ScottRC

John, Clare, Mike, Bob - thanks for the kind words.
 
As promised here are some more pictures of the completed Charles P. Notman.
 
If anyone wants a shot of something specific or info on what or how some feature was fabricated just reply and I will attempt to provide whatever I am able.

I finally got all the "steps" installed and the anchors attached to the cat heads.
 
The "barky" is just about as done as I am capable of making it. I am going to do a bit of paint touch-up and then declare it "DONE".
Here are some "overall" shots of the completed model.
 
I will post some more pictures when the paint touch-up is done, hopefully tomorrow.
 
 

Beautifully done!! I look at this model every time I pass through Searsport, ME in the Bluejacket Ship Crafters showroom.  It’s been a wonderful voyage watching you complete this model. Bravo 👏 

Thanks moab and Bob.
 
I got one side of the Spanker "ratlines" completed. Not as straight and consistent as I would have liked but not a terrible job either. (Clearly I could have found a better background for the pictue - next time) Hopefully as I gain some more experience (this is my first attempt at this type of "ratlines") they will get better.

 
When I did the test run I used Wendbond glue for both the music wire and the "steps".
 
As I was trying to get the music wire installed (every fifth "ratline") I shifted to CA. It seemed to hold the wire and it did not leave as much residue as the Weldbond. It is not "sticky" like the Weldbond so I had to adapt my technique to account for this. I laid the hull almost horizontal so the music wire would hold its place (more or less) on the shrouds while I applied the CA.

 
As I installed the steps I also used thin CA as it sets much faster and seems to grab the styrene satisfactorily. I thought (briefly) about using the styrene cement but that softens the styrene and does not set nearly as quickly as the thin CA.
 
So 1/8th of this job was completed in a little over five hours. So only 35 more hours of dealing with tiny pieces of styrene and short pieces of music wire to go!

The rigging is mostly complete (anchors, boat davits and flag(s) are still to be added but not until...
 
I get the "ratlines and steps" added. I decided to forgo the lazy jacks - more lines running vertically would detract from the looks IMHO (besides that would be another set of opportunities to break something else.
 
That is the next step - I got the styrene strips painted, at least enough to get started and I am cutting the .010 piano wire into short pieces and painting them flat black in preparation for starting the first mast later today (or tomorrow)
 
Here is how she looks at the moment. I will save the close up shots until she is truly "finished". But that is probably at least a week away as I suspect it will take most of a day to do one side of one mast based on the trial run I did earlier.

And now with the pictures!

Having decided to use painted line (rather than Beadalon nylon coated wire) for the standing rigging I used a step ladder to hang the line while it dried.
 

In my first attempt I poured a small "puddle" of paint (Badger grey primer) and pulled the line ( kit supplied) through the puddle of paint and then hung it up to dry. This did not work out so well even though I ran down the line between my fingers as it hung the paint still dried with noticeable "bumps" in various places. Part of this is the line which is not as consistent as you might like, and the other is probably the paint which was pretty thick.
 
After scraping that line I cut the paint 50/50 with water in a small cup and essentially submerged the line in the thinned paint then pulled it out between my fingers and hung it up to dry. I also shifted to Syren .012 and .008 tan line (for the .012 and .010 line called for in the instructions). I am continuing to use the kit provided line for the .015 thickness.
 
With the Mizzen aboard and while waiting for the painted line to dry, I put the Spanker aboard and tied off the running rigging.I used the laser and template to get the rake and side-to-side alignment with the Mizzen.

With the two masts aboard I started to add the standing rigging, although nothing (running or standing) is glued in place yet. My plan is to wait until I have all the masts and bowsprit aboard and rigged, then CAREFULLY tie off the rigging mast-by-mast starting at the bow since that is where all the forestays are.
 
So here is the Mizzen with all of the running and standing rigging (except the Spring Stay to the Spanker) in place. Forgive all the excess lines - I am leaving them long to make it easier to grab them if necessary.

 
And here is the Spanker with just the running rigging (no standing yet).
 
 

After I get the standing rigging on the Spanker the Mainmast is next.
 
I am considering securing one mast at a time (starting from the bow) and then adding the "ratline steps" to one mast at a time before securing the next mast. The thought of doing 240 steps with nothing else to do in between does not appeal to me much.

It is time to "put it all together".
 
I went from drawing to drawing and page to page in the instructions to get everything where it belongs.
 
Here is the fore deck - per the instructions the forward deck house is not secured yet - need to get Fore Mast in place first.

The drawings show what In assume to be two capstan bars secured to the deck (one on each side also my assumption) but no mention of them in the instructions or anywhere else. I will think about adding them - maybe.
 
