shauer

Looking good! Thanks for sharing the details on dealing with the fitment issues. Hoping to be where you are in a month or two. Steve

Thank you, Frank. I appreciate the feedback and the compliment. I forget who's build log I got the paint mix from but it's approximately 2/3 - 3/4 cerulean blue, about 1/4 - 1/3 yellow ochre, and a dab of titanium white to lighten it up to match. Then adjust as needed. I've enjoyed working on this chapter 3. The stern details and the quarter galley construction provide a wide variety of challenges after doing nothing but planking for a couple months. Steve

Thank you everyone for the likes and comments. Spent the week and much of Saturday this weekend working on the transom details including the cove and related trim around the false lights, and the resin carvings. I also completed the fluted columns on the quarter galleries and started the same details on the transom. Almost done with the detail work on the stern. Still need to add the rails on the QG roofs and complete the fluted columns on the transom in the next few days. Then I need to work on the fancy moldings and friezes along the sides of the hull. I also painted the stem and bollard timbers black so that I won't need to work with black paint so close the the friezes in the future (I hope) Progress on the transom details. I'll call out one of my mistakes here. I completely messed up the painted edge along the upper portion of the cove. I fixed it by applying a very thin veneer strip of cedar over the mess and sanding it down to paper thin, You can see the edges of the fix along the ends of the upper cove. Overall this looks 100% better than having crimson splotches along the upper edge. scraping the base and top of the fluted columns. column details added to the QGs. This was a real trial, I think I dropped and lost one piece for each 3 that I placed. The instructions suggest using needle files to shape the sides of the base and top moldings. I found it was easier to use a fresh chisel blade and cut downward across the grain along the sides to remove the material. The material parts along the grain cleanly and leaves nice clean edges. I think I may add some left over fancy molding along the tops of the QG windows in between the columns the way that Frank has done with his build. I really like that look. And where I am currently at. Started the fluted columns on the transom. These are so much easier to work on than the QG columns. Steve

That looks great! One additional word of caution, allow each coat of wipe on poly to fully cure before applying another. I ended up with a variation of your original problem using wipe-on. The first coat looked so good that I applied a second coat after only a couple hours. The first coat was not fully cured and the whole thing turned gummy and thick with the second coat resulting in a gloss finish that should have been satin. Waited a couple days, sanded, and re-applied just like you. So it is possible to run into the same issue even with wipe-on if doing multiple coats. Still working on the patience thing myself I guess... Steve

I feel like I've been living under a rock. This is very enlightening, never considered this as an option. I'm definitively in the camp of having a full library of books with great pictures / illustrations but have always been intimidated by anything with a carving. Thanks for sharing this Chuck! I'm feeling the need to order a resin printer to set next to my FDM printer. Steve

Welcome! Looking forward to following your first build. I'm also a native of the finger lakes region. Steve

I have the QG closed in and all trim complete with the exception of the the fluted columns. I'm going to hold off on these until I can do the same detail on the transom at the same time. Also have the shingles on the roof as well as the drops installed under the galleries. I'm pretty happy with how things have turned out so far. The window fit is good. The windows are just set in for now. I'll be removing them and waiting to install them at a later time. I also did a little painting on the transom then added the frieze to the upper portion as well as the fancy molding around the top edge. There is one small gap in between the pieces on the upper middle left. Fortunately this will be covered later. Also prepping some more of the resin carvings for placement on the model. I have been very pleasantly surprised at how well these look after following Chuck's instructions on using the fruitwood gel stain. I brush a liberal amount of stain on the piece and wipe it off with a clean rag about a minute later. I then found that if I work the piece with a clean dry brush a couple times over the next hour or two that the stain evens out and lightens up a little more. The more you work a spot with the dry brush, the lighter it gets. Plan is to fabricate and install the cove on the transom, then work on the fluted columns. I'll also be painting the upper portion of the stem and the bollard timbers prior to adding the side moldings and friezes. Steve

More progress on the quarter galleries. I have the uprights installed on the port side QG and about to start that process on the starboard. Definitely a fiddley bit of work getting all the angles correct on the base of the uprights and along the side of the hull. I went back and forth a couple times and got all 3 windows to fit but it was a really tight squeeze to accommodate the width of the uprights and the 3 windows along the arc of the QG. I ended up cheating a little by making the upright along the transom slightly narrow and really drastic bevel on the forward upright as mentioned in the instructions. A few pictures taken along the way Got the seats installed. Easiest to assemble the seat and seat front outside the model and then place in the QG. Then added the top piece. It looks like most of my measuring back in chapter 1 paid off as I was able to use the planking lines as a guide for the angle of the top piece. Working on adding the uprights and using the windows as spacers. I temporarily tacked the uprights along the top piece but this step was similar to building a house of cards. Port side uprights with windows placed as spacers. I still need to try the other windows provided to see if I can get a better fit but this is pretty good. Steve

