Oldsalt1950

Your build is coming along very nicely. Never worry about the pace of your build, this is not a race but something to enjoy and learn from.

Devin, looking good. I was however looking at the part 18a you duplicated. The grain runs across the part from top to bottom and if it were to stand alone on the stem when you went to fair it, it would be very prone to breaking. I see from the plans however that it is supported on both sides by other pieces. The grain is something you will need to take into account for making any future parts to avoid just such a mishap. 

Nice work.

Forecastle coverboard and knighthead reattached. Worked on transom gingerbread with the following results, the piece was spread with the help of some clamps and some final trimming will need to be done around the edges.

Glomar look for model railroad paint, BoxCar Red to be specific. Walther's probably has it.

That crewman appears to be on steroids. Large arms, legs, hands and feet.

Removed the forecastle coverboard and knightheads to be able to better shape the bow filler pieces. Finally have them shaped as I'd like. I'm using a piece of .1x.25" Evergreen plastic to check fairing and things look nice. Still have the forward pieces of the waterways to install. They are currently being bent to shape, which is a long slow process due to their thickness.

Looks good Glenn. Ratlines should never look perfectly aligned with perfect drape. 

Popeye, if you need current pictures of anything on the Jersey, let me know. She is just 12 miles up the road. 

Jim

Awful lot of running rust on her. Time for the crew to get busy between liberty calls. Nice picture, I can remember being moored in that same spot, castle in the background. Lovely city.

Your Alert is coming along nicely, Mustafa. 

You are doing great Rob. Those little boats can be quite the challenge.

It can be done, but realize you will be cleaning it up very often.

Sent you a PM with the details.

My lumber order from Modelers Sawmill came in and I've just finished storing it away in cardboard mailing tubes. I'll now be able to get on with the build after taking some measurements. I have been carefully inspecting the work completed and see I still need to do some sanding on the bow filler blocks and that the transom area needs a bit of filling and sanding. I will also need to place another lumber order in the future and also purchase some items from Syren Ship Model Company. I did discover an easy way to make the sheaves for Rattlesnake using some of the blocks I 'm replacing. They just need to be squared up an additional hole drilled in them and thinned a bit.  I decided I will scrap the dowels supplied in the kit for masts, and make mine from square stock, more on that when i get to that point in the build. 

Phil, how close a match is the bulwark brown to the mahogany? You could use that on the masts rather than trying to find a matching stain. Just a thought.

Jim

I think it is pretty much a crap shoot when it comes to most of the "supposed" standard colors. Navies pretty much standardized their colors because they were paying the freight. Buying in bulk was cheaper. There were however exceptions. HMS Victory had a number of different paint schemes throughout her career. Gun deck bulwarks were not all red, there were also green (USS Constitution), grey, and brown. Was the ship a privateer/ There you could find a myriad of colors depending on the owners and captain's whim. A lot also depended on where the ship was built, at least in the U.S., and what was available locally. The grease used on masts was tallow, an animal fat so it picked up contaminants easily and stained the masts and wore into the wood fairly well. Some things got painted some didn't depending on budget and aesthetics. Standard paint schemes became a Navy thing as navies got larger, but even then, there were exceptions. Unless you are dealing with a particular well documented ship, which you aren't with Albatros, you pretty much have free reign for painting or not painting and color choice.

There really wasn't much space given to head room in those ships. I visited HMS Victory in Portsmouth back in the 70's and I stand a whopping 5 foot 8, hit my head on more than a few deck beams while touring the gun deck. 

Looking good.

Nicely done Glenn

We all have those moments, Gregory. Some of us more often than others.

Wax paper should work for keeping excess glue off things but look for a glue applicator bottle that has a syringe type needle on it and put your wood glue in that. You'll use less glue and gluing will be more precise.

Very smooth looking planking job 👍

Don't sell yourself short Devin. Being this is a long slim boat when you get ready to glue the rib formers to the keel, start in the middle and work your way towards the stem and stern. Doing so will eliminate most of the chances of having issue with the hull being out of alignment. I'll be pulling up a chair to watch your progress.

Jim

Looking good Dave