G.L.

Fitting propellers on the hull.

Еvery craftsman will find it differently, for me making a latrine is the most difficult part of the model. The work will take a long time, so I will post the results by the way of proceeding.
Have been working with the drawings , and made patterns.
I decided not cut the elements out, but to bend in parts with the following gluing.

So planking continues, or should I say clamping continues LOL. I noticed one thing,  that is once you fit and shape the plank and it's all ready for glue, you apply the glue and for some reason all bets are off lol. It slides , wiggles, moves and you need every bit of space for another clamp.  I even had to go to an even bigger plank bender,  I starting using my heat gun. I added the bend, placed it and held the heat gun on the  the bend point till it bent to the right spot.  Yes I broke more than I wanted too lol.😜Clamping  continues  all the way to the keel . Yes I had to do a small change as the last 3 planks weren't going to go as planed
. I think I got to much of a bend, they just kept snapping .so the last 3 planks I started  at the keel and fitted  them on. I know, but it's at the bottom and no one will see it, and I plan to put a floor in it. That is if it survives pulling it of the strong back.
  So we will see what happens.  I have no tappered  planks left any way lol. But I do have lots of broking pieces to make the floor if it servies  the  removal process  🤔,  lol. We will see what happens next.  
 Up to this point the kit has been a lot of fun. A big thanks to Scott Miller,  for such a wonderful kit,  the wood is awesome.  And to everyone who looks and likes , thanks so much.





 

Thanks Egilman for chiming in here - that is exactly correct. But here are some photos, just in case.
 
Take a felt polishing wheel for a Dremel-type tool.
 

 
Use a single edge razor blade to cut it in half.
 

 
Now use the semi-circular piece to polish the metal casting BY HAND. These parts were way to small and fragile to go anywhere near a spinning tool. You could attach a handle to it if you wished, as Egilman suggested, but I just held the felt in my fingers.
 
Moving right along...

The Castings – Painting the Details
There is an excellent video tutorial on the Sierra West Scale Models website that demonstrates an extremely easy, yet highly effective technique for achieving peeling and chipped paint effects on the castings. In summary, Once the base coat of black has been allowed to dry thoroughly (in my case it was left for a couple of days), colour is applied using a selection of AK paint colours, and while still wet the part is dunked in Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) and then dabbed with a make-up sponge to randomly remove bits of paint. It is left to dry for at least a couple of hours, and then the process repeated if there is a second colour to be added. Once that has also dried thoroughly, the parts are dusted with various rust-coloured chalk powders and given another dunk and swirl in IPA to remove most but not all of the chalk, and left to dry again. That’s it – process complete. Here are some of the resin cast oil drums – I have yet to paint the details of the contents of the one in the centre at the back.
 

 
The process works equally well on the metal castings of the Acetylene Tanks.
 

 
Back to painting wooden crates……..
 

The Speedwell castings arrived.   Just like the Winnie these are cast in a very light Tan.  Almost white but not.  This is a big help for the finishing.  They were treated just like those on the Winnie.  See the unfinished quarter badge on the can of gel stain?
 
I used Old Masters gel stain.   The color is Fruitwood.  This is the best color for our purposes in my opinion.  Just brush it on and let sit for a few minutes.  The longer you leave it on the deeper and darker your color will be.   Dont leave it on too long...you can always add another coat after it dries.   
 
Brush it off before it dries however with a soft clean brush.  Almost buff it.  The more you brush the more you will remove.   This evens it all out while leaving darker bits in the deeper areas. But not overly so. 
 
The one drawback with this method is the parts tend to get shiny.  But a quick spray with some dull coat after it dries does the trick.   The color matches quite well as you can see.  This preserves all the detail as well because unlike paint, this does not build up and obscure the small details.
 

Sails… 
 

Steady as she goes…
Cheers 🍻

The galley cowl:

Dear friends
 
Time for another post, some progress but also some unfortunate findings. Lets start.
 
So, there is an urgent need for the boat to have some structural support but it needs to be built from the bottom up. So, the floor needs to be installed.
 
I had previously cut the floor supports but I found some were off and needed adjustments or replacement. Finally they were epoxied in place and coated with Tung oil - for no reason at all really!
 


However, It was then that I noticed a rather big issue. The planks have pulled away from the ribs, the glue in the tree nails failed - but also the pressure from the planks must have been pretty substantial.
 

I do not think this can be fixed without disassembling the boat and in the end of the day, it does not bother me much. So on we go.
 
