SkerryAmp

I think I have a plan for them when the time comes. I hope I have a plan. Well I definitely have A plan, whether it is a good plan or not - it is at least.... a plan

Yessiree. Picked up a couple of doo dads from Hobby Lobby for this one the other day. Since it is being recommissioned in honor of the admiral I needed things that were kind of "her. Found a couple of charms in the jewelry isle that will make nice deco for the ship.

Yep, cranking on the Santa Maria for a bit - got a full head of steam going on that one! But, keep looking at the others - keeping tabs on where they are at and what my next steps may be =)

Alrighty then, let's see what we have going on now - whew. When last we left the Santa Maria I had just finished up the second layer of planking. I then moved onto some trim, the waterways, timber heads, and started the hull details. So onward we go. The first thing I want to say is that the next bit of work was made a thousand times easier with the help of a few things. I pulled out my NorthWest Short Line Chopper - boy do I love this little gadget, made cutting some of the thicker walnut pieces a breeze. If you don't have one and/or something similar I cannot recommend this enough - it is fantastic! Being my first time working with walnut I was surprised at how fragile it is. Splinters VERY easy, cracks etc. So, aside from the normal clean up of gaps and spaces I found this product to be very helpful. Walnut colored Plastic Wood. It dries much lighter than the walnut wood, however a quick wipe of a diluted walnut stain (very diluted 10:1 natural:walnut) it actually blended quite nicely. Finally - a LIFE saver. I have never had a good knack for bending wood. There were a couple of waterways as well as the outside hull parts that, being thicker wood, did not want to bend nicely. Doing some digging I found some articles as well as a supporting comments from a couple of MSW member posts regarding a curling iron. So - gave it a try... and WOWIE, I was able to bend so much easier than I ever did in the past, including an edge bend on the walnut waterways. SO HAPPY! So - with that little intro out of the way, here is where we have come.... First thing I tackled was trimming out the poop deck and the rear stair entry way. This was pretty straightforward, made easy with the chopper. Cut to length, angle where necessary and glue into place. My joints still need a LOT of work - as you can see. SO there will be some cleanup/sanding required on the poop deck. Next was to lay in the waterways. As I mentioned above they did NOT want to bend into place. So, this is where i gave the curling iron a shot and again - wow. A little patience and gentle nudging (after learning how to use the little clamp thingy as leverage) and it bent just fine - quickly even. Next up was popping in the timberheads. Again, used the chopper to get some nice clean cuts and once installed sanded/trimmed the top flush with the hull. Once the upper rail is on I think that will look quite good! At this point I also installed the mast hole base and marked off where I am going to have to drill later (that still makes me nervous). Lastly I started working the outer hull details. Again, the curling iron came in VERY handy to help bend these guys both at the bow and along the edge to help seat them nicely. As you can see I only got so far as installing them, I still need to clean them up - sand them out, fill and finish. That will be the next step! Well, that is it for this update! As always - comments, suggestions are welcome and encouraged. I have a long way to go with growing my skills but at least I am seeing improvements in some areas as I move along - which is encouraging! Until later - Enjoy and Happy Modeling!

Thanks Russ! Thank you sir! Welcome and hopefully I don't make TOO many mistakes.

Thank you much! Amazing how much I have missed this stuff... whew! Thanks! Great to be back in the mix! Looks great Tripp - although there is a lot of pop corn and band aids all over - not sure if I should be ascared or now =) LOL - thank goodness I didn't fall asleep sanding - that would be some mega repairs indeed!! Had a fantastic holiday and hoping to fend off the leisure time thieves a little better this year. Thank you very much! Look forward to getting back to it. Will be circling around to it soon !

Thank you Denis - I did indeed. And looking forward to a solid productive year!

Thank you! I will be back to the Mayflower once I get an idea of how to fix my issues. I am slowly coming to the realization I may have to take some parts off and rebuild and well - that terrifies me! LOL I do like the white back ground - I am not sure where it went so for now people get to see my messy desk. As for ratlines - EEEEK! Trying to scare me off already! =)

Thank you sir - that is the plan!

