AndyMech

I finished planking the bulwarks today.  Sorry for the poor quality of the photos, the light wasn't the greatest this afternoon.
 
The continuous scupper between gunports 2 and 5 is at 1/32", so pretty noticeable.  I also had to add a basically a stealer when doing the port planking at the transom to fill a gap, but it's barely visible.
 

 

 

 

 

 
I think next would be to try and finish the transom - add the framing pieces (fancy piece) and the sides as well as the center decorations.  Also, next up is some of the railing details - pin rails, add the eyebolts, ladders, etc.
 
Andy.

I finished planking the bulwarks today.  Sorry for the poor quality of the photos, the light wasn't the greatest this afternoon.
 
The continuous scupper between gunports 2 and 5 is at 1/32", so pretty noticeable.  I also had to add a basically a stealer when doing the port planking at the transom to fill a gap, but it's barely visible.
 

 

 

 

 

 
I think next would be to try and finish the transom - add the framing pieces (fancy piece) and the sides as well as the center decorations.  Also, next up is some of the railing details - pin rails, add the eyebolts, ladders, etc.
 
Andy.

I finished planking the bulwarks today.  Sorry for the poor quality of the photos, the light wasn't the greatest this afternoon.
 
The continuous scupper between gunports 2 and 5 is at 1/32", so pretty noticeable.  I also had to add a basically a stealer when doing the port planking at the transom to fill a gap, but it's barely visible.
 

 

 

 

 

 
I think next would be to try and finish the transom - add the framing pieces (fancy piece) and the sides as well as the center decorations.  Also, next up is some of the railing details - pin rails, add the eyebolts, ladders, etc.
 
Andy.

On sheet 4 of the plans, Gunport Details, it shows a "vertical piece" on the outboard diagram. And on page 19 of the instructions, it says "Apply a 1/32" -square vertical strip of wood on each side of the gunport, simply to cover the end grain of the bulwark plank (you could omit this on the model)"
 
My current plan is to use a 1/32 x 1/16 strip and sand it down so it fits uniformly under the top rail. Since my stanchions are likely not each perfectly centered, this seems to be an approach with the best likelihood of success, although it will require a lot of sanding.
 
I'm bending the plank now so it can be fit without a struggle once it's done being sanded.
 
Andy

On sheet 4 of the plans, Gunport Details, it shows a "vertical piece" on the outboard diagram. And on page 19 of the instructions, it says "Apply a 1/32" -square vertical strip of wood on each side of the gunport, simply to cover the end grain of the bulwark plank (you could omit this on the model)"
 
My current plan is to use a 1/32 x 1/16 strip and sand it down so it fits uniformly under the top rail. Since my stanchions are likely not each perfectly centered, this seems to be an approach with the best likelihood of success, although it will require a lot of sanding.
 
I'm bending the plank now so it can be fit without a struggle once it's done being sanded.
 
Andy

Thanks for all the comments - much appreciated.
 
I did some work on the transom yesterday - simple planking up to the newly-installed top rail.
 
Before, you can see a shim on the far right - I had to shim and otherwise adjust a number of the stanchions to level out the rail:
 

 
After:
 

 
Then I stained the upper transom and the top rail with Minwax's Mahogany Red:
 

 

 
Next up will be the planking of the bulwarks.  Question:  For anyone who's done this model before, here's the instructions on the bulwark planking:
 

 
The kit doesn't seem to come with a plank the size of 3/64" x 1/32".  I've checked the manifest of the plank sizes.  What did you do for this plank, and the inboard one as well?  Should I try to cut a larger plank down to this size?
 
Andy.
 
 

After much thought and work, I finally created the top rail and have glued it into place.  I struggled a lot trying to figure out how carve a curved piece that matched the tops of the stanchions all around the hull.
 
Here's what I finally came up with.  I took the lid off a plastic grocery container - the kind that nuts or candies are sold in.  These are rigid, clear pieces of plastic that I could place that on top of the stanchions, and mark the position of each one with a blue sharpie.
 

 
At each position, I drilled a hole in the plastic, large enough to push a pin through.  I would place the plastic on a sheet of white paper and create a small hole at each position by sticking a pin through.  This left a series of dots on the paper that matched the top of each stanchion.  I would then mark the width at each dot, and cut out the paper:
 

 
I placed the paper template on the piece of 1/2" by 1/32" wood, trace out the shape and then cut it out carefully using a hobby knife.  After sanding to get back to the proper width, making sure the stanchions were centered created the top rail pieces.
 
I did 3 pieces per side, each one as long as I could make it given the curve of the piece and the width of the wood.  I struggled with the scarf joints there the pieces come together.  One of them I had to patch with some scrap.
 
