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Just to expand a bit more on bricklayer's comment, there are other small boat kits that have precut planks. I am thinking of something like Bluejacket's Swampscott dory or Grand Banks dory, or I believe their whaleboat also has at least some pre-cut planks, or even something like the Annapolis Wherry from Cheasapeake Light Crafts. The Bluejacket website has "what's in the kit" videos that you can check to see, and CLC has (or at least used to have) a build video.

That was exactly my point when I said that using a rail may not be practical at model ship sizes. That 10 inch long rail would probably not allow you to take the photo that Dr PR showed which had a 22 inch range from front to back. And that is not even a particularly large model. Sure, there are times when a rail would be the best solution but there are also times when changing the focus point is the best solution. Or maybe some other equipment or technique is better. Just a matter of trying to figure out the best set of compromises to make to get the image you want (where those compromises potentially include the equipment you have or the skills you have or the software you own).

Using a rail for macro focus stacking is certainly helpful. But at model ship sizes it may not be practical. That image above by Dr PR would require one heck of a rail to take it without changing the focus distance on the lens. And doing focus stacking in landscape photography obviously cannot be done with a rail. The size of the object in the photograph will change regardless of whether you use a rail to move the camera or you change the focus distance. For this reason it is probably best to compose the image such that the object does not fill the frame as much as you want and then crop after stacking. I suspect the blurry left edge of Dr PR's photo is due to this....the images where those parts of the model would have been in focus did not actually include those parts of the model in the frame.

The sails are looking great. I know there are some who will disagree, but I used cloth/sewn sails on my 1/48th America and I think they look fine at that scale. Yes, the weave of the cloth and the stitching are a bit out of scale, but no more so than the grain of the wood on the deck or deck fittings.

Wow, she's looking great with that finish! It's funny, I was just looking at your build log last night and was going to comment on it and say that I can't wait to see it with some varnish on it. Just then we had some brief power outages due to thunderstorms in the area so I did not have a chance to make that comment. Then I came back today and saw that my wish to see it with varnish was granted. I was going to suggest looking into the molotow liquid chrome. I've heard good things about it but never used it. The only other option I can think of is the "bare metal foil" chrome but I assume that is pretty similar to the chrome tape that you are wishing to replace.

She's really looking great with all those added details. You are making a lot of progress on this build.

Hello and welcome to MSW! You might wish to also post an introduction in the New Member Introductions section. It's great that you are starting a build log, there are a lot of helpful people around if you run into any obstacles. Nic from Bluejacket is active here and is one of those helpful people. I built this kit about 5 or 6 years ago. It was before I discovered MSW so I did not do a build log for it. If you have not seen it, cathead/Eric's review of this kit (linked below) has useful information. I believe that Bluejacket was planning to update this kit; not sure if that has happened or not so yours might be updated from the one Eric reviewed or the one I built. I'll pull up the first chair and follow along.

Hi Chris. I noticed that on your build log. It looks like you uploaded HEIC files (High Efficiency Image Container). Apparently the MSW forum software does not support/recognize that file type. You might google "HEIC file" to look for the best way to convert to a more standard format like JPEG to use when uploading files. If you took them with an iPhone originally, you can got to settings->camera->formats and select "most compatible" and that should use JPEG for all images from that point on (which may or may not be what you really want). There are probably apps on MAC OS to do the conversion as well. I am not associated with MSW, just another user. Perhaps someone associated with MSW will chime in with more info about picture file formats, or any easy way to convert.

Looking beautiful. That is quite a milestone to get all the frames attached and be ready for planking. Obviously a tremendous amount of work has gone into this build already. It will be interesting to see how the planking progresses, and how the unplanked section reveals the hull construction details.

Nice little boat. The cap rails do give it a much more finished appearance, in keeping with the elegance of the rest of the craft.

The youtube link worked for me. Cool project, and interesting application of Arduino to modeling. I've done a few Arduino projects in the past but it has been a few years.

Haven't seen this kit before. I'll follow along to see how it went. Those middle five bulkheads look far apart for planking. My guess is that was one of your challenges. Are there two layers of planking? Oh, and by the way, welcome to MSW!

Congratulations on completing this fine build! You certainly deserve to be, and have every reason to be, proud of this accomplishment!

Nicely done! I like all the details and lighting that you added.

Glad to see you continuing with your America build. She's looking really good. The frames don't look too far out of line from here. I also had to do some trimming and a bit of shimming of a few of the frames after attaching them to the keel to get things to line up. You might consider putting on the bilge clamps/sheer clamps before doing much fairing or trimming of the frames. The clamps will reduce the chance of snapping off one side of the frame when fairing or trimming them. I recall that I broke one or two of my frames and had to glue them back together. Of course you might need to do some fairing on the insides of the frames in order to put the clamps on so you'll still have a chance to snap a frame then. Also, one thing I don't see.....there is a small step up where the last third of the deck is a bit higher than the front two thirds. On mine, that step up was also part of the frames at this point...i.e. the tops of the aft frames were higher while the timberheads were shorter. But on yours they appear to be similar height. You may need to add some material around the tops of the frames or just compensate with the deck beams. Keep up the good work. If you have not checked my build log lately, I just very recently completed my America, so it is possible.

Nice shot Phil. Now I feel like an idiot for not bouncing the light off the walls and ceiling for my recent shots, though I have not done a lot of indoor macro photography. I've also done some focus stacking for very small objects or for landscapes but did not really think about it for a medium sized object like a model. Thanks for the tips, now I have something to try today.

