abelson

Thanks for the encouragement.

Thanks. The wheel is lead casting.

Nice work on the capstan. I share your anguish with the chocks. Some how we work through it and the end result is satisfying.

Great job rigging the carronades, it looks really professional. I'm still holding off that part of my build. I think you'll find the deck fittings more relaxing.

Continuing with the deck fittings, the ships wheel was built according to the instructions, except that I used wood dowels (made from a toothpick) instead of 22-guage wire to assemble the wheel. I used the kit furnished wheel – it had very little flash. The wheel was filed and all the laser cut wooden pieces were cleaned of the char and stained. I painted it with ME (MS4806) Antique Gold Trim paint and with black iron rings. The 1/32” x 1/32” battens will be pinned to the deck. Next, the tiller. The tiller was shaped from a 1/8” square basswood strip as per the instructions. For the split rings at the end of the tiller I used 1/16” eye bolts. I pre-drilled the tiller for inserting the eye bolts. I applied a piece of 1/16” black pinstripe tape around the tiller, punched a hole in it at each pre-drilled hole and then inserted the eyebolts. The tiller is pinned to the rudder. I completed the ship bell following the instructions. After a couple of failures, I was able to glue (CA) and bend the bell frame to the desired shape. I flattened the ends of the frame legs. I painted the bell Antique Gold and glued it to the frame – this was a little tricky. Lastly the bell frame was glued to the binnacle. I decided to drill the hole in the elevated square sections around each mast (the tenons). I had previously made these according to the instructions in Chapter 13. Drilling the holes turned out to be a disaster. I started with a small drill bit and gradually increased the bit size. But, on the way up, the wood planks split -UGH! I was able to salvage the coamings. I decided to re-make the tenons from 1/16” basswood board. I pre-drilled the ¼” mast hole and then cut the tenon out. I filed and sanded the tenon to fit inside the coamings. To simulate planks, I cut lines across the raised sections from port to starboard and then ran an awl across the cut line. I simulated tree nails by drilling a 55mm hole at the edge of each simulated plank and filled them with Minwax Golden Oak putty. The tenons were then stained. I did make one miscue, however. The grain on the wood of one tenon runs aft to stern instead of port to starboard. They’re not perfect and, once the mast coats are added, I don’t think it will be noticeable to the naked eye, so I won’t re-construct it. I rounded off the top edges of the 1/16” laser cut mast coats and painted them black. I temporarily inserted the masts and slid the tenons and the mast coats over the mast to test the fit. I need to add the eye bolts to the tenons. On to the Pumps: I made the pump stand from a 1/8” x 1/8” basswood strip as per the instructions and stained Golden Oak. The difficult part was filing down the center to form the slot for the pump crossbar. I pinned the pump stand to the pump platform. For the pump crossbar, I made the two bands/sleeves from 1/8” x 1/8” basswood. I drilled a hole through the end of each band/sleeve and then shaped them to simulate the profile on the plan. I filed each end of the 1/16” x 1/16” crossbar strip to create a rounded dowel to be inserted in the end of each band/sleeve. I marked the locations of the iron brackets on the crossbar with an awl - I had intended to pin the iron brackets to the crossbar but decided against it. The bands/sleeves were painted black and the crossbar was stained Golden Oak. The pump drums are made by cutting a 1/8” diameter dowel cut to the plan length and drilled out. To simulate the tapered wider base of the drums, I cut a square piece from a 1/16” x 3/16” basswood strip, trimmed off the corners, and glued to the bottom of the drum. When dry, I placed the dowel in my hand drill chuck and sanded the strip piece round to the approximate diameter of the pump base as shown on the plan. I chamfered the top edge to make it appear tampered. For the pump spouts I used 5/64” dowel cut to the plan. I filed one end to fit the contour of the drum and drilled the other end to simulate the spout opening. The completed spout was glue to the drum. The drums were then given two coats of black paint. I made the pump brackets by bending and cutting 3/16” wide brass strips. The pump rods were made from 22 gauge wire, cut to the appropriate length. I didn’t have the means for drilling a small hole in the underside of the brackets, so I simply glued the 22 gauge wire to the bracket with CA. I decided to make pump handles. I had seen these on other builds, most notably Dubz and Gahm, and kudos to JesseeLee. I hand shaped and filed the arms from 1/16” x 5/16” basswood strips. The handles were made from toothpicks. I’m satisfied with how they turned out. Aside from the long guns, this completes Chapter 12. Since I'm enjoying the deck fittings, I think I’ll jump ahead again to Chapter 13 and make the main fife rail. Stay tuned.