Next, I did some work at the gunwales and attached the stringer and the breast hook.




So far everything is screwed, later on will be replaced with tree nails.
 
Next, it was time for the false stem to be installed. Again I had to make adjustments but I got a good fit. I used thickened epoxy and it came out pretty good. Especially the joint with the planking, which in the past had caused me headache, came out also fine.



Ok, so far so good. Next it was the floor boards. This took a bit of work and some head scratching but actually came out better than I hoped. I am not sure if it is historically accurate but we do need a floor to walk on - so here it is.

And with some Tung oil on




All the screws need to be replaced with tree nails, so time to make a few hundred. I will be using the last of the cherry wood I saved from the fire wood pile 10 years ago.

Cutting one more slice was difficult, this wood is very hard
 

This wood is very dry and needs to get some moisture before we can drill the nails out. The slices are now submerged in water.
 
Till next time
 
Vaddoc

Planking (from keel to first wale)
 
Plank dimensions 
Thickness : 9,4 to 10,5 cm (yes, about 4 inches).
width  : 23 to 47 cm.
length : 1,47 to 9 m.
 
Wale dimensions
thickness : about the thicknes of a plank + 11 cm.
length 3.25 to 13.8 m.
scarfs between 2 wales 71 to 180 cm.
shape :  see further in this post.... 
 
Planking diagram
green color : the 2 stealers in front and back
Red color : A very wide plank at the bottom of the bow. I'm going to replace it with a less wide one, otherwise I could get into trouble
Bleu color : to be studied later.

Construction of the wales.
For some reason they gave them a rather illogical shape. 
 
I made a scraper in the desired shape

method : clamp the wood to a flat plate

hold the scraper at an angle to rough shape

finish with the scraper at 90°

result

The cherry wood bends easily

After drying it is glued to the hull

Planking is also started

assistant is supervising 

Thanks for following

Thanks again for all the encouragement!
 
*****************************************
 
Rails continued …
 
I have installed the rails around the deck-house on the starboard-side too. This time a picture with a coin for size reference.
 
In the meantime, a forum colleague made the suggestion to braid the wires instead of double-twisting them. I think I had tried this earlier on, but the copper-wires were too soft and broke to easily. I’ll give it a try again with the Konstantan wire and will report. They used chain on this boat for a lot of things, where today one would find wire-rope instead.

Mast and rigging
As noted above, my intention was to work ‘inside-out’ when installing the rails, so as not to damage already installed parts. I now realised that I should have installed also the mast and its stays first, before the deckhouse rails. So, it was high time to do it now, before going on with more rails.

The pictorial evidence is rather scarce for the early form of the mast. In fact, there is only the very first photograph that shows SMS WESPE being fitted out. All other photographs show later forms, when the mast had acquired a top-mast and a fixed signalling yard. When this was installed is not known. Perhaps around the time of the first minor refit, when the boat-racks were installed, or when she got the conning tower with the search-light on top, as shown by the only other photograph with the black/white/yellow livery (as per 1878 regulations).
 
The mast had been turned a while ago from a steel rod and fitted with belaying pins. Not sure, whether I showed already pictures of this. 

It seems that there were double stays leading forward to the front of the boiler-casing, but there are no pictures that show how they were fastened and the drawings are silent on this detail. So, I assumed that there must have been ring-bolts rivetted to the casing. In fact, I should have installed this before painting and installing the casing, but did not have sufficient foresight. Hence, they had to be ‘retro-fitted’ now. Then there is a pair of shrouds on each side – quite a few for a simple pole mast. These shrouds seem to have been made fast on eye-bolts between the rail-stanchions on the deck-house, for which there is a vague indication on the drawings. Again, there is no evidence for how they were set tight. I gather it must have been some hearts with lanyards between them.
 
I assume that the stays and shrouds were wire-rope. On some later picture it vaguely looks, as if these ropes had been served all over. To imitate such ropes, I have collected over the years electronic copper wires and stranded wires and are spun with silk (as used in high-frequency coils). I choose a 0.15 mm wire for the purpose here. The silk in my case was green, so it had to be given a light coat of black paint first.

Before the shrouds and the stay could go on, the signal halyard blocks had to be installed. I assumed that these were stropped double-blocks, but this is purely conjectural, based on the number of belaying pins. For the signal halyards I used some of my treasured nylon-thread as used in the old days for mending ladies’ stockings – a tightly spun two-ply thread that does seem to be out of production now (better than the fly-tying threads). The lay still was not tight enough, so I twisted it a bit more and stabilised the twist with a light touch of varnish.
 
