mikiek

It is one of the most real looking wood finishes I've seen on a boat build.

I'm glad you're back buddy. I get worried when I don't hear from folks for a while. As Ken mentioned auto parts shops should have Bondo products. I love your miniatures! Maybe a few tin cups? Every time I scroll past one of your deck photos I stop and gawk at your stain/finish. I still think it's one of the highlights of your build.

All I can say is WOW!

Hello Zoran - I am still open to coloring the upper hull. I would like to know what we are trying to simulate by doing so. From the build pix that I see (including yours) and from photos of the real boat, it looks like all have a color on the the bottom half, then just the wood on the top half. Did the old manuscript have any references to color? Maybe the coloring thing was something specific to Korcula?

Hey Zoran - I forgot to ask. The bow is an odd place for a handrail. What purpose did it serve?

Things are winding down on the hull. Other than the oars I believe all the pieces are in. Tomorrow I dust off the lathe and see how many of those nice square walnut sticks I can mess up. On the odd chance that I get on a roll I'll have to remember to taper the mast also. I'm still on the fence regarding painting the upper hull. If there was some way to try before you buy I'd be all over it. But if it turns into something I really don't like, I'm hosed. Here she is:

Most stuff wasn't shiny. If it was it was probably oiled and mainly things like deck furniture, rails, etc. I would paint with a flat. If you want no shine then varnish with matte. For a touch of shine try satin. IMO semi gloss is too much.

I don't know. It depends on how the laptop screen is angled. I think the first pic may be closer than I thought. After all it's 10-white to 1-green. And it was a light green.

Thank you Zoran - I would not have thought of a step. I lightened up the blue, or at least I tried, 10 parts white - 1 part blue. It didn't seem to change much. Running with Zoran's idea I tried a stick with very pale green. The color is washed out in the photos but it is interesting in real life. I don't have enough dark green to do a larger test surface so sticks are as good as it will get for now.

I'm not sure Don. It's on the same laser sheet as the rudder but I'm not having any ideas as to where it might go. In my experience pieces like that have gone on the stern post, but it doesn't seem to add anything there. The part is shown on the plans but it is all by itself in an inset.

I now have some more J.A. Green ordered. Zoran, that blue was 5 parts white, 1 part sky blue. I will try 6 parts white and maybe 7, but as Russ commented I should make a simulated hull side and try another sample. What kind of strip goes on the bottom of the rudder? Wood? There is also a piece #49 on one of the laser sheets. It is small and triangular. What is it for?

Hi Russ and thank you. I think that is my usual m.o. , make a big (or too big) surface of scraps. My immediate problem is that just to be able to paint that stick I had to add thinner to the pretty much empty paint bottle and scrape down the sides just to get a couple of brushfulls. I'll need to order some more. What do you think of the blue?

Made a sample stick with the current J.A. Green that is already on the hull and a light blue. I'm not over-wowed by it, but at the same time I can't say I don't like it. Zoran, is this the blue you had in mind? If the boat were painted like that it would kinda remind me of the European fishing boats you see in the tourist photos. The ones where the boats are dragged up on the beach and they're a rainbow of colors. Keep in mind for some reason the green on the stick looks darker than the same green on the boat. You guys let me know what you think. Also wrapped up the rudder (except for paint) yesterday. I'm going to leave it off for know. It is supposed to hang down slightly below the keel which makes keeping it on the work stand difficult.

Tom - I mixed something I call Dijon Yellow. And it truly matches the color of Grey Poupon. I went the opposite direction - started with Buff and yellowed it up some. With a little white & brown for seasoning. When mixing any paint do one of 2 things - make more than you could possibly need or make dang sure you mix drop by drop and write down the recipe so you can reproduce it. After you finish A I would suggest the garboard next. These are kind of tricky and are typically a wider plank then the rest. Some people will also use the same width for the plank right above it, hence the possible need for different widths for regular planking. There are a few guidelines you can follow for the garboard that I can pass on when you are ready. If the garboard is not laid correctly it will have a negative impact on the rest of your job - especially at the bow. Don't know how much tapering at the bow & stern you have done yet, but don't wait more than a couple of strakes the start. That will keep you from having to make planks with toothpick ends or doing a lot of spiling later on. I understand your thoughts on the dividers. You should really spend the money on a good one when you are ready, so do that when you can afford to drop a few bucks. The one I use are now priced around $125 on Amazon. That said, they really can eliminate some of the questions you are asking. You can recalculate bands in the middle of planking, and they will tell you how wide planks should be. After putting in the garboard and a few planks above it, I was partially done with band C and decided to make 1 band out of the remaining space. Dividers made that a simple matter. You are about to hit the nastiest part of the job. Getting those sticks running down the side of the hull and then turned 90 degrees to cover the transom is challenging. We all soak planks and then bend them. What worked well for me at the transom was soaking them and then putting a twist in them. I used two vises, clamped the wet stick in one, twisted the other end (1/2 twist for most, full twist for 1) and put that in the other vise. Then heat it or let it dry naturally. If you decide to do that be aware that one side of the hull needs a clockwise twist the other side needs counter clockwise. I don't remember which was which but You should see what I'm talking about. Have fun.........

Zoran - an interesting idea. I'll consider any idea. Here's my thoughts: I am trying to imagine how light? Sky Blue? Sky Blue with white mixed in? White with a few drops of blue mixed in? Maybe you have a photo of what you had in mind? Are typical leudo hulls completely painted? I remember you said the bottom used to be tarred, is that still done? Would the tar be applied like caulk (in between planks) or spread over the entire bottom? The only tar I see around here is the stinky black stuff they use on roads. Is there some sort of marine tar that is different? I like having some of the hull showing natural wood. Right now that's above the waterline but it doesn't have to be. Although stripping the paint off the bottom half of the hull might get a little messy. If I left the green on the hull with blue above it, I'm not sure how those two colors would look together. I can try it on some scrap. To match the colors better, I could darken the green but probably not lighten it easily. So if you were about to paint a clean Trajta hull and you wanted to use light blue for the upper portion how would you color the bottom part?

