Snug Harbor Johnny

Ahoy! The angle-sliced basswood was saw trimmed (angled) as needed to glue on the sides as backers, then the 'blocky' balsa was sawed on the ends to match the angle of the new pieces. Knife cuts trimmed the stern angle on the balsa since it was with the grain, then I glued on some of the Billings scrap deck veneer and ... things are starting to take shape with the upper 'Captains Walk' - which will need a small gunwale and supports for the canopy that will have to be built. My interest is indeed renewed since gaining new inspiration through our forum (a shout-out to all who contribute) and I understand better the words of Einar Billing provided with his kit: "... this kit is intended to be built, and not merely assembled, in consequence, you must not expect the parts to fit together perfectly ," (no exaggeration there !) "it will be necessary to exercise skill and imagination in the building of this kit ... after all, any child could put a puzzle together." You may notice some black felt round hats piled on the table ... The Admiral is a costumer, and she also accepts orders from a purveyor of American Revolutionary War re-enactment goods for Colonial soldiers hats. I am the unpaid hatter who has to craft the hats from materials provided by the retailer - which involves cutting and sewing and installing draw-string hat liners to felt hat blanks, sewing worsted wool trim around the edge, making tasseled hat cords plus cockades. The retailer does the heat sizing and turns them into 'three cornered' hats. This rush order for 25 hats slows down progress on the model ... its my job to say 'Aye aye' to orders. Below is an image of my trusty Wilcox and Gibbs hat band sewing machine (well over 100 years old), which took me over a year to find - and even then I had to rebuild the stand, rewire the motor and recondition/adjust the machine to get it to work (finding specialty needles and grinding to suit was a challenge), then figure out how not to keep breaking needles. Once mastered, it took 90% of the work out of that part of the job ... and the old girl is quite solid and made entirely of durable alloy steel needing only a little oil now and then. For trim work and accessories I use an old Kenmore that I modified, and the drive works happen to be all metal in a plastic shell. As Louisa May Alcott (1832 - 1880) said, "I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning to sail my own ship."

I understand that the name now is Vasa - but I'm not sure if I should change the title of this build. Anyway, I realized I had to cut into the stern a little more, than start gluing some balsa to be a backer for planking the upper gallery and stern wrap-around. Yes, balsa is not a great wood where it will show - and the relative softness of balsa stock can vary widely. The 'firmer' sort can be used a filler, backer and in a variety of ways - yet it still cuts easily with hobby knives. The image below shows step one. Once shaped and planked, it should look a lot better. I need to glue wedge-shaped side pieces for the lower part of the gallery, so I started to saw a suitable piece of basswood stock (better to use than balsa) with a Japanese dosuki saw. This is a 'pull' saw with a thin blade and narrow kerf - it allows pretty good control as long as one does not let the blade 'wander'. I tried a 'selfie' shot using a mirror, but the flash made a bright spot and I'm a rank beginner when it comes to Photoshop. The saw in mid cut on the basswood stock shows OK. Hmmm, it might be said here that the artist is no Botticelli - and the subject no Venus.

Hake, thats amazing! Watching the second boat from the front carefully - one can see that as the forward davit pivots inward, the prow of the life boat moves back enough to clear the davit ... and take note - while this is happening the rear davit tilts just a little toward the stern to accommodate the rearward motion of the boat. The forward davit continues to pivot (probably winched by a man at the davit - while the rear davit may be allowed to adjust itself freely by releasing a clutch ... or actively winched by another crewman). So the prow of the launch will clear the forward davit and as that davit continues to pivot fully out board, the rear davit just 'comes along' - perhaps assisted by engaging a winch for the outbound portion if its travel. That's a LONG way down from the deck of the ocean liner, and I noticed that some of the boats start tilting at what might seem an 'uncomfortable' angle due to the tackle on the ends being cranked down at different rates! Of course, somebody would be watching for this (perhaps prompted by yelling from below) and adjustments could be made to bring the affected lifeboat back to an even keel. Practice would improve performance. Now imagine doing this at night on the Titanic ... going slowly down by the bow ... in freezing cold and with scared people in the boats. Fair sailing! Johnny

'Just the engineer in me pondering how the launching process would go for those lifeboats stowed on the racks, since the distance between the davits is less than the length of the boat end-to-end. Maybe something like raising the boat, and then manhandling one end to get around the davit on that side somehow - then pivoting that davit to face outward. Then the second end would be easier to 'get around' the remaining davit before turning the second davit seaward.