Here's the resulting rail:
 

 

 
The stern piece was created the same way, and I manually shaped the bow:
 

 

 
Next, I plan to plank the transom and then stain the lot with a Minwax mahogany stain.
 
Andy.

Thanks for all the comments - much appreciated.
 
I did some work on the transom yesterday - simple planking up to the newly-installed top rail.
 
Before, you can see a shim on the far right - I had to shim and otherwise adjust a number of the stanchions to level out the rail:
 

 
After:
 

 
Then I stained the upper transom and the top rail with Minwax's Mahogany Red:
 

 

 
Next up will be the planking of the bulwarks.  Question:  For anyone who's done this model before, here's the instructions on the bulwark planking:
 

 
The kit doesn't seem to come with a plank the size of 3/64" x 1/32".  I've checked the manifest of the plank sizes.  What did you do for this plank, and the inboard one as well?  Should I try to cut a larger plank down to this size?
 
Andy.
 
 

Thanks for all the comments - much appreciated.
 
I did some work on the transom yesterday - simple planking up to the newly-installed top rail.
 
Before, you can see a shim on the far right - I had to shim and otherwise adjust a number of the stanchions to level out the rail:
 

 
After:
 

 
Then I stained the upper transom and the top rail with Minwax's Mahogany Red:
 

 

 
Next up will be the planking of the bulwarks.  Question:  For anyone who's done this model before, here's the instructions on the bulwark planking:
 

 
The kit doesn't seem to come with a plank the size of 3/64" x 1/32".  I've checked the manifest of the plank sizes.  What did you do for this plank, and the inboard one as well?  Should I try to cut a larger plank down to this size?
 
Andy.
 
 

After much thought and work, I finally created the top rail and have glued it into place.  I struggled a lot trying to figure out how carve a curved piece that matched the tops of the stanchions all around the hull.
 
Here's what I finally came up with.  I took the lid off a plastic grocery container - the kind that nuts or candies are sold in.  These are rigid, clear pieces of plastic that I could place that on top of the stanchions, and mark the position of each one with a blue sharpie.
 

 
At each position, I drilled a hole in the plastic, large enough to push a pin through.  I would place the plastic on a sheet of white paper and create a small hole at each position by sticking a pin through.  This left a series of dots on the paper that matched the top of each stanchion.  I would then mark the width at each dot, and cut out the paper:
 

 
I placed the paper template on the piece of 1/2" by 1/32" wood, trace out the shape and then cut it out carefully using a hobby knife.  After sanding to get back to the proper width, making sure the stanchions were centered created the top rail pieces.
 
I did 3 pieces per side, each one as long as I could make it given the curve of the piece and the width of the wood.  I struggled with the scarf joints there the pieces come together.  One of them I had to patch with some scrap.
 
Here's the resulting rail:
 

 

 
The stern piece was created the same way, and I manually shaped the bow:
 

 

 
Next, I plan to plank the transom and then stain the lot with a Minwax mahogany stain.
 
Andy.

Well, I fixed the orientation of the stanchions.  As should have been obvious, they flair outboard:
 

 

 
I also spent a fair amount of time creating and installing the hawse timbers.  I created them out of 3/16" square stock from the kit.  First, making the lower piece, then the upper.  Since it wasn't tall enough, I added a third little "cap" on top to make the height good for the top rail:
 

 
I scraped off the paint at the bow where they'll go:
 

 
And, finally glued them in place.  I'll wait for the glue to fully dry before attempting to drill the hawse pipes.
 

 

 
Andy.

After much thought and work, I finally created the top rail and have glued it into place.  I struggled a lot trying to figure out how carve a curved piece that matched the tops of the stanchions all around the hull.
 
Here's what I finally came up with.  I took the lid off a plastic grocery container - the kind that nuts or candies are sold in.  These are rigid, clear pieces of plastic that I could place that on top of the stanchions, and mark the position of each one with a blue sharpie.
 

 
At each position, I drilled a hole in the plastic, large enough to push a pin through.  I would place the plastic on a sheet of white paper and create a small hole at each position by sticking a pin through.  This left a series of dots on the paper that matched the top of each stanchion.  I would then mark the width at each dot, and cut out the paper:
 

 
I placed the paper template on the piece of 1/2" by 1/32" wood, trace out the shape and then cut it out carefully using a hobby knife.  After sanding to get back to the proper width, making sure the stanchions were centered created the top rail pieces.
 
I did 3 pieces per side, each one as long as I could make it given the curve of the piece and the width of the wood.  I struggled with the scarf joints there the pieces come together.  One of them I had to patch with some scrap.
 
