tom kinglake

As far as I remember, I glued the extensions to the bulkheads when I was making Granado - you're sure of a tight fit if you do that - and they broke off easily enough when needed (I used pva and clamped the gunport patterns on), although some sanding was needed to get the last of the glue & wood off. I would rather use pva for this job - you have to get the fit right, and CA can grab too fast too allow this. As advised in the instructions, I used CA for most of the 2nd planking on Granado, but for Mercury I've gone over to pva, using CA only to stick the plank to the stem and first bulkhead. I find it's easier to manage and doesn't mark the wood as badly. And I soaked the gunport patterns, but just once. Are they plywood? (can't remember) - mind you don't over soak them and make them buckle up. I have wondered sometimes whether gluing thick paper to the bulkhead extensions before gluing on the gunport patterns would be an idea - maybe it would hold the patterns in place properly but would make removal easier - but I've never tried this. Yes, I agree with Vane that cutting out the oar port holes could be a good idea at this stage - in fact I don't know why they're not pre-cut in the patterns as supplied. I didn't think of this issue until it was too late and had stuck the oar port lids on!! And I agree with Vane also about the difficulty of getting small holes to look good - I'm not 100% pleased with the results I've got with my Mercury brig, but there it is. At least with the Granado kit you only have to worry about the appearance of the oar ports on the inboard side (assuming that you're going to fit the port lids in the closed position).

Yes, the colour variation in walnut is a problem. Even similar looking pieces can change colour slightly when varnished. Another worry I had while aiming at a bare wood finish for Mercury was the effect that glue marks can have on untreated wood: whether using CA or PVA, if you get glue on the surface of the wood (and it's impossible not to), it won't take the varnish (or dye) properly at a later stage. So to try and avoid this, I varnished all the planks that I'd selected for the second planking before I glued them on. This seems to have worked fairly well so far.

Very nice looking wood work - congratulations. I'm trying to get a similar effect with my Mercury brig at the moment, using only a minimum of paint when necessary. I white painted my Granado below the waterline, but wish now that I'd taken more care at the 2nd planking stage in order to be able to leave it visible.

f Quite a time since I posted anything on this log, so here goes... First of all, the above pic shows what happens if you don't read the instructions properly! I should have planked the stern counter before starting the second planking of the main hull - why I didn't remains a mystery - but now as a result I have two unsightly gaps to deal with, not to mention the rather crummy looking join of the hull planking with the stern. Oh well. Getting the deck installed. The clamps worked nicely, the map pins not so well as some of them have left scratches on the deck where the lower edge of the plastic part bore down on the wood. Anyway, it's gone on well enough. Getting the transom on. This was easier than I thought it was going to be. So this is about where I am with this build at the moment. As things are, I've decided to go for a minimal use of paint throughout, with the exception of black for the wale, stem, keel, rudder post & transom. No waterline, no coppering. Unless I change my mind again!

Fantastic work! the detail you have achieved is incredible, especially considering the small scale of this model. Some years ago I tried my hand at the Trumpeter Tsesarevich kit, but after a struggle (just spelling the name was hard enough), I abandoned it. Looking at your pictures makes me wish I'd kept at it, though I doubt I'd ever have got near this level of skill!

Second planking finished! (well, except for the little bit at the stern). Now for some fun.

Hi Glenn I was looking at your Pegasus pictures only this morning - terrific build, many congratulations! Same for Granado. Granado was my first (recent) attempt, Pegasus came straight afterwards. My brig Mercury is coming along, but at the moment I don't feel quite as enthused about it as with the others - not yet, at least. The other day your pictures of Lady Nelson made me start thinking that I might have a try at that kit for my next... Best wishes, Tom.

Hi Mark, Exactly the same happened to me a couple of weeks ago - I coppered the entire starboard side of my HMS Pegasus, didn't like what I had spent 2 days doing, and pulled the lot off again in half an hour (used a pair of thin nose pliers). I found that removing the glue residue was possible, though quite hard work, but for the time being I put on 2 coats of acrylic paint (matt white plus yellow ochre), which before long can come off again when I get round to completing the sanding down of the rough parts of the surface (in the meantime, the roughness gives it quite a convincingly worn & weathered look, I thought!) Have a look at the pics in my Pegasus build log. But don't give up!!! Best wishes, Tom.

Getting there....only another four or five planks each side to go!!

Many thanks to all for your likes and comments on this. Darrell, delighted to have you following along! Tom.

Thanks, Chris. Having now looked at the tutorials, I wish I'd done so before starting this! In my next project, whatever that may be, I'll certainly try to follow those guidelines. In the meantime, I'm grateful for your assistance, and relieved that this method should be ok. Best wishes, Tom.