'Been a couple days, but there has been some progress. The first pic shows additional side planking being added to the stern. Before that, the 'three level' arrangement of decking was made - there middle level had a piece of balsa glued in and planked over ... not by individual planks, but by some scrap that was left of pre-scored birch (a guess) veneer from 40 years ago. I wonder if something like this is still available, 'cause it sure makes decking a snap ! There are just too many things that 'aren't made anymore' these days. Just as with the additional bulwarking needed up front, false ribs of mahogany were glued to whatever planking showed above the deck - and the little clamps pictured (bought at a Woodcraft store) are dandy to hold them fast while the titebond cures. I make them a little longer than needed, since they'll be trimmed later with a rotary tool. I like working with mahogany - just orient the grain as needed for the use and cut with the grain or saw against. Because it has natural color it doesn't need staining. With ribs in place, a side plank is added and the same clamps are used to hold. The stern panel (just seen on the inside) was trimmed and pierced (rotary stool to make holes, and mini files used to shape and clean), a piece of basswood was a spacer. There are no 'plans' per se at this stage - just photos from other builds to give me ideas. As previously mentioned, I'm free to take a few liberties in converting this old kit version to something better resembling the original ship. And I imagine that someone who had seen the ship being built (or sinking) back in the day might have desired to build a model after the fact (as was often the case) and had to rely on their memory. Very old ship models have a certain charm, and I agree that in restoring an antique model the best policy is to stay with how the builder made it - as opposed to making a lot of augmentations. Exception: the build of 'My Father's Ship' (Cutty Sark) is a labor of love to finish what was started in a legacy situation. I compare this 'free style' assembly perhaps to rock climbing. I have to look at it and decide what the next move will be. How do I get from 'point A to point B' - and what are the intermediate moves I have to make to get there. The next shot is of the re-mounted stern piece that I thought would be better if I painted it FIRST while still a separate piece. I used good-old Testors model paint (enamel) that comes in the tiny square bottles. I recall them seeming much bigger from when I was a kid, but my hands have grown to twice the size they were back then. My dexterity is not near as good, but my hands are still fairly steady - and the magnifying headgear makes up for the lack of close focus on my replacement eye lenses (from cataract surgery). I considered getting the close-up (reading) replacement lenses, but then I'd be dependent on glass for distance. So I got fixed distant lenses put in so if my Varilux glasses are misplaced, I can still drive without glass since the distance is sharp. As noted before, I used modeling clay on a piece of glass to get something resembling the wood carvings at 1:100 scale, then layered on latex compound (I hope one can still get that somewhere) to cover the sculpture. Dental plaster was used to make a back support of the latex mold before it was stripped away from the glass. Using drying clay might make cleaning out the rubber mold easier. Then some plastic wood was slathered on the mold before applying to the wood for the back piece. Cutting into the model took some guts, but once decided upon was done in a surgical manner ... not unlike a ship's doctor having to do amputations after a sea battle, or saving what he could while stitching up, etc. In this case the 'patient' (my model) was in no pain. The red background was applied first (mixing two colors to get the shade I wanted), then the other colors added to the higher reliefs with very small plastic applicators found at the hobby store. The polychrome effect is certainly nice - as we now know it to have been on the original. Application of gold leaf was kept to a minimum on the Wasa, but I used gold paint for the crowns, and little dots of gold over the yellow painted bits. Painting eyes on the figures really brought them 'to life', and the whites were applied by the tip of a mini round tapered file. The black pupils had to be dotted with a fine 'technical pen' (oo5 Micron pen bought at Michael's craft store). But the cherubs and the King's eyes were small enough that the pupil had to be applied with the tip of a sewing pin. Then I outlined the decorations in black with the technical pen - a technique used on illuminated manuscripts called 'limning' - which sets everything off nicely. This close-up magnifies the imperfections, but the appearance when just looking at the piece is pleasing. If this project inspires me to do another Wasa at the scale presently offered (1:70 ?), I wonder what the opinions are of the kits presently offered in terms of pros and cons about the quality of fittings, accuracy of plans and quality of instructions ? Any input would be appreciated - after all, this is a forum. I can't say what a pleasure it has been to review so many great builds at all skill levels available. Its like a primer, and one can find all kinds of helpful tips and tricks. The latest one I saw was an example of deck planking where after a plank is laid, a piece of black thread is put against the plank before butting the next plank against it - sort of like imitating real caulking. Fair sailing, Johnny