EJ what a fantastic start to what looks to be a monster of a kit. Looking forward to this progress as I am always in awe of some of the sizes of these ships. I will stick to my smaller ones but gladly live vicariously through those of you who take on the monsters! =)

Love it Popeye - the way you attack these ships is awesome. Errant breaks, repairs etc always send me into bout of frustration - I think I need to figure out how to look at it like you - an opportunity! Nice going so far, as always my friend - this should be a good one 'specially once it has been popeyed! =)

(Returning Preamble) Whew. Hey all. I am not sure what protocol or etiquette is for continuing a build log after a very long hiatus. I feel the need to explain my absence though, so whether necessary or not here goes. It has been one heck of a year. Shortly before my last updates here I was beginning to venture into a new career as well as getting involved in Muay Thai Kickboxing. The first, for security the second for health reasons. That, very quickly, became my life for the last year. If the admiral and I were not going to the gym or sparring I was dug deep into code projects and work related things. It pretty much consumed my world and thus my time. Combine that with a bit of frustration and a disheartening event with the mayflower and well - a building hiatus ensued. My career seems to be going well at the moment (hopefully I did not just jinx myself) and I have evened out on the learning curve. The Kickboxing has hit a nice groove with a nice schedule that we have fallen into. This has, luckily for me, freed up some time and let me return to my other loves - writing, playing guitar and building these wonderful wooden vessels. I popped back on shortly before Christmas to get caught up. Am amazed, as always, at the progress of several projects and all the new ventures I saw. As I searched for updates on some of you guys I sadly came across the news of Augie. That took me back a bit - so sorry to hear that (even though I am late to the news). Well, after re-evaluating my process and goals with building ships I am getting back to it. I sort of have a very high bar set for myself which did lend itself to frustrations with my various builds. I have decided to put that to the side. After all, I am far from an expert - heck barely out of novice really - so my ships will be as good as I can do them with the skills i have. Each ship will get better and my skills will grow - and that will do just fine =) So - if there my seat at the table is still around here some place - I think I will get back to building =) Good to see you all again! (Since I have many build logs going, this will be CnP'd to the my first post across all of them - sorry for the repetition). I was torn with which build to start continuing efforts on and the Harriet was high on the list. Unfortunately I seem to have misplaced some of the parts, so decided to move forward with the Santa Maria for the time being. Will try to focus on one for longer and not hop QUITE so much - will see how that works. (Fear not though, after working on the Santa a bit, and then picking up the shop and re-acquainting myself with my "stuff" I found the parts ). Again, glad to see you all again - missed ya'll quite a bit and am glad to be able to return and look forward to a nice solid year of modeling! Enjoy!

(Returning Preamble) Whew. Hey all. I am not sure what protocol or etiquette is for continuing a build log after a very long hiatus. I feel the need to explain my absence though, so whether necessary or not here goes. It has been one heck of a year. Shortly before my last updates here I was beginning to venture into a new career as well as getting involved in Muay Thai Kickboxing. The first, for security the second for health reasons. That, very quickly, became my life for the last year. If the admiral and I were not going to the gym or sparring I was dug deep into code projects and work related things. It pretty much consumed my world and thus my time. Combine that with a bit of frustration and a disheartening event with the mayflower and well - a building hiatus ensued. My career seems to be going well at the moment (hopefully I did not just jinx myself) and I have evened out on the learning curve. The Kickboxing has hit a nice groove with a nice schedule that we have fallen into. This has, luckily for me, freed up some time and let me return to my other loves - writing, playing guitar and building these wonderful wooden vessels. I popped back on shortly before Christmas to get caught up. Am amazed, as always, at the progress of several projects and all the new ventures I saw. As I searched for updates on some of you guys I sadly came across the news of Augie. That took me back a bit - so sorry to hear that (even though I am late to the news). Well, after re-evaluating my process and goals with building ships I am getting back to it. I sort of have a very high bar set for myself which did lend itself to frustrations with my various builds. I have decided to put that to the side. After all, I am far from an expert - heck barely out of novice really - so my ships will be as good as I can do them with the skills i have. Each ship will get better and my skills will grow - and that will do just fine =) So - if there my seat at the table is still around here some place - I think I will get back to building =) Good to see you all again! (Since I have many build logs going, this will be CnP'd to the my first post across all of them - sorry for the repetition). The Shadow will remain on the lifts for a bit. Going to focus efforts on the Santa Maria, see if I can't move some of these builds along a bit more with a little more focus. I tried it the first round (focusing on one build at a time, but got the bug - bad) will see how I do with round 2. Whew - wish me luck! Again, glad to see you all again - missed ya'll quite a bit and am glad to be able to return and look forward to a nice solid year of modeling! Enjoy!

