Jim Rogers

As an aside, I am liking the colour I am getting from the Wipe On Poly (although the bird ain't real happy  ).  I may not need to stain.

CAPRAILS.  Here you see how I clamped down the caprails in the bow area.  I would do similarly amidship (amidboats) and aft.
 



 
 

 
Overhead shot of forward caprail in place


 
 

 
 

 
Below, caprails in place and trimmed down.  I need to trim the area next tothe stem.  I like the way the flare looks, but it is not supportive of future planking.  The "ears" should fix this.  I have started the floorboards, although in a back asswards fashion.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

I have been using Gorilla CA with the brush applicator (Yellow top). Drys clear, about a ten second set time

I priced out some of the cases available online and almost fainted at their ridiculous prices. It is not that hard to build a case. Attached is a photo of a prototype I just built. Waiting for some product to add the wake and waves.

I priced out some of the cases available online and almost fainted at their ridiculous prices. It is not that hard to build a case. Attached is a photo of a prototype I just built. Waiting for some product to add the wake and waves.

I priced out some of the cases available online and almost fainted at their ridiculous prices. It is not that hard to build a case. Attached is a photo of a prototype I just built. Waiting for some product to add the wake and waves.

Well said Lou, I couldn’t agree more. 😁

It will be interesting to see you working on the Union again. Of course I think you are being overly critical of your own work on her. I HAVE seen a couple of pictures and was more than impressed with what I saw.
 
You possibly may be right that there were only a handful of followers on this build, but they were QUALITY followers!  

Using Syren Minature Rope: .012, .018,.025.  

Beautiful. Well done.

Planking the deck. 

 
Treenailing and staining. The tree nails are made with a combination of oil paint and Wood filler. The colors for the oil paint is burnt sienna. 
Stain is a colonial maple. 

 
Started working on the other deck elements... 
 
 

Lime wood, without question.  Soaked in water you can literally tie it in a knot!  Very flexible, easy to bend and forgiving. The others are far too hard and/or brittle  to work as a first planing in the thickness needed.  I have used boxwood, holly and Swiss pear as second planking in 1/32” thickness.

Second Planking complete!  I stopped spiling the planks a little past the water line, then it all sped up a lot.  The last picture is with some sanding. Turned out ok.  Going to work on trimming the gunports next before planking the inside. 

 

Built this to taper planks about 15 years ago. 3/4 X 1/8 hardware store aluminum angle. about 18" long. It works for me

Ozark, you're getting bombarded with advice here, hope it's not overwhelming. I think it's important to realize that it's very easy, once you start into model shipbuilding, to go down rabbit holes of upgrading. People will be suggesting that you buy ever more tools, ever more materials, etc. If you have the budget and interest that's fine, but you shouldn't feel obligated or pressured to go off the upgrade deep end. It's perfectly reasonable to build your model with the original yards/masts and the kit-supplied line.
 
That being said, the reason that pressure can exist is because there really is a huge range of material quality out there. A lot of kits/manufacturers use substandard materials to keep the cost down to lure in beginners or just sell more kits. Others start with quality from the beginning. So you'll certainly notice the difference if you upgrade to Syren line (I agree, by far the best out there) but whether or not you do should be up to you and not because anyone else has different standards. I have a couple plastic Revell sailing ships on a shelf that I now think are hopelessly below my current standards, but that virtually every other viewer thinks look great (it helps to live in rural Missouri where no one knows anything about ships). They were built out of the box as a beginner and I have no regrets. If I ever build another plastic sailing model I'll likely discard just about everything but the hull and put in real wood decks, masts, and yards, upgrade the rigging, etc. but I'm not a beginner anymore and trying to do that the first time might well have driven me out of the hobby.
 
Do what you think will make you happy in your current state, and have fun! That's the most important part. If it's stressful, you're missing out.

Every kit I get the first thing I do is trash the line. Ships did not use modern poly line to rig and the line was not shiny. I purchase all my line from SYREN Ship Company. But that is just me.

Looking awesome Bob. 

I just ordered the serving machine. You send inquiry request, he sends price and PayPal link, you pay done.

Like Lou I am also currently building the Phoenix. Here is the color scheme I decided on, have no clue if it is historic or not.

I just ordered the serving machine. You send inquiry request, he sends price and PayPal link, you pay done.

Like Lou I am also currently building the Phoenix. Here is the color scheme I decided on, have no clue if it is historic or not.