Ahoy mates ! (there's been a long hiatus on this build) After thinking a lot (yea - the Admiral said, "You've been thinking? I thought I smelled wood burning.") I've finally decided where I want to go with it. First off, a review of whats was 'wrong' with the first-issue Billings kit (actually a lack of all the information we have now following decades of recovery and restoration) that are likely not correctible. Billings is a good company and they have improve kits where needed. Which this old version, the lines are off, gun port placement off, the plank scale much too large, the cannons approximate but all of the same type, deck layout conjectural ... I'll stop there. So why go to great lengths to try and make masting/rigging kosher when the hull (with some corrections) will still be 'standoff scale' ? That is - something that will be recognized as the Wasa at first glance - but still not up to snuff when closely compared to the prototype in Sweden. Another option would be to be liberal with the masting/rigging (shortcuts and approximations, I mean) ... to go with the hull. There is a lot of work already invested in the hull, and it doesn't look half bad as is. Hmmm, but I'm taking option 3, which is to install the first section of masts and adding shrouds/ratlines like one can see on exhibit at the Wasa museum. This would represent the ship still under construction. I note that she was never under 'full sail' - just three on her disastrous 'maiden voyage'. To keep dust to a minimum, a display case has been recommended - plexiglass to lessen the risk of breaking window glass, so therefore the case size will bess daunting as well as more portable - so a greater chance that a relative might want to have it when I'm gone. I've always been a 'hammer and chisel' guy, and a jack of all trades - many projects (an outside deck, two kitchens plus several bathrooms over the years, a greenhouse, three scratch-built telescopes, sundry models, historic costumes, three harpsichords, bookbinding, candle making, several muzzle loaders - to name a few) have been useable, but the quality of work far less than 'craftsman' level. No worries mate, I only have to please myself - and its the 'doing' (and preceding that the 'thinking out' stage) that is the interesting part - dare I say 'fun'? The picture below shows a gun taken from an old Steingraeber 'Fair American' kit (harvested for parts, etc. since there are better more recent kits available) and the gun looks a little 'fat' for the carriage. On the right is the gun from the Billing accessory kit (for the 1:100 scale model), where the barrel seems alright for my purposes - but the carriage is simple and would need more work to upgrade. So it hit me that I might put the Wasa gun on the better carriage and - shazam - look OK to me. Now I'll have to tweak things a bit, add straps over the trunnions, wedge and whatnot - then change some of the gun port heights and they'll be serviceable. Below are more of the guns to be seen on the weather deck. Now to some more 'surgery' on the hull. It was with great trepidation that I sawed across the stern piece (glued-on many years ago). I feared that the applied 'plastic wood' (pressed by a mold I made of the stern decoration) might come off, but it seems to have enough 'grab' to be stable. Remember, all this gets painted in polychrome like the original. I cut the glue around the periphery with an X-acto, then pried with a flat chisel from the top and ... POP ... off came the piece, revealing some balsa underneath put in as a spacer. Thank goodness that balsa has far less strength than hardwoods. I have to make the high stern decks into 3 tiers, rather than the two that were on the model. Using a flex-shaft variable speed tool was very helpful in a number of areas. The only thing better would be an old-fashioned dental drill with right angle head. Below is the piece I removed, and it is a close enough approximation of the upper part of the stern decoration. Note that the old kit did not have ANY of the many sculpture carved on the original ship ... so the later kits are a real advantage to any modeler. To change the forecastle area of the ship, false ribs were cut from mahogany stock and glued into place (titebond), before additional planking was added to get the height desired. I believe the original was designed to have a forecastle deck, but after unreasonable design changes were demanded from authorities many at the build site knew there would be stability problems - what, with 30 added feet of length and an additional gun deck! So instead of adding the weight of framing and decking (plus additional armaments), the builders left that area open. Look at pictures from before, during and after 1628 and you will see forecastle decks everywhere. The absence of one (confirmed by the restoration of the original) shows the Wasa to be an exception to the 'norm'. I'll offer a view of part of my work area - disheveled as it is - to show some of the tools I use most often. You can see the flex-shat rotary tool (yup, Harbor Freight) that is better than a stock Dremel due to the foot operated speed control. I also have (not shown) the mini saw (another cheapie) for trimming stock. I think a better mini table saw will be a better investment. I use a model railroading 'track cutter' (so-called 'snap' saw) for cutting off. Needle files of various shapes (including bent 'riffler' files) are invaluable, as is the 'good old' X-acto knife. Straight edge, pencils, titebond glue (aliphatic resin) augmented sometimes by fast cure epoxy (I have yet to make use of CA, but will try some in future) mini-clamps and, of course, sandpaper of various grits round-out the tool kit. When I have more to show, I'll add progress pics. Fair sailing! Johnny

