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Preparing the Strip Wood
The strip wood provided in the kit appears to be good quality bass wood. Before it can be used for the actual building, it must first be prepared through a multi-step process to add both texture and colour, as well as details such as knots and splits.
 
The initial texturing is done by creating “grain”. This is achieved using stiff wire brushes of the modeller’s choosing. In the picture below, you can see that I have commenced this process. My initial brush of choice was a brass cleaning brush (obtained at the local hardware store). Prior to brushing, the backs of each batch are marked with line across the grain to indicate the “back” side. As we are only texturing one side of these, this mark will help to identify which side is “up”. Brushing was then implemented in batches of five strips at a time.
 

 
This is the result after brushing. 
 

 
Despite the amount of “shavings” produced, I was not particularly satisfied with the result and decided a more aggressive brush was required. This is the brush I used for the second round. 
 

 
It is actually a File Card (used for cleaning the swarf from the teeth of files). The teeth are steel and quite hard. I found that around five to six firm strokes with this brush were sufficient to impart a grain-like texture.
 

 
To provide greater contrast, here is a photo of that same batch on a black background.
 

 
Note the amount of “fuzzies” left after this process. These were cleaned up by drawing each strip through some 0000 steel wool, first with firm pressure on the edges of the strip, then with light pressure on the face. Here is the result after this initial cleaning up.
 

 
This has removed around 90% of the fuzzies, which is sufficient for this stage. Next up will be adding some initial colour.

Thanks for all the encouraging comments and the likes - this is certainly charting new waters for me.

Advance Preparations (continued)
The instructions emphasise that a successful, appropriately weathered model relies on both colour and texture. Colour for this model is achieved in several ways: Paint, Alcohol/Ink washes, and “Chalk”. The Chalk adds both colour and texture. The chalks contain very finely ground pigments that do not totally dissolve when applied and leave behind a natural appearing texture (so says the instruction manual). These are applied by scraping fine artists' pastel chalk sticks to create a fine powder. Emphasis is placed on using high quality pastels for this and in particular, the Rembrandt brand is recommended. So of course, I followed that advice and ordered in a few sticks. I had to do a bit of digging through the manual and the website to find the actual colours I might need – the Rembrandt numbering system can be quite confusing – and I think I may have slightly overdone it. Here is a chart of the colours I now have – I made this up as a ready reference for myself.
 

 
We are advised to prepare two “palettes” of these in advance – a “wood” palette and a “rust” palette, each containing four colours. The wood palette contains three separate brown tones and a white, while the rust palette contains one orange, two red and a cool grey. To keep these palettes in a useable form, some sort of storage was needed. A quick visit to the local Spotlight (sewing/craft) store produced this:
 

 
This version has 30 separate containers, each with a screw-top lid, which was very handy as 30 happens to be the exact number of chalks that I have (so far!).
 
The instructions suggest creating the powder by scraping a single edge razor blade along the stick. While this certainly works, I came across a tip on the SierraWest forum that suggested a quicker/easier way was to use a rasp. I tried this and it seems to have worked well. I used it a bit like a cheese grater, holding it over a sheet of paper that had previously been folded to create a pouring “funnel”.
 

 
I did this for the eight colours needed for the initial palettes. In the photo below, the wood palette is on the right, and the rust palette is on the left. Each jar contains about 1/3 to 1/2 of a chalk pastel stick.
 

 
All the jars have two labels on them – one on the lid and one on the body – to ensure correct identification. I went ahead and labelled the remaining jars while I was at it and will fill them with pigment as/when needed.
 
So here is my “ready use locker”, ready for action. 
 

 
Next up will be preparing the strip wood….

Introduction
I came across this kit by accident some years ago when a fellow modeller posted something about it on the forum here. I can’t remember now exactly who that was, but whoever you are, it’s all your fault! 
 
