Coyote_6

Phil - whatever you do it will be the right decision. Based on the accuracy of your Albatros details, I have an inkling of where you might go with this. Just an awesome project - your stories are investing us all in Cape!

Very neat metal work. Nice!

@Dr PR That is amazing! Any regrets on not blackening them? It definitely looks the business. My fear with clear would be non-uniform coatings and non-uniform tarnish. Natural looks good after 50 years there. Different, but good. So many decisions Captain!

I am building a Constructo model with some beautiful natural wood colors. My vision is to keep with the natural theme and leave the guns brass. Does anyone have pics of brass cannon on a ship they built decades ago? I am polishing them for install but after rigging I think they will have to be left to the elements. How will they look in 20 or 30 years? The left gun below is 20+ years of tarnish, the right was polished tonight. Once I get them polished I will paint the carriages like this and then get them rigged. Any thoughts or pictures appreciated. Thanks!!

Neat work Chris. Phoenix has handsome lines.

Tiller damper rigging completed.

@Dr PR Thanks Phil. I will have to mix up some 50/50 as I go in rigging. Sourcing materials is so hard on amazon. Without seeing the material it's hard to know if it's gonna be what I need. I would like to try the silk thread, I'll have to see if it comes in a size 70. I've bought 4 or 5 different spools so far but the fly tying has worked the best. An open question then - do most people glue the lines to the blocks?

I can relate to the drying time aspect. Looking good Chris!

It really is looking great Phil! I admire your patience, but not surprised. I remember you made like 200 belaying pins by hand one time (or something like that). Truly a virtue you have sir. Awesome work.

So before we go too far, can I get a critique on my rigging process from some of you experienced builders out there? Any input or recommendations appreciated. Looking for convincing appearance and longevity. Here's what I am doing: For line, Syren's poly cotton blend rope... For seizings, nylon or polyester fly tying thread... To bind the seizing for longevity, Elmer's school glue straight from the bottle (a thin white PVA?). A little drop top and bottom that soaks into the seizing... And this is what we get - the "blocks" are held in place by the seizing tension and then the line tension when rigged tight. You can see the Elmer's film on the seizings next to the blocks. 1. Is the above process going to be reasonably successful going forward? 2. Are the materials chosen generally sound? One particular complication is "weaving" an eye in the end of a line. See the light colored line below (the dark line is seized with fly tying thread and Elmer's): Trying to replicate a weaved eye as in Ashley... I unravel ~1/8th inch and bind it back to the bitter end to form the loop was not able to get this to stick with Elmer's - only Superglue would work. So I am using superglue (CA) for unseized eyes and a dab on the end of a line to "whip" against unraveling. 3. So am I good here with the CA, or should I be doing woven eyes differently? 4. PVA over CA, or are these equivalent? I know this falls a bit into lore and opinion but I appreciate all insights! Anything I should be doing differently? Any advice at all on getting a good healthy start? Thank you all in advance - I know you guys will get me on the right track. (The boarding stairs were too easy! 😜)

Let's celebrate today, February 1st 2025, as the day the Prince got her first permanent lines installed. Two figure 8 stopper knots and a dab of CA on the working ends as whipping. Welcome aboard the rigging portion of this build.

@Dr PR Thanks Phil! I keep getting hung up on little things but that's the learning part. The hull is drying with a satin poly coat right now, but I did like the glossy look too. Sooo many options. I gotta say your Albatros is setting the bar pretty high - I am just trying to catch up with her!

Preparing to begin rigging on the deck (still). Final touches to the hull, filled plank gaps that were bugging me with Watco Poly. And waiting for cure. Always one coat away! The mail came... and a new project along the critical path is in work. The Serv-o-matic cherry is a pretty wood... And the Serv-o-matic is ready for poly. Always just 1 coat away.

The detail, planning and execution are amazing Phil. You have set the bar very high with this work. Very very nice!! It is very exciting when you are on your boat, as the Captain, and considering things like stern chasers! My favorite part of building so far.

@Keith Black Doh! I missed that critical step for sure. Even with waiting the CA approach worked well. Thanks for the ideas.

Thank you immensely for all the great ideas. I tried every one and they all worked well. A report of sorts: 1. Sanding sawdust into the various recommended adhesives is something I did very successfully prior to danish oil/poly coloring with good result. Definitely better than the poorly matched wood filler I tried in some places. I chose not to use that technique (sanding sawdust) here to ensure more uniform finishing. But I know this works well and probably would have worked fine. 2. UV curing resin - my daughter had some for jewelry making and I used it on a test piece. Very fast and easy to sand. I only chose not to use it due to it being a "new" material and not part of my current system. Longevity/interaction concerns. 3. Super glue - again filled a test piece crack with CA and sanded. It is very hard when cured so requires more effort/time to smooth, but it definitely worked well. I didn't want to work that hard. 4. I didn't actually try the shellac although as a new material to me it was very interesting. The drawback was this - only sold in 1 quart cans (946 mL). As I learned, I only used about 4 mL "fixing" my mess and had read shellac has a short shelf life when opened, thus I would have to discard 942 mL eventually. I will try shellac on a future project because it sounds awesome. 5. PVA glue by itself was also successful on the test piece. 6. An argument could be made for leaving her alone - not sure the juice was worth the squeeze here. Ultimately what I did do was careen the ship on her side, fill a syringe with Watco Satin wipe-on poly and then lay a bead of poly in the cracks. After cure there was shrinkage so the process was repeated. Sanding was easy-ish and finish was re-applied over the whole lower hull. The results were pretty good. And the final result. Needs a final coat of satin to tone down the shine but turned out ok. Benefits include: The filler matching the overall finish for expansion/contraction (thermal and humidity). The applicator needle matched the gap size and would follow the gap when applying. Easy-ish to sand. Follow on poly coats bonded to the fills pretty seamlessly. Anyway, VERY appreciative of all the great options. They all clearly have their merits and I have added them to my "toolbox" going forward. Detail of my "sample piece". White glue on left joint, CA (superglue) center, and UV resin on right. All three would have accomplished this task.

Very nice work and a beautiful fit Chris! Wow.

Here she is in the sun in standoff distance for reference. Probably the worst offender/viewing angle.

Before I move on to lines and rigging, I finished the ship with Watco Danish Oil (3 coats) and Watco Wipe-on Satin Polyeurethane (3 coats). In general she looks ok. But if you look closely at the hull there are some void areas between planks after finishing. Probably 10 or 11 places throughout, some as long as two inches. My question - is there an easy way to fill these with a clear material (white glue, polyeurathane) to get a nice smoothly faired surface? Or should I live with it and move on to rigging? Obviously I will have to do better fitting on my next build. Anybody have any thought or ideas on this? Thanks in advance.

Great presentation today Bruce! The model is beautiful. Following going forward. Steve

Well done Phil and interesting questions posed. Are these current photos? If so, she has been well preserved. Nicely done - especially the ship's boat.

More clear satin poly? Yes please. Two coats down, one more to go. Then the entire ship herself will be done. (Spars and yards will come later.)

Yay! Back at it Chris - she is looking great. She has nice lines with the wales in place.

This makes complete sense. There are times I wish I was working with "thinner wood", so there we go! She looks great Phil! Steve

@Chuck Seiler I think we can safely assume that she will not be ready by summer. Most folks would say we're half done when the cannon, anchors and deck fittings are all rigged. I hope to move aloft in the next couple months, I hope to build three ship's boats, and I haven't made any decisions on sails at this point. So still a long way to go I'm afraid. But she should be impressive to work on in the booth by summer! Steve