Chuck

The 2021 conference was cancelled. Nobody will be attending this year. Looking forward to 2022 however.

If you can find the black fishing line. Its cheap enough. Get a range of weights. I think 15lb might be a bit small for keel bolts. Probably 20 or even 25lb is more appropriate. I have a large stock of the stuff from 10lb all the way up to 60lb. The brand is Sunset Amnesia. https://www.ebay.com/itm/154155421343?epid=1412250970&hash=item23e4610e9f:g:zHkAAOSw5Z1fkaGO

Its not anything I can recommend. I use medium CA and that works for me. But it will be different for everyone. You should try all three and then pick the method that works best for you. Chuck

That looks great. I dont see anything wrong with those at all. Beautiful work.

Great start.....Remember to have fun with the project. Thank You for starting a log. Chuck

Jim is correct in that those cross sections are made by Unicorn which is one of the largest pirate mfg’s in China. They have stolen designs from many others such as Amati, Panart, Mantua, Corel etc. And yes the Druid kits you mention are copies and knock-offs of Harold Hahn’s Druid plans although reduced. They are 1 to 1 copies actually. Their kits are not allowed on MSW. Purchasing them means giving monetary support to them. And yes they are cheap, as is typical of Chinese products.

Its coming along. A little tip...Its much easier to sand both faces of the parts BEFORE you remove them from the laser cut sheet. Its stays nice and flat and you can just run some 320 grit on both sides of the parts to clean them up perfectly. Especially if you wont be removing the char from the cut edges. You can even use a sanding block without worrying that you will round off the edges.

I agree then....but do remember this when you do them for the qdeck and fcastle. Those will absolutely be visible. Chuck

Those scarph joints were quite long...yours is nice and tight, but not nearly long enough. It should probably be three times as long. But really nice work so keep going. Chuck

That looks terrific....I would recommend cleaning that starboard pump of glue stains. That is a shame considering the craftsmanship is so clean. That is if you already didnt take care of it. You are a building a beautiful Winnie for sure. Chuck

Very nice…lovely.

Dont glue the figurehead on yet at all. That wont be until much later after the headrails are all done. Otherwise you will wish you hadnt. Chuck

That is a beauty!! Thats the way to build it. Careful and neat…i can tell you took your time with it. And it paid off.

Cant beat that. Well done

Just a quick photo of work that has been sitting in a dark corner for many years. this is Alaskan yellow cedar on my cross section after mellowing and finding its aged color and tone. It has been sitting on dark shelf for almost four years. No dents….just dusty but it has taken on a warm amber color after using only wipe on poly. Thought I would post as I was pleasantly surprised. compare to the color and tone when I was building it four years ago.

Hows the planking coming along? So far this model looks outstanding. A beautiful handling of the upper planking.

Beautiful work.

You will absolutely regret using birch ply when you get to the point of fairing the hull. Its tough stuff. Lite-ply usually made of poplar is the way to go with the bulkheads if it isnt to late for you to switch. Thats why you are killing so many blades. Just think about trying to sand that stuff. Glad you started work on her.

Great stuff

Thank You guys. You all will be up to this point shortly. Just a quick photo to show the fcastle painted and installed. Now to do it all over again on the other side. The qdeck is looking very naked. But that will be up next. Just a few more details to finish up on the fcastle.

NO CHAR FOR YOU!!!! Seriously though....knowing that some of you are now referring to me as the "Laser char nazi". There is a very valid reason. But its not all bad. There are times when removing the char isnt as necessary. BUT...I cant understand why it is left on items to remain bright...or painted red which shows. More on this later. LOL Time for the Fcastle rail and timberheads. There are twelve timberheads per side. Thats quite a few. And then let us not forget the many along the qdeck. These have been laser cut for you and yes there is a lot of char. Now I know that some of you will start to see these wonderful details being added which make the whole project special. And the more details like this the easier it is to lose your will to slow it down and you you start cutting corners. Because lets face it, getting these details on the model makes a huge difference and you want to see them on the model as quickly as possible. I suffer the same affliction, trust me. BUT...lucky for us, we do not have to go crazy here removing the char from these timberheads which are quite small, with lots of inside corners for the char to hide. You will still need to give them a good cleaning to smooth out the surface for painting. I use sanding sticks and 420 grit sandpaper. The surface must be prepared but dont try and remove it all. You will distort the shape and also make the timberheads too small to fit snug in each hole of the rail. You can see how clean I made those timberheads. They are still pretty clean with just a light swipe of the sandpaper. So you will save some time here which is good news because.... Because, I strongly urge you not to cut corners on the next step. You should certainly take the time to shape the timberheads on all four sides. Many of you will be tempted to just use them as is. That might be quick…but it would be a mistake. The reason why this is so important is because they will appear much too heavy otherwise. Too many kits have ridiculously heavy and thick timberheads. It looks too kit-like. By chamfering all four sides at the top of the timberheads they will appear slimmed down and in scale. In addition, the angled front and back sides… You will need to slice down towards a "stop cut" to create the proper shape. See the photo above. This will make a huuuuge difference. So yes its ok to cut corners on the char here. But please do shape each timberhead carefully. I also sanded the rail itself smooth and softened the four corners along its length. As I finished each timberhead, I slid them from the bottom into position along the rail. I have created a small "stop" ledge on one side of each timberhead. If you didnt over sand them and remove this detail, it will keep the rail level and The rookie at the same height across all of the timberheads. Hope that makes sense. In addition, this “stop ledge” detail should always face forward when you slide the timberheads onto the rail. This is important. When all the timberheads are cleaned and shaped, test the rail in position. The laser cut tenons on the bottom of each timberhead are not as wide as the holes in the caprail. So you should have wiggle room to adjust the timberheads and rail. Dont glue the timberheads into the rail yet. And dont glue the rail onto the model. While test-fitting in position, you need to add the fancy end piece. See below. Just glue it onto the end of the rail and let dry. When dry, remove the entire rail from the model. Remove all the timberheads from the rail. I numbered the timberheads but that probably isnt necessary. Then do your best to fill the seam between that fancy end piece and sand it so you can not see any trace of the seam before painting the rail black. Here is a picture of the forward end being tested below. Everything fits great. Nothing is glued together yet. Once that seam is acceptable to me, I will paint all of the timberheads black individually and also the rail. Then I will reassemble it for the last time and glue it on the model. This will take some considerable time....then I have to do it all over again on the starboard side. Any questions???

That is looking great…Its almost sad and nostalgic when a project gets close to completion. But it looks wonderful.

That looks great. What a fine molded detail on the outboard edge of those channels. This is an often overlooked detail that really makes a model rise to the next level. Well done.

Very nice

Satin but wiped and buffed off with a lint free cloth. So no shine at all.