I thought this was a lovely diorama – something I had not tried my hand at before, and even though I’m not a “trains” guy, I was intrigued to learn more. My investigation led me to the SierraWest website, where I learned that this model kit uses a number of interesting and innovative modelling techniques that are certainly new to me. I just had to give it a try. And while I was at it, I couldn’t help myself and bought a “companion” diorama of Foss’ Landing – something for a future build… The kit designer and website owner, Brett Gallant, has done an excellent job of putting this kit together, including a substantial 106pg instruction manual that covers a lot about the techniques as well as building instructions. His website also has several videos demonstrating some of these techniques, and a forum area where there are several build logs of this and other kits.
 
When I broke the kit out the other day, I was thinking it was only a couple of years ago that I had bought the kit(s). When I thought further on this, I realised that it was actually in 2015 that I bought these, fully intending at the time that these would be the “next” model. Well, seven years later, I’m finally ready to start!
What’s in the box?
The box is well packed and organised, containing a number of individually numbered sealed bags of strip wood and other content, several laser-cut sheets of card, drawings/plans and templates, a box of resin mouldings and metal castings, and a substantial instruction manual.
 
Numbered bags indicate the contents of each:
 

 
Some bags specific to a particular part of the model:
 

 
The mouldings and castings:
 

 
Laser cut card:
 

 

 

 
 
Windows and mylar inserts:
 

 
Plans/Drawings:
 

 

 
 
Instruction Manual – wire bound “lay flat”
 

 
 
Advance Preparations
Construction begins with some advance preparations. Being a railroad model, there is reference throughout the manual to Floquil paint colours. These were discontinued some years ago, and the kit designer now favours acrylic paints from AK Interactive. However, there is no direct conversion suggestion from named Floquil colours. I spent a considerable time researching on the internet to try to get as close a match as I could to the Floquil colours. Try as I might, I could not find a conversion chart that included both the Floquil and AK paints. I ended up using a site that specialised in paint matching, typed in the Floquil colour name and then used the resultant screen depiction to try to match against an AK colour. Although there are certainly limitations on screen/monitor colour representation, I think I got reasonably close in the end. At the end of the day, an exact match isn’t important, but I’d like to be “in the ballpark”.
 
Three Floquil colours are needed for the advance preparation: Grimy Black, Boxcar Red, and Earth. My AK matches were Basalt Grey, Mahogany Brown, and Grimy Grey respectively. Why paint manufacturers use obscure names instead of a scientific identification system is beyond me!
 
First up, Bag #5 is called for:
 

 
From there we are instructed to extract the three sheets of 4” x 6: tar paper, the laser cut sheet of awnings, and the sheets of laser cut shingles.
 
The three sheets of tar paper are all sprayed with a coat of Grimy Black/Basalt Grey on one side. One sheet has the same on the reverse, while the other two get a coat of Boxcar Red/Mahogany Brown.
 
The laser cut sheet of awnings gets the same treatment, and the laser cut sheets of shingles get a light coat of Earth/Grimy Grey – “just enough to hide the white paper”.
 
This was my first experience of using AK Interactive paints, so I was somewhat apprehensive about leaping in. My research suggested that for airbrushing they should be reduced with AK’s own thinner at a ratio of about 70/30 thinner to paint ratio. So that’s what I did. I took a little while to do some practice and fiddle with air pressure and paint delivery. With the air pressure dialled down (about 15-18psi) and the paint delivery shut almost right down, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it sprayed, with absolutely no tip-dry occurring. Here’s a picture of the completed painted parts. I’ve turned one sheet of the shingles over to show the original state. I’m pretty happy with the colours as they’ve turned out.
 

 
 
The other advance preparation was to make up an alcohol stain using non-waterproof black ink dissolved in isopropyl alcohol at a ratio of 1 teaspoon (5ml) of ink to one pint (600ml) of alcohol. More to be revealed on how this will be used, along with plain isopropyl alcohol, later.
 
Okay, we’re off and running – or crawling, anyway!
 

nicely done.
Broken parts are so frustrating. I found on the T'Gallant masts for my Enterprise scraping with a recently honed chisel or scalpel gave me more control and less pressure on a fragile part.
Sam

Main mast done, so 2 out of 3 completed.  I've found that the tapering on the topgallant masts makes them incredibly fragile where they taper back to 3.5mm in the middle.  After two breaks on the main topgallant, I had to sink a pin in while re-gluing it.
 
