vvvjames

That means a lot Baker, I appreciate it. I'll have to remember to return to your build logs if I ever need ideas, that ladder on your Golden Hind scratch build looks perfect. Well actually everything on that build looks perfect. Gives me some inspiration for extra decoration to add to the Albatros! Thank you

Hello all, Small work today, but I yet again left the cozy confines of the kit and built my own staircase! This is the one that came with the kit: It just doesn't look great. Even if I had redone the paint it would have been an underwhelming addition to the ship. So I made my own from leftover planking wood! So much better. Not perfect, but much better. Also I did this thing! And with it, the anchors and their line are done done: Best, James

The color on this thing looks amazing, not to mention the everything-else! Fantastic work

Welcome! I only have experience with one kit so far, so I'll differ to others' comments on the matter. Whatever you pick just stick to it and look things up here before starting each step, everyone is very helpful!

Hello All, After some help and investigation from @Keith Black, I learned about how the Cat Davit and sheave blocks are supposed to look. It's good to know that I can't fully rely on the instructions for everything, and will need to crosscheck things moving forward. Keith provided an excellent reference image and I was able to make a NEW diagram to help re-rig the anchors correctly: Hopefully this helps anyone doing the Albatros in the future. I also learned that the block is not fixed permanently to the anchor ring, rather there should be a hook there, otherwise the whole purpose of the mechanism is mute, since there'd be no way to detach the sheave blocks from the anchor in order to lower it. I have some 24 gauge steel wire I was able to wrap around the blocks to make a makeshift hook since the kit didn't come with any, and redid the anchor to match the new plan: And that's that! Again thank you @Keith Black for the help. It's nice to connect these bits and bobs to their real life counterparts, will have to keep doing that as I get into the rigging. Best, James

Hello all, Today was the anchors! The rigging on this was tough to figure out and I'm still not sure I got it right, please let me know if you have any input. First, the painting! I wrapped thread around the "wood" part of the anchor rather than paint it, I spent a good amount of time on it before discovering those supports are usually iron! Not rope! However, I feel it looks good, and rope isn't unheard of on an anchor so it stays for now unless someone says it's egregiously inaccurate. Also the support ropes are different sizes (obviously). Which one looks cleaner? I'll re-wrap the other. And now the hard part: attaching them to the cat davits. The instructions were very vague on this, and the pictures were too out of focus to determine how specifically to do it. I came here and found two other builds where I could see mostly how they rigged their Albatros' anchor. So here were the options: Option 1: This was my interpretation of the kit instructions, I couldn't make out the details so this was just a best guess. Knot at the eye to start, then knot at block to end. Option 2 From user @kramer. Knot at the eye, looped through the block then back to the eye, only using 2 of the 4 holes on the cat davit Option 3: From user @Barry1. This build looked so clean I trusted it a lot more, but I adapted it to come back to the eye rather than end at the block and only using three holes. This adapted version is the one I used for my anchor. And here is the result on the port side anchor: Overall I'm happy with the result, but before doing the other side, I'd like to know if I did this completely wrong. The result is good though, replicating it will be a pain, I really need to get some sewing needles, shoving the thread through these tiny holes takes forever😂. Best, James P.S. Sorry for my rough diagrams, I didn't go into architecture for a reason.

Hello all, Today I installed the deadeyes! This felt close to rigging and I have to say I'm excited for what's to come. Here's a fun time lapse of one of the first installations: PXL_20251101_065421961.mp4 And some of the results: The polyester thread has been great to work with so far! I went to the Rocky Mountain Shipwrights workshop today and meet some wonderful people! Loving the process so far. Best, James

Welcome Gus! That's a fine ship you made, can't wait to see a build log for the (slightly) smaller one:)

Thank you Keith! I'll give it a go and see how they turn out!

That first planking looks great, can't wait to see more!

