Meekes

So it's been almost 2 weeks now and i've made slow but steady progress. To bend my planks i soaked them in water for atleast 5 minutes, bent them slightly around a can and then used a soldering iron to finalize the shape. I've glued on 4 upper planks and 1 lower plank so far on each side and currently have 1 dry-fitted with nails on each side. On the ribs i had to glue on a few thin planks from the cutouts of the deck to shape a few of them better as i found out i sanded a slight bit too much off. I'm well aware it's not the prettiest and far from perfect, but i hope i'll be able to hide all the imperfections under the second planking. The ends of the planks haven't been fully cut/sanded to the perfect fit yet but i felt like it'd be better to do that at the end when all planks are glued on.

Alright time for a tiny update as i've been extremely busy. I've sanded the rest of the bulkheads so that, as far as i can see, the planks sit nicely flush on the bulkheads. I've got to say though, this part has been quite stressfull as i'm afraid i'll either have sanded too little or too much and will only find out during planking when it's too late. But, here goes nothing as i've probably just been overthinking it. Here are a few pictures from different angles, hopefully these will help some others in the future, or someone will spot something that i've missed or messed up. Bow side: Stern side: I do have to admit that the curved sander from OcCre has been amazing for the stern side, i've seen some smart ways to make your own curved sander but for any beginners that are thinking about getting this, i can definitely recommend it.

That's what i'm thinking aswell! I've mainly been following your finished build log as it's extremely detailed and the ship's very well made. I have a question for you though (and anyone else who can help), when sanding the ribs to make it flush for the planks on the hull. How and when do you know that they're sanded enough and in the right angle? I've been slowly working on it but when holding planks to it it seems that in one way or another the plank won't sit nicely flush on it and i'm too afraid to put more force as i fear i'd snap a plank.

Yeah right now it's the only real silly thing i've done, other than that i sometimes feel like i rushed something and could've made some details look better. And yeah, either something else will be covering it up or you just won't be able to spot it once the whole ship is detailed.

Some time later and i'm extremely happy with the progress i've made! When planking the deck i found out the majority of my planks were bending sideways, some even so much it would've been hell to use. I first looked for all the straight ones and then looked for the ones with partially straight planks or ones with just a very slight bend, these i would use the outer parts of the deck as i didn't need to use the whole length there. Then i started planking the deck using contact glue, first i drew a straight line in the middle so i could nicely place my first plank. And here, i made my first major (and very silly) mistake, i was so focussed on placing it perfectly on the line i didn't pay attention to the length and i reached short at the end! ouch... As the plank was already stuck on i decided to cut a small piece from another plank and glued it on the leftover part. Hoping it won't be too obvious to see in the end. I then drew on the lines and nails with a pencil and put on two layers of satin varnish. Sadly, i noticed afterwards that some of my pencil lines and drawn nails were badly visible or fully gone after the varnish. i tried to fix it up a bit more but not everywhere was as visible as before. oh well, not the end of the world. After that was one of the parts with stressed me a bit, although, afterwards i realized that wasn't necessary at all. I dry fitted the deck on the frame and with a bit more sanding i felt like it would fit quite easily. I put on some wood glue and pushed the deck on, forcing it on with my hands for a good 5 minutes untill i felt like it was stuck enough to let go, adding a drop of super glue at each rib to make sure it would definitely be properly attached to the deck. Overall i'm very happy with how it turned out. After the varnish i also found that the small part i glued on separately wasn't too noticable.

So, two days later and i've finished attaching the ribs to the false keel, this went suprisingly well and using lego blocks to keep it at a perfect 90 degrees went smoother than expected (honestly cutting each piece out and sanding them was the most tedious part and took the most time). The next step is planking the deck, but while preparing some of the planks i noticed some of them bend quite a bit sideways along the width. I haven't seen anyone else post about this so maybe it won't be an issue in the long run? Does anyone have any experience with something similar?

I have indeed read a few build logs before about this kit and i will definitely look at them again before each part! This forum is an ocean of knowledge so it would be silly not to use it.

Some of you may have seen my roam around on the forums for the past few weeks looking for advice, inspiration and information... Well, here it is, my first build! After getting the Polaris by OcCre suggested to me the most i figured it would be stupid for me to not listen, so i went for the starter kit and also bought the paint set for the Polaris. A little about me, i'm a total inexperienced beginner when it's about model building but i'm eager to give it a shot and try my best to learn and adapt. My life is quite busy and filled so my posts and updates might be really slow and far apart from eachother but i will definitely try to respond whenever i receive a question or comment. Oh, and apologies if my vocabulary or grammar isn't the best at times, i'm from Belgium so my English isn't the best. First of to get atleast a little bit familiar with sanding, gluing and clamping in proper 90 degree angles i started with the OcCre workstand. I got this because i felt like i would end up using it quite a bit even if it's not during my first build, and i thought it would also be a fun way to get a tiny taste of woodwork before the actual build. After succesfully having built the workstand i do feel like i can i've learned some stuff that i will take with me on the build. Now onto numbering all the parts of the boat, cutting them from the frames and sanding them to get them ready!

I went ahead and looked for my old soldering iron, whilst it doesn't have the big bending block at the end , it'll still do the job (i hope). As for clamps, i hope i'll be fine with about 30 to start haha

I was thinking of using the good old soaking method and then letting it dry while clamped. I do perhaps have a soldering iron i could modify in the future but that's not for my first build. Yeah i could indeed look for some wood pieces to use instead. As for lego pieces, i don't have any! I might have to ask around to get a few haha

So a little update: I'll be starting my buildlog next week as i'll be ordering the Occre Polaris starter set (+ the paint) and i'll be buying a bunch of tools this week. Here's my current list of tools i'll be getting, i probably have too many listed to start with? Mitre box, some paint brushes, bulldog clips, clamps, exacto knife and a box of #11 blades, putty filler, the Occre work stand, Occre curved sander and the Occre pin pusher. Really looking forward to starting this first build!

I will definitely be doing a buildlog!

True to some extent, but for watchmaking it's still mainly very small screwdrivers.

Hey everyone! I've got the feeling i'll be one of the younger people here as i've only just turned 27. 😅 My name's Yorick and i'm from a small town in the south of West-Flanders, Belgium and an architectural draftsman. I've never worked on any model projects and i'm overall not that handsy of a person so this is all very new territory for me. I'm a massive watch enthousiast (collecting them, reading about them, looking at them because i can't afford them) and always wanted to work on them. Getting into model ships always been something that interested me. Also getting into watchmaking is alot harder (and i think more expensive) than model ships so this seemed like the better hobby to atleast start with. Other than that i game and travel alot. Currently i'm still roaming the forum and the internet for the right starter project, and right now i think i'll be going for the Occre Polaris as this one has been heavily suggested to me on here. (I'm still open for other suggestions for my first or perhaps second project in the far future). Next to that i'm also still working on a list of tools that i'll have to get. I will be making a building log on my first project but as my weekends are almost always packed it'll definitely be a very slow project with often gaps between update posts.

Buying that combo here would be 225 euros, i know you get a 3 ship Combo for that price but i'd rather wait for that after my first build (if i don't end up liking it i'd be stuck with one unfinished ship and 2 i haven't even started). I'll probably go for the Occre Polaris. I've already looked at a few build logs and i'll admit i'm still slightly afraid that this ship will be more than i can chew, i'm an overthinker, it often happens. Meanwhile i'm still doing research and getting a small list of needed starter tools to get an eye on the overall cost to get into the hobby.