Regards,
David

Jay, they sure are. This one more than most it seems. She is 11 years old last July and still chases gremlins through out the house.
 
This week was slow build wise. Last weekend I bent the Fore Top Sail to its yard and as mentioned above started another sheet for more sails. I will not bore you with repetitive picture of lines on silk span. Today will be a good day f I can get bolt ropes on at least one sail.
 
 
I re-re--re-did my foot ropes, they are kind of better:

 
 
 
 
Bent and ready to mount and furl. or furl and mount, don't know which yet, probably both until I find a method that works for me.

Jay, they sure are. This one more than most it seems. She is 11 years old last July and still chases gremlins through out the house.
 
This week was slow build wise. Last weekend I bent the Fore Top Sail to its yard and as mentioned above started another sheet for more sails. I will not bore you with repetitive picture of lines on silk span. Today will be a good day f I can get bolt ropes on at least one sail.
 
 
I re-re--re-did my foot ropes, they are kind of better:

 
 
 
 
Bent and ready to mount and furl. or furl and mount, don't know which yet, probably both until I find a method that works for me.

thanks to all who replied and liked    there is something I may change,  adding a washer to the screw head.  since I drilled the hole larger to accept the screw head,  I'm concerned that over time the head will go deeper causing it to become loose.  should have something to report soon  

She is a big Girl indeed Popeye.
The Iowa is (was?? she doesn't show up on Google anymore) berthed in San Pedro Harbor in LA, right by the cruise ship terminal. Better Half and I took a cruise in 2018 and the Iowa was right in front of us. As big as she is she was an ant next to this 4500 guest cruise ship. Was pretty cool looking down on her and getting an aerial view.
Sam

David,
Round looks good to my eye.
If you decide to try shaping octagonal parts again in the future I found a small violin makers plane works wonders on these small parts. That and being extra careful with the layout. even so it is still a bit fiddly.
Sam
 

Finished the foremast.  Some notes:
 
1)  Painted the boarding pikes after they were mounted.
 
2)  I completely gave up on trying to shape the masts as octagons.  Much of that shaping is painted black and doesn't show anyway, but the real reason is that I just don't have the skills for it.
 
So it's round masts (and yards).
 
Regards,
David

hello Sandy.....so sorry not to have seen your post sooner   these boats are cool........I quite agree!  as the log stated this comes from an older kit of the Billing Nordkap......older than the first Nordkap I built.  I forget who built the boat that I'm emulating from.......I got them from a site called the Hull motor boat group.  this site has closed down some time ago.......I was an active member.  I haven't done any RC boats,  but it was still cool to see what others across the pond were building    the Progress was an actual kit that Billings produced,  along with the Nordkap back in the day.  being sort of a clone of the Nordkap kit,  it's very easy to modify it.  I have been thinking of this project lately...........I've been dabbling with plastic and I'm to the point where I'm beginning to scratch build things from plastic sheet.  the itch may be returning    I started to think over the bow cabin.........at one time,  I was thinking of simply doing a foredeck instead.  the idea has crossed my mind again and I'm beginning to like it more.  I may also redo the anchor hawse holes........size looks an issue,  but that's how they were also shown on the Nordkap.  Robin's egg blue is what we call that color over here...........I have some too  
 
so.....at the moment,  there has been no further progress on the Progress.  I was getting ready to plank the deck........already made the margins as I did for the Nordkap.  I hope to get back to her soon.......your inquiry may have lit a fire under my butt to get a move on...we'll see!
 
here is a picture of my Nordkap,  in case you haven't seen it
   
alright........two of them.  no one said I could count 

I have some progress to show on this project,  although it's not much.  spent more time tinkering than anything else........an addition to the Leopold project.  added the gunner position and glass for it........and decaling.  I managed to lose one of the fuselage pilot tubes....fell off and is lost....I may have to scratch build something to replace it.