Without enough vitamin C, survey among the crew was a problem until the British navy took up the suggestion for the mandatory consumption of limes ... hence the term Limie (alt. Lyme).

I'll apologize in advance, but I wonder if anyone in the forum has ever tried putting sandpaper on a vibrator to fair planking ... just a crazy idea. I mean, it could do well for the inside curves below the stern, but I'm not sure whether I dare ask the Admiral if she has one handy.

I recall reading that Scott pressured Schakleton to promise not to use Scotts abandoned shelter prior to Schakleton's attempt to be the first to the Southern Pole. The time spent unsuccessfully looking for a landing meant that Scotts works were used anyway, but not enough depots could be laid before winter set in (if I recall correctly). The promise should have been 'qualified' (safety of the crew first, you know), and if Shackleton had occupied the abandoned works sooner, he may well have laid the depots needed to be first to the pole. Hmmmm, dogs would have helped a lot regardless, but one may recall the 'mindset' of dong it by human effort alone. Amundson was a better planner and a more practical man.

Ahoy Rob ! With your project there's been a lot of work done already - and the Billings kit (although not the current one) is definitely an improvement over the 'original' version issued in the late 60s ... the one whose hull I built back then and recently have re-started the work in light of present-day knowledge. I'll soon be adding a couple of images to my build dealing with corrective issues - such as they are. The lines on your version are much better, and the fittings in the box are more extensive. As far as the gun ports are concerned, somehow I had the vision as a 14-year old to cut the ports in the planking before any decking was installed - then I glued pieces of 'false decking' on the inside of the hull below the holes. Dummy carriages were made of balsa and dowel pieces (with one end drilled to accept the half cannons) representing the back end of the canon were glued in the dummy carriages. Balsa strips were glued around the inside of the square holes in the planking and tinted brown. The effect is pleasing seen from the outside. Fair sailing! Johnny

Hey Rob, when done with the Glory (and a glorious project she is) - how 'bout trying a bigger clipper ... the Preussen (1902) with 5 masts and a hull over over 430 feet and more than a 50 foot beam. 😉 Today is a 'red letter' day for my Wasa project (dormant since March of last year). So many things have been done on the Admiral's 'honey do' list (and Winter precludes anything outside), so I just 'up and started'. Now there was much to think about in the intervening months, and think/research I did. I concluded that there was so many inaccuracies in the late 60s 1:100 Billings kit partially done (due to far less being KNOWN then), a 'standoff scale' approach is appropriate without worrying too much about what is off from the prototype - and there is much I can do to correct some key things. I'll focus on the hull appearance and just put in the first sections of masts (like in the museum) to represent her still under construction. After all, she didn't get very far with only three sails set before sinking on her maiden voyage. Wood is a fairly forgiving medium, and all I had to do was start cutting and gluing in a logical order to start making more corrections. The 'Harbor Fright' mini table saw was acceptable (although there is no fence - so a clamped piece of wood had to do) once I installed a much higher tooth-count and thinner blade I was able to find with a 1/2" arbor hole (not easily located). Discovering that the arbor threads were reversed helped - 'leftie loosie' did not work, it turned out to be righty loosie! Slow and steady she goes. Johnny

Incidentally, Marx 'scale tinplate' has S gauge bodies on O gauge trucks. This is why some S scale train operators drill out the trucks of Marx rolling stock and replace them with S scale trucks. Great idea for figures, and I found a hobby store with 'old' stock figures in several sizes ... such stores are still 'here and there' but growing fewer as the years pass. 'Just viewed 'Master and Commander' again on cable streaming ... good to see once in a while. Now there was a flogging in the film (not uncommon in the British Navy back in the day), and I wonder if anyone put figures on a sailing ship model representing such a punishment witnessed by the crew (standard procedure).

