Scott Crouse

Productive morning. Finally got to use my useless plane scribing tool for something it seems to do well, simulating planking; Interesting gap left behind, but the seats will cover it, but will probably put something in there to less the visibility. Before putting the deck on, put some of the other pieces on while everything is exposed. and put the deck on. Not a ton of room for clamps, nor do I own many but managed with elastics and some angles.

Not quite finished the Pram yet, but there is a group build underway on Youtube for the Lobster Smack being run by Olha Batchvarov (https://www.youtube.com/@OlhaBatchvarov/streams). There are several builders all working on it so jumped in to learn with them. After week one, the skeleton is put together. I actually won this kit in a raffle and it comes with many tools, the paints and extras, decent little setup.

Well done, nice clean build

Productive Sunday! Finished the oars, mast, gaff and boom. Laid out the sail and treated it with a PVA/water wash. and stepped the mast! She is coming along. Expect to receive my new nails later this week and will see if we can get most of this finished up next weekend.

I completely agree palmerit. I am surprised that they have not made the little tweaks to get this back into the beginner category, unless they like the confusion cause part of learning is how to figure it out on your own? haha. I have new nails coming - I had to order something from somewhere else who had the right size so spent a few bucks instead of going through the complaint process, I missed that the mast diagrams where out by about 3% so I ended up removing about a quarter of an inch from the mast when I shouldn't have, so I hope that does not bite me in the backside. Now I am trying to decypher the instructions on how the hardware goes on the mast, that will be todays challenged adventure. . Despite my grumblings and pointing out the obvious, still loving it!

and a coat of varnish for everyone!

broke mine today in the exact same spot.

Three hours of sanding and got the mast, boom and 2 oars done. Broke the gaff (should have heeded the warning of others....) but have it repaired. 2 more oars to go. Did sandpaper companies invent this hobby to keep themselves in business? Curious minds want to know 🤣

It has been awhile since I updated or did much building. My fall hiatus Got all the parts painted up - not a fan of brush painting or the Model Expo paints, will be going back to using my airbrush and Tamiya paints and Vallejo when I need to hand brush. Just find these paints so thick. and it was at this moment when I realized I had f@#$'d up. I thought it was just a line that paint would go over, nope, time to sand it down again. That's better, although I am not a fan of how this paint goes down. But to be fair, a real boat would have tons of thick paint. hmmm, might dull this white down a bit. Hind sight being 20/20, I would lighten the red and blue up but will see how it looks in the end. Have decided to try the square version of the mast first - if I don't succeed I will use the dowl. It seems the kit is short one of the V's for the jig... shrug. Ok, I know others have pointed this out, but what is up with the provided nails that are too damn big for anything? I can order up smaller ones from 3rd party sites, but the shipping costs more than the nails. Gonna try and cut the tops off and see how it looks, but if crappy, will have to wait for my next run to the hobby store. Got the rudder put together but I did not bend PE around the tube. I put the tube on the outside. I am still pretty limited in my tools for this kind of work so had to cut with the Dremel so the edges are rough. I put the tubes on the outside (have seen it done both ways and I kinda like this way). Still some cleanup to do on the brass pieces and figure out the bolt heads Overall learning lots from this kit, mistakes are there but having fun and can see my skills improving. What a difference from plastic boat building. My biggest complaint at this point is the instructions with this kit. I never thought I would say that something is to verbose but damn... these things are wordy and assume you know every term for every part on a ship. Finding I am having to break down each sentence one by one. Or just flat out ignore it and follow videos on youtube. Hope everyone had a great New Year and have wonderful builds in 2025! https://www.twitch.tv/bartbandy

You are always welcome, just started streaming again after a bit of a break through the holidays. On there as BartBandy, should be easy to find

A productive weekend, got the rub rails cleaned up, the rudder ready and shaped, dagger board built and hopefully thin enough that when the paint goes on it still fits and the rear transom carved out. Time to get to the store for some paint, getting close.

good point, will check that. Thank you!

Small update from yesterday, trimmed the bow and stern, got the rowing thingies in place and the rub rail. Seems I don't own a 3/8" file for the transom so will have to make a trip to the hardware store (twist my rubber arm). I do stream while I am building and can be found over here as BartBandy

I big thank you to those who have build logs for the Pram, the instructions have definitely had me scratching my head a few times and several of the steps have no photos or any real explanation. Probably not an issue for most people but for this noob, it has me scratching my head - lol. Looking a bit rough but cleanup to come after the glue is all set.

