Geb

Here begins my first build; gaffs and giggles galore are sure to follow. I urge novices to follow along...if not to save them from making the mistakes I am sure to, maybe to commiserate if they think they were the only one inept enough to have tried digging a hole in the sand with a bowling ball. You get my point. Laugh, learn, poke all the fun at me you care to. I am sure I deserve it. I'm guessing my recently bought kit has the "directions" that go with the 1:84 kit, the parts lists don't match, I think Panart figures in all of this somehow, but methinks it is a Frankenstein's monster of sorts. We begin wee. Rowboat the first. Once poorly planked, I spread white glue over the outside and inside. Dried hard. Hard to sand. Well, not Herculean hard, but difficult. We tried Durhm's rock putty which seemed to work well, an automotive 2-part glazing compound that stuck well to the lacquer primer, and spackle, which did not work well, but I used it in an inappropriate spot. Rowboat the first convinced me that much more attention to detail and construction technique would be needed. Here then are two, three and four. I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. Demille... Pretty scary if you zoom in. Rock putty nose jobs. Not a good place for Spackle. Had I not taped off the white, it would not have peeled and the finish was quite good before I did that. How do I mistake thee, let me count the ways ;>) For the whaling boat, I'm trying for a sharp and clean build. Like my plan for immortality, so far, so good. With trepidation, I glue two (mismatched ;>) strips. When I bend them, will they just snap off the paint? It would seem that primer adheres to wood and paint adheres to primer. Almost done. Satin finish? Wrong. Semi-gloss or I should have left well enough alone. "If it ain't broke, keep fixing it until it is." One learns a lot by trial and error. I guess the idea is to keep the trials to a maximum and the errors to a minimum. Close enough for jazz. I was a Big Band guitar player for about twenty years...and what we have here is a riff on a rowboat. Stepping back a tad, it is somewhat suggestive of a rowboat. My idea was to get a nice sharp line for contrast on the interior and... ...so that the oarlocks would stand out as well. W-o-n-k-y Back to the whaleboat. I fear I may be picking up some basic beveling skills. This will be my first frame bevel. Then the front frame. I told everyone up front, Gaffs and Giggle Galore ;>)