Altduck

Joe Glad to see another Swift build. I plan to build the Swift as my first model, as soon as I regain a bit more mobility and stamina (recovering from surgery now) so I look forward to your build, and narrative on problems you find as you go along. Hopefully, between yours and the others that are available, I can blunder through successfully. Thanks, Richard

I like the railing you added on the upper deck; looks like you added a stairway access as well since previous photos, so I'm sure the passengers will appreciate the rail, too. Very nice model.

Micro-Mark lists 1/16" Plywood (close to 1.5mm) as well as other thicknesses in inch dimensions, if that would help. Richard

Interesting. Was there perhaps one ship "Solen" sunk at Gdansk in 1627, and another of the same name built in 1669 and sunk in 1694?

If you are willing to consider the head-mounted Optivisor mentioned above, I like them with this LED light accessory: http://www.micromark.com/quasar-lighting-system-for-optivisor,8608.html It gives good, bright, shadowless illumination.

In the photo with the strip in the jig, it looks like you went around the inside of the curve at the 2nd and 4th nails on your jig so the wood only touches #1, 3 & 5 with a sharp bend on #3. Can you go inside #1, outside #'s 2, 3 & 4, and inside nail #5?

Chris, What a wonderful space to work with! Just setting up your shop should be lots of fun, before you even start to use it. I don't see much in the way of power and lighting but it looks like the main panel is in the far corner, so it'll be easy. Before you enclose the remaining walls, you might want to run some 110VAC power around the walls and perhaps in the ceiling for drops out in the middle of the room. Also, lighting of course. I moved into a house with a smaller available shop space some years ago and it had minimal P&L as well. I put in power outlets every 4 feet + or - along the walls, and about 4 ft above the floor so they would be above any benches I might install. And I alternated the outlets so adjacent ones were not on the same breaker. And - the ceiling lights I added are on their own circuit so if I ever amp out a tool circuit, the lights stay on. If there aren't enough breaker slots in the panel, you can add a shop sub-panel. That's what I had to do. You might start by sketching and designing the final ultimate plan, and what activities and equipment will go where, and what the power, ventilation, separation from other activities, etc. will be needed. Then estimate the costs and priorities for each portion of the work so you can do it in a logical order when you choose to. This way, when you can add something, it fits into the master plan. Congratulations on your new home, shop and growing family, Richard