Dwight

Does anyone know of a kit builder who a) builds POF models and b) isn't banned

Well I've been working and making myself crazy. I got the mast and thee bow sprint installed and they seem to be straight. Then I started on the standing rigging. I left the shrouds and ratlines till "last" partly out of abject fear and partly so I could work from the inside out.

You might consider your local library. Maybe on extended loan so you can get it back when you have more space.

Finally got the cannons done. Not real pretty but I've decided this Sloop has seen some action. These are Chucks guns and were easy to assemble but a real bear for my shaky hands to rig and install.

I sure hope not cause I want to know where he got those beautiful brass clamps.

Martin , this may be way too late but the best way I've found to make windows look real is to spray one side with " Dull Coat ". I don't remember who makes it but I find it at Hobby Lobby. The side you spray becomes the inside of the window and gives them a slightly used look. I figure on a ship plying the seas the windows would be pretty cloudy about an hour after launch.

Thanks Cap. I think I'll order some smaller blocks ( or dig through the parts bin ) from Chuck. The walnut is a problem. I've crushed a few just trying to hold them.

Thanks Chris , I'll have to do that.

Meanwhile I managed to get one cannon mounted. This is by far the hardest thing I've done. I'm visually handicapped so some of these small details give me a fit. Hopefully I'll have it figured out by the time I get to gun #6. Seems the blocks are too large ( 5mm ) but were almost impossible to " thread " so I'm kinda leary to try smaller ones.

Better pics of the planking. Also three cannons and one "rigged". I can't for the life of me get the damn thing mounted on the ship.

Got themessage .

Every time I look at this build it takes me a day to get back to mine , I'm thinking about throwing mine away ! 

Beautiful work !

Very nice , much better than mine. I had to paint the hull as the planking left much to be desired.

Get well Rich , I'm counting on you to show me how to build my Syren. take your time and rest a while. Us old timers need lots of rest anyway.

Well I'm not dead. No I didn't throw the thing in the trash. In fact I've been slowly working on her. Finished the second planking ,the deck furniture ( some not very good but finished ) and gave her a coat of polly. Now I need to sand out the goops in the polly and re-coat her and get to work on the cannons ( yeck ). Don't know why the port and starboard are different colors in the photos , either a bad photographer or a junkey camera. Probably both.

BTW , thanks Phil , I think you're the first to comment on this build.

Been a while. It's kinda hard to post here if I get no responses , good or bad. 

Finished the ceiling planks , the roof over the cabin and the hull first planking. As you can see it's gonna need fome filler and a bunch more sanding which is good cause one of my contacts actually came apart and is gonna take two or three weeks to replace.

Are we gonna see the other two cannons soon ? BTW She looks so good I'm gonna give upon mine. It's embarrassing.

Got the sides above the wale done and it turned out pretty ( for me ).Going to add the inner planking now.  I'm using Chucks instructions for the "Syren " and " Cherfull more than the MS instructions.

Also installed the false deck and the  waterway. I had also installed the gun ports , sills and filler blocks along with thewale but they looked so bad I cut all that out. After measuring the plan sheet and the extensions on the model I discovered they were all short so I'll and above , then install the gun ports and fillers based on the wale. Keep your fingers crossed.

Planked the transom. Looking at the instructions and at some of the build logs here I just didn't like the way the instructions dictated this planking. I especially didn't like the way the hull planking was supposed to wrap around the stern sooooo..... I'm gonna try something different. I know it will need some filling . Hope I can still find Mahogany filler. I've also installed the fashion pieces which still need some sanding.

The stern frames and window frames are in, Still needs some more sandpaper work. All this sanding is killing my havds. Damn cheep camera ! Or maybe the photographer needs to be fired.

Finished the bulkhead instillation. Only broke three. Fortunately they were easy to repair. I wonder why the manufacturer chose to align the grain perpendicular instead of horizontal. Horizontal grain would be much stronger seems to me. The bow and stern gave me fits. Hope everything is close enough so that some filler and a little ( ha ) sanding won't fix.

Can someone tell me how to add the stuff below my posts like my name , what I'v built , what I'm building and whats under the bench ?

Carefully fitted each bulkhead to the center keel. Every one of the slots for the bulkheads on the keel needed attention. I used a emory board for this and it worked fine. After assembling the keel and frames a few times I was finally satisfied and began gluing the bulkheads. Thee first three , A , B , and C were a little sloppy so I added fillers pieces. The rest , so far fit fine and I'm following the instructions. That's it for now as my arthretic hands are telling me to stop.

I then began work on the bulkheads. Again I listened to Mr Earl and made copies of the frame plans , cut them out leaving one side normal and the other cut to thee fairing line. These got two sided tape and were stuckto the actual bulkhead and traced the fairing to the bulkhead , flipped over and repeated on the other side.

Well I got to the point with my 18th Cem\ntury long boat where it seemed finished so I'm starting my second build , MS's Armed Virginia Sloop. I've read the instructions several times especially the beginning. Next I cut out all the bulkheads , the false keel and the stempost , keel and stem. I followed John Earls advice and " cut " theerabbit beforeI installed the sten , keel and sternpost. It just seemed more practical