mikiek

Sails are taking longer than I thought. I don't have many flat surfaced items or small weights to hold the hem down while the glue dries. So it's load the hem  up with wire and/or rope. Fold the hem over (twice). Squirt some glue into the hem. Weight it down with something flat and wait for the glue to set - about 30 minutes.
 
As I mentioned earlier I was able to pull the little fittings out of the hull and will be able to re-use them. I thought this was going to be a difficult step but it turned out quite easy.
 

The fitting.
 
Tie
Tie a granny knot at the end of a rope

 
Thread the rope thru the fitting.

 
Glue the fitting to the hull. I'll take the ropes and feed them thru the faux deadeyes and tie them off.

Also darkened the sail up some. They look even darker in real life.

Now we're talking   I finished up the last square sail last night and after letting everything dry I put the sail assembly together this evening. Keep in mind this rigging is there just to give the impression of ropes hanging & laying about. It is not an accurate representation. For instance the sail assembly is made by taking the top gallant sail (which is lashed to the t'gallant yard) and tying the clews to the top yard. The top yard has the top sail lashed to it and the clews tied to the course yard. Which of course has the course sail lashed to it. So you can pick up the t'gallant yard and you'll be picking up all 3 sails with their yards. And DANG IT I forgot to take a pic of that.
 
Anyway the t'gallant yard fastens to the top of the mast and basically that hangs the entire assembly. There are some braces to be added.
 
The jibs have wire in the hems that extend out from the corners 7-8 inches. The wires are used to fasten the sails to the mast and deck. They are bent a bit to give the sails some shape. I've said it before, this is a very cool technique to use to put some action into the sails. Wires were also used in the square sails and again I like the shape you can add.
 
I think I have dirtied up the sails enough although not evenly from bow to stern. Oddly you can barely see it in the pix. They were dyed with walnut crystals. The I darkened the mixture and splattered that on the sails. I also got a lot of the fabric glue smeared on the material and that darkened just a tad when it dried. I guess overall it will do.
 
So tomorrow it'll be the braces, some touch up painting and finally made up my mind to paint the hull. Trying to mix a matching green was no easy feat.
 
Here's how she sits tonite:
 

 

 

 
 

robdurant: Thanks for the compliment and for the link. I like how the beech bent so well I am going to get some to have on hand for future builds. I have no idea how it takes stain or a finish but I will be experimenting with it to see. If all else fails paint will do the trick. I'll be sure to show my results here.

Now we're talking   I finished up the last square sail last night and after letting everything dry I put the sail assembly together this evening. Keep in mind this rigging is there just to give the impression of ropes hanging & laying about. It is not an accurate representation. For instance the sail assembly is made by taking the top gallant sail (which is lashed to the t'gallant yard) and tying the clews to the top yard. The top yard has the top sail lashed to it and the clews tied to the course yard. Which of course has the course sail lashed to it. So you can pick up the t'gallant yard and you'll be picking up all 3 sails with their yards. And DANG IT I forgot to take a pic of that.
 
Anyway the t'gallant yard fastens to the top of the mast and basically that hangs the entire assembly. There are some braces to be added.
 
The jibs have wire in the hems that extend out from the corners 7-8 inches. The wires are used to fasten the sails to the mast and deck. They are bent a bit to give the sails some shape. I've said it before, this is a very cool technique to use to put some action into the sails. Wires were also used in the square sails and again I like the shape you can add.
 
I think I have dirtied up the sails enough although not evenly from bow to stern. Oddly you can barely see it in the pix. They were dyed with walnut crystals. The I darkened the mixture and splattered that on the sails. I also got a lot of the fabric glue smeared on the material and that darkened just a tad when it dried. I guess overall it will do.
 
So tomorrow it'll be the braces, some touch up painting and finally made up my mind to paint the hull. Trying to mix a matching green was no easy feat.
 
Here's how she sits tonite:
 

 

 

 
 

Good morning all, Thanks for all the compliments, likes and for just stopping in.
 Not much has been going on lately just planking and more planking, I am just a little over half done now and going hard. To date I have 38 strakes completed which is approximately 254 planks that equals to about 30.4 meters of .5 x 4 mm strips of beech wood. So, yes, life has been a beech!!
 Really not much to show as it is all kind of boring, I thought if any of you were suffering from insomnia this might help. Here we go: 
 

Planking around transom complete, this was a little exciting 
 

Showing here the little section of planking that needs to be filled in. I really wasn't too sure how the correct way of doing this was but thinking this will all be painted later that this method would do just fine. This is three pieces of .5 x 4 mm planking edge glued together and the rough shape of opening marked out.
 

The back side of the laminated piece was coated with thin ca before cutting to shape, this wood is fairly brittle
 

Final fitting and glued into place
 

And how it looks after the next  strake installed  on either side
 

 
Garboard and broad strakes installed, final trimming and sanding will be done when planking is completed. I have almost completed the area above the waterline, which is all painted, below the waterline is covered with copper plates. Decision now is to just get the hull covered or continue doing it the proper way, which takes a lot more time.
 