At that time a steamer should have carried a steamer-light at the mast at night, but the available photographs are not are not clear enough to be sure that it would have been hoisted from a halyard in front of the mast. I just installed the halyard without attempting to model any additional arrangements, such as guiding ropes. The lithograph from the early 1880s also shows a crane for light just in front of the casemate, but it is not visible on the photographs.

Making working hearts for the stays would have been asking a bit too much, so I simplified the arrangements and just provided seized eyes at the end of the standing rigging and roved the lanyards through them and directly through the eyebolts. I gather this is good enough at this small scale. It was difficult enough to install all this without destroying other things already put into place.
 
 
To be continued ....

Thank you for comments. A little update. Upper part of main mast is done. So to thing is basically complete minus rigging. A little primer gives colour.  The foremast is also getting there. Spotting top needs a few more parts. 
 

The fore jeer bitts:

The forecastle waterway:

The stern assembly
 
The intention is to achieve this

The plywood needs plastic surgery 😉

Glue the first part

second part

and the final last parts

The keel is adjusted.
And, it looks like on the drawing 👍

 
 

The keel,
 
The keel consists of 3 parts. The front and back part are made of elm, the center part is made of oak like the rest of the planking.
So my center piece is made of cherry, the others are made of ramin (the last leftovers from my previous project).

At the front and rear there is a groove for "stealers" that are intended as a filler between the keel and the garboard.

preparation for the sternpieces

The first piece of the stern

Then the keel is glued

And the second piece of the stern is also glued.
This piece is now way too long. Shorten it later is always easier than lengthening 😉

The scarf between keel and stempost did not survive time.
So there is some space for a "free design"

scarfs in the keel

Bringing the keel and stempost into the right shape will be done later when the planking is sanded.
 
Next to do,  the stern assembly.
Thanks for following

The original model of speedwell is so filthy and faded its really hard to see the colors.  Thats why I wanted to do a test of sorts.  I want to see if these colors are good or if I should change the red to something else etc.  But since the bulwarks and deck fittings are also
red I figured why not just match that for simplicity.  Look how muddy and faded the colors are below.
 

 

 

Thank You guys.   I couldnt resist.   While I am hanging around I thought I would create a template for the wales as well.  It would not be a waste of time because now we have the spiled shapes for the wales as well.  I colorized them in Corel Draw and taped them below the other template.  This is as good a look at what the finished color scheme will look like.   Along with the details on the external hull.  Although with a very 2d look and feel...LOL.
 




 
 

Well I am starting to feel much better although I am not making any rope or blocks yet.   Still very exhausted.  So my inventory will have to wait.  But I did spend a relaxing day yesterday working on Speedwell.  Mostly out of boredom.  I dont know how some folks can sit around all day doing nothing.
 
Anyway...this starts chapter 3.
 
The square tuck and counter planking.  
 
Everyone knows a square tuck can be very very tricky to make so it looks good.  Rather than fart around with individual elements I decided to take a shot at doing it the exact same way the model builder of the contemporary model did his square tuck.  Unfortunately for him...he didnt have a laser cutter.
 

It took a really long time to get the shape absolutely correct so I liked how it fit.  But once that was done, it took about 15 minutes to bevel the outside edge.  There is a laser etched line for that so it was easy.   
 
I also added the planking within that tricky framework as laser etched lines.  This included treenails.  But the treenails are for placement only.   They are same size as we will treenail the hull planking.  So you can drill them and use 15 pound black or dark brown fishing line for your treenails.   OR...just use the laser etched ones as the final because it still looks pretty darn good.
 
Then glue them on the model making sure they are lined up port and starboard.
 

 
Keep in mind how a square tuck was used and its purpose.   The plank ends would butt against this frame on the forward side.  So it needs to stand proud of the frame already on the model when positioned.   This should be by about 3/64" all the way down.
 

Then its time to plank the counter.  The counter planks are laser cut just like on the Winchelsea model.   They are pretty straight forward.   Sand the sides flush when dont with the hull so planking the sides of the hull will be nice and neat.
 

 
With that done I wanted to take a stab at seeing what the colors of the model will eventually look like.  The contemporary model is painted with solid areas.  The counter being almost a dark blue gray...almost black.   A dark blue stripe down the sides of the hull with a read stripe above that.   
 