(Returning Preamble) Whew. Hey all. I am not sure what protocol or etiquette is for continuing a build log after a very long hiatus. I feel the need to explain my absence though, so whether necessary or not here goes. It has been one heck of a year. Shortly before my last updates here I was beginning to venture into a new career as well as getting involved in Muay Thai Kickboxing. The first, for security the second for health reasons. That, very quickly, became my life for the last year. If the admiral and I were not going to the gym or sparring I was dug deep into code projects and work related things. It pretty much consumed my world and thus my time. Combine that with a bit of frustration and a disheartening event with the mayflower and well - a building hiatus ensued. My career seems to be going well at the moment (hopefully I did not just jinx myself) and I have evened out on the learning curve. The Kickboxing has hit a nice groove with a nice schedule that we have fallen into. This has, luckily for me, freed up some time and let me return to my other loves - writing, playing guitar and building these wonderful wooden vessels. I popped back on shortly before Christmas to get caught up. Am amazed, as always, at the progress of several projects and all the new ventures I saw. As I searched for updates on some of you guys I sadly came across the news of Augie. That took me back a bit - so sorry to hear that (even though I am late to the news). Well, after re-evaluating my process and goals with building ships I am getting back to it. I sort of have a very high bar set for myself which did lend itself to frustrations with my various builds. I have decided to put that to the side. After all, I am far from an expert - heck barely out of novice really - so my ships will be as good as I can do them with the skills i have. Each ship will get better and my skills will grow - and that will do just fine =) So - if there my seat at the table is still around here some place - I think I will get back to building =) Good to see you all again! (Since I have many build logs going, this will be CnP'd to the my first post across all of them - sorry for the repetition). As for the Willie Bennett - it is still in the rotation but at the moment my focus is on the Santa Maria. So - will return to this one in a bit, but at the moment going to focus a bit more - for a while; we will see how well I can do Again, glad to see you all again - missed ya'll quite a bit and am glad to be able to return and look forward to a nice solid year of modeling! Enjoy!

