SiriusVoyager

I seem to keep snapping any drill bit smaller than about 1mm. Any suggestions a good brand that seems to hold up? Or is this just a normal thing to deal with?

Looking forward to seeing more of how this build goes. I have the kit as well, but am holding off on starting it until I feel more confident.

The instructions call for attaching the second layer of planking, then attaching the false keel and rub rails. From what I had learned from the Smack, I felt like the keel should have been installed first, then the second layer planking laid into a rabbet. I decided to follow the instructions, but wish I had gone with my gut. The planking was hard to lay properly, partially because of my inexperience, and partially because of the weird shape of the hull. The stem also didn't fit properly. I am not sure how one could expect it to fit properly installing it after the planking. There is too much room for small errors to work there way in. The thin sapelli strips were somewhat difficult to deal with. They are very porous and glue would soak right through making adhesion difficult at times. It also chipped incredibility easy as can be seen in a few photos. The top half of the second planking. The planking towards the stern seemed a bit odd to plank it that way, but I went with it. The lower edges are to be covered by a rub rail so they don't need to be perfect. The second layer lining up with the keel and stem didn't end up as bad as I was expecting, but I still wish there were no gaps. I will definitely not follow the instructions next time. My plan the entire time was to paint the boat so a little wood filler with fill the small gaps. Most of the hull is complete. I skipped the limber boards to attach after painting. The hull painted and weathered a bit and coated a bit of shellac

I will add my two cents from my short experience as a beginner. I have found that shellac is a great all purpose varnish. It is easy to use and is alcohol based so it can be used inside the house without noxious vapors. It can be painted on and provides a hard protective shell. I use very fine sand paper to finish it. It can also be removed with alcohol if you make a mistake. I would definitely varnish after painting is completed as acrylic paint scratches easily. As far as painting, I have painted wood models without priming or sealing. The water in the paint raises the grain but it can be sanded down. After a coat or two the paint will have sealed the wood. Of course a thin layer of sealer or shellac will prevent that and I prefer the sealant coat. Normal hardware store masking tape will cause some bleeding in places where the model isn’t perfectly flat. Specialized modeling masking tape is thin and will handle curves better than normal masking tape.

Looks like you are off to a great start. I followed the burn guild line rather than the plan. I think the plan is correct and the guide line is wrong based on how everything looked down the read. In the end my boat still came together ok so I think you will be good with where you attached the transom.

Welcome to MSW!

Welcome to MSW!

The first layer planking is now finished. I don't like how OcCre has you start with a random plank in the middle. There are a few gaps in there that are too thin to really fill with trimmed planks. If planking started at the edge of the bulwark or the keel it would be much easier to fill in that space with the wood. It isn't pretty, but I suppose that is why beginner models have two layers of planking (and I am glad they do). After some sanding and shaping it looks a bit better. Just a bit of wood filler to even things out for the second layer of planking.

Looks great! especially the mast and sails. Nice personal touches.

Very nice jobs on the eyelets, they look great!

That probably makes the most sense. I sort of feel like that will just cause more planks to have to be corrected as it would be difficult to place that first plank exactly in the correct spot. Thank you for those resources. I have seen the videos, but the NRG document is helpful as well. That definitely seems like a better way to plank. I’m just not sure I understand why OcCre starts in the middle rather than at one of the edges.

Welcome to MSW!

Welcome to MSW!

Welcome to MSW!

Adding more planking, starting away from the keel now. These planks needed quite a bit of bending and some beveling on the outside edges at a few of the concave bulkheads. For these two I used the soaking method as I wasn't sure how I could use the iron to get the twist in them.

I have been slowly adding the first layer planks, about 1/3 of the way done. I am glad that there are two layers because this first layer is looking rough. I forgot to bevel one of the planks, and sometimes getting the them lined up with the aft edge of the bulwark is tricky. I’m not fond of the gaps between the bulwark and the planks. It’s partially due to me and partially because the instructions start about 1/3 of the way down the hull. I asked a specific question about it here: The instructions call for using nails to hold the planks down while gluing. I didn’t like using the nails so I just went with CA glue. It has been working ok so far.

I have looked through some of the instructions on a few OcCre models. They all have the builder place the first plank part way down the hull. Why not start at the keel or the bulwark? Does anyone know what the rational for this is?

