Jerry

Good morning, David, Thanks to ASAT, I finally got it with respect to the deck planking. Have a great day. Best, Jerry

Hello David.. As Ray says, it does look nice but I still wonder if it is laser cut or does one have to cut the butt pieces out of strip planking? Jerry

Hello David... That is one very interesting deck planking pattern. I know that I don't have too many years experience building ship models but I have never seen anything like that before. One can get dizzy trying to match the pieces. Is that what you mean by "butt" planking? Did you have to cut them all out from piece of stripping or wood or are they laser cut? In any event the deck is looking very nicemso you seem to be perking along once again. I'm happy for you. Best, Jerry

Hello David.. Looks like I finally found you. And it also looks like they just don't make kits the way they used to. I must have been very lucky with Victory because all the strip wood was perfect. I can't say the same about Half Moon because I did replace some of the original planking. Viking Ship is a totally different story because it's a clinker and the hull therefore is lapstraked. In any event, now that I know where you're at I'm looking forward to a good seat in your shipyard. Keep going in the good direction you have started and best to you, Jerry

Thanks for the compliment, Popeye. I'm actually thinking about leaving the sail rolled up to the yard and setting the oars in place. Well.....I'm not sure about that; we'll see. Best, Jerry

Hello JParsley...Many thanks for taking the time to visit my log and especially for your complimentary words. It;s getting close to another decision.....What is next? Have great weekend. Best, Jerry

Hello David.. So I see you're still around...I never know when you're going to pop up. All kidding aside. it seems that you must be too busy with your build and that i can understand. I'm a bit under the weather today; didn't sleep well at all last night and had a lot of pain in my gut for a change. I am relatively pain free today but am as weak as a knat. It's not the Drakkar I'm worrying about but truthfully it's the Admiral's Bounty. The end of the school year is fast approaching and with preparing for our holiday (June 6th) there's no way she's going to give time to model ship building. I'll have a lot of painting to do...oars and shields and a little more rigging and then it's on to something else. You are so right when it comes to room in our house...I may have to start giving models away...Please give me the link to your current site so I can check up on you. Best, Jerry

Hello Glenn. There is no doubt that the rigging is a joke compared to the last couple of builds. It has been interesting though, becuase of the use of a different type of mechanical advantage device. No deadeyes or blocks but something that looks like it's from another planet and is referred to in material list as a "deadeye." Perhaps it is but it really looks very different. Check the photos above. It is a good idea to do the standing rigging before attaching the second mast section because then you can slide the shrouds over the mast instead of threading it around and through the slots in the platform, if you know what I mean. Lawrence did his Victory that way; I didn't but think it's a good way to go. Best, Jerry

Good afternoon everyone... I have made some further progress which includes finishing the sail and mounting it to the yard, completing the shroud lines and rigging them. There's not much to say except that the work went well and was trouble free. The following pictures should tell what I have done and that I am now ready for the final rigging which I hope to accomplish tomorrow. Many thanks for tuning in. Best, Jerry

Hello Grant.. Yes, indeed she has. Sometimes I say something right. Enjoy the day Best, Jerry

Good evening everyone.. Well, today seemed like a long day at the drydock. I spent much of the day running errands, etc. but still managed to have a few hours left to work on the Drakkar. And today was sail day, AGAIN! So a piece of linen was dipped in tea once more and swirled around in the glue and water mix and then, when dry, finally ironed VERY CAREFULLY AT A LOW TEMPERATURE.before beginning the applique process. I marked the 45 degree lines on the sail using a pencil and a large 45 degree triangle left over from engineering drawing days; then I cut the 2mm. strips, using a very sharp blade and a straight edge from the remaining fabric after the sail was cut out. I used white glue very sparingly and glued the strips onto the sail carefully following the 45 degree guide lines mentioned above. When this was done I folded all 4 edges back over and glued them back to the sail to form the hems. When laying out the sail for cutting I allowed about 3mm. extra to each dimension to allow for the hems I lightly penciled guide lines on the front of the sail for the painting which will come next. This will be done freehand as masking tape surely is useless on fabric. Although I'll test the tape on a piece of scrap fabric. The results will be known tomorrow. So that's it for today...Goodnight and sweet dreams.. Best, Jerry.