Thank you, you are too kind. The finish on your Miss Severn and Fifie tell me I have a ways to go yet but I am getting there. Thank you all, I appreciate it. And thanks again to all those you looked it, commented, and hit the like button on this build log and on the pictures in the gallery. The encouragement means a lot to me.

And so I have marked this as "finished". I still need to sort out what I am doing about the case, but the model itself is finished. Here are a few photos I've taken. I'll post more in a gallery in the completed kits section in a while. And this last one I think @MrBlueJacket will like it. Of the eight model boats I've completed, 5 of them have been from Bluejacket. In front are the two very small scale 1934 America's cup contenders Endeavour and Rainbow that I acquired and built probably 20 or 25 years ago. Behind that is the Bluejacket lobster boat and the Swampscott dory, which I build in the 2015-2016 time frame, and then the just completed America.

Thank you! Yes, I've been trying to figure out what I want to do about a case...more thought and research is required there. Thanks. Understand about life getting in the way....there's a chance that'll happen to me in the coming months but with luck my changes will also result in a better modelling workshop. As for what's next, I'll likely take a bit of a break. But it's funny. If you've followed MSW for any length of time you've probably seen posts where the author refers to having a stash of unbuilt kits. Three years ago when I saw that I thought it was weird. But now that I've finished America, I have my own stash. But nothing nautical. I have several plastic cars, and both the model airways and artesania latina 1/16th sopwith camel. I bought the former on a whim when I got a really good deal on it but after some research I decided I really preferred the latter, and if I was going to invest the time I wanted the better one. I may build the engine from the MA kit and display it along with the completed AL kit, we'll see. As for boats, I've been thinking about one of the MarisStella kits, likely either the Trabaccolo or Pelig. Or, I've been lusting after Miss Severn ever since @Tim Moore included a picture of it in a Typhoon build log:

This is an interesting and timely topic for me, for two reasons. First, photography is one of my other hobbies. Second, I am in the midst of trying to create the final, high(er) quality images for my America build. While doing the build log, I mostly used an ancient point-n-shoot. For the final images I am using my Canon DSLR (5D mk IV). Regarding LED lighting, I have a Luxli Viola II. They certainly are not cheap and it would be hard to justify solely for ship model photography, but if you have other uses I'd recommend them, or the newer Luxli Fiddle. They allow adjusting both the brightness and the color temperature of the light. They can also do colors too, though don't think that applies to ship model photography. They have a smart phone app for controlling the light if you have a set up where the light is not near by. For my final pictures I am using the Viola along with one or two flashes. I should probably invest more in a good back drop.....for now I am just using a sheet thumb tacked to the wall and a second one spread on the table. And yes, macro photography can be brutal for the ship modeller's ego.

A few thoughts on the kit I thought now that I am done I would add a few more thoughts on this kit. I enjoyed building it and generally the kit is well done. It is not for the faint of heart or inexperienced. Though to be fair, Bluejacket does rate it an "8" on their 9 point difficult scale so that is no surprise. The materials were generally all good quality. In the end I even decided that I liked the britannia metal blocks. The wood was good quality and there was an appropriate amount, though I did replace the deck with some nicer cherry wood instead of the bass wood. I made a few other substitutions as well, such as wood mast hoops instead of the brass wire loops. The instructions were a bit uneven. Many sections had good detail but in a few other places the instructions were little more than "use the supplied material to build the thing in the picture". I felt like the rigging instructions were very much more like the latter. There are only 30 or 35 lines on the boat, seems like it would not have been that difficult for the instructions to identify the size of the rigging line and blocks used for each line as well as the belaying point. Finally, a huge thank you to those of you who have looked in, and commented, and hit the like button. You provided guidance and encouragement on this long journey. Also, a huge thank you to those that did their own build logs for other America kits, such as @TUEL, @greatgalleons, @mojofilter, @hamilton, and especially @Kevin Kenny. I referenced all of those build logs multiple times and watched pretty much all of the videos that Kevin produced, and my build turned out better because of those prior build logs.

And so I think I am done. I feel like I sort of hobbled over the finish line. I added the last couple of rigging lines, and a bunch of rope coils both to the deck and hanging from the pins. I was a bit underwhelmed with my rope coiling ability, but it is not the first time I have had that feeling. I then did the nerve wracking switch from my temporary building board to the real, cherry base board. I still need to take one last look at the plans and the instructions to see if there is anything else I forgot that I'd like to add. And maybe look in the box for leftover parts that should've gone on. Then I need to do a bit of clean up in the spare bed room and get out the DSLR to take some better pictures of the finished product, which I'll post here and in the gallery. At that point I will officially mark the build log as finished. For now, here are two pictures using the crappy little point-n-shoot.

I have not seen a build log for this kit before, so will follow along with interest. Looks like you are off to a great start!

Thank you for taking the time to comment, Phil. I appreciate it. I've already referred to your topsail schooner sail plan/rigging thread several times while doing the rigging here. What you say makes sense. Oddly, the one and only thing shown on the plans regarding the vangs is an attachment point on the very aft edge of the deck, which does seem like it would have exactly the issue you mention, interfering with the swing of the boom. Perhaps that is where the hook could be used, to allow it to be detached to give space.

Thanks all for the likes and for looking in. Just a quick update to say that I am still working on the rigging, but making progress. I now have the chainplates and deadeyes attached and have the lanyards threaded through them, though need to tighten them up and seize the ends of the lanyards. After that I just need to decide if/how/where to do the vangs, as they are not really shown on the plans with the kit. Then the rigging will be done and on to the clean up and finishing touches.