it has my claw marks in the fretboard to prove it.......it never hit the floor      it now is equipped with strap locks.
     I'm almost finished with the main deck planking.......just a small area to go.   that half circle of mahogany,  i'm shaping is a pain.......it broke again.   oh well.....>shrug<   work continues  

Elijah- Thanks for stopping in, I'm looking forward to your next build log
 
Pierre - The rope for the handles is from Syren(.63 mm) and the the rope tying the lids together is just normal polyester sewing thread that I put a serving on
 
Ian- Hi! Thanks for the compliment and I hope things are going well for you
 
Bob - Thanks, I appreciate you dropping by
 
Dave - I was thinking of your builds when I finally cut up my rosewood board. I bought this board almost forty years ago and have never cut into it
 
E.J. - Hey how are things? Thanks for that, I may just go to my little cabinet and have a refreshment 

Fantastic work! She is really looking awesome!

I love the companion way (well, everything really!).  The model's stand is also outstanding.  Great work, Don.

You're going to be sorry to finish this labour of love Don. Thanks for posting these pictures of your beautiful work.
 
Ian

Yes looking real good. Question Don, is that the rope that comes with the kit?

Your boat is looking very nice! The rope work looks very realistic. 

Good morning all, Thanks to all those who have stopped by, left likes and/or comments.
 Just a small update. Some progress such as nailing the main rail(with .4 nylon fishing line) was a bit of a waste of time. I was so happy with the results on the companion way I thought I would do more of it not realising it would be lost in the dark grain of the walnut. Although it may look like what a house fly may have left behind the nails can be seen(if you really look close) on some of the close ups. Breast hooks, knightheads and the aft rail were also completed, I replaced the kit supplied walnut with rosewood for these. Another detail that is hard to notice is the rope used to tie the hatch lids together. I finally put my Syren serving machine together and decided to serve some line for the first time and give it a try. The line served is just normal sewing thread and I used the same thread for the serving, the final rope measures approximately .5 mm and again you have to look real close. 
 

An eye was seized in one end of rope then the other end pulled through and tied off with a couple of half hitches 
 
Take Care and Thanks for stopping in.

Good Morning All, Thanks to everyone for stopping in, for your likes and comments. This a new one for me, two updates in a week, but without my vehicle(another story) shipyard time has increased. I have completed the back rails which I will show in my next post as they aren't attached yet and will complete the breast hooks today as Mike is on edge waiting to see them. For now I have nailed the companion way and made some cleats from rosewood.
 

Here I am showing how I mask it to try and get a relatively straight line.
 

Here are a couple of shots showing holes drilled and nails in place. I used .4 mm nylon fishing line. First side I cut these off using flush cutters then sanded smooth, this side I used a sharp blade to cut off then sanded. The blade worked much better and very little sanding was required, just enough to remove excess glue. Should be noted the companion way had several coats of poly on it to prevent any stains from the ca glue.
 

 Here are the results, I think the .4 mm fishing line is the right scale and looks good. With a little more practice I may do a deck someday. I also found some light brown .3 mm fishing line that I may do a test section on my Pegasus with. 
 

Here I'm just showing the steps of making cleats. As you can see they are fairly large about 10 mm so they were fairly easy to make, that's one of the beauties of working at this scale.  The first one is after rough shaping on the Byrnes disc sander and the middle one is after some fine tuning with riffler file the cleat on the right is the kit supplied one. I would not normally spend twenty minutes making a cleat but I only need two so I thought what the heck. As you can see I have two extra ones that I am willing to offer to members here before I list them on ebay 
 

Here I'm rough shaping it on the disc sander.The thing off to the right in the picture is a crepe block used to clean the sanding disc, this helps prolong the life of your disc or belt if you have a thickness sander. You can get these at Lee Valley they are cheap and last forever.
 Thanks once more for stopping in and have a good one.
 

Here's part 2
As mentioned in previous post, the model has no crowsfeet, but it's a nice detail and I like the contrast between the black masttops and the light color of the thread.

a little more has been done to the build........nothing yesterday though.   I got side tracked doing video production.   we have a couple of bins of VHS tapes...movies...........we bought a VHS to DVD program for the computer.   I tried three computers,  until I found the one that will handle the program.  I had to give up my keyboard {hence my not being here yesterday}....but for my sacrifice,  I got a brand new one    of course,  the first tape I had to burn was our wedding video........I looked like a dork!
 
anyway........I did finish the aft deck.   the two deck in relation,  look pretty good 

it was sanded and scraped.....and given the stain coat.   it really changed the way it looks.


I have run out of the semi gloss lacquer.  I had gone to Hobby Lobby.......and my luck,  they don't carry it in the bottle.......I had to get a rattle can.   so I decanted some and I had to wait for the propellant to escape,  before I can use it.   I'll be giving her a coat or two today.  I had better hurry though.......it's my youngest son's birthday,  and I promised a taco supper for him and his girlfriend.  fun times had by all!  