Ahoy Bruma ! I'm not finding the furled sail pictures I recall seeing, but did see another forum-posted approach by Lubber that could be made a little less 'bunchy' by using a narrower strip (from side to side). So I 'Googled' "furled sails" and found a few shots for educational purposes - The first one has the 'compactness' that I've seen a number of times. Note that these are photographs of ships versus artist's pictures - there are many examples of contemporary and 'period' (typically engraved) representations of all sorts of sails in all weather. The photos also show several appearances : The first is once and compact, yet the second has a 'festooned' appearance (perhaps for show) where the sail cloth looks like bunting across a stage (the origin of bunt lines?). Another shows more prominent hanging 'ears', and there are a couple of old shots of men working the yard ... the one at sea in sort-of rough conditions makes one think how challenging life at sea under sail can be.

'Really like your brass work ... my thoughts were that brass might need soldering, but glueing seems to work fine ! I take it that you used CA glue? Perhaps the railing through the stanchions might look better with brass wire opposed to the rigging rope. I'm favoring the use of brass anywhere on most ship models, since brass will form a natural brown patina over time all on its own ... and it looks sharp besides. The view from above over the life boats is way cool, and I'll continue to pay close attention to both current Endurance builds for tips and ideas to use when I get to mine. Thanks mate! Johnny

There was one clip I saw where a credible ship's wall was built for a naval gun test with solid shot, and there were quite a few splinters and shard sent flying. Any round hitting a gun or carriage would disable that piece.

Old planes not fit for 'restoration' can be had at reasonable prices on the U.S. east coast at antiques marts ... Southeastern PA has many in an arc well-away from Philadelphia. Useable boxwood for model ship work can be cut from these plane bodies. Nes pas?

Grommet lines added. The view is angled more to the top of the yard. When viewed straight-on from the front, the blue tape (yard) is seen - but there are no raw edges of sail since it is accordion-folded. The lines are just some waxed linen awl cord lying around - not rope at all, which I intend to make myself. As mentioned, this was just an experiment to see how something like this might work - and I think it should with fine cloth, and look presentable on a ship represented as docked. With un-done grommet, the sheets pull the ears down and the sail unfurls (although the paper retains creases). Actual sails in real life behave much better.

OK, I'll try to add the next picture. NOTE: didn't load again, but it has 5.3 mega byte, and the others are less. 'Took a break to open Photoshop and crop the image to try and reduce the file size. Let's see ... YES ! Since I reduced the mb of the image, I didn't get the "upload fail" message I had before. Some have commented on this forum that they were failing to get pictures uploaded to posts, with a message of a 'server error' (200) ... I think I've found out that there may be a practical size limit to the picture one tries to post. The picture below has the yard flipped right-side-up again as to viewed from the front - and the gathers were restored on the previous fold lines, and the furled sail is ready to lie on the yard and have the 'ears' descending in front. The next picture has the grommet lines added.