Nice work on hatches, gratings, and shot racks. Looking good. I find the work of Chapter 12 to be a leisurely.

Fantastic job on the tree nails. You're a real and patient craftsman. Your build is very clean and crisp.

The capstan is complete. I followed the instructions except I used ¼” dowel instead of a 5/32” for the capstan drum. First, I removed the char from the laser cut pieces. The laser cut pieces were cut on a slight angle, so I had to file the edges to even them out. To establish the alignment and spacing of the whelps, I marked out radial lines on the bottom of dowel. Then, I laid the dowel flat and drew horizontal lines along the dowel with a pencil. I ran the pencil across the top of straight edge. The most difficult part was making and gluing the tiny chocks. I bit of a challenge - with challenges come experience, though. The chocks were made from a strip of 1/32” x 1/8” strip that I cut approximately in half lengthwise. I filed the end of the strip to the general shape of the space between the whelps. I inserted the strip into the space between the whelps and marked a line where it will be cut off. I then cut the strip and repeated the process for rest of the chocks. I glued the chocks in-place. After allowing them to dry sufficiently, I filed each one down. I added some rivets to the top of the drum, made from brass pins. I added the pawls – these are not discussed in the instructions. For the pawls, I mimicked Dubz build. The binnacle: Made basically according to the instructions. The back board was probably not that wide back in the 1800’s, so I simulated some board joints by scribing lines across the board with an awl. The kit doesn’t include the door on each side of the binnacle. I made these doors from a 1/32” x 1/8” strip. I used brass nails for the door and drawer knobs. The nail heads were trimmed down using a Dremel and a file. Rather than stain each piece, I stained the complete binnacle. The compass was built out of a piece of 1/8” diameter brass tube and a 1/8” dowel filed down to fit inside the brass tube. I made a copy of a compass image from the internet, scaled it down to slightly smaller than 1/8” diameter, printed it on white paper, carefully cut it out, and glued it on top of the compass. I finished it off with a piece of clear adhesive paper to simulate glass. I need to add the ship bell to the binnacle. Stay tuned.

Thanks for confidence builder.