A bit of confusion for me. Tholes & pins for the oars? Old manual says 6x6mm and 3x3mm, make thole pins , tholes.... I don't see any reference in the new version. For the oar holders I used 6x6 for the base. Could probably do the same for tholes but 3x3 will sit on the rail better.

Ron - I believe there should be a 1/32" square stick running horizontally in addition to the ones running vertical. So yes, you may have to notch some planks but the horizontal 1/32" sticks will make the notch a little shallower. I do remember cheating on some planks - filing down the long edge to make them a little skinnier. Not everywhere, just as needed.

Good call on the ochre. Much easier on the eyes. Bright red has been around for centuries. It was just cost prohibitive to make quantities needed for a boat - unless you were a Roman emperor. Whereas red ochre was one of the cheapest colors to make. In the late 1800's they began to use different materials to make red - until then a particular dried bug imported from the Americas was widely used. Cadmium in particular became a major source and red for the masses soon followed. Interestingly the bug dye is making a comeback. FWIW

That strip is not the easiest to work with. So you are better off working around the strips with your planks rather than working around the planks with your strips. If that makes any sense. Don't forget you have to do the inside bulwark just like the outside. I spent so much time getting the outside perfectly flush which left some gaps and other imperfections on the inside. I was also shocked at how much time I spent masking and painting. Make sure you have a plan before you start that process. What will you mask first and why. Sometimes things are not as obvious as they first seem. I don't know what your experience level is with masking & painting. Mine was zero at that time. The one tip I pass on and follow is after you apply the tape be sure to burnish it particularly at the edges. Even more important, before using colored paint apply some clear paint (try to use the same brand) over the wood and the edge of the tape. You are trying to seal up the gap between the tape edge and the wood underneath it. This will help keep the colored paint from wicking under the tape and getting on the wood/paint you are trying to protect. While you can use varnish or lacquer to do the same thing, I've found clear paint to work better. Just try and stick with one brand (if possible) for all your paint/finish supplies. If you don't have some already, look into some detail paint brushes. I'm not necessarily suggesting these particular brushes, just trying to give you an idea. Some of these brushes are so fine you can literally count the hairs. They are very valuable for touching up those 1/32" frames. Good luck..........

Thanks for stopping by Don. I like the green too although I wonder now whether I should have darkened it a little. That's just plain ole Tamiya J.A. Green. I was trying to avoid some special mix. Painters remorse? One thing strange I realized - I did the usual masking tape to get a clean edge with the paint. The upper part of the hull - including where the tape went - was already treated with linseed mixture and stain. When I pulled the tape up it appears to have lifted some of the color off. Look closely at the pix, you can see right above the green edge the plain wood is lighter in color. Unfortunately the tape has already made its way to the garbage so I can't check the adhesive side to see if it has stain on it. Anyway, I thought stain soaked into wood, not cover over like paint. I use Tamiya masking tape and have never had a problem like this before, although I've done a lot more painting than staining up to this point in my career.

Hey everyone. I'm still finishing the hull details and the few deck toys that go with this build. Everything is looking good - no real problems. I did have that question on mast rake angle, turns out there isn't any for Trajta. Straight up & down. I keep thinking back to that mast foot that I glued in the wrong place. What a nightmare that would have been if I had not caught it. I've also painted the hull. Above the paint line the rest of the hull is wiped down with the linseed mixture and stained. Most everything on the deck is just the linseed. I'm still liking that on the walnut. Here's a few shots: The bitts Hatch covers - yes I know one looks crooked. Per the plans! Door to the forward cargo hold - I glued this one shut Door to the aft cargo hold - I glued the door off to the side so you can see in. The deck I have not put varnish on anything yet although you would never know it looking at the deck.

Chuck's products will add a lot to your build. I did use the kit rope in a couple of places, mostly for long runs right at the mast. Inside a lot of the other rigging. The MS deadeyes were not bad. I would suggest using them as long as the 3 holes look pretty even. You'll likely paint those anyway. I'll wager you really like the looks of your gun tackles with the rope & blocks. I felt like that was the best detail on my build. My only suggestion to you is when you begin to use them keep close tabs on how many you are about to use and how many that will leave you. There's nothing worse than being a few short and having to wait for another order. Inventory control! Have fun Tom.....

One other thought. When you're done with those port frames you might consider painting them and the insides of the ports before planking. If you wait until after planking then you will have to mask the planks and paint the ports. Then mask the ports to paint the planks. Painting before planking can save you a masking step. I found doing a good job of masking those bulwarks to be quite tedious. I described it as 90 minutes of masking for a 5 minute paint job. Then you tear it all off and do the opposite.

Check your plans on this, but I seem to remember that the gun & oar openings are "framed" with 1/32" square sticks inside & out. They go on top of what you have done. Your plank ends will butt against the ones running vertical. Instructions didn't mention them but they are on the plans. I suppose those might be done after planking but would probably be a lot easier done before. It's been a while but I do remember something like that.

Got it. I have not looked at that sheet too much yet. Speaking of waterline would that typically be painted on the side - a stripe like on a square rigger? Or, I know you suggest painting the underside of the hull - is the waterline designated by where the paint stops? Is waterline really even shown on these boats? I'm asking because I was hoping to take the dark green paint up higher than the where the waterline is on the sides.