'Saw an interesting post a while back on folding a strip of thin cloth to represent a furled sail on a clipper ship yard - to reduce the bulk that results from trying to fold-up a full sail, since just about any fabric is way out of scale at 1:96. 'Mouse ear' (or dog ear) pieces were added to attach clew and sheet lines - these are the bottom corners of the sail that hang below the furled sail near the yard ends. Yet another post had a side-view diagram to show how bunt lines drew the bottom edge up the front of the sail, then crewmen standing on the foot ropes would gather some of the sail and pull it up over the yard (leaning forward to pinch the gather to the yard with the waist), then gather more sail to make pleats on the top of the yard. There were links to present-day clippers with furled sails appearing rather compact and neat. A length of line (grommet) is spiraled around the furled sail to keep it in place. Another source indicated that when sails are set, the grommet line is coiled and hung as convenient on the mast or trestle ... so ships modeled with set sails might include a few coils in those places. The sheets are hauled and they pull on the 'ears' to make the entire sail flop down and open up (the clew lines having been made loose to allow this). 'Kept thinking on a procedure to furl the sails from the start - and how to replicate it on a model - so I fooled around with paper taped to a brass tube (simulated yard and clipper split topsail) in 'origami fashion'. I finally got a reasonable facsimile that pleat-folded over the yard and had the actual corners of the sail just hanging down over the yard as I've seen in some pictures. (I saw another contemporary picture where they were done a little differently.) Tugging on the ears does indeed make the sail unfold, so I thought there must be a way of reducing the bulk without resorting to adding separate 'ear pieces'. Cutting out a trapezoid along a fold line seemed to do the trick. There are several modeling advantages to having furled sails. First, the jackstays are covered over - so one does not have to make them at all - which is rather fussy in 1:96 scale. The blocks for the buntlines are also covered ... so one can even omit the lines as well since the blocks are not seen (and so omitted entirely), and there will not be such a 'jungle' of lines going down to the pin rails. Ditto for luff lines. No short reefing ropes are needed since (if they were on the sail) they would be folded up inside the furled sail. The rope sewn around the edge of the sail will only be seen on the 'ears', so only has to be put on at the corners. Also, clipper sails are bent to the jackstays (not the yard), and since the jackstay is covered by the furled sail - one need not bend the sail at all to the non-existent jackstay. One WILL show the clews and sheets, plus lifts and braces - which will provide plenty of lines and blocks to properly mount on the model. Now I did take a few photos (one picture is worth a thousand words) to show this 'proof of concept'. The first one shows the paper sail taped (bent) to the yard (tubing) with blue tape. The lower corners of the sail are 'curling up' some, as the paper had been furled and unfurled a number of times. Also, the above mentioned trapezoid of paper that had been cut out to reduce bulk is positioned in its original place ... When doing the model, I have some VERY fine silk (also fine linen) that will be used for the furled sails. The next picture shows the trapezoid moved out of place. The shot below represents the corners of the sail pulled up by the clew lines OK, the next pic has the yard flipped over and inverted (as if one was leaning over the yard from above) ... Remember that originally the entire piece of paper representing the sail was pulled up from the bottom (which the bunt lines would have done), and a couple of gathers were done - folding each one (creasing the paper). Then the corners were re-positioned outward a bit, which changed the folds on the paper - but did not compromise the 'sail' at all and no cuts were required. There are a couple of pencil marks where the folds changed, and I have yet to re-fold the final gathers. (Hmmm, photo limit reached, so I'll have to 'submit', then continue.

From the 'kinking' seen on the right side rope, it must be wire rope. My guess it that they pulled the rope through the stanchions as far as the space where the anchor goes over the cathead. 'Can't imagine them trying to pass the anchor under the rope. I'm almost certain that I saw another picture en route to the arctic where that section had been altered so that a piece of regular rope went between those particular stanchions (clipping on an 'eye' on the wire rope, the eye preventing the wire rope from passing back through the hole in the stanchion) - which is how I'd have ordered it modified ... but I can't lay hands on that picture right now.

The build log for Glory of the Seas (a long log indeed) has a section on a cool way to use copper tape - first passing it through a embossing process using an old-fashioned clothes wringer. Rob's log of Great Republic also goes into this method. Wringers may still be marked to the Amish.

Jason, Hull considerations aside, the care in rigging is what can show a model to its best - so the books on rigging suggested elsewhere in the forum will take precedence over the simplified version found in the kit's instructions. Once again, Bruma shows so many details in this area - and using real deadeyes, rope shrouds and ratlines are a standout. I've pondered how to do this on the gunwales molded on the bulwarks ... possibly drilling small holes for the wire wrapped around the lower deadeye to pass through and continue downward as the chainplate. Small notches would be made in the largest rub strake (could be filled afterwards) with an eye formed at the end of the wire to fasten through the hull with a tiny brass pin (predrilled hole). Of course, there may be a way to use the kit deadeyes but add rope shrouds instead of the provided plastic ones. The Cutty Sark has metal plating as the upper part of the bulwark, versus the wood of Thermopylae. Cuttl Sark also has a second proud strake below the gunwale (painted white) that is not present on Thermopylae. I'm considering dremeling off that bit and abrading the rivets (but keeping the port indications as-is), then using an engraver (or fine awl) to make plank lines and perhaps an indication of wood grain. Since the hull is painted it should look OK and be closer to the original. On the inside of the bulwark there are triangular bits down the sides that could be removed. A wood 'waterway' plank can go at the bottom so it will stand slightly higher than the wood deck to be applied. CA or epoxy will bond wood to plastic. Checking out the build of the Glory of the Seas talks about waterways (and a lot of other things as well). So here's my 'rabbit hole' - The molded gunwale is a tad narrow for the above mentioned hole-drilling, so it could be abraded off, the inside of the bulwark planked with thin strips (CA or epoxy). Vertical wood ribs would go next (wood glue for wood-to-wood), only part way up where any pin rail will go. I'd fashion wood pin rails (pre-drilling for whatever brass (possibly wood) belaying pins acquired and gluing to the bulwark, then add whatever ribbing to go up to where a new wider wood gunwale will mount. The area at the bow and stern where the railings go do not have gunwale on the hull, because the provided gunwale sections in those areas have stanchions for rope or wire railings. These could be used as-is. I suppose wood gunwales could be put there and 3-D brass stanchion used (Cornwall Boats is one source) ... All this would be quite a modification for a first ship, and using the provided pin rails and railings is certainly a less daunting way to go - also much less time consuming. You'll be spending time doing rigging to whatever level of detail you care to get into. I'm involved in a lot of things in what is turning out to be a 'working retirement' ... too many hours at the hospital as a Pharmacy Technician, teaching one night course and also a teachers aide at another night course, home improvements/maintenance, doing most of the shopping/cooking/cleaning to help the Admiral - who makes goods to sell on ETSY with me as shipper and bookkeeper, and managing some rescue parrots. Somehow there may be a little time here and there for model ship work - my build of an old Billings Wasa has been suspended for a while, but I now know where I want to go with it (masts only up to where they are at the museum in Stockholm, as if it were under construction). I also completed a build of the U.S.S. Arizona from a Metal Earth kit (tiny, but with a fair amount of detail). Both are on the forum. Johnny