Completed the galley stack. It’s made from the kit supplied 1/8” brass tube cut (with a miter saw) at an angle as per the plan. The two handles were made of 28 gauge black anodized wire. The cut tube pieces were glued together with CA. I marked the location of the handles on the tube based on the plan. The handles were attached to the stack with CA. The process of making the galley stack was surprisingly easy – the most difficult part were the handles. I drilled a hole in the raised platform for the stack to sit and added a chimney foot. I spray painted the stack black. Jumping back to Chapter 12, I worked on the companionway. I looked at several build logs for ideas on constructing the companionway, so the details of the companionway are not totally my creation. For the most part, I followed the instructions but deviated based on what I had seen on the other builds. To begin, I cut five (5), 2 ½” long pieces from one 1/32” x 1/8” strip and glued them edge-to-edge. I ran a pencil along the edge of each strip to emphasize the joints before gluing them. I let the glue dry overnight before cutting the panels. The port side panel had to be trimmed slightly on each side to fit the companion way opening. I added a 1/16” wide strip to the fore and aft panels as per the instructions. I glued a 1/16” square strip at each inside corner. For the top, because I plan to notch the top a la Gahm’s build for the hatch, I used 1/16” x 1/8” strips. I test fit the pieces and, satisfied with the fit, I glued the three panels together. I added 1/16” square strip flush with the top of the fore and aft panels where top panel is hinged as well as a vertical strip at the end of the fore and aft panels where the companionway doors will be attached, and a strip across the bottom of the panels at the doorway. I added some trim boards to the sides. For the top panels, to account for trim boards and the top overhang, I used a 1/16” x 3/16” strip in combination with 1/16” x1/8” strip. I made up two individual panels consisting of two 1/16” x 1/8” strips and one 1/16” x 3/16” strip. The 1/16” x 3/16” strip will be cut down to suit the fit. The top strips run perpendicular to the side panels. I cut the strips a little too short for my liking – would like to have had a little more overhang. So, the moral of story is, if you are going to add trim boards, make the top panels after the trim boards are glued on. Next, I added the wood strips on the top of the companionway on each side of the opening. These were trimmed down from a 1/16” x 3/16” strip and notched for the lid. The lid was filed to fit the opening and notched on three sides. The lid and the companionway were stained Golden Oak. I made a slight miscue – I didn’t allow for the 1/32” x 1/16” planks on each side of the door opening. But I’m not going to deconstruct the companionway to correct this. Once the doors are attached, this won’t be noticeable. I filed the edges of the top panel to even out the overhang and glued the blackened photo etched hinges to the top. I added hinges to the lid as well. I inserted a tiny length of 28 gauge wire through a loop made in each hinge. The lid is functional. I added a lid handle a la the gun port lids. For the doors, I mimicked Gahm’s build. The doors were made from a 1/16” x 1/16” strip with a panel in between made from a 1/16” x 1/8” strip. Attaching the doors was a real challenge. I wasn’t able to find any detailed descriptions and photos from other build logs on how to make the door hinges, so I thought I would provide some detail here. My goal was to make working hinges. It started out well. I the door hinge straps were cut from photo etched scrap. The straps were bent to form a loop. The companion hinge strap that is attached to the companionway is a shorter version of the door hinge strap and is also looped. The straps were blackened. Note: In the photo there's only three short hinges because I lost one - UGH! I glued the door straps onto the door with white glue. Once the glue had dried sufficiently, I placed the doors side by side on a piece of tape and then positioned them on the companionway. Trying to glue the shorter straps to the companionway and to get them to align with the door straps was an exercise in futility. The shorter straps are so small that they are easily lost if dropped or fly off the end of the tweezers. I had to remake several of them. The shorter straps wouldn’t adhere to the stain. After several failed attempts, my frustration got the best of me and I abandoned the working hinge approach. I decided to simply glue the door straps to the companionway as per the instructions. I inserted a brass pin head into the strap loop to simulate the hinge pin. I filed the head of the pins down using a file and my Dremel. While I'm disappointed that the doors don't have working hinges, I'm satisfied with how the entire companionway came out. Now, its on to the capstan. Here are some photos of the completed companionway.

