mrmadalena

Yancovitch, Thanks for checking in. Everything is great. Sorry to hear that about Augie.

The break I wrote about was a bit longer than expected. LOL. I have been working on the Confederacy, just slowly. I did treenail the hull, which took some time. I then moved onto the stern and quarter galleries, which proceeded with several stops and starts. Of course I broke the cove over the stern lights. Also, for some reason, I just couldn't get the molding to look good on the quarter galleries. I had to redo the molding a couple times. The stern decorations took some time to get to line up correctly, but once done, things looked good. The rudder went quickly and looks good. I completed the rest of hull details before moving on to planking the bulwarks.

I did sand the bulwarks down before working on the stern section. The planking was relatively easy, but things are tight in the captain's cabin and I think it would have been easier to plank before closing in the stern. The last thing I have done was install the margin planks and the checkerboard floor.

Some pictures on how things look now on the build. Looking at the pics, I did notice some clean up needed on a piece of molding in the stern area that has some paint on it.

Thanks guys and thank you for all the likes. Augie, good suggestion, I think i will hold off on the nailing until after working on the stern and thinning out the bulwarks.

Hi all. I am mostly finished the lower hull. The hull turned out ok. Im going back and forth about treenailing the lower hull. Im not sure if it will be worth the effort. Im kind of burned out on plwnking and the hull. Any thoughts? Other than taht, I still have a bit of clean up to do and then I'm going to apply a natural stain.

Pics below

Thanks guys! Also, thank you to all the likes. I am looking forward to completing the planking. I do need to build something to turn the ship over before I start. Yancovitch, thanks for the reminder about reinforcing the stern frames. I appreciate it.

Hi all. Time for an update to my Confederacy build. Since the the last post, I stained the hull using a 30% golden oak 70% natural mix like Augie did on his build. (thanks to Augie for the indirect suggestion!). I then did the drilling for the treenails. I did not use the same pattern as Chuck's prototype. I treenailed every other frame. Next, I filled the holes with wood filler after cleaning them out a bit. I resanded the hull to clean up excess filler and applied two more coats of stain. After drying, I taped off around the wales and below the quarterdeck and forecastle. I applied multiple coates of thined hull black paint. After drying, I installed the the fancy molding that was made using the provided scaper. (first time using scrapers and they work great!) The molding was stained the same color as the planks.

Next up, a bit of clean up and applying satin polyurethane and get ready to plank below the wales.

Pictures of the complete ship below.

Thanks guys!

Hi all! First off, thanks for all the likes and comments. I appreciate it. I have been working on the hull planking for the last month. This is mostly done with a bit more clean up to do. I have also installed the main wnd channel Wales. Next up, some more clean up, install the sweep ports. Then, staining and painting before tree nailing.

Thanks Augie. The sheaves are a nice detail on the model. Since the last post I painted the gun ports (bulwarks red) installed the lower counter, installed batten strips and made sure everything was straight. I made the jig to pre-bend the planks. The pic below shows the first strips (5/32" x 1/16") in the jig drying.

Quick post. The sheaves have been completed. Pics below. Time to paint the gun ports and layout the jig for the planks.

Augie, the guns look fantastic!

Ben, thanks! The last few days I added the frames for the sweep ports and marked the ports off using the templates that were provided. I also started installing the sheaves.

Chuck, thank you!

Augie, thank You! Familiar is good! I want to thank all of the likes too! I appreciate them very much.

It has been a bit since my last update, but I have been busy. A bit slow going. I have worked on the beakhead bulkhead and the gun port framing. I just finished installing the hance pieces.

Now for lots of pictures starting with the bulkhead and moving through the gun framing progression.

As suggested by Chuck, I spent some time shaping the stern section. I believe I got the desired definition in the counters.

Chuck, thank you! The photos you provided will be very helpful with the final shaping of the stern. Appreciate the help.

Thanks Augie. The templates are very useful.

Time for an update. I have spent the last couple days working on the stern framing. The sills were positioned and glued in place. Sanded everthing down and used the templates to check size. The window widths look good. The height still needs some adjustments, but I think i will finish this up when I am actually installing the windows.

Also, quarter fillers were installed and stern ports on the lower counter were installed. Again, using the template to check for position. Lastly, the filler stips were installed under the stern counter and faired. The look good, but im sure final adjustments will be needed once planking starts.

Now on to the false deck.

Augie, thank you for the advice. Im sure I will be looking at your build and Ben's build as I proceed. Re-reading the instructions again tonight on the stern section.

Mike, thank you for the complement.

Mark

Hi Ben and thanks! I did notice some issues with the stern in some of the build logs. I have been doing as you suggested and taking this part very slow. I already caught a mistake I made with the position of the HH frame position. I was able to fix before glue set. Also, the L4 lintel is a bit off, but I think this be corrected when I fair the sections.

I do appreciate the advice and will certainly pm with any questions!

Mark

Ben, Thanks. I sanded the frames down and cleand up the gap. Attached is the frames with stain applied. Still see a bit of a seam, but im happy with the look. A bit more sanding will be done to clean up a bit before applying poly finish.

I also started framing the stern. Slow going.... Work getting in the way of building!

Wonderful work Augie!

Mark

Thanks Augie. I will be pre-staining first and run a test, as you suggest.

I have spent the last couple days fairing the hull on the Confederacy. As suggested, by the excellent instructions that come with the kit, I checked the process using a 1/16 x 1/8 strip and corrected any bumps. I then assembled the shadow box and installed the frame for the cut-away. I sanded the frames down and they follow the line of the hull. Next, I will stain the frames with golden oak.

Framing the stern comes next.