I wanted to see what a frieze might look like keeping the same color scheme rather than just paint solid areas like the Contemporary model.
 
So in my sick boredom state...I colorized the template and made a first go at a stern frieze and hull frieze.   Just to see how they would look.   They are just taped on.  Now I realize this might look weird with not seeing the black wales present, but it actually does give you a good sense of what this color scheme might look like.   Once the moldings and wales and stern carvings are added it might look very good.   Imagine the insides of the ports red and the bulwarks as well....In fact I think I like this far better than just painting the hull with solid colors.  What are your thoughts...Any comments?

 

 
 
 
 
 

a slight difficulty for these hinges:
everything is provisional still, I have to prepare the right-hand doors before fixing the bulkhead and beam








 

If you guys are familiar with the scrollwork and molding on my winnie project,  I think that was a game changer.  I still dont think any kit maker has come close to laser cutting scrollwork like that.  If you would allow me to be modest.   But there was one huge drawback.   They were incredibly fragile being made from Boxwood.
 
And it was tedious and tough to remove the laser char without breaking them.   
 

 
I tested my cut file for those on the new material...
 
No laser char at all.   They are strong as well.   Keep in mind these have not been shaped yet.  This material can be sanded.  I would like to see what these look like if I rounded off the edges with fine sandpaper.
 
But this was just a test...I didnt alter the file at all from when I cut them in boxwood.   The top one is hard to see but it is gilded.  They have a gold material as well.  
 
Think about it....the possibilities are endless.   This would certainly be a game changer for headrails,  bulkhead pannels with a raised center....fancy hull molding...fancy stanchions and rails.   Acanthus leaf carvings.   
 
So yes I am gonna keep this one exclusive for now.  These are extreme brutal close up photos as well.   But I imagine I could go even smaller with these now and do more interesting things.  These are right out of the laser cutter....nothing has been done to them at all.
 

 
 
 
 

Ok here is the final iteration for now.  Center light made the same as the outer lights.   I reworked the shape and configuration as Greg suggested.   These are not glued in yet.   But using yet another color I think these are probably a winner.   I have not installed any acetate for the glass either.   But these are as close to a contemporary model version as I have gotten thus far on a project.  They do look very crisp and clean as well.  What do you guys think?
 

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated 👍
 
Determine the position of the lower wale with the laser.
The dimensions found on the sections are plotted on the hull. The laser is very useful for this purpose.

The "dummy" wale in place
With this dummy as example a line is drawn in pencil where the real wale comes later

Half a day of free time and good weather
and cherry firewood becomes cherry shipmodel wood

A first batch of different thicknesses

and a batch wood for planks, wales and keel.

Now i have to make the complex keel out of 3 pieces, each with different shapes and thicknesses 

Thanks for following
 

Chapter two has been completed...
 
I managed to complete the stern framing.   Its much easier than a larger frigate like the Winnie.   Its just a matter of going slow and taking careful measurements.  I have also added some features which will make alignment pretty tough to do wrong.
 
Here are the steps...sorry for the long post but these are my notes for the instructions while I remember them.
 
To begin...take the two center stern frames.  Sand the laser char from the forward side and the the sides.   No reason to do the aft side.
 
There are slots on the top of the wing transom where the bottom of these frames will be positioned.  The forward edge of the stern frames should be flush with the forward edge of the wing transom.   You will notice how the aft edge of the stern frames hang over the aft edge of the wing transom.  This is by design.
 
The top of each stern frame will rest in the notches laser cut into the jig on the top of the hull.   Just rest them in the notches but dont glue them here.  The stern frames are only glued onto the wing transom.   A rubber band holds the top of the two center stern frames together and in the notches of the jig.  Put one or even both of the keys back into the jig (the keys for centering the stern post earlier) to help pull the stern frames forward so they sit firmly in the notches of the jig.
 

Then slide the laser cut spacer (3/64" thick) between the two center stern frames.   This may cause the stern frames to spread apart a little.  That is fine.   The filler are a perfect fit.  Dont sand anything off the filler.   Have it sit flush with the aft edge of the stern frames.   The bottom edge should also sit flush to the bottom of the stern frames as shown.   Note the laser etched reference line for the stern window sill along the bottom.  This will be important really soon.
 

Then add the two remaining fillers on either side.  You may have to tape these in position.  If you didnt fair the inboard side of your quarter pieces enough they may be too tight.   Dont sand the filler pieces to fit.   Sand the inboard side of those quarter pieces on the hull so they fit.  Use apencil to precisely mark where the stern light (window)  sills will be placed.  Just draw a reference line on the stern frames and quarter pieces.