The more I look at the bulwarks less happy I am with them. I was really hoping that I wouldn't be using any wood filler on this model but here I am. My plan is to paint and weather much of it so the unsightly filler will be covered in the end. Once again for anyone that may try this in the future, I highly suggest attaching the bulwarks from the stern and working towards the bow. I was starting to worry that the cap rail may not fit properly with the angle off a bit. I dry fitted one side and it seemed like they should work out ok with some bending. Installing the stanchions had one tricky part. There is little guidance on where they actually go. I marked off their location as best I could using the plans and a ruler. Many of the stanchions in the drawing are covered by other parts so there was some guess work involved. I used a strip of paper to mark of the height of bulwark the various locations, then used that to measure out the lengths to cut the stanchions from the wood strip.

The next part of the boat is the bulwarks. From looking at other builds, this seems to be the most difficult part of the build. I can see why so many build logs seem to just end at this point. I decided to pre-bend the bulwarks in hopes of making it easier later. I soaked them just briefly in water and used an iron to apply heat while clamped to a small pot. I also placed a couple legos under the edge of one side and applied some water and an iron to try and add some twist. The instructions show two planks being placed on the bulwarks, but it didn't seem right to only have the two. It wasn't clear in the instructions but I determined from later pictures that the entire inside edge of the bulwark should be planked. Having pre-bent them, planking was a bit more challenging than it otherwise would have been. The instructions call for contact glue but I used white glue without any serious issue. I was worried about how many strips I was using, so I trimmed as I went and used the scrap whenever possible. The trimming was a bit more difficult with the bent bulwarks. I had to use the corner of the table to have a solid surface . Now for the difficult part. Attaching them. I used CA glue because white glue was going to take too long to bond. Initially I was thinking this was going to be impossible and that no amount of bending and twisting would allow them to attach. Fortunately before I glued anything I noticed that I was trying to fit them backwards. Make sure you look at the photos carefully. I tried soaking and bending the bulwarks again which helped a bit. I did start to have a problem with some bonds coming undone on some of the planking, which was easily fixed with a little CA glue. I also had one instance when the spring loaded bulwark broke off a bit of planking. There was a bit of a gap but at least it is on. I used a little wood filler to fill the hole, and will sand and re-stain later. One side on and the other started. I started by attaching amidships, then went aft, then forward. I was worried that the aft ends were going to have a gap, but they actually fit ok and needed a little bit of sanding along the edges to come together. With the bending and twisting there is only a small corner edge that is attached to the deck so I made some white glue and sawdust filler to make more of a bond. The aft end will need a bit of fine tuning to bring it all together but considering how many seemingly failed attempts there have been, I am happy that they are on. I think if I could do things again I would have started at the stern and moved forward as the bow was relatively easy. I would also consider getting some thinner basswood and making my own bulwarks that are easier to bend and shape and installing them in layers. As can be seen there is a bit of damage around the edges of the deck from the install. I will simply stain over it and leave some of the damage as part of normal the wear and tear.

Working on this build so far, I do appreciate the quality and strength of the OcCre plywood. The one downfall of it is that when it comes to doing a lot of sanding, such as faring the bulkheads and particularly faring battens, it is a lot of work. The instructions call for faring down to 2mm wide along the forward and aft ends of the spine. The area near where the screw will be located is about 7 or 8 mm wide. There was a lot of shaving involved to narrow down those extra wide areas. I didn't photograph it, but I did use a few planks and some string to see if everything looked like it would line up properly. There may be some fine tuning as I plank and add the keel and stem, but it looks like everything should line up pretty well.

Welcome to MSW!

Welcome to MSW!

Yes. Discrepancies like this have been my biggest frustration with this kit series. I just went with the predrilled holes. If I remember correctly, as I compared other builds, the predrilled holes seemed to be at a better placement than the plans. The halyard and it’s block were a little tight (which could have been my own doing), but everything else worked out ok.

Just mentioning this because I see you using Elmers school glue and I recently learned something about it. It is runnier and takes longer to dry than Elmer's glue all (I realize it is diluted for the sails now anyway) . I had been assuming they are the same thing and that the school glue part was just marketing. I wish I had known that prior to my third boat.

In regards to the previous post, the dark burnt umber acrylic stain was made with a very unscientifically measured 3 parts brown paint to 1.5 parts blue paint to 1.5 parts black paint and about equal parts water. Next time I would use just a little bit more water to thin it out just a bit more.