Here's the resulting rail:
 

 

 
The stern piece was created the same way, and I manually shaped the bow:
 

 

 
Next, I plan to plank the transom and then stain the lot with a Minwax mahogany stain.
 
Andy.

Well, I fixed the orientation of the stanchions.  As should have been obvious, they flair outboard:
 

 

 
I also spent a fair amount of time creating and installing the hawse timbers.  I created them out of 3/16" square stock from the kit.  First, making the lower piece, then the upper.  Since it wasn't tall enough, I added a third little "cap" on top to make the height good for the top rail:
 

 
I scraped off the paint at the bow where they'll go:
 

 
And, finally glued them in place.  I'll wait for the glue to fully dry before attempting to drill the hawse pipes.
 

 

 
Andy.

After much thought and work, I finally created the top rail and have glued it into place.  I struggled a lot trying to figure out how carve a curved piece that matched the tops of the stanchions all around the hull.
 
Here's what I finally came up with.  I took the lid off a plastic grocery container - the kind that nuts or candies are sold in.  These are rigid, clear pieces of plastic that I could place that on top of the stanchions, and mark the position of each one with a blue sharpie.
 

 
At each position, I drilled a hole in the plastic, large enough to push a pin through.  I would place the plastic on a sheet of white paper and create a small hole at each position by sticking a pin through.  This left a series of dots on the paper that matched the top of each stanchion.  I would then mark the width at each dot, and cut out the paper:
 

 
I placed the paper template on the piece of 1/2" by 1/32" wood, trace out the shape and then cut it out carefully using a hobby knife.  After sanding to get back to the proper width, making sure the stanchions were centered created the top rail pieces.
 
I did 3 pieces per side, each one as long as I could make it given the curve of the piece and the width of the wood.  I struggled with the scarf joints there the pieces come together.  One of them I had to patch with some scrap.
 
Here's the resulting rail:
 

 

 
The stern piece was created the same way, and I manually shaped the bow:
 

 

 
Next, I plan to plank the transom and then stain the lot with a Minwax mahogany stain.
 
Andy.

After much thought and work, I finally created the top rail and have glued it into place.  I struggled a lot trying to figure out how carve a curved piece that matched the tops of the stanchions all around the hull.
 
Here's what I finally came up with.  I took the lid off a plastic grocery container - the kind that nuts or candies are sold in.  These are rigid, clear pieces of plastic that I could place that on top of the stanchions, and mark the position of each one with a blue sharpie.
 

 
At each position, I drilled a hole in the plastic, large enough to push a pin through.  I would place the plastic on a sheet of white paper and create a small hole at each position by sticking a pin through.  This left a series of dots on the paper that matched the top of each stanchion.  I would then mark the width at each dot, and cut out the paper:
 

 
I placed the paper template on the piece of 1/2" by 1/32" wood, trace out the shape and then cut it out carefully using a hobby knife.  After sanding to get back to the proper width, making sure the stanchions were centered created the top rail pieces.
 
I did 3 pieces per side, each one as long as I could make it given the curve of the piece and the width of the wood.  I struggled with the scarf joints there the pieces come together.  One of them I had to patch with some scrap.
 
Here's the resulting rail:
 

 

 
The stern piece was created the same way, and I manually shaped the bow:
 

 

 
Next, I plan to plank the transom and then stain the lot with a Minwax mahogany stain.
 
Andy.

Well, I fixed the orientation of the stanchions.  As should have been obvious, they flair outboard:
 

 

 
I also spent a fair amount of time creating and installing the hawse timbers.  I created them out of 3/16" square stock from the kit.  First, making the lower piece, then the upper.  Since it wasn't tall enough, I added a third little "cap" on top to make the height good for the top rail:
 

 
I scraped off the paint at the bow where they'll go:
 

 
And, finally glued them in place.  I'll wait for the glue to fully dry before attempting to drill the hawse pipes.
 

 

 
Andy.

Well, I fixed the orientation of the stanchions.  As should have been obvious, they flair outboard:
 

 

 
I also spent a fair amount of time creating and installing the hawse timbers.  I created them out of 3/16" square stock from the kit.  First, making the lower piece, then the upper.  Since it wasn't tall enough, I added a third little "cap" on top to make the height good for the top rail:
 

 
I scraped off the paint at the bow where they'll go:
 

 
And, finally glued them in place.  I'll wait for the glue to fully dry before attempting to drill the hawse pipes.
 

 

 
Andy.

Well, I fixed the orientation of the stanchions.  As should have been obvious, they flair outboard:
 

 

 
I also spent a fair amount of time creating and installing the hawse timbers.  I created them out of 3/16" square stock from the kit.  First, making the lower piece, then the upper.  Since it wasn't tall enough, I added a third little "cap" on top to make the height good for the top rail:
 

 
I scraped off the paint at the bow where they'll go:
 

 
And, finally glued them in place.  I'll wait for the glue to fully dry before attempting to drill the hawse pipes.
 