We will now add the stern window sills between the stern frames.   These are laser cut for you.   Clean the laser char from the top and bottom of these pieces.  They have been laser cut slightly longer than need.  
 
There are paper templates on the plans for these three pieces.  They are used to shape the gentle curve of the transom.   Glue these to the top of each piece.  Sand them to shape.  The one on the left has been sanded already....remove the template and get ready to install them.
 

Leave the center filler between the two stern frames for now.   We will add the outer sills first with these in position.  Install these using your pencil reference lines for their proper placement.  Sand the sides to get them to fit snug as they are laser cut slightly longer.  Make sure you dont spread the open space apart because your sills are too long. That would be bad.   Make sure they fit snug but with no movement in the frames or quarter pieces.  See below.
 

 
Then remove the center filler and do the same with the center windowsill.  Note how I removed the aft jig on the top of the hull at this point and set it aside.   This will be important in the next step.  I also sanded the the outboard edge of the sills to fair them into the general shape needed.  You want the transom to sit flush against the stern frames in the next step.
 

OK were going to add the laser cut transom next.   You may want to do a test run with just tape initially.   It is 3/64" thick.   One side of the transom has laser etched reference lines on it.   This is the INBOARD side.   Those lines are to help you position it correctly.  In fact, it is more important that use look at the inboard side while you test fit this.   Maybe with some tape first.
 
This is how it looks outboard...
 

 
But inboard is where the magic happens.  Its how you will position it properly.  If you look really closely...at the back edge of the sills you will seethe laser etched reference line on the transom.   That line is used to establish the height.  If you placed your sills properly then you can align the transom so this reference line follows the top edge of the sills.   This will leave a nice lip above it for inserting the stern windows later.  Ihope that makes sense as I explained it.
 

There are also etched lines for the two center stern frames.  They may be harder to see above but they are there.   This will help you position the transom port to starboard.  
 
So after this test fit you know what you need to do to get this positioned correctly.  Its time to glue it on.   BUT
 
Dont just add some glue to the aft side of every stern frame and quarter piece and the sills and go for it.   That would certainly be a huge mistake.  There is no way you can get this positioned correctly in one shot before the glue sets.
 
So...do it in stages.
 
Step one....Only apply glue to the aft side of the transom below the reference line for the sills.  You should only glue the bottom of the transom in place first.   Make sure the etched line is flush with the top of the sills.  Make sure the center stern frames are "centered" between the reference for them.   There is no glue on these so just use it to center to the transom port and starboard.   At least down low where the sills are.   Maybe your alignment is perfect for these toward the top of the transom and that is just fine right now.  The cedar is soft and the frames are flexible as you are probably aware by now.   Let that glue set firmly.
 
Step 2....Glue the sides of the transom to the quarter pieces.   NOT the center frames yet.   You can easily get a toothpick with some glue on it between the transom and the quarter pieces.  Glue one side at a time.   You only need glue on about 1/4" down the aft side of the quarter pieces.  
 
With the sides of the transom secured...
 
Step 3...glue the center stern frames.   Apply some glue on the aft edge of the stern frames....between the frames and transom.   No need to apply glue all the way down to the sills.  Just about a quarter inch down the stern frames is fine.   Flex the stern frames so they fall right between the laser etched lines on the transom for them.   Hold or clamp until the glue sets.   Repeat for the remaining center stern frame.
 
This is how I managed to position it so perfectly.   Dont be impatient and try to glue it on in one shot...it wont end well.
 

Now as long as your sills were positioned properly your transom will be as well.
 
One last thing in this chapter....two small "triangular pieces"  laser cut need to be added.  You can see it below.   They sit on top of the quarter piece and against the transom to complete the run of the qdeck bulwarks.  You do have to bevel the aft edge so they sit flush against the transom.  They also sit flush with the outboard side of the hull.  You can sand them flush with the outboard side when you are done. Also sand the top edge smooth so you get a nice run into the quarter piece.
 
Note....you may have noticed that I didnt sand the laser char of the transom edges.  I am specifically talking about the inside edges of the window openings.   I did this on purpose because I dont want to alter their shape.   I will leave the char or paint it later.   Better to have a good shaped window opening.  That is more important.    I also slipped that top jig back into position.   You dont have to but it couldn't hurt to have more support at this stage.  Just remember that if you turn the hull upside down from here on out,  you will need to prop up the hull first.  You dont want to damage the stern transom and stern framing.  
 