(Returning Preamble) Whew. Hey all. I am not sure what protocol or etiquette is for continuing a build log after a very long hiatus. I feel the need to explain my absence though, so whether necessary or not here goes. It has been one heck of a year. Shortly before my last updates here I was beginning to venture into a new career as well as getting involved in Muay Thai Kickboxing. The first, for security the second for health reasons. That, very quickly, became my life for the last year. If the admiral and I were not going to the gym or sparring I was dug deep into code projects and work related things. It pretty much consumed my world and thus my time. Combine that with a bit of frustration and a disheartening event with the mayflower and well - a building hiatus ensued. My career seems to be going well at the moment (hopefully I did not just jinx myself) and I have evened out on the learning curve. The Kickboxing has hit a nice groove with a nice schedule that we have fallen into. This has, luckily for me, freed up some time and let me return to my other loves - writing, playing guitar and building these wonderful wooden vessels. I popped back on shortly before Christmas to get caught up. Am amazed, as always, at the progress of several projects and all the new ventures I saw. As I searched for updates on some of you guys I sadly came across the news of Augie. That took me back a bit - so sorry to hear that (even though I am late to the news). Well, after re-evaluating my process and goals with building ships I am getting back to it. I sort of have a very high bar set for myself which did lend itself to frustrations with my various builds. I have decided to put that to the side. After all, I am far from an expert - heck barely out of novice really - so my ships will be as good as I can do them with the skills i have. Each ship will get better and my skills will grow - and that will do just fine =) So - if there my seat at the table is still around here some place - I think I will get back to building =) Good to see you all again! (Since I have many build logs going, this will be CnP'd to the my first post across all of them - sorry for the repetition). Onward and upward!! Part of the reassessment process was looking over the builds I have going. The mayflower is the closest to finished but sort of contributing to taking the wind out of my sails a little bit, okay - quite a bit. While starting the rigging I damaged some of the deadeyes. Struggled for a bit trying to figure out how to repair them and how much work that would take and really did not have a solid plan. Still don't. So, that one is sitting aside and I will give attention to the ones I can continue on with some level of confidence =) When we last left the Santa Maria - we had replaced the decking. So I picked it up and dusted it off - cleaned it up and went to putting together the second planking layer. My planking skills proved to still be mediocre at best so I did my best to learn what lessons i could as I moved forward. Here we have the initial second planking on the port side Really needed some clean up, errant glue and some ragged edges. In going over it I also found a couple planks that had splintered. So, I bit the bullet and with much trepidation attempted a repair... It went well - thankfully! Moved over and did up the starboard side Cleaned it up as best I could and added a few coats of poly on it. Each layer of poly helped expose areas that needed addressing, I think it turned out relatively okay. Moved to the transom and luckily that went quite well. Was able to plank it and clean it up much easier than the sides. Applied the same amount of poly to blend it all together. Then, once again, came the scary part. Needed to cut the rudder linkage hole in the transom, so - outlined the shape with a sharpie and carefully rough cut it with the exacto and file/sanded it to final shape. MAN is that stressful! So there is where we stand with the Santa Maria. I have started on the next bit which is the trip pieces, so that will be the next update once that is in a good spot. Again, glad to see you all again - missed ya'll quite a bit and am glad to be able to return and look forward to a nice solid year of modeling! Enjoy!

(Returning Preamble) Whew. Hey all. I am not sure what protocol or etiquette is for continuing a build log after a very long hiatus. I feel the need to explain my absence though, so whether necessary or not here goes. It has been one heck of a year. Shortly before my last updates here I was beginning to venture into a new career as well as getting involved in Muay Thai Kickboxing. The first, for security the second for health reasons. That, very quickly, became my life for the last year. If the admiral and I were not going to the gym or sparring I was dug deep into code projects and work related things. It pretty much consumed my world and thus my time. Combine that with a bit of frustration and a disheartening event with the mayflower and well - a building hiatus ensued. My career seems to be going well at the moment (hopefully I did not just jinx myself) and I have evened out on the learning curve. The Kickboxing has hit a nice groove with a nice schedule that we have fallen into. This has, luckily for me, freed up some time and let me return to my other loves - writing, playing guitar and building these wonderful wooden vessels. I popped back on shortly before Christmas to get caught up. Am amazed, as always, at the progress of several projects and all the new ventures I saw. As I searched for updates on some of you guys I sadly came across the news of Augie. That took me back a bit - so sorry to hear that (even though I am late to the news). Well, after re-evaluating my process and goals with building ships I am getting back to it. I sort of have a very high bar set for myself which did lend itself to frustrations with my various builds. I have decided to put that to the side. After all, I am far from an expert - heck barely out of novice really - so my ships will be as good as I can do them with the skills i have. Each ship will get better and my skills will grow - and that will do just fine =) So - if there my seat at the table is still around here some place - I think I will get back to building =) Good to see you all again! (Since I have many build logs going, this will be CnP'd to the my first post across all of them - sorry for the repetition). With regards to this build log - well, the Mayflower build ran into a bit of trouble when I last left it. I damaged some deadeyes trying to rig the ship and could not come up with a good solution for fixing it. Still can't really. So, until I solve for that I will be focusing on the other builds I have going for now. Specifically the Santa Maria the moment - which I will be updating in a moment. Hopefully progress there will help build some confidence in repairing the Mayflower and I can finish her up! Again, glad to see you all again - missed ya'll quite a bit and am glad to be able to return and look forward to a nice solid year of modeling! Enjoy!