I've made quite a bit of progress in the last two weeks. I made the gallows bitts using 3/32” square strips for the posts and 1/8” square strips for the tops as per the instructions, except that I dowelled the tops to the posts using a toothpick sanded down to about 5 mm. A brass nail was inserted in the bottom of each post to pin the bitts to the deck and provide stability. I find brass nails to be resourceful because once the location of the fitting is determined, you press lightly on it and the pin marks the point where you will drill the hole for the pin. The chocks for the ship’s boat will be made later. The bitts were stained Minwax Golden Oak and temporarily pinned to the deck. The Riding bitts: The heavy beam was made from a 3/16”x 1/8” wood strip. The aft side was rounded off. Instead of notching the posts, I notched the beam -OOPS! (Structurally, the beam was probably stronger with the posts notched out.) To secure the posts to the beam, I inserted a dowel a la the gallows bitts. I cut out the plan view of the beam and used it as a template to mark the location of the notch for each post and the five holes for the belying pins. The notches were made by making a vertical saw cut at each notch line and then making a horizontal knife cut between the saw cuts. The notch was easily removed and squared up with a file. Five holes were drilled along the top of the beam for the belaying pins using a 5 mm bit. The two posts are made from 1/8” x 1/8” stock. To make the decorative post top, I filed a groove around the top of each post with a needle file and then chamfered the edges above the groove with a flat file. The two knees that support the riding bits were a bit of a challenge. IMO, these should have been laser cut. And, there is no 1/16” thick stock provided with the kit to make them. I tried, unsuccessfully, cutting them out 1/16” boxwood. Note: The knees scale more like 3/32” on the plan. I ended up making them from pine. I traced the outline of the knee on 3/8” piece of pine and cut it out with the coping saw. Using a miter saw, I cut two 3/32” strips from the cut block. The shape of the individual knees was then refined by filing and sanding. I pinned the knees to the post to provide some stability when gluing the knees to the posts. Brass pins were added to the bottom of the posts to secure them to the deck. The fore bitts: The posts were made from 1/8” x 1/8” stock instead of 3/32” x 3/32” stock because, not reading ahead in the instructions, I made them at the same time I made the riding bitts posts – its’s not noticeable to the naked eye. The cross beam was made from a 1/16” x 1/8” strip per the instructions. I notched out the cross beam instead of the posts. I cut out the plan view of the cross beam and used it to mark the location of the notch for each post and the six holes for the belying pins. I pinned the posts to the beam with a wood dowel. The posts will be pinned to the deck. To establish the location of the gallows, riding and fore bitts, I cut out the plan and used it as a template. I drilled a hole in the deck at the location of each bitts post and then test fit the bitts. The bitts were stained and temporarily placed on the deck. The bow sprit bitts were made per the manual except for the cross piece. As noted in Sald’s build log, there is a discrepancy in the size of the top. The instructions indicate the cross piece to be 1/16” x 1/16” but detail on Sheet 4 the drawing it scales off as 3/32” x 1/8”. I followed the drawing dimensions and made the bow sprit from some wood stock. I notched the 1/8” square posts and made wood dowels to pin the cross piece to the post. I made the upper and lower packing pieces between the posts from stock material. The packing pieces were made from a 1/32’ x 1/8” wood strip. I decided to start making the bowsprit (Chapter 16). In the meantime, I pinned the bow sprit bitts temporarily to the deck Bowsprit: I made the square for the bees, sanded the ¼” dowel to the approximate dimensions shown on the plan, and made the square tenon. I test fit the bow sprit with the bow sprit bitts. The angle was too step. I notched out some of the material at the bow and filed it with circular file - the bow sprit was still too high. Not wanting to remove too much material, I decided to redo the bow sprit bitts a la Dubz build, making it about 3/16” taller. This lowered the bow sprit angle, but it still looks a little high relative to the top of the figure head. I don’t think the angle being a little off will have any ramifications. However, I was concerned about the fit of the splash guard. To check the fit, I made a template of the splash guard. It looks like the angle of the bow sprit will not interfere with the fit of the splash guard – so I’m satisfied with the angle of the bow sprit. Continuing with the bowsprit, the laser cut bowsprit cap was filed to the angles shown in the instructions and the plans. I drilled holes for the seven eye bolts. Note: I think the 1/32” eye bolts furnished with the kit look too small, so I used 1/16” eye bolts instead. The grove for the jack staff was filed on the starboard side of the cap as per the instructions. The instructions say the jack staff is made from 1/16” dowel - not furnished with the kit. The parts list says to use 5/32” dowels as 1/16”. I’ll deal with this later. Make sure to partially drill a hole on the port side fore of the cap for the flying jib boom tenon. The cap was painted black. I made the seat for the bees from 1/16” x 5/32” boxwood strip. The 1/8” x 1/32” strip indicated in the instructions isn’t wide enough to make the angled cut shown on the plan. The bee blocks were made from 1/8” x 1/16” wood strip, notched to match the seats. I happen to find some 3/16” brass sheaves left over from my Rattlesnake build 47 years ago – these are a perfect fit. Unfortunately, there are only three of them. I made the fourth sheave from 5/32” dowel. I glued the bees seat and block together, squared the notches up with a file, painted them black, and glued them on the bowsprit. The sheaves are pinned to the bowsprit. Back to the Bowsprit: I attached the laser cut jib boom rest - the hardest part was getting the char off. The “very fragile” laser cut fairlead was a challenge. One side of the laser cut is wider than the other. I cut out the fairlead from the plan and glued it onto the wider side of the laser cut piece. I stuck a piece of masking tape on the back side of the laser board to keep the piece in-place. I made a tick mark with my fine point awl at each of the six hole locations. Then, with a 5mm bit, I very slowly drilled each hole completely through the fairlead. A piece broke off at the end hole- the weakest part. I tried another, same result. The third attempt failed too. I ended up successfully making one from a 1/16” x 3/16” strip. I drilled the holes first, rough cut the piece with a knife and saw, filed it to shape, and glued it to the bowsprit. I did some more filing/sanding after the glue dried. The holes don’t quite line up, but this won’t be noticeable once the martingale stays are rigged. I’m satisfied with it. Next, I made the chock cleats from a 1/32” x 1/32” strip. I saw cut the angle. I made two cleats from one saw cut. The cleats are pinned to the bowsprit. Finishing the bowsprit: I made the sprit sail yard sling per the instructions except that I used a laser cut fairlead piece for the sling saddle. I stained the bow sprit Golden Oak. For the iron bands, I used 1/16” wide pinstripe tape that I had left over from my Fair American build – my kit did not come with pinstripe tape. Enjoying the build while delaying the mundane task of rigging the cannons, I think I’ll jump back to Chapter 13 and make the galley stack.