I completed the moldings and friezes for the lower portion of the QG, upper counter, and lower counter Had to redo the upper counter frieze due to not leaving good enough alone. I was done and happy until I saw a small spot that needed trimming. Managed to take off too much of the frieze leaving a big spot of white paper in its place. Time to rip it off and do it again.. I discovered a use for my used, dull chisel x-acto blades. They make good blanks for scrapers. Adding the facilities to the QG and then I'll start in on closing them up. Steve

Thanks everyone for the likes and positive comments and encouragement. Posting updates to this thread is one of the ways I keep myself motivated on a multi-year project. Yes, doing any new skill for the first time is daunting, I try to not over think it (I'm an engineer so it's an occupational hazard). Just jump in and start doing it, plan on making mistakes and move on. So far it's working. The moldings that follow the upper counter have a pretty good curve to them edgewise. Did anyone need to do anything special like edge set them similar to the upper counter planks? Or is the boxwood flexible enough to take the curve with just some judicious use of clamps? Plan for this weekend is to get the QG moldings mounted, get some of the friezes glued into place, and start closing in the QG. We all know what is said about making plans, so we'll see where I am at on Sunday evening. The gel stain for the resin parts is arriving Monday so that will be on next week's list. Steve

Tried to make my first moldings ever tonight. Been reading and studying how several others have done it and it is time to create the fancy moldings for along the upper counter and the quarter galleries. I used a razor blade for the scraper and mounted my rotary tool in my bench vice with a standard cutting disk installed. The set up has the disk spinning away from you on top which is where I held the razor blade to shape it. I found the most difficult part was getting the width of the cutout just right. I ruined half a piece of boxwood trim because there was just a little play in my first attempt. I found you want what is almost a light press fit over the stock material. First attempt is on the left and is just a little too wide. The one that worked is the one on the right with the arrow pointing to it so I don't get confused. What the molding used on the upper counter and quarter gallery is supposed to look like from the plans The 1/8 inch strips for the upper counter and quarter galley moldings. I'm happy with the results. Still need to make a scraper for the lower counter molding profile. I wanted to install these moldings now before the galleries are closed up and clamping becomes more difficult. The 1/16th inch thick molding is in the center. 1/32 inch pieces to the left and right. Steve

Some more progress on chapter 3. I've got the transom and upper counter pretty much complete and started on the quarter galleries. Adding the cap pieces to the top edge of the transom. I had to learn the hard way to use some scrap wood as pads under the clamps to prevent marring the thin cap pieces. The obligatory picture of the quarter gallery templates in place to locate the forward edge of the galleries on the hull. This port side gallery lands exactly where shown in the instructions. The starboard side is around 1/32 - 3/64 if an inch higher. Looks like The angle of my transom is off just a little bit from side to side. Fit and installed the top frames of the quarter galleries. Fairing the frames to match the intersection of the upper counter on the transom was a little tricky. Going to stop here tonight and sleep on it and see if I'm still happy with my work in the morning. If not, I still have the spare set of frames provided in the kit if I want to do them over again. And a picture of the stern. You can see the transition from the upper counter into the quarter gallery frames on each side. If I'm still happy with this in the morning, I'll add the lower frame and maybe the lower planking to the quarter galleries tomorrow. Steve

Enjoy your trip Chuck! Niagara on the Lake is really nice and western New York State is beautiful right now with all the fall colors. (assuming you are driving across NY) Steve

Thank you all for the kind comments. Having some fun with chapter 3 already. Have the transom and upper counter installed and working on fitting the 3/32 thick quarter gallery pieces. Transom installed and centered as good as I could get it. Spacing from side to side is even and the top of the transom has been rough sanded to fit. Upper counter planking is also installed. Fitting the quarter gallery pieces to the side of the hull to get the window spacing even from side to side. And a picture with all the window frames in place. Looks like the window frames sit a little high. Should I leave them alone or risk cutting about 1/32 off the bottom edges of the window frames to get them centered? Otherwise they all fit really nice. Friezes are laminated templates I made to check size and placement, just held on with tape. I really need to sand down the finish on the hull and do it again. The glossy hull is killing me... Steve

Thanks Chuck, yes it feels very nice to have this step behind me. Of course I know where all my mistakes are but I'm overall pleased with the results. If I had one thing to do differently, I would have fully blocked the bow and stern areas 2-3 spaces deep each. I have seen really great work from some using only the bulkheads to control the shape of these areas, but I struggled. For me, I think having the solid blocking to completely control the curves in these areas is the way to go in the future. Steve