Ahoy, Jason. I also have an old Thermopylae kit (late 1950s, so the parts are pretty clean from fairly new molds) in store for building when current projects are done. Bruma's techniques and 'busts' are great - like reinforcing the bowsprit internally to avoid bending when rigged, and replacing the dolphin striker and the 'whiskers' on the catheads with stiff metal wire (can be found in some hobby stores) - as thin plastic is sooooo prone to accidental breakage. Since I've never been all that happy with plastic thats been painted wood color, there is a thin laser inscribed wooden deck made for this model (as well as the Cutty Sark) ... I found them on Ebay from an Eastern European source and obtained the one for the Thermie. Also obtained is a small photo etch sheet having the name to go across the stern (plus a couple other things), as the decal would be sure to 'crumble' if used. Some claim to have used a decal 'restoring' product - but the technique may be tricky. Altering the bow curvature to an "Aberdeen" shape won't be hard, but any changes to the angle of the stern involve a lot of complications. Same goes for altering the quarterdeck further forward to where it was on the original. As-is, the adaptations of the Cutty kit into one for Thermopylae was a 'reasonable' compromise by Revell - the rear cabin is about right and the deadeyes are mounted on top of the gunwale (as opposed to inside the gunwale on the Cutty) with approximate exterior chainplate. There is an option for barque rigging as she was for the five years of timber trade in the Northwest ... and I'm considering going that way. Adding thin layers of white until just a hint of the green shows beneath might simulate the weathered paint job she had before being sold abroad. Yet she looks best in the green of her prime. Neither kit has booms for studding sails, but this is not an issue for me since sources indicate the discarding of that tackle once steamers taking the Suez canal meant that maximum speed was not essential for clippers. Rather, crews could be cut to keep them cost-competitive for bulk cargoes like Australian wool. I'm not planning on sails either - unless represented as furled using narrow pieces of material to prevent 'bunching'. There are a lot of possibilities to choose from, mate. Fair sailing ! Johnny

I sometimes find old kits or partial kits at a flea market - sometimes at a train show/hobby show that is not super-strict on dealer/member 'swap table' items. One incomplete kit I inherited (yes, check-out estate sales) has a dozen canon on pretty good trucks, but the cannon don't suit what I'm working on. What I'm working on has lousy trucks for great looking guns, and when I popped a barrel off one of the better trucks and installed the gun barrel of my project - the result was a big improvement. (Note that there are half-barrels protruding from lower gun ports on my model, which is why everything should match.) Other orphan kits can have better blocks and fittings - also the nicest planking I've found in some of the old kits. Sometimes nice rope - often times, not. I've found pretty good ship's boats in various scales in old kits - some good as-is and others can be enhanced with a little creativity. Other finds include gratings, ladders or ladder components, deck eyes, hooks, tiny nails in steel or brass. Then again, one may find an old ship model in sad shape that has good salvage fittings and stuff ... unless one wants to revive and improve a perfectly good hull with better fittings and rigging. It's all up to you.