zoly99sask

Hello everyone,
 
this is my third kit build and my first build-log. I wanted to build the excellent cheerful semi-scratch cutter designed by Chuck Passaro next but decided to build this one first cause it was a gift from my wife last christmas and she keeps asking me when I will begin building it. So construction has begun with little one-year delay. The kit itself seems to be of good quality but I may replace some wood with boxwood and some cast-parts. First thing I did was to build a rack to put the model on during the construction. Then I carefully released the bulkheads to dry-fit on the keel.

Been busy working on the cabin layouts. The main problem that I have now is that to build the cabins the deck layouts do not align properly. So, now I get to redesign the decks to work the way they should. I guess when you are not planning on showing the inside, it doesn't matter if they physically line up. Maybe I am making this harder than it has to be but, I want it to make sense and look right.
 
So, here is a picture with the latest look. Basically the two horizontal strips that are clamped to the frames are where the decks should be. You can see where the false decks are designed. It really isn't bad until you get to the stern at which point nothing lines up right. I can adjust the gun ports on the false decks and shift the dummy blocks for the canon barrels for the new alignment easily enough. The upper decks and quarter decks will be a different challenge. I have a couple ideas on how to do it. More to come! 

very nice Eric.............and you use legos as well       is this a new offering from Mantua?    this must be a double plank model......or is it to be covered with P.E. plating?

After a Long time I can Show new Progress of the build of my Sloop. After the stem I started building the lower and upper apron. Especially the lower apron, was really difficult. I need three trys until I get an result which I decided to use for my build. I think that I wouldn't get it better. I accent all glueing joints with brown color.       After finishing the stem looks as in the following picture:     David Shows in his book a simplified method for Building the rising woodI decided to follow the more detailed way, because I have a very precise Position of every second Frame. I think that this will help me in the future. I used this simple dummy frame during the build for checking the wide of the notches      
Next step will be the after deadwood.

The second year of my build is almost over. Not much progress this year, but I hope that I can post a last update at New Year's Eve.
 
It's time to say Thank You to all who followed my log, to all who wrote their own log I where I found so much hints and inspiration and to the crew of this wonderful forum for their great job..
 

8. Treenail Holes
 
I've gotten all the frames fitted for the keel and keelson now and am starting to work on treenailing. One of the little things that I wanted to make sure I did was have the treenails evenly spaced and not just 'eyeball' it. Just one of those things that can look crummy if done wrong, and I really have no desire to mess it up and cut anymore frames! So I wanted to come up with a template of some kind to correctly drill my treenail holes. This is what I came up with for the floors
  pretty straight forward... It's just a cutout from the plans with the holes measured out...      The template for the heels of the futtocks took a little more brainstorming. I ended up with the following template. It's just a piece of rigid plastic I cut from the packaging of a pack of batteries. I just scribed a straight line down the middle and poked 2 holes an even amount from each side of the scribe. The scribe was placed on the joint on the frames and a mark left where I was to drill...      Overall I was happy with the results....      For the actual treenails, I was planning on using my old faithful bamboo skewers pulled through a drawplate (the Byrnes drawplate is the way to go..), but after alot of tests on old frames with different finishes and and even trying to soak the bamboo in stain, I'm just not liking the look. I ripped some boxwood (lord knows I have TONS of scrap to work with...) and tried a few trials and it looks real nice- very subtle but you know it's there. So now I'm going to attempt boxwood treenails, which won't be easy but it's the look I want so I'll suffer.  Anyway- this is what I have so far. I've also gone ahead and finished my keel (apple), keelson (apple) and false keel (indian laurel) with tung oil. -Chad         

Totally agree about the value of making your own scrapers. I wish I'd done my rabbet like that now I've used a scraper for the waterways.
 
On the tacking down of the templates, I use a water-based glue stick (Pritt stick in the UK) for two reasons:
 
1. It's easy to put on, and so if an edge lifts off it's really easy just to dab at it with the stick.
 
2. It's much easier to remove than the contact adhesive rubber-based glues. All you have to do is paint it over with a brush or dab with a sponge.
 