The fife rails (also per the instructions) are not secured yet either, just sitting in the holes. Speaking of file rails, on the Mizzen and Spanker I ground off the pins on the after supports. It is hard getting all the holes in exactly the right place - if the large holes on the forward end aren't enough to secure them then I will have to live with the consequences.
 
FYI - the things with blue tape on them are the lines attached to the sheet block beckets. Easier to keep them out of the way - sort of.
 
Here is the rest of the main deck and the midships house.

 
I have one rope coil on a pin as a test - I think that will do.
 
Here is the rest of the poop deck forward of the aft house.

 
And here is the aft deck house.

I decided to put the yawl on top of the aft house instead of on the davits. I am telling myself that someday I will build a "proper" yawl for this model.
 
I am waiting for a tool to help bend the accommodation ladder - I do not want to attempt that with just pliers. It will be on this side of the aft house, painted dark blue like the hull.
 
Here are two shots of the entire topsides

 
I am going to mount the model on the final display board when the last coat of WOP in dry - tomorrow morning just to be on the safe side (I applied it just before lunch).
 
Next I am going to try and add some of the rigging to the bowsprit/jib boom before I start putting the masts aboard.
 
Instructions say to start with the Mizzen - no explanation of why and I can't find where it says which to do next.
 
 

And then there were three!
 
Last night while fumbling around in one of the cabinets above my work table I found a "Ratliner" which I believe I got from Model Expo some time ago. It purports to allow assembly of an entire shroud/ratline set (for one side of a mast) off board. I never tried to use it but was intrigued enough (after rereading the included instructions) to order one for the closest to the Notman scale (they come in 1/48, 1/64 and 1/72-1/90 sizes).
 
I plan to give it a try on the Spanker since you have to have the bare lower mast head available - no topmast to be able to slip the loops at the shroud tops over the lower mast head.

Main mast is now as complete as the Fore and both are installed in the temporary "holder".
 
I attempted to rig the boom topping lifts with the lazy jacks already attached to the topping lift lines but abandoned that approach as it was too hard to accurately place the lazy jack lines and keep the lines separated while installing.
 
My approach at this point if to rig the topping lifts without the lazy jacks and wait until the masts are installed on the hull to rig the lazy jacks. I believe that you need the peak and throat halyards and sheet lines tensioned to their final position to accurately position the lazy jacks.
 
I am using .012 Syren tan line for the topping lifts and have dyed some of the Bluejacket white .005 line to match (more or less) to use for the lazy jacks and have demonstrated that the .005 can be successfully inserted (with a sewing needle) into the .012 so that is how I plan to attach the lazy jacks to the topping lifts.

I have the Foremast about as complete as I can get it without actually installing it onboard.
 
I have all the halyards (a total of eight - Jib Staysail, Outer Jib, Flying Jib, Jib, Fore Staysail, Peak, Throat and Fore Topsail), the cap and fool stays, topping lifts for the Jib and Fore Staysail and Fore sail (port and starboard) booms. 
 
I am waiting for some size zero crimp tubes for the Beadalon wire before rigging the topmast shrouds and the rest of the stays that use the .010 size wire. The cap and fool stays use .012 and the size 1 tubes seem to be okay for that size. I may redo the cap and fool stays if the size 0  tubes really looks better.
 
I added the chafing plate and the boom rest and the boom and gaff with the furled sail - it has the be done before the boom rest is added.
 
I fabbed some gaskets to hold the boom/gaff in place (instead of the zip ties) and rigged the peak and throat halyards since they do not need any other parts and it reduces the clutter of lines by two.
 
I am thinking of working the boom topping lifts next since that will clear all the lines off the after side of the lower Foremast.
 
My plan is to get all four masts in this state (although the others have significantly fewer halyards and stay to deal with) and stored in a temporary fixture  while I get the deck furniture and chainplates done. Then the fun really starts.

More odds and ends this morning.
 
I got the name board for the stbd side finished. I used double sided tape to hold the board down then used scotch tape top hold the transfer sheet in place. I used the side of a sanding stick (aka tongue depressor) to rub the transfer on, removed (carefully) the scotch tape and then rubbed again directly on the transfer sheet.
 
I came out pretty well - I only missed a small part of the "s".
 
Here it is as it looked after the transfer and installed on the hull.

I still have to clean up the trail board where the pins are.
 
I also cut and cleaned the brass tubing that will be the mast chafing plates. I used Jax "Instant brass and Copper Cleaner". It really isn't "instant". It took five minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner while immersed in the cleaner to get them looking like this. Almost a shame to paint them but they won't stay looking like this for long in the Florida heat and humidity.
 

I am tired of working on the sails so I tried cleaning up some odds and ends.
 