 Thanks for stopping in and have a good day

Good suggestion Russ!

That's why I'm kinda partial to Minwax Natural now. I just makes the wood look wet but no color change.
 
You know now that I think about it, that finish you had on Phantom would look pretty good here also. The only problem is you would have 2 boats the same color.

Good suggestion Russ!

That's why I'm kinda partial to Minwax Natural now. I just makes the wood look wet but no color change.
 
You know now that I think about it, that finish you had on Phantom would look pretty good here also. The only problem is you would have 2 boats the same color.

Just wanted to be sure. I got burned once doing that. Tested on basswood, real material was boxwood. It looked awful. Hardwoods take stain a lot differently than softwoods.

Good suggestion Russ!

Good suggestion Russ!

Elijah:
Your model is coming along really well. Nice work.
 
When staining basswood, please make sure to use a sanding sealer or pre stain conditioner. This will help even out the color and cut down on the blotchy effect. Basswood is soft and it has some areas that are denser than others. Thus the stain will soak in more here, less there. That is what creates the blotchy effect. The pre stain conditioner will cut down on that and should eliminate it. I have had good luck using pre stain conditioner, wipe it off, and then stain right after.
 
Russ

Thank you Mike and everyone for the likes. It seems like it should be a quick project, but that's not the case. The modifications I'm adding are not necessary, but I think they add something unique to the project. 
 
Can you believe Model Expo has this kit listed as "entry level" on their revised website?!
Steve

You know, I remember thinking about this kit right before I bought it. Looking at it online, I figured it would be a cinch to knockout. A small footprint. No rigging. A cheap price. How hard could it be?
 
WRONG!
 
It's coming along well Steve.

You know, I remember thinking about this kit right before I bought it. Looking at it online, I figured it would be a cinch to knockout. A small footprint. No rigging. A cheap price. How hard could it be?
 
WRONG!
 
It's coming along well Steve.

That's why I'm kinda partial to Minwax Natural now. I just makes the wood look wet but no color change.
 
You know now that I think about it, that finish you had on Phantom would look pretty good here also. The only problem is you would have 2 boats the same color.

The cockpit seat supports were shaped with the rotory tool, sandpaper, and files, With one completed, I was able to trace its profile onto the other to make the shaping easier. The moulding is next before I add any paint. 
Steve

Just wanted to be sure. I got burned once doing that. Tested on basswood, real material was boxwood. It looked awful. Hardwoods take stain a lot differently than softwoods.

Just wanted to be sure. I got burned once doing that. Tested on basswood, real material was boxwood. It looked awful. Hardwoods take stain a lot differently than softwoods.

Elijah - the wood you are going to stain - is it all the same species? I ask because I have the Provincial stain and it looks different on different woods. It gets pretty dark on softer woods (basswood) as it soaks in a lot. On harder wood (boxwood) it fills in the grains but doesn't soak in as much. Make sure you do a color test with the same type of wood.

Elijah - the wood you are going to stain - is it all the same species? I ask because I have the Provincial stain and it looks different on different woods. It gets pretty dark on softer woods (basswood) as it soaks in a lot. On harder wood (boxwood) it fills in the grains but doesn't soak in as much. Make sure you do a color test with the same type of wood.

Elijah - the wood you are going to stain - is it all the same species? I ask because I have the Provincial stain and it looks different on different woods. It gets pretty dark on softer woods (basswood) as it soaks in a lot. On harder wood (boxwood) it fills in the grains but doesn't soak in as much. Make sure you do a color test with the same type of wood.

Assembly line is great for a lot of what we do. I just got burned on the materials planking and decking. You almost have to cut planks one at a time because they must end on a frame. So you can't just go and cut a bunch of 4" planks.
 
When you get to the deck you can decide on a standard size (I went with 20 footers) and cut more at one time but you still need to be aware of that width problem I mentioned.
 
I heard somewhere - treat each plank as its own project. SO TRUE!

More pix with a different camera. Not a lot better, but I still get to flood this thread with pix.
 
I'm at a point where I am having to think up things to do. I believe all the tasks are done. Added the rudder chain. Got the tiller and boom rigging done, although I kinda bashed the design in the plans. I just couldn't do it that way. I even started the boat name using dry transfer stickers but I ran short one "A". More on order and I will probably paint over what you will see in the pix and try again. Those decals ain't easy.
 
Got out the compressor and began blowing as much junk as I could off. Found that some make up brushes are very good at brushing lint/dirt around without doing damage to things. They are very soft and come in all sorts of shapes & sizes. Got quite a set at Walmart today.
 
Also ordered the display case today. This one is going to my dad's. Back a few months when Joel passed I said I was dedicating the completion of the build, particularly the rigging to him. So at some point I will put together a few words in his memory. If you have anything you'd like to add on his behalf be thinking about that. We'll figure out how/where to publish it.
 
Well here's a few more pix.