Hello all, Much progress has been made! The pacing of modeling is still something I am getting used to, things moved super fast during the planking stage, and progress was visually huge, and then I was in hull time-out for a week doing small work on the deck pieces. Still satisfying and rewarding, but less of an "impact" than planking. Here are the cannons, I loved this process and I feel like I lucked out with the coloring of the barrels. I mixed 1:4 enamel brass to acrylic matte black and the result is looking good. For the wood around the cannons, I went with a lighter colonial maple stain, though I may do a darker wash before gluing them on the deck ... I have been thinking of adding a breeching rope, but I'm not sure if I'll have leftover eyebolts so I will hold off for a while. I've fallen in love with the enamel brass paint and have had to restrain myself from just adding it everywhere. Today, I was able to attach many things to the hull! Here's how it looks with everything on it (the cannons and windlass are not currently glued yet): I would highly recommend drilling the holes and installing the pins before attaching them to the bulwarks, made life a lot easier! The pin holder around the foremast is a bit uneven, I'll have to figure out a way to place it again and/or sand it in shape. Otherwise everything else glued without a hitch! I'm going to a boat model making workshop tomorrow (Rocky Mountain Shipwrights) and hope to work on the anchors and hull channels! Feels good to have all this tiny stuff attached, it's looking fantastic from a beginner's eye:) Best, James

Can't wait to see this come to shape, I haven't heard of a card model before, sounds interesting! Looking good already:)

Looking very clean, I love the care you're putting in for your "client":) I can't wait to see more! Also I love this ship, the show/book are amazing.

Fantastic work from start to finish, the end product looks amazing!

You may have just saved me a bunch of pain, I was about to get the rag again when I saw this. I appreciate your warning.

I wanted to come back here to report that patience, sanding, the right polyurethane, and also patience payed off! Here's pictures after the first coat of wipe-on. Almost glad I messed up, now I get to be even more satisfied by the wipe-on experience. Thanks for the advice.

Just caught up, amazing journey so far and well worth the work. This is a great looking ship.

Hello all! Been a busy weekend for the boat despite still being in hull time-out still. The hull is mostly dry but I will wait until tomorrow to sand it down and then use the RIGHT polyurethane. Over the weekend I made the biggest blunder yet! Luckily it had no permanent ramifications. I knocked the box containing all the premade parts/pins/ect off my desk and scattered hundreds of tiny things in my office. Mind you, it was 1am and I was trying to pull myself away from the boat to go to bed... Well I put on the Lord of the Rings soundtrack and got to work with some tweezers. Few hours later and I believe I actually got everything, nothing lost! Even had to dive into the ventilation oh boy. Right after it was all done I knocked over a plant. Rough night. ANYWAY I have now taped down the part box and have continued the prep work for when I can finally get back to the hull. Drilled some holes with my new pin vice (thank you Keith) and started playing around with some acrylics I picked up from a model train store; good folks over there. I don't know what this is called, but here's some pictures of "it": I used a brass paint as a base, then gold on top hopefully it looks metallic enough, this was a tricky part! Here's everything going on the deck either tomorrow or the next day depending on the hull! I appreciate you all and have a great week! I'm excited to make the next few updates. Best, James

Hoping this continues! Love the work so far and am interested to see a weathered version of the Albatros

Welcome Adrian! Excited to see what your second ship will be!

Welcome!

Gorgeous looking ship. Nice work!

Hello all, Not too much aesthetic work to show off today, I applied a full strength coat of polyurethane on the hull and it's hands off until it dries. In the meantime I have some some cutting/shaping/staining for some smaller pieces that will be added to the deck later. Some small things that felt big: 1) The door I didn't really like the metal door that came with the kit, so I made one myself with the spare planks! Might as well move this log to the scratch built section! (Kidding, if I built a scratch ship it would resemble a pile of sticks more than a boat) This might not have been something I would have done if I hadn't been in boat-time-out. Good reminder to slow things down. 2) My first knot on the boat! I ran the string through beeswax, used a spot of diluted PVA glue once everything was tied. I did a half hitch on the small thing with two holes, and a square knot/wraparound-nameless knot on the pin. Please let me know if there's a good resource for what knots to use where on a model boat, will need that later. 3) Cutting and staining! Prep work. Will do more tomorrow as the poly is still tacky. Then assembly!!! Here's all of it together. A days work on an index card, what a lovely hobby haha

Thank you Rick, I was wondering how someone could handle more than one of these things at a time haha!

Thank you Keith, very much been appreciating your input. Got the nail vice drill thing today and went to work cutting/staining parts that will be put on the deck later! Better than watching the poly dry