Thanks Augie - they are starting to, just got to keep the xacto from being IN my hand and just a part of it hehehehehe

Take care of yourself sir! Get better!! If you want, i would be willing to help - getting handy with tools, string and glue - fix ya right up!!! Seriously though - tend to yourself - we shall wait ever so impatiently for updates to you magnificent ship!!

Thanks Mark, while I keep having visions of me tangled in string glued to various fingers as I move forward - it is indeed great to be moving forward and getting progress. The bike is a perfect analogy, when I first broke it back out I did kind of stare at it like "what the heck was I doing?!?!?!?!" Then - it came back hehe.... onwards and upwards!! Thanks Don - looking forward to getting more ropes and itty bitty bits attached - stuck at work, but I know what I am doing when I get home hehehe!!

Duuuuuuuude! Ah HA - here you are. I was away so long I completely missed this - wasn checking other stuff and wondering ...hmm, where did Popeye go! HERE you are - and WOW. First, thank you fro taking me back - I used to LOVE doing plastics, have not done those in such a long time, nice to see you working it so well. Second - NICELY done!! Really a sharp looking build you have going there and the subject is great!!!! Well - while fashionably late, I shall now pull up my lawn chair and umbrella enjoy the finale!! =)

As it so happens, I recently returned to the work bench after a rather long hiatus (went back to finish my degree). Working on wrapping up the Mayflower at the moment, then the Santa Maria will be back on deck as a primary focus! Thanks for checking in! Thans Gerty, appreciate that!

NIcely done and a beautiful model for sure - loving it!

So, I read and read and re read and re read the booklet - then stared, and stared some more and stared more at the plans - then decided what the heck, HOW bad can I possibly make it... Started laying rope! So far only have done the 3 collars (Fore, Mizzen and Main), 2 Mizzen shrouds and the Mizzen stay. MUCH different than the rigging on the phantom - am trying to master tweezers, forceps, clamps, pokers, pryers, picks and needle threaders all without htting the deck like Godzilla through downtown. NOT easy. Have had to reattach two channels and the upper bell railing so far - ugh. Anywho, the one common thing with the phantom is as the rope starts to go on it starts to look more and more ship like and kind of rekindles a bit of excitement in nearing the finish line. I still have MUCH to practice and learn with regards to knots and servings and getting things lined up - but I keep trying to remind myself this is only my second model! Sometimes it helps - other times, these strings can be frustrating!!! But, it is on it's way. This one will be better than my first one - not as good as the next one and a step on the way to the best one!! As always, thanks for taking the time to stop by - more on the way !!! Enjoy and happy modeling!!

Thanks Don - appreciate that! Am about to start posting pics of the rigging - I am certainly not an expert in rigging.... a LOT to learn and practice, but am doing my best =) Thank you Tom! No problem Dave, I lost track of my work bench for the majority of a year with school so - not much to have missed. That is changing though =)

Just a small update - we have deadeyes and chains all ready and waiting for their shrouds at which point I will anchor the chains into position, right now they are just kind of dangling a bit - however a bit of other rigging work before we get to the actual shrouds, but the eyes and chains came out pretty well. Let me tell ya though, them channels were ooooooh so fragile - snapped 2 off while reforming the grooves to take the chains. All ended well though!! Thanks as always for stopping in, more to come shortly! (The masts are in place and drying overnight, then MORE RIGGING! )