Thanks. Nice work on the rings.

Nice work on the blocks and hooks. I've skipped that work for now, but what gauge wire did you use for the hooks?

Thanks so much.

Thanks for the compliment and encouragement. This has been an enjoyable build with varying levels of difficulty.

Moving on to the companionway. I installed the edge boards around the inside of the companionway. The companionway ladder side rails and steps were made from 1/32”x 1/8” wood strips as per the instructions. I used the detail on Sheet 4 as a guide for marking the steps. Using a knife, I made a vertical cut along each step line. Turning the strip on its side, I made a cut between the two vertical cuts along the midpoint of the strip. I removed the notch with a small square file and then evened the grooves (notches) using a flat file that has teeth on the edges. The steps were then glued in place. I filed the ladder to square up all the edges and rounded the top of the side rails. The ladder was stained and glued in the companionway. I decided to sand the coamings to conform to the camber of the deck. The camber is very slight. I stained the hatchways and shot racks. At the mid ship hatch, I drilled a hole in the deck at each location for passing anchor cable through the hatch grating. After that, I glued the cannon balls to the divots with CA and then glued the hatchways and shot racks to the deck with white glue. The hatches are now finished. At this point, I’m going to get some of the easier deck fittings out of the way. So, I’ll be holding the capstan and binnacle in abeyance and jumping ahead to Chapter 13 again. Stay tuned.

Nice crisp work.

Thanks for the compliment. I'll probably glue the gratings and coamings in-place and hold off on the other deck fittings. Right now, I'm enjoying fabricating the deck fittings. At some point, I'll get around to the rigging.