Hello Popeye... I believe I finally got the sail correct and will furnish some pictures soon. I did the diamond application using strips of fabric as instructed. I willm paint the sail next and then apply the edge roping and finish the rigging. Many thanks for your visit and much appreciated comments. Best, Jerry

When the admiral arrived home from work I got chewed out and thankfully she wasn't upset enough to say that she'll do the ironing from now on. So that's the way it's going to be. Best, Jerry

Good evening everyone... Today was a mixed day as far as things running smooth. The bottom line is that the shroud cleats were prepared and installed in place and the mainstay was also completed. Now for the in betweens........ I decided to do the fabric work on the sail to prepare it for rigging but I ran into a "mess." I had already dyed the white cloth by dipping it in a pan of brewed tea which I followed with a soaking in a solution of 50% white glue and 50% water. Everything looked great. The admiral ironed the cloth and its consistantcy was perfect. It had just about the right texture to make a good Vuiking sail. So today I laid it out and cut it to size and folded over 3mm hems all around. I decided to iron the hems to give them a permanent crease and that's when things went bad. As soon as I touched the iron to the fabric I soon had a sail about 2/3 the original size. Obviously I had the iron too hot and the fabric shrunk and I was out one sail. I should have left the ironing to the admiral but she was at work so I stupidly tried it myself. Fortunately I have some very good cotton fabric in the scrap pile so I'll just start all over again tomorrow. But all was not lost because I did manage to get some standing rigging done which included the Mainstay and it's flying cleats...and the anchor cleats for the shrouds. The cleat that secures the Mainstay is also used to hold the anchor line so please don't be confused by the abundance of lines. There are no directions as to how to anchor the shrouds in the hull but upon internet research I learned that the shrouds tie down inside the bulwarks near the deck of the ship. The plans do call for small holes to be drilled in the side of the bulwarks at exactly the place where the shrouds come to the hull. This is called out right after the lapstraking is finished. So I decided to use these holes to anchor the shroud cleats by securing them with a knot as they enter the hull from the outside. The knots will not be seen as the shields will happily cover them. Here are some pictures which I hope will explain what I mentioned above: Please remember that placing your mouse over the picture will reveal its caption. Hope everyone has a great evening. Best, Jerry

Hello Glenn. You must love your new baby, the lathe.. The results from it look crisp and true. I don't remember having the problem trying to get a square peg in a round hole. Did I do something different? Who can remember? In any event, you are really coming along so nicely and all your work looks to be top notch. I am a NY Ranger hockey fan and I'm about to watch them as they begin a crucial series towards the Stanley Cup with the Tampa (Florida) Bay Lightning. I have a hard time watching the game on TV because of its speed but it's better than not seeing it at all. You are really coming along toward a top notch model...Keep up the great work.. Best, Jerry

Good morning, Grant..Many thanks for your kind words. At this stage of the build the kit's quaility is beginning to fade from my mind. I'll use extra wood to fabricate any missing parts. Have a great day Best, Jerry

Hello Glenn.. Many thanks ffor your compliment and....I guess you're right. They also make lemons with some of the automobiles too. But I also remember Keith remarking about the bad quality of the wood. Not much more left and I don't believe that Amati can screw up the thread for the rigging. LOL Take care, Jerry

Good afternoon everybody. Well today was a nice productive day in the drydock. The anchor was completely riggged and set into its sailing position. All 12 cleats were shaped and glued where they belong. Most of them were drilled for a short wire stub which was inserted into the wood where they were positioned to give them additional strength. The mast and jib were shaped and also temporarily mounted in place. The jib, however is permanently fixed to the mast but is able to move up and down the mast by manipulating the halyard tied to the mast cleat. The sling is made with kit supplied thread but seized to make it stouter I'd like to add that I seized the rope that was used to make the yard sling. Next will come the shrouds, stays and other standing rigging. Looks like this build is coming along fine in spite of what I wrote below.... I do want to comment once again with respect to the quality of the kit. Some wooden pieces were completely missing and other were badly lasered so that a few of them completely broke when carefully removed from the wooden sheet. Some 1x3 mm walnut strip wood was completely missing as were the wooden pieces to connect the spinniker booms to the mast. I guess I'll try and shape these out of some dowel stock. I learned a lot about the quality of the Amati kit and I feel sorry for the Admiral who's slowly attempting to build an Amati HMS Bounty. I hope she has better luck than I have so far. Best everyone for a great weekend. Jerry

Well you know what they used to say about Popeye, Don't you?????

Soryy, Popeye....It's the stern of the boat, not the bow. Jerry

Hello Popeye.. Good observ ation...The rise you speak of is where the rudder is mounted. Check out the following pictures. And have a great day, Best Jerry

I appreciate your compliment, Jparsley...Stop by again. Best, Jerry

Thanks for the nice comment, Grant. Hope you are doing well. Best, Jerry

Real nice job on the foremast platform. It looks crisp and very real. Good work. Best, Jerry

Hello Glenn. I received your post before I finished mine. LOL..No problem, I just hope you got to see the whole thing. Thanks for what you said: I always appreciate your comments. Hope your evening is going well. Best, Jerry