yvesvidal

Paul, you are back to the "Normal" and "Standard" world. Yves

You are making terrific progress. I love when it takes shape like that. Yves

Ras, I hope I am not hijacking your thread with this post, but there is a modeler in Spain who has been building the San Pablo in the 1/35th scale: https://www.ebay.com/itm/326240588162?itmmeta=01JMJ20BHNV76DFB5CNMDBBQCS&hash=item4bf5745182:g:ZyUAAOSwZupggtEC It is a very impressive model and I thought that some of his pictures may help you. That Spanish gentleman is definitely the "Rey of the the Styrene sheets". I love his models. Yves

So funny that you would find information in the Modeles Reduits de Bateaux magazine (MRB). My father and I later, have been reading and collecting this magazine since the early 1960's. Fantastic source of information and very exciting model that you are starting to build, Ras. Yves

They definitely ruin the fantastic shape of that timeless hull. I would not install them. Plus they will get broken in the process of building the superstructures and handling the hull. Yves

I like the two semi-hulls assembly system, promoted by Billing Boats. So much easier and faster to plank and get a very nice, straight and sturdy hull. Yves

Kevin, it is good to see you back on the Thorn. Yves

I love that yellow. It is going to be a stunning model, Craig. Yves

Excellent work. Very impressive. Yves

A quick improvement over the kit, that I would recommend dearly: Nail (for real), the gun deck supports. I used again nickel silver nails made with electronic component pins. Add at the stern and the bow some re-reinforcements for the end of the gun deck planking: With these improvements behind us, we can now start the planking, properly speaking. First plank goes against the frames (at least that is the way I am approaching it): Then installation of the grates and tons of precise cuts..... Yves

Before moving further with the planking, I have decided to take a look at the gun decks and see how these are being built. There is nothing easy on that model, as we have nothing flat and straight, besides the bottom of the keel. As always, the instructions are scarce: The Chinese ideograms are simply indicating that you can cut the blue parts to the correct length. Thank you. Nothing is really being said about where the red parts are to be sitting against the frames and the plan is of little use as well. So, after digesting plans, Monograph and the above picture, I decided to place them so that the gun deck would be horizontal as much as possible. I traced a delineation line on the deck, using the gun deck planking provided in the kit. That line allows me to determine the length of the support bars. After installing a gun on the support bars, the gun seems to be about horizontal, so it may work. At this stage, all supports have been installed and the planking seems to fit nicely, more or less. The picture above gives a clear understanding how this ship is architectured. With such a convex deck, platforms to hold the guns were absolutely necessary. The picture below shows the upcoming gun deck planking. It is composed of 9 planks and 9 grates which are sitting on the deck supports. There will be a lot of cutting and fine adjustments to make it look decent. In the meantime, I am painting the bulwark in red, as the Monograph seems to indicate. That is done in a much easier way by limiting the height of the hull planking. With this kit, you have to approach the various tasks in a scrambled and mixed way.... Not easy!! Have I said that before? Yves

I think it needs an extra coat of clear.... Yves

Amazing and beautiful work, Rob. That blue is fantastic. Yves

Before moving further, I am planking one side of the ship to get a better grasp on how the guns decks are positioned and built. With a coat of Model Shipways Yellow Ochre: I still have to sand a little bit the planking... The following picture shows the deck and where the gun decks will be built: That will be for another update. Yves

Before doing the planking, I finally resolved to build the stern. It is not easy at all, and nothing has been designed in the kit to help the novice modeller. I will present what I have been doing so far. At times, it felt like flying in the clouds without any IFR instrumentation. First the instructions: The plans do not bring much details and confirms that the freeze must be flush with the rear keel. Otherwise the rudder will not fit. Because nothing will hold by itself, I had to resort to pinning the parts: The instructions provide two ways of assembling the stern. I am going with the easier path: You can see one of the pins that is used to attach the parts (above). More pins are introduced to hold every single part (below): Final assembly.... Once glued and dry, the assembly is surprisingly robust. Yves