I'm restarting this build.  Mike Shanks and I have been planning on doing a joint projet:  POF "Hannah" in 1/24 scale...the whole ship.  Not sure about rigging yet.  I think the Triton cross section will be good practice for that build.  I cut out and surfaced the blanks of hard maple I'll use for the frames.  The maple is 3/8" thick, giving a final double frame thickness of 3/4".  The footprint of the cross section at this scale is huge:  9-7/8" X 14-1/2"!  The photo shows the plans for frame 2 compared to a midship's frame of "Fair American" at 1/48 scale.  I'm also planning a building jig.  The jig in the photo is one of the popular "2 level" jigs used for the cross section, but it takes into account that the plan view profile of the model is not a rectangle.  The bulwarks curve slightly.  The profile of the sides of the jig (marked by the arrows are clearly curved.  Does anyone have a good way to lay out this curve accurately?  There is no plan view of the framing in the plans.

I'm looking at options for a building jig for the cross section.  I came across this post:
 
"Scott:
Please have a look at this frame assembly jig I posted a while back. This will solve all the problems of assembly the frames and getting the pieces properly aligned. Please give this a try before you go much further. This is what I intended everyone to use.

The only change I made from that photo was to add a section of keel in the notch where the frame will fit. I cut that keel piece off an extra long section of off cut from my keel so I know that it will be the exact same cross section as the keel. This ensures the keel mortise in the frames will fit perfectly on the real keel every time.

Russ "
 
It comes from a moderator's repost of the log "Scottacus Triton" on page 1 of that reposted log:    http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/1454-scottacus-triton-repost-by-mod/   
 
  Does the frame assembly jig mentioned, that was posted "a while back" still exist somewhere?  Does anyone have access to the jig plans?  My guess is that "Russ" could help me out, but I don't know who  he is!  Any help appreciated.  Thanks
 
Dave

After completing my Battle Station model in 1/24 scale, I was anxious to do another project at that large scale.  An entire ship at 1/24 would require an addition to our house, so I settled on a cross section.  I have plans for the HMS Granado in 1/24, but decided to launch a Triton cross section instead.  As soon as I enlarged the keel plans to 200% I realized a potential problem.  The lines on the plans themselves are 1/32" wide at that size!  I'm going to have to be very careful in sizing parts for this build.
 
I started with a piece of boxwood , dimensioned it on my table saw and thickness sander and cut a shallow kerf on each side for the rabbet.  I enlarged the kerf to a "V" groove with wood carving tools and square edged sanding blocks.  I made the false keel out of rosewood, and the keelson out of swiss pear.  I've posted some photos of my progress.
 
I'm requesting access to the Triton download area so I can continue this build.
 
Dave

Thank you to everyone for the nice compliments! I am still far from an expert at this and there are many others on here far better than myself so the kind words mean a lot.
 
Re-dos and start overs are definitely a major component to this hobby but that is usually a sign that you are learning and growing in your understanding of ship construction and the skills to build them. Go ahead though and curse me if you want, I feel the same when looking at some of those other works on here myself. If that cursing is because I inspired you to do something better then I will gladly take it! Inspiration and motivation is what this community is all about and I am proud that I can contribute to that.
 
Anton, I share that same sentiment on having builds from the same time period to compare with. Many of the things I have don on her were inspired from other S.o.t.S. and Vasa builds. While they are not exactly the same many of the features and practices of the era are close enough that they are interchangeable.
 
Again thank you to all for the compliments and the likes! Helps to keep me motivated and pushing myself for better!

For about the tenth time since I built the table top I redone it, most of the time for different try  for the color. Last week, I cut  about 6 inches in the depth and today I straitghtened the top because there was some curves in it. I used a long ruler, a  plane, a scraper, a sanding belt, an orbital sander. The result is good but up to today I was stuck with the idea that only a large belt sanding panel machine could do the job. Some time it is strange how we can limit ourself.

congratz Sjors!   she's a beautiful ship............very well done and a great accomplishment!  

Wow,
 
I'm blushing right now.........
Thank you very much for your kind words.
I watch her and I have a little mixed feeling.
She is finished but......it looks if one of the children is moving out.
 
Sjors

sad....huh Sjors........what do you do when they don't need you anymore?!?!?   your not losing a dependent model.......you've gained a ship!  

Thank you Chuck, Nils, and Michael, and to all those  who have re-visited the log and hit the 'like' button multiple times.
Scuppers
One of tidy up items to do is the Scuppers for the Manger.
I had much earlier in the build attended to the other six scuppers required along the hull and this is the last one.
These are 'false' scuppers in the sense that they are drilled from outside and do not connect to the scupper outlets in the waterway, a much too fraught exercise to consider.

The lead flanges are made from thin slivers of aluminium tubing bashed flat on my anvil and painted  with a flat lead grey colour.

The run of seven scuppers along the hull.
With Pegasus out of her cover I took the opportunity to take some general shots.




I keep spotting things that require attention or that I have overlooked, I think this process could take a while.
B.E.