I painted the undersides of the ailerons to complete the yellow.  I hope to have more to show soon  
 

the procedure is to insert a wire in the vein at the knee,  until they get it to the inner thigh.  they numb it while they are doing this....can't say that it is totally painless though.  once the wire is in position {it has a heating element at the business end},  it is heated to cauterize and close the vein.  I was awake during the procedure.......pretty much joked the whole time    the guy at the computer that was tracking the wire........the computer made this cool rhythmic sound.........I told him that if I had my bass with me,  I'd give him a run for his money!    I have the compression socks too,  but I don't wear them all the time........just doesn't look cool with a pair of shorts  
   do you have the discoloration in the calf area?....I have it more on my left leg.  yes.......sitting is not good.........I tend to stand quite a bit when I model now.  don't let it rule you.......let your passion flow!   me 'n Gibbs go out for our walks........took 'em on a good one this morning....this time HE was tired!     I wish you well as well my friend...........really though......even if you can stand there for just a short time........try to continue modeling.  I'll bet it will make you happy  
  Be Excellent! 
just a short that I haven't forgotten this one........I'm painting the glass.  it's a pain in the ash........the detail doesn't want to be my friend.  I am putting on some of the odds and ends though,  so that's cool {sorry....saw the movie,  and now everything's this 'valley girl' type junk now {it'll wear off soon} {I hope}.   wasn't a bad movie.......they had a character named Denis   
 

if you google diorama Noahs ark there are quite a few around, i tried linking one but it was very poor quality

Thanks everyone!  

My Spray is finally finished. Engraved plaques and a print if Slocum reading in his cabin. The Spray is shown running before a storm with all sails furled except a storm jib. A sea anchor is deployed to keep its stern pointed into the sea and wind. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Now I have to make title plaques for the base then I'll see if any of the Slocum museums want this display model for their visitors. It's a perfect tool to show folks how Slocum lived for over three years while sailing alone.

I've installed Slocum's flag on the mizzen

I'm installing a storm jib from an old model  and a bilge pump
 

I've added books to Slocum's library and a bottle of wine. Not much else I can do.
 

She is a big Girl indeed Popeye.
The Iowa is (was?? she doesn't show up on Google anymore) berthed in San Pedro Harbor in LA, right by the cruise ship terminal. Better Half and I took a cruise in 2018 and the Iowa was right in front of us. As big as she is she was an ant next to this 4500 guest cruise ship. Was pretty cool looking down on her and getting an aerial view.
Sam

Seems cats are attracted to Enterprises 🤪

It is Labor Day and Murphy stopped by for a visit, actually he was here a couple of years ago when I did the foot ropes on my Fore Yard. It seems I wrapped the stirrups so they hung from the front of the yard instead of the back! 🙄 I kept trying to bend my sail to the yard and could not figure out why it wouldn't sit correctly. Then I looked closely and realized my stirrups were hanging from the front. No worries sez I, I will just remove the sling cleats and re-install them on the other side. Except since I decided to install studding sail iron now those  are backwards. Off came the cleats and back to the correct side they went. Now I am redoing the stirrups and foot ropes. I am consoling myself with the thought that I was never really happy with how the stirrups hung.
 
But wait, there is more Murphy declares!!! If you order before midnight you get a free Cat-astrophy!
 
Yesterday I stretched and colored another sheet of silkspan and this morning painted in my seam lines and set aside to dry. I am still learning the correct speed to draw the bow pen to gt a consistent and accurate seam, fortunately these sails will be furled, so the seams should not be really obvious. However, Commander Lorcan (the cat in Cat-astrophy) decided my work was substandard, even for me, and walked across the stretched and painted silkspan, tearing and permanently wrinkling the sail material.
So now I am off to re-stretch yet another piece of silkspan.
 
Labor Day indeed!!
Sam
 

I was messing with the stand for the U.S.S. New Jersey today,  and got the pictures from the camera.  these are the prop........I mimicked the pitch from the revell kit prop and hand painted it.  I tried to mask the yellow / green,  but it was to much of a bother......and did it by eye.


I also noticed that I need to do the yellow on the underside wing tips too.....more to come!