Some more work this morning. We are going to need more clamps! My dagger board thingy was too small for the hole as well as others have been experiencing so had to fill it in a bit.

A few minutes in between all the sunshine to get some work done on the Pram. Discovering I need to be a bit less religious about reading and following the instructions and instead use my own eyeballs to see where things are fitting and where they are not. As you can see on the ends where the overlaying of the planks was not the greatest. Lesson learned. But having an excellent time and those who watch on stream, all plastic builders, are enjoying seeing work done with wood.

Take a bow, looks great!

Well done!

A bit of work this morning. Have the garboards soaked and fitted, letting dry and will glue down later today.

Sorry for no updates on this project of late. I have to admit that come summer the model room takes a back seat to enjoying the great outdoors. Did manage to get a bit of a start on the PE and will be working on this around working on my Norwegian Pram project.

Yet another Pram build My adventure into wood ship building continues. After completing the Dory (sorry I did not find you all in time to make a build log); It was time to start the Pram (this time I will do a log haha. Early stages and just getting started. I do stream on twitch when I build so if anyone cares to check it out, you can find me over at BartBandy - Twitch

Great job, keep going. Your documentation of this project is excellent. I have started the Pram myself, just doing the first boards and keel now and I will most definitely be using your writeup as reference material. Bravo.

Thanks, I was skeptical at first when I see so many people buying wooden decks but now after having done it, I find myself looking for a kit with an even bigger deck haha. I really enjoyed the process and it is rewarding.

Started the R/N Fiume recently and decided to start a build log here. Occasionally I stream my building over on twitch at: https://www.twitch.tv/bartbandy Splurged and got myself a PE bender as well . Kit comes with PE and all the railings, only extras I bought was some brass barrels and will use EZ line for the rigging, otherwise, stock kit. Decided to try doing the hard mount thing instead of the kit cradle. The "candle sticks" are just temporary for the build, will use nice brass or something when I mount to the base. Lets get the red and white stripes out of the way first. That worked out ok. Discovered my hands and eyes won't allow me to paint individual planks so picked up one of these Easy cutters to make tape strips with. I love it! Masking various planks and did 3 different shades of brown. Gloss clear coat, then Naval Deck wash. Also painted the rest of the deck in a dark'ish grey. That works. Making masking templates. Increased the photo size to the same as the ship, cut tape to match. (wish I had stock in Tamiya tape for this project) That worked as well. German and US shades of green mixed to put on an Italian ship - love it! Almost zero touchup required - woot! Letting it cure a day or two before sealing it up with a gloss finish (there will be oil pants to tone it down yet). But happy up to this point.

A reintroduction of myself, joined your group 4 years ago when I suddenly had the desire to build wooden ship models. Watched the builds on here and youtube scared the <poop> out of me and went to the plastic world. Armour, planes and eventually to what I wanted to do all along, ships. Built the Snowberry, Huron and about to start the Fiume. But that wood itch remained. Building with PE helped build the confidence that I can do those small details. A few months back a friend handed me a kit he was given as a gift and said "I will never build this" and I tossed it on the shelf. Took a look the other day day and found it is the Lady Nelson, a beautiful and expensive kit. Checked out a video on building her and quickly came to the realization that "no, I am not ready to jump straight in on that". Lurking here and elsewhere, I have decided to start with the basics and the Shipways Dory arrives tomorrow. Plan to do their 3 ships in the combo to see how I like building with wood and to build the basic skills that will be different than the plastic world. If folks are interested in watching, when I am in the model room I stream building on Twitch. I will be starting the Dory after 1 April (part of a group build - others are doing plastic) but in the meantime I am building other projects. So if any new folks want to see me build my first wood ship or if experienced folks want to watch and bring their experience or if you like to just watch plastic builds or hang out while building yourselves, drop by whenever I am online - https://www.twitch.tv/bartbandy Although a lurker these past 4 years, your builds and discussions have been in inspiration. I hope to at one point get to the level to be a more active participant. Cheers!