I also agree about the learning you've done. On my previous and first build I found that on average I had to make something twice over before I'd get it right a third time. There are some people here who've even built a near complete ship only to find it was absolutely necessary to start all over again. If you see it as learning, as you've done, then the pain is very much less!
 
On my Triton build I've had to do quite a bit of insertion of wood pieces to make up for over-rigorous sanding but oddly enough that's a skill I've really enjoyed learning.
 
Looking forward to the recovery stages!
 
Tony
 
Tony

7. Dry Fitting Frames
 
So I now have all the frames cut and together, but they are still rough. I decided I'm going to fair down the frames all together once they are mounted on the keel like it would be done on a full framed model just for a little practice. I don't see this being a problem once the frames are treenailed down and the keelson is in place. I think I will also put spacers in above the wales since both sides will be planked wales up, which will add a little sturdiness. 
  I'm now doing a final fit of all the frames to the keel and cutting the notch for the keelson. I had cut it very roughly- and in hindsight probably could have cut a little tighter- so there's alot of sand a little and check, sand a little and check... . Luckily this can all be done in the house and not in the garage where it's getting a little chilly.  Here's where I'm at..   
 

 
these are the tools I've been using for the keelson. The large file was an impulse buy at Harbor Freight for a dollar that has come in very handy for this. It seems big but for some reason is easier to use.. 
 

 
..So once this is done, I'll be treenailing the frames, finishing the keel and keelson with tung oil, then treenailing the frames to the keel. Onward! -Chad

Hello again! My boat is now a year old! I got it yesterday one year ago. I have finished the masts and have started work on the stays. Here are the pictures.





Until next time!

After finishing some other projects I finally managed to get back to brig Mercury . 

Finally working with some pear wood again   .
 
Gunports dimensions were done to correct size with templates for vertical and horizontal dimensions. Openings were done bigger, because they are going to be planked with pear wood inside for more authentic look. 
 
Currently I am having a lot of fun planking openings  .

4. Cutting the Rabbet
 
I cut my keel the other night and came up with this little jig to scrape out the rabbet... 
Pretty easy- just a scrap block of wood with another scrap piece used as a "slide". That piece was cut in half and half a razor blade was super glued between at the correct angle. I found the angle by taping the keel 
cross section to the end... 
I went through quite a few razor blades, but I found that with the super glue, the blade never moved during scraping and was easily removed with a pair of pliers. 
Overall, I was really pleased with the outcome- the rabbet has a nice, sharp edge and matches up nicely with the drawings. 
On to the False keel, keelson, and frames!
 

A little more progress on the stern, brass strips are proving to be a right pain  

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

Completion off the Fenders
 

 
Working on the stern
 

Little by little, step by step we make progress and I must admit I'm pretty pleased the way that section has turned out, yes i'll keep touching up here and there aiming for perfection.
I'll have to stop here as I haven't any decking prepared ready so I'll be making some more.
 

 

 

Thanks David, a little more progress
 

 

 

 
 
 

Freehand painting is my weakest point, really took my time with the figure head and a lot more freehand work to be done around this area, Eeeek
 

 

Ok, cleaned up the belfry roof
 

 
The Barricade Assembly in place.
 

 
I got a bit carried away and, well........ended up in a world of my own and achieved this thus far, I've started so I'll have to finish, right ?
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Now satisfactorily fixed down, this time it's staying fixed  you can just see the generous amount of 2 part epoxy
 

 

Hi David, yes you've answered Morts question
I suppose it's a blessing that this has happened now and just reminds me that anything that's having rope attached to it should be securely fixed in place.
I can just about sort this with the openings I have so i'll use a two part epoxy to make sure this stays fixed

 

 
 

A little more progress, I seem to be a little stumped doing these skid beam pillars.........not really knowing where to start.
Maybe I should have taken care of those a little earlier in the build.
 