 
Thats it for chapter two...the framing is completely done.  Next up will be planking.   I will start with the square tuck and counter. Then I will plank from the wales up.
 

 
 
 
 

Deck installed and cleaned up ready for  laying of deck around superstructure.
Also the counter is finished ready for sanding and plating.

Having had some enforced time off due to the "attack of the killer carrots", it's time to resume  normal programming. 
The Scenery Base
Having read through the instructions several times, including reading ahead to the next section, I decided to do things a little out of sequence and make up some of the scaffolding that would be needed shortly. I wanted to have this on hand and ready to go when it was needed, rather than making it up while watching the clock on setting times for the scenery base.
 
The scaffolding items are relatively simple, and all are made according to provided templates in the plans. These consist of the bow and stern scaffolding assemblies, the scaffolding walkways and two ramp pieces. Here they are ready to go and put aside until needed.
 

 
Not shown here, the keel bracing was also added at this time rather than waiting until the ship was placed in the scenery. These are simply bracing pieces that run from the outer ends of the keel supports to the keel itself. Sorry – no photo of this bit. As it turned out, I was very glad that I installed these at this point.
 
The next step was to mix up some Sculptamold to contour the shoreline and create the pit for the ship. I was very apprehensive about this as I had never done anything like this before and it is also a “point of no return”. It actually took me three attempts at mixing the Sculptamold before I had a consistency that I was happy with. A cardboard template of the ships keel is provided to assist in shaping the pit area. A little AK 11008 paint (in place of the called for Polly Earth) is added to the water before mixing with the Sculptamold. I also added a few small stones to represent rocks in the area under the dock.
 

 
In the picture above you can see the indentation made for the rear pylons of the dock. The instructions say to spread a base layer of dirt over the Sculptamold before pressing the ship down to sink the keel supports just a bit into the Sculptamold. I found that the surface of the Sculptamold had already hardened to a point that made this impossible, so I mixed up a fresh batch, spread it over the area where the ship was to go, and then placed the ship into it. I subsequently added some more dirt over the top. The barge derrick dock was also placed at this time. I was able to create some holes in the Sculptamold by pushing a 3/16” diameter brass rod into the mix. This allowed me to place the supporting pylons at the right depth for the height of the dock surface. A little epoxy was added to the bottoms of the pylons to secure them in place.
 
Once a layer of dirt was added, it was then lightly wet down with “Wet Water” (water with a few drops of dish detergent) sprayed from a plant sprayer bottle. A mixture of 50/50 white glue and water, with a couple of drops of dish detergent, is then applied over the entire surface using an eyedropper/syringe. 
 
At this point, I also decided to change the colour of the bottom of the water area and added that by applying some artists acrylics – a mix of Turquoise, Phthalo Green, and Aquamarine – trying to have the lighter green colour towards the shore, and a deeper blue further out to represent the deeper water.
 

 
In the above picture, you can see on the left-hand side where an errant brush stroke hit the sea wall. I was able to remove this later with the gentle application of an alcohol/ink wash.
Completing the Ship
Once the base had dried, I decided that I didn’t like the plain dark brown of the floor of the pit, so I mixed up some sand and two different light-coloured HO scale ballasts, and sprinkled that over the dirt, again applying a white glue/water mix to seal it in place. 
 
The main scaffolding supports were then added. Once again, I found that by using an awl to make an initial indentation, I was able to push the supports down into the Sculptamold. These were each glued to the scaffolding rib braces previously installed on the ship. Additional keel supports were also added at both bow and stern.
 

 
The scaffolding walkways could then be glued in place.
 

 
The two-part ramp was then added to the port side. As suggested by the instructions, a slight bow was imparted into the lower section, adding to the appearance of age.
 

 
Finally, some bracing pieces were added between neighbouring scaffold brace supports. Two ladders were made up and placed, and a scrap wood chute was made up and placed towards the bow end. Then some small pieces of scrap wood were added to the chute, and more scraps were scattered around the pit. All of these scraps were given the white glue/water mix treatment to secure them in place.
 

 
It's a bit hard to see in the photographs, but the white glue/water mix has left a bit of a sheen on the scrap wood pieces. I may need to go back and carefully apply some dull cote to knock that back. In the meantime, that completes the work on the ship and the next step will be construction of the barge derrick.