 

 
Andy.

Well, I fixed the orientation of the stanchions.  As should have been obvious, they flair outboard:
 

 

 
I also spent a fair amount of time creating and installing the hawse timbers.  I created them out of 3/16" square stock from the kit.  First, making the lower piece, then the upper.  Since it wasn't tall enough, I added a third little "cap" on top to make the height good for the top rail:
 

 
I scraped off the paint at the bow where they'll go:
 

 
And, finally glued them in place.  I'll wait for the glue to fully dry before attempting to drill the hawse pipes.
 

 

 
Andy.

Well, I fixed the orientation of the stanchions.  As should have been obvious, they flair outboard:
 

 

 
I also spent a fair amount of time creating and installing the hawse timbers.  I created them out of 3/16" square stock from the kit.  First, making the lower piece, then the upper.  Since it wasn't tall enough, I added a third little "cap" on top to make the height good for the top rail:
 

 
I scraped off the paint at the bow where they'll go:
 

 
And, finally glued them in place.  I'll wait for the glue to fully dry before attempting to drill the hawse pipes.
 

 

 
Andy.

Thanks for the feedback.  I got a couple of small things accomplished recently.
 
First, I blackened 4 of the small brass eyebolts.  I had used blackening on my previous build with pretty terrible results and I ended up painting the metal black.  This time, it worked so much better.  I used a 2-part water, 1 part Novacan black patina.  Since I was doing only 4 eyebolts, I used 2ml water, 1ml solution.  Before dropping the bolts into the blackening solution, I soaked them in white vinegar and brushed them clean with a toothbrush.
 
The results were great.  The brass blacken to nice dark black in 45 seconds or so.
 
I used CA to glue 2 to the inner knees and 2 to the inside of the outer ones (thanks to jcoby for the tip - these bolts aren't referenced until later in the built, but installing them now is easy since the knees are not yet planked.
 

 

 
Finally, I made some progress in the gluing the railing stanchions.  I cut stiff paper guide, put a pencil mark at 11/32 height (the height of the 5 planks, plus an under-rail plank), and used that to align the stanchions.  I'll do a few at a time, let the glue dry and if I need to adjust, I can inject a little water in there to soften the glue.
 

 
Andy

Thanks for the feedback.  I got a couple of small things accomplished recently.
 
First, I blackened 4 of the small brass eyebolts.  I had used blackening on my previous build with pretty terrible results and I ended up painting the metal black.  This time, it worked so much better.  I used a 2-part water, 1 part Novacan black patina.  Since I was doing only 4 eyebolts, I used 2ml water, 1ml solution.  Before dropping the bolts into the blackening solution, I soaked them in white vinegar and brushed them clean with a toothbrush.
 
The results were great.  The brass blacken to nice dark black in 45 seconds or so.
 
I used CA to glue 2 to the inner knees and 2 to the inside of the outer ones (thanks to jcoby for the tip - these bolts aren't referenced until later in the built, but installing them now is easy since the knees are not yet planked.
 

 

 
Finally, I made some progress in the gluing the railing stanchions.  I cut stiff paper guide, put a pencil mark at 11/32 height (the height of the 5 planks, plus an under-rail plank), and used that to align the stanchions.  I'll do a few at a time, let the glue dry and if I need to adjust, I can inject a little water in there to soften the glue.
 

 
Andy

Ok, next up in the build will be the bulwarks and the top rail.  The first step in that is to, I think, install the stanchions.
 
I labeled and dry-fitted the starboard stanchions to see what I was up against.  You can see in the photos that they all fit loosely into their slots in the waterways.
 

 

 
My question for folks who have done this successfully, is there a proven technique for setting all these (and there are 29 per side) straight and level?
 
Straight so the bulwarks planking has a nice even run.  Level so the top rail touches each stanchion correctly?  The instructions give a little advice (very little), but I don't trust myself to just eyeball it and get it right.
 
Help!
 
Andy.

Ok, the deck has been stained - 2 applications of Ipswitch Pine and one of wipe-on poly.  I used a small paintbrush to get into all the small areas and tried to keep the stain off the paint, mostly succeeding.
 

 


You can see in the last picture a contrast between the unfinished hull and the stained/finished deck.  I am seriously thinking of not painting the hull and staining instead.  I know it's a break from the real ship, but it's a temptation after seeing how the deck turned out.  I'll decide later.
 
Andy.

Making more progress on the nibbing of planks:
 

 
And this is how the ship stands now - planking proceeding:
 

 
Andy