Before getting into rigging the carronades, I jumped ahead to Chapter 14 and installed the stern davits. I removed the char from the laser cut pieces and made the faux sheaves in each piece. I drilled a hole at the location of the 5 mm cleat for insertion of a pin to secure the davit to the rail. The port side of the transom was carefully notched out with an x-acto knife as per the instructions. I had to remove ("deconstruct") the metal carvings above the stern ports to accommodate the notch. I confidently notched the starboard side of the transom with a saw (less work than using a knife). I evened out the edges of the notch with a file. The davits fit well without the need for wood filler. I wasn’t sure how to finish off the transom cap rail. I decided to leave the top edge square and to round off the bottom edge. I glued the davits and then painted them and the transom. The cleat was added to each davit. The cleat is 5 mm boxwood Syren cleat that I had left over from my Fair American build. The metal carvings were re-glued. The davits extend precariously beyond the stern, so I’ll have to be careful not to break them off. I’m holding off on rigging the carronades, so I Jumped ahead to Chapter 12 to start the deck fittings. I find this chapter to be enjoyable - it's constructive and you can see your accomplishments with each deck fitting completion. I made all the grating pieces for the hatches. I had read in another build log that the top grates run fore and aft. This is contrary to the plans and the instructions which clearly show that the top grates run port to starboard or perpendicular the centerline of the ship. The only exception to this is the smaller scuttle at the stern. I decided to follow the plans. Before cutting off the excess grating tabs, I applied CA to the back side of the grating. I cut the tabs off with miter saw. After cutting the tabs, the edges were evened out by filing/sanding. Next, I made the coamings for the hatches using 1/8”x 1/16” strips. The corners of the coamings were formed with a lap joint. I notched the joints using a miter saw and a knife. I made a vertical cut to the center line of the coaming strip with the saw and then cut a horizontal line with a knife. After all the coamings were fabricated, I assembled them. I squared up the coamings with the grates and glued them one at a time with CA. I sanded the bottom of the coamings to create a camber for the coamings to sit properly on the deck. The boards that the capstan will sit on were made from 1/8”x 1/16” strips, as per the instructions. To emphasize the seams between the boards, I ran a pencil along edge of each strip. I’m not sure whether to sand the tops of the hatches to match the camber, for fair that I might ruin them – the jury’s still out. Note: I notice in some build logs that a wood strip was placed between the two grates at the midship. The plans do not depict this, so I opted to stick with the plans. I fabricated the shot racks from 1/8”x 1/16” strips. I cut out the shot rack from the plan and used it as a template to mark the locations of the divots. The difficult part here was creating a divot or dimple for the cannon balls. I used a 1.5 mm drill bit. I sanded each divot with the corner edge of folded 100 grit piece of sandpaper. To create a ledge for the companionway, I still need to add 1/32” x 1/8” strips around the inside edge of the open hatch. I made the platform for the pumps as per the instructions and, jumping ahead to Chapter 13, I made the raised platforms for the galley stack and at each mast. All of the deck fittings are temporarily placed on the deck and will be stained with Minwax Golden Oak. Next up, the capstan, companionway ladder, and binnacle – not necessarily in that order.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm currently working on the davits. It requires some "deconstruction."

Just a brief progress update. I found the lost carronade. It was wedged between the seat and the back of my dining room chair – Phew. Also, I received the replacement 8 mm brass belaying pins from Model Expo. I inserted them temporarily in the pin rails. I like the look of them as is, but I do plan to blacken them. Continuing with the build, I glued the eye bolts for the tackles. One frustration here was that the brass black flakes off the eye bolts, so I have to touch them up with paint. I made the split rings for the breach line eye bolts from 28 gauge wire (furnished with the kit) coiled tightly around a 1.5 mm drill bit. I cut the individual rings from the coil with a nail clipper. I closed the rings with a sharp-nosed pair of pliers and then attached them to the 1/32” eye bolts furnished with the kit. I found it easier to open the eye on the bolt, attach the ring and then close the eye. I attached these temporarily to the bulwarks. They will be glued after the breach lines are seized to them. I went ahead and made the split rings for the deck in the same fashion. These where made from 20-gauge brass wire (not furnished) and 1/16” eyebolts (not furnished). I used a deck template to mark the locations of the 22 rings. I drilled a .55 mm hole for each ring, and temporarily inserted the eye bolts. These will be blackened and permanently glued in-place. Stay tuned for more.

Nice work on the pin rails. Good idea on using the scrap wood for setting the rails at the same height. Wish i had thought of that.

Yes, thanks for the compliment. I've been struggling with eye bolts and split rings for the breach lines. I have them in temporarily now. I need to install the eye bolts for the lower gun tackles. I'll be glad when this work is done.

This is good info, thanks for posting. It would be a significant investment in rope. I'm at the carronade rigging stage, but have not yet begun. I want to experiment with the kit supplied nylon line before considering Syren rope. BTY, the ship is looking good - nice sharp detail.

