The Sailor

Great work Pete. I like the colouring.

Very nice work Michael.

Today, I worked on Keel # 4 . I first layed out the deck, and  then the Cabin / Cockpit coamings ( I went with the same size as Keel # 5  1/16" thick ) I then cut out the deck and coamings , I then put the Coamings in alcohol ( I knew that I would need to soak them for a while ) I then turned my attention to fitting and installing the deck , I then installed the Coamings . Here are the results

Today, I thought to take a break from the painting and sanding ( Keel # 3 & 5 ) and work on Keel # 4 .  First I stained 1/16" material( I let it dry for 2 hours ) then soaked them in alcohol so that I could bend them into ribs between the frames. ( I just eyeballed the spacing )  I then cut out a nice piece of birch plywood for the front of the cockpit in front of the fish well deck, and installed it. I then made floor boards for the inside of the cabin ( stained them ) , I will leave them loose so that the bilge can be easily accessed. Here are the results

The next step was a hard one.  Adding the wales.  I found out that I did not leave a large enough rabbit at the bow to put the end of the wale plank into.  I had to carve out a small notch to be able to get the wale in place.
 

 
With a bit of soaking in water and then steaming in my kettle I was able to form the bend of the wale.
 

 
So I think I found the "wall side" and the "room side" of the model.  
 

 
Not a bad first attempt.
 

 

Jeers:
 
Although topmasts are pretty much ready to go on, the jeers have been nagging at me.  These seem to be pretty awkward to get in, especially once the topmast shrouds are in place so I've decided to install these before the proceeding further.  Getting the right length required quite bit of trial and error.  As always, suggestions welcome.  For some reason photos came out particularly badly tonight, so apologies in advance.
 
Block double stopped and kept in place with few drops of GS-Hypo.

 
Loop added to provide correct 'length', the three stands then seized near the top of the block.

 
Loose ends trimmed, and additional seizing put on.  I did this in accordance with the Grenado AOTS diagram (i.e. unserved), although it seems that these were also commonly served.  Frankly I didn't have the patience to attempt that...but suspect that the method could work just the same.

 
Mocked up the installation to check again length is appropriate.  There is not much room for error here, and it took multiple attempts to get length correct.  Looks OK to me.

 
Jeers will be lashed to the mast cleat on opposite side, this again is just a temporary mock up to prove it works.

Good afternoon

here‘s a small update after a long time. I‘m not in the mood for planking the deck so I decided to start with the deckhouse and the skylights.

The parts of the deckhouse:
 



Assembled deckhouse and skylights:
 

 

 



The components are now ready for staining
 

Good afternoon

here‘s a small update after a long time. I‘m not in the mood for planking the deck so I decided to start with the deckhouse and the skylights.

The parts of the deckhouse:
 



Assembled deckhouse and skylights:
 

 

 



The components are now ready for staining
 

work with the hull completely finished

I did get the Keel and all the frames cut out,Dry fitted then I trued them up and fitted again, so far so good for Keel # 5, and with rain till monday,I will be busy with this one for a few days. here are the results

Thank you Russ I greatly appreciate it
 
Best Regards,
Pete

I‘m ready!!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Well, not everything looks perfect, but I‘m very happy with the result. Next weekend I‘ll try to make some better photos for the gallery. I‘m satisfied with the kit and for this price the quallity of the kit supplied materials is good. It was always a great pleasure building this little schooner.
 
Again thank you all for your kind words, all your ‚Like it‘ or even looking.

Welcome back Pete. She looks very nice.

I had been away for a while and had moved, Just Getting things back to normal, and trying to find all the boatbuilding stuff . Keel # 2 did get finished before the move, and my sis was very happy. I hope to have things up and running soon  here are the results

Quick Photo Update..
 
Hull is painted to about 99% complete, just touch-up's required now.
 
Next up for Ballier is to put those 'triangular' pieces between the Bulwarks & the Port/Stbd. Transom Frames, then get on with the Margin Doodah     Oh Joy..
 
Incidentally the 'White Stuff' isn't near as severe as it looks in the photos, it is a very off white, but the Studio Flash brightens it.. honestly it does  
 
Thanks For Checking In
 
Eamonn
 
 

Yards:
 
Feeling my way with my first yards, technique seemed to work well so will continue with others.
 
Used the PE end cap to mark out the size that the end of the yard needs to be reduced to
 
Used a small plane to roughly shape the yard being careful not to take too much off

 
Sanded the shaped yards, and then cut down the central section to be a square profile (close to 1mm max depth) and then built up square section using spare walnut planks.  (The instructions call for the central section to be filed into an octagonal shape, however its pretty obvious that its not possible to make an octagon 6mm across from a dowel of 6mm diameter, not quite sure what they were thinking)

 
Filed down the corners to give the appropriate octagonal section needed in the center.  I find that using a marker to colour the sides allows the shape to seen much more clearly to allow this to be done more precisely - otherwise its very difficult to see the shape.  Paint will cover all this up, think it will be good enough once fine tuned.

I have now applied most of the decoration.  Applying it accurately on the model would have been quite difficult. I was still .5mm out on one decoration  - those who may be interested may care to find where.
 
 
The first two photos show how the required curvature of the facia was derived. A piece of timber strip was taped to where the facia will be attached, and the curvature drawn on a piece of paper.  I then used this as a template to shape a piece of balsa.

