gjdale

And so it begins. Looking forward to following this one Alan.

Nice progress Phill - looking good.

Looking good, Bob.

This looks to be a fascinating project - think I'll pull up a chair and follow along.

Likewise, John. Best wishes to Pam for a speedy recovery and to you for a "nuisance-free" existence.

Looking good Phill. I agree with Nigel re the portholes - do a test with some scrap before deciding.

Stunning Druxey, just stunning!

Okay Bug, I'm impressed!

The painted cutaways look great Danny.

More lovely work Danny! Can't help with paint/no paint decision - I'm torn both ways myself.

Thanks Phil and Mobbsie, Phil - just the one........for now. The re-furbishment doesn't count! Mobbsie - you know very well what it is my friend, but for others who may be wondering, it is the Armed Pinnace - the very same vessel that Mobbsie is currently building. I built this mainly in my cabin at sea a very long time ago but never quite got around to getting a case for it. When I had the case made for the cross section, I decided to have one made up for this one too. Oh, and that quick re-furbishment............yeah, about that........... Seems I couldn't help myself. You see the gun carriage and sled were made from plywood in the original kit, and I had all this lovely timber left over from the Bomb Vessel cross-section, and I had to take them off to clean them anyway, and I've got all these really cool tools now, and, and, and,............. Carriage is now being re-made in Swiss Pear. It might be a few more weeks before resumption of play on the Runabout........

Sticking things to a painted surface is asking for trouble Phil. If you do need to attach something to a surface that is already painted, try to scrape/sand the paint off just at the attacment point, back to bare timber (on both pieces) as you really want a wood-to-wood/metal bond.

I think he's taking the **** Mark.........

Superb Remco - just beautiful to watch!

Nothing wrong with a bit of filler to smooth the surface, Phil. I'm sure that once it's sanded back you'll have a great surface for painting, and that was your aim. Looking forward to seeing the next step.

Thanks for the tip Remco! I'll have this project back up and running fairly soon. There's just been a short delay while I do a minor re-furbishment on another model to remove 15 years worth of dust and debris while she sat uncovered all that time. I bit the bullet recently and had a proper display case made, so it was time for a spruce up. This shouldn't take very long...............famous last words...............

Great work Nick. Yes, some of the access issues really test your forebearance don't they? You're doing a fine job - almost there!

Looking good Mobbsie. Your ebonised timber looks great, despite any reservations you might have. Looking forward to seeing the final planking go on.

Great work Jesse. Your perseverance has paid off.

This is a wonderful thing you are doing Bug. Good on you for taking this on - I know you will do Augie proud.

I have this kit in my stash too, so I might pull up a chair and follow along. Looks like you're off to a good start already.

Phil, I'm sure that any wood filler will do the job for you, but try to use one that claims not to shrink. A product I came across recently that works very well and is easy to use, is Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty. It comes in powdered form, which you mix with water to a consistency of your liking. Once dry, it sands very easily, producing a dust that is similar to talcum powder. It leaves a beautifully smooth finish for painting. If you are trying to simulate a steel hull, then I'd recommend using an undercoat. While there are as many opinions on paints as there are brands, Krylon does a range of spray cans for a variety of metal finishes that look really nice.

Once again, thank you all for all the kind comments and the "likes". Finishing Up Well, I decided not to go ahead with the Mortar Pit Housing, for the reasons previously described. In the meantime, my display case has been finished and I picked that up this week. As usual, he has done an excellent job with this. The case is 3mm Perspex, with the front/top/back being all one piece bent to shape. This gives a nice clean look. The base is gloss black Perspex, which he has routed to provide a nice rebate for the cover to sit on. I think it looks great! Yesterday I made the final version of the display cradle, using Pear stock. Just as Mobbsie found, our timber supplies couldn't quite cater for the size as drawn by Jeff Staudt in his excellent set of drawings. My recollection of my discussion with Jeff Hayes (HobbyMill) when I was ordering the timber, was that he couldn't quite get the width required, although he did manage to get close. Instead, following Mobbsie's lead, I trimmed down the drawing to fit within the timber that I had available. The effect of this is to make the stand a little less chunky, which makes it blend into the frames a little more - so it's probably a good thing. With that, I’m calling “done” on this project. It has taken just over 15 months to complete and it has been a lot of fun. It has provided some great learning opportunities, and while it has provided its fair share of frustrations, the opportunity to work from such great drawings/plans and with such wonderful timber, have far over-shadowed any set-backs. It has also been fun building this in tandem with my mate Mobbsie in the UK. We have often discussed challenges over Skype or email before one or other of us was the guniea pig for the next step – usually Mobbsie, as he’s so much faster than I am! To celebrate completion, I broke out the serious photo-tent and lighting to try and do her justice. Even though I spent some time cleaning her up for the photo shoot, the close-ups show that there is still a bit of dust here and there. Anyway, here she is in all her glory. The last photo shows her in her case at last. Before I close off this log, a few thank you's are in order. Firstly to Jeff Staudt for producing such an excellent set of drawings that even a first-time scratch builder can make a decent job of it! Secondly to Jeff Hayes of HobbyMill for his patience and advice when working through the timbering needed for this project, and also for producing such wonderful quality timber to work with - and for being so generous in his allowances! I swear I have enough timber left over to make another whole model!!! I'd also like to thank my build-buddy, Mobbsie for agreeing to take on this project with me. It has been a lot more fun being able to toss ideas around together when facing a particularly challenging part. On that note, I'd also like to particularly mention the assistance provided by Rusty. I have a very lengthy set of PMs exchanged with Rusty, as whenever I got really stuck I would refer to Rusty's log and if the answer wasn't there, I'd PM Rusty with a question or follow-up and he never let me down with his replies - thanks Rusty. And of course, I'd like to thank everyone who has followed along with this journey. Your support and encouragement means more than I can say. Thank you one and all. Now, it's time to dig out that other "concurrent" project - the Dumas Chris Craft RC build. It was supposed to be built in tandem with this cross-section, but in reality hasn't been touched since about March last year. There is a link in my signature block if anyone is interested in having a peek at that one.

I can thoroughly recommend the Bomb Vessel Cross Section, Bob. The plans by Jeff Staudt are excellent and at 1:48 scale is easy enough to work with while not producing a "monster" to house on completion. I have found it to be a most enjoyable build.

Very nice Bob! Finish line is in sight and approaching quickly. So what IS next?.........