Moving on to Chapter 11, I had previously marked the locations of hatches and masts on the deck using a template, so I was one step ahead of the instructions. To get the location of the inboard cleats, eye bolts, and pin rails, I made a photocopy of sections of the bulwarks elevation and cut out the ports, cleats, and pin rails. I placed them over the gun ports and then marked the locations of eye bolts with an awl and the locations of cleats and pin channels with a pencil. I drilled a 0.55 mm hole at each eye bolt location for inserting the eye bolts. I cleaned up the 5mm and 10mm cast cleats. I used white glue to attach them to the bulwarks at the pre-marked locations. I later applied CA with a toothpick to secure them to the bulwarks, and painted them red. Next, I removed the laser cut carronade swivel brackets, removed the char, and painted them red before gluing them in-place. I only painted the exposed side of the brackets. I decide to paint the carronade sled components before removing them from the laser cut board (WP4638-G). I will remove these and sand off the char from the edges later. For the pin rails, I used 1/16” x 5/32” basswood strips instead of 1/16” x 1/8”. The extra width gives some allowance for sanding and shaping. For the pin rails, I cut out the corresponding pin rail from the drawing and used it as a template to get the end shape and the location of holes for the belaying pins. My kit came with 8 mm walnut belaying pins. These were a substitute for 8 mm brass pins, due to lack of availability. Before drilling holes in the pin rails, I did a test fit of the 8 mm walnut pins. The walnut pins are larger than brass pins which results in them being too close together on the pin rail (see photo). I’m waiting for Model Expo to replace the walnut pins with brass pins. In the meantime, I drilled holes in the pin rails to accommodate the 8 mm brass belaying pins. BTY, 8 mm is approximately 5/16”. The pin rails on the drawings scale about 13/32” which corresponds with a 10 mm belaying pin. Model Expo does not carry 10 mm brass pins. I also drilled two holes in the side of each pin rail for the insertion of brass pins to secure the rails to the bulwarks. After pin rails and swivel brackets were installed, I gave the entire inboard bulwarks another coat of paint followed by a coat of Minwax Polyurethane. I’m not happy with the finish on the pin rails – the grain of the boxwood doesn’t provide for a smooth finish. Finished up the inboard bulwarks by stropping the double block to the traveler. Constructing the Carronades: Note: The instructions say to drill a hole in the cast carronade for the iron ring for the breach lines. This is not an easy task. The holes must be drilled at an angle. The metal casting is not that soft and, consequently, the drill bit tends to drift. I made a pilot hole first with an awl and then drilled the hole – this alleviated the drift. I used a 0.55 mm bit. The instructions don’t say what size eye bolt to use. The eye bolts that come with the kit (1/32”) are too small. I used 1/16” eye bolts. I glued the eye bolts with CA. Before spray painting the carronades black, I glued the 1/16” laser cut brackets to the carronade lug. The laser cut brackets were all but obliterated on one side, making it difficult to glue them to the lug – there’s no flat surface to adhere to. I persevered, though, and got it done – UGH! After painting the sleds, I blackened the photo-etched sled details and glued them to each sled. I spray painted the sled wheels and, when dry, glued them onto the lower sled component. I used white glue. After the glued dried, I applied CA to the backside of the wheels to secure them. I used toothpicks for the carronade elevating screws. I turned the toothpicks to a size that fit through the ring on the carronade using my Dremel and a sanding block (100 grit). I made the screws 3/16” long. I was able to make 4 or 5 screws from one toothpick. I marked the length of the screws on the toothpick. I drilled a hole in each screw for the elevating the screw handle. I found it easier to drill the holes before, rather than after, turning the toothpick. In the process, I also found that the toothpicks break at the drill holes if too much pressure is applied in the turning practice. Patience is a virtue here. To simulate the handle of the elevation screw, I inserted a piece of scrap shank from shortened eye bolts. I spray painted the screw assemblies black. Next, I glued the two sled pieces together. I test fit one sled, holding the carronade in position to see how it aligns with the port opening. The difficult part here is gluing the carronade to the sled while maintaining the elevation of the carronade in the port and I also aligning the carronade so the elevation screw will be positioned directly over the photo etched plate. I found it easier to align the carronade screw by inserting it in the carronade before, rather than after, gluing the carronade. Thereafter, I glued the rest of the carronades using the first one as a guide. I wasn’t concerned about each carronade being aligned exactly in the center of the ports because they probably weren’t on the actual ship. Surprisingly, they were all fairly centered in the ports. I’m holding off on gluing the sleds to the deck until I figure out the rigging. In the meantime, I applied a coat of Minwax polyurethane on the deck. I misplaced one finished carronade. If it doesn't show up, I'll have to see if Model Expo will replace it. Stay tuned for report on lost carronade.