 

 
I then pressed the large decoration and the facia together over the shaped piece of balsa. To get the decoration to the correct height I clamped a piece of strip across the facia so that the decoration only had to be moved laterally to position it correctly (no photo, sorry).
 

 

 
The gold decorations on the facia required quite a bit of filing to obtain a good fit, and the two small decorations above the top windows did no fit and needed to be trimmed.
 

 
A fair bit of fiddling was needed on the stern to make the facia fit properly, but the dry-fit shown suggests it should turn out reasonably well.
 
 
On a different note. I have discovered that Xylene will take off any residual polish on copper better than anything else I have tried. I am now waiting to apply the clear matte sealer.  It must not be too humid (<65%) and it has rained virtually every day for the last fortnight. I didn't rain for two months before that!
 

I agree with Eamonn, althought I'm seeing only a few photos of the hull, I think you'll not need very much filler.

Really nice work Eamonn. Just try out the Tamiya tape, I'm very satisfied with it.

Cheers Mobbsie!
 
To hide the rather slow progress, I'll post a few 'state of the build' pics.  Ratlines and futtock shrouds all done, although there are one or two ratlines that I may yet redo.  First picture falls into the 'warning by me take' category, I'd completely missed a double block on the mizzen mast which was rather painful to get on with all the shrouds in place.  Definitely try to get this one onto the mast before any shrouds.  I did have a pleasant experience though, after having somehow made the served length approx 10mm too long even after mocking it up, I couldn't face remaking it.  Found that carefully applying some GS Hypo glue around the served line at the appropriate point allowed it to be cut cleanly with no frayed ends!  
 
I've also noticed that the tension in the main and preventer stay has been reduced, despite having stretched the line before installing.  Not sure whether its necessary to redo the heart lashings to tighten, only potential problem I can foresee will be when the braces get put on they may pull the stays unnaturally out of alignment, but this seems somewhat inevitable anyway so still pondering this one.
 

I'm back!! Finally!! The reason for this long absence is that my dad was diagnosed with a cancer relapse and has been in hospital for nearly 1 month plus.. So, my life was like work and go hospital everyday. Anyway, he's turning a lot better now and I can have more spare time for myself already One funny thing was that, Ian did message me in person during the MH370 incident worrying that I might be on that mysterious flight and causing this long absence (Anyway, Ian.. Thanks for your concern )
 
Another news is that I've just resigned from my job, and that will make me have more time on my ship recently BUT I'll have no laptop 'cause I was using my company's laptop all the while for both my personal and office stuffs =.=" gonna buy a new one this weekend. I'll need to return it to the company tmr.. so, I'll post the current look of my ship first now and then the progress after I got my new lappy..
 
It's a bigger leap compared to the last update since there were some progress that I haven't updated here... However, the Unicorn now is just so my version.. 
 

I added doors under the forecastle to cover the ugly interior.. I'm not sure whether any ship is built with this design? That the stove is inside the 'cabin' or very close to the manger? If so, then I can decide the location of my vent better.. hope anyone can help here
 

Belfry is also added by referring to Pegasus.. but I think I still missed out 2 cleats on the sides of the bell
 

The bitt 
Also, I've changed the rail to straight down instead of using round ones as instructed in the booklet. This might match my color scheme better
 

The bow rails and cat heads, which I ald done before CNY but haven't updated here. The one at the starboard side snapped off from position when I show my ship to my little cousin during CNY @.@ Anyway, the rails part is not done yet. I'm hoping to add a thicker rail or a jawed one on top of the others..
 
Thanks for viewing
 

Really nice work Eamonn. Just try out the Tamiya tape, I'm very satisfied with it.

I`ve been busy this afternoon Popeye,
 
those guns are so small and there are first 3 finished out of 14 in total to be built..., but I trust the production is well repeatable by now
 
Nils
 
 
 

fits easy on 1/2 a thumb
 

Build log part 22
 
 
beginning with the guns....
 
 

this was thie first mock up model for checking dimensions, breech rope to be exchanged against natural hemp Color, dolphins on Barrel to be left away
 

staining the carriages
 

breechrope eyelet, other block tackle eyelets, caps on barrel Pivot pin, wheels still in the pipe...
 

 
 

 
 

here my jig for making the caps
 

use ordinary plumbers plyers for pressing the caps in shape
 
 
 
Nils

Little Update.. (had a wee system glitch which put this update into Ollie's Log, I was over there a few mins earlier and Internet Explorer seems to have had a wobbly..  Weird Happenings eh .. so if you see a deleted post in your log Ollie it was this !)
 
Got the Waterline drawn and what a total Faf that was, made me want to get on with Joggling it was that bad ! brought the Black down to it, just to get a feel for things and I'm happy with the result.. though less happy with my Masking Tape, as despite much rubbing and pressing the paint insists on going under it to give a feathery edge ! I have even put a light coat of Clear matt (lightly sanded) over the whole lower hull of the boat in anticipation to give a smoother surface for the tape.. no avail, I have heard it mentioned that some folks run a blade along the waterline to 'cut' a barrier that will stop paint bleed ! else I'll pick up some better tape, Tamiya Tape seems to be used a lot on MSW)
 
BTW You can just make out the Patented Deck Planking Template in place, looks snazzy, I wonder if I can just give it a wood colour.. hmmmmm
 
Bye For Now
 
Eamonn