I'll sort it now
 

 

 

 

Greetings Robert
Yep I got to agree with Glennard and Paul, the pillars can be a bit awkward to fit. I used sideward tweezers ( or whatever they call them ) and as paul said slow setting glue. Looks like I also missed the rope handrail. Still cracking work. DAVID

Pillars are now complete, Belfrey roof copper leafed, I'll be doing a little "making good" just to tidy things to date.
 

 

 

 

Hi Mates,
 
Thanks for the likes, and thank you LMDAVE29 for being kind enough to want to follow along. Welcome aboard this very slow build…
 
Evolution of Corel Vasa galleries (Evolution because this area is now part of three years of on-and-off intermittent changes, and additions – finally - Done)
 
As it turns out got “side-tracked” again trying to add further details to the kit’s galleries (to be a bit more representative of the actual ship) after looking at the 1/10th TOO many times, and feeling bouts of frustration. So as I was (moving forward) attaching the mizzen shrouds, it mentally clicked that I could “play” with the galleries again just a bit more.
 
First, if you don’t mind, some changing looks of these for me “troubling galleries”; then the final finish.
 
First pic is out-of-the-box kit build per Corel’s official photo.
 
The next two are from a brilliant example of a right out of the box Euro commercial builder’s work. And he added sails J  - Posted only for comparisons to the kit provided bits…. Kudos to this builder’s excellent work.
 
 

 
What Corel supplied in the kit for, and my earliest attempt at adding initial extra details to the galleries (decided to initially scratch built in any case)
 
 

 
Early attempt at painting the very poorly represented guilded figures that Corel supplies in this kit.
 

 
That just did not suit - IMHO. So tried to instead “antique” paint the figures, and then also added a basswood border relief along the lower platforms of both galleries.
Though I am very happy with the many other guilded pieces that Corel included, and enjoyed painting those as they appear today.  
 
 

 
Added the circular opening in the forward bobbinets along with a basic wood trim ring. At that point I left this area alone thinking that I was done.
 

Revisited the area by adding painted white extra vertical bits, and those green decorative pieces on the bobbinets (sourced from a necklace at Michael’s art Supplies)
 

Added small basswood lower horizontal trim pieces as well to the lower bobbinets. And removed their forward wood rings adding decorative guilded pieces instead– same as those provided in the kit for weather deck cannon openings
 
(PS: Corel has ALWAYS been very kind in sending me any requested extra parts)
 
 

 
That was when I thought that I was (again) done “obsessing” over this area. Then another thought crossed my mind; decided to use anchor chain links, kit included lion heads and cannon door hinges to finally finish off this area’s detailing.
 
I kept referring back to photos of the 1/10th gallery details for help  --
 

 
So final solution –
Painted the chain link centers with green paint as well as the canon door hinge centers. Then added the two lion heads per side.
 
some pics of the finished efforts – I WILL leave this area alone now – I promised myself- Though the very last pic  - Still makes me nervous – ha ha
 
Cheers,
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Mates,
 
 
Finally installed the mizenmast. As I had previously noted I was going to add bracing pins to mizzen pulley housings.
Have been using this black nylon fishing line with great success for details such as this.
 

 
 
Thought it best to attach upper shrouds - off ship. Seemed much easier using the vice. Won’t have that option with main and foremast Hmmm.
 

 
Lower shrouds - I found easy to do
 
 

 
Added a rope wrap at lower mizzenmast. Also satisfied that I pulled out and rebuilt the deck bracing for that mast. My first effort was weak.
 

 
A few more general shots
 

 
Now onto the upper main, and upper fore bits, at least those parts have been built, and were patiently waiting in line. 
 

 
This might take me through the Summer 017 ha ha. Then I’ll go back and tightly secure all shroud tensions as well as wrapping deadeye ropes for all three masts.
 
Cheers