I cut out all the chain plates from the carrier and used the BlueJacket brass blackener on them. I did it three items at a time so it took awhile. I took the advise from the latest NRG journal and put a little baking soda in the rinse water to stop the chemical reaction after removal from the blackening solution. The thin chainplates sometimes did not blacken evenly on both sides but only one side shows so I did not worry about that too much. 
Here are the chainplates drying after removal from the rinse water/baking soda solution.

 
And after several coats of paint I finally got the trail boards "good enough" and mounted on the port side.
I messed up the dry transfer lettering on the stbd side and have not redone it yet so i will put the stbd side trail board on after I get that done. I am considering putting the lettering on a separate "name board" and gluing that on rather than putting the lettering directly on the splash rail like I did on the port side. Pressing hard enough to COMPLETELY transfer the lettering was a struggle. Using a name board would make it easier IMHO.
Here is the port side.
 
 

All the topsail sheets and clew lines are done. Here's a shot of the mizzen
 

 
Next will be making the t'gallant yards.

Here's the 3 t'gallant yards in process.

And here they are ready for painting. I use .010" wire for the footropes, they always get bent around when I do the rigging, so I won't straighten them out until the end. The fore and main have 15 holes drilled, and 7 eyebolts each.

Good to have another Kansan aboard Billy.  I live about hour and half east of Wichita and have just finished the kit you are working on.  

I love your serving machine made with Meccano/Erector parts. It brings back a lot of fond memories.
 
Yves

Rob,  I love your Cutty Sark diorama with the famous jury rudder!  And your "Great Republic" scratch build is incredible.  I fear my efforts will seem simplistic to you, but here are some photos anyway.
 
Hull plates I added below waterline:


I taped the decks in place so we can see where we are going.  That's my serving machine in the background (it makes a handy stand for the upside-down hull at this point):

 
Deck close-ups.  This is the first time I ever used a wash and I like how it turned out.  But there are so many coats of paint and varnish I worry about gluing stuff down, especially the pin rails which will have stress on them when rigged.  Haven't painted the inside bulwarks yet. I think I will paint a white "waterway" along the deck edges so I can glue in the decks then paint the bulwarks without fear of getting some paint on decks. They call for the cap rail to be painted Humbrol #63 (same as all spars) but I may leave it white just to make it easier.

 
That's all for now.
 

Ah Ha!
 
Good evening everyone from Cornwall.
 
Now I only have to work out how to post photos.
 
I took Chuck at his word as to the cost of shipping from the USA and bought a Proxxon scroll saw and an 8' x 4' piece of Russian Birch ply (for I guess about the same cost, and began work on January 5. I've broken about 8 blades, exhausted ferocious concentration, still have all my fingers and I'm quietly pleased with the result. I'd put up a picture but that may have to await the return home of one of my children to show me how.
 
Fred 

Finally, some long overdue progress. First, I added the moldings and friezes to the transom.  I don't know what happened during my download of the friezes, but I found that I had to adjust the sized redo the downloads. Now they fit.
 
I then framed the quarter galleries, using the laser cut pieces, and put on the moldings. The outer part of the uprights was painted, using Winsor& Newton cerulean blue acrylic.The windows were added, using Micro Krystal Klear for the glazing, rather than the laser cut acetate. I like the look better and it greatly strengthens the window frames. Next, I added the fluted columns, using the laser cut pieces and strip wood. 
 
The friezes were glued in place and the drops added. I have the resin casting set, and applied fruitwood gel stain before mounting, as Chuck has suggested.
 
The last work was to make up the roofs, using the laser cut pieces and shingles. The shingles were painted with Polyscale grimy black, which is a dark gray. The roofs are not yet permanently mounted.
 
Now, it's on to the hull side  moldings and friezes.
 
Bob
,
 

Going forward
Boats on their places

Jesse,
 
It has been a pleasure following your build log over the last five years.  You have done a remarkable job and this log will be a valuable reference for others who will build this kit.
 
Scott

I just finished up the labour intensive work on the deadeyes on the main deck. It was a multi-step process that invoved some "metalwork". Billing supplies the chain plates and a bunch of plastic deadeyes. I opted to poach a bunch of deadeyes from another kit so as to use the chainpates that were provided. It would not have been easy to use them together. Once the chainplates and deadeyes were married, I used a drop of glue to make them rigid so as to paint them easier.
 
Here's a bunch of pictures showing the process...
 

I finally got the flags on. I guess this means this build is finished. I would like to build a lifeboat to hang on the back but who knows when I'll ever get around to that.  Maybe that could be a mini-build some time in the future.
 
Now I have to get my Lyme damaged brain to remember how to get this labeled as "Finished"
 
Jesse