popeye the sailor

the interior is looking great....nicely done

a little added detail is always good you could put in lower deck platforms, like other models....plank it over. where did you see a forward hatchway.......in the picture? the picture shows two hatchways......one before and after the main mast. it shows a forward cabin. what type of ship are you modeling it after?

hi there J..........man, I hope we are! how is your faring going?

that #3 bulkhead........it has the same problem as #6 & #7. the good thing about it though is that I can break the bond at the deck platform and shift it over. when I do fi get to begin planking, I'll be using 1.8 X 5 X 880 mm planking they come in packs of ten.....I buy it this way for good reason given the length of this hull, I can cut them in two and double the amount of planking. should the hull frame be longer, I can still do full strakes when I need to. for this frame though...half is perfect.......it's almost the exact length {a little extra}. I should have little waste. this pack has 17 full strips and a few oddballs from a past planking job. I should have enough........but if not, I have a fair size bundle of 1.8 X 5 X 550 mm planking. I have plenty of thin strip in various shades of annegre, when I begin the deck planking.....but that's later. ok........breaks over..........back to faring.......pfffffffffffffff!

at the moment, I'm faring the frame.......i'm finding some serious flaws. even with finding and following the centers, the shape of the bulkheads are very off. with bulkheads #6 & #7, they line up on the port side, but on the starboard side, they stick out like a sore thumb. I need to sand down the contour quite a bit......that's going to seriously cut down the depth of the posts and reduce them to twigs. the space in the deck platform showed me how much will need to be removed....looks to be about 1/8 of an inch. I cut a couple of pieces and fitted them in to thicken the depth....they fit in the spaces. you can see I already did it........taking down the offending overage, that would have resulted in a monstrous bulge if I didn't. the bow bulkheads are splayed out too much as well. I know that some sanding is required, thus the need for faring the hull frame......but it's pretty dramatic. it's like they designed the frames, to give the bow bulwarks a dual roll...protection of the deck from waves, and to act as a breakwater. I won't do much about it, except cut down on the amount of splay that they have. there is also another problem here, but I'll get to that in a moment.......let's look at the stern. Ideally, I see this frame as unfinished...it's missing a few things. I added those other two bulwark posts / bulkheads......this cuts down on the big gap between #9 & #10. but where are the transom posts that are going to terminate the planking at the stern, with regards to the bulwarks? the #10 bulkhead only fits under the deck platform, and does nothing else. taking the #10 bulkhead and tracing it out, I laid the #9 bulkhead over the tracing and drew in the bulwark posts. cutting it out, it looks like this: after some sanding and fitting, assembled over the #10 bulkhead, the problem is solved. the only thing it changes, is that I won't be going with a curved transom. it fits neatly under what overhangs back here and can be cleaned up with deck planking. you can see that my faring the hull frame has somewhat rounded off the corners of the deck platform. the hole for the rudder / tiller will be planked over to pave the way for a ship's wheel and wheel box....can't think of the name for it. I'm half the mind to scratch a galley cabin and poop deck........knowing that it would dramatically change the specs of the boat.....aaawwwwww, it keeps me from doing it {kick'in the can}. it still has that slight angle that I gave it....at least the bow is missing something too........how does the planking initiate here? with the splay as much as it is, there will be a gap on both side of the bow deck. I can fix it with deck planking, but what of the stem........how would the bow spirit fit? you can see how I removed some of the post splay......even broke one in the process. there will be a fore castle deck.......instead of a capstan, I am going to use a windlass. I do wonder about the two anchors....since I'm emulating the brig you see on the box, this size vessel would probably do well with just one anchor. if anyone has some knowledge of this, please help me out here not sure of the proper name for this part either, I scratched up this little fork like thingie..........I still need to drill the hole for the bow spirit........I left the door open for alternate placement of the bow spirit boom. we'll see how all this will benefit, when I get to planking her. I should have more by this afternoon for ya'll

good morning J...........just took a break from my dog's breakfast. Andy is being very uncooperative........finding faults all over the place with regards to faring the hull. two other thoughts I have is the termination of the planking at the bow and stern. there should be some sort of bow bulkhead that will support the bow spirit..........and at the stern, where are the posts for the transom? I'm thinking that my curved transom idea has gone out the window.....show my idea soon. I'm also having to reshape the bulkheads......some are too wide.......some are not in line. it's a mess. more on her soon my friend......I hope your faring better than I. fare the frame.....very important!!!!!

my good man.....don't leave that in there.......it's to be savored deck framing looks very good! the Boulogne Etaples is set up much the same way......since I wasn't going to build an RC version, I had a heck if a time covering the open area. it wasn't build solid as this one was. the deck showed the ugly lines........took some doing to get rid of them. {I really need to get back to it}. I see your into balsa planes too

some of the parts are done in wood sheet that is too thick......sometimes best to make from scratch. the pilot house looks very good old kits are fun....aren't they

I never knew that.........had to look it up. yea....that's pretty sad....I watched Combat, as well as the Rat Patrol regularly.

look'in really nice......the courtyard looks especially good with the greens and fountain. are you going to use some of that scenery stuff? that would give it some realism your moving right along with it...great job!

if I recall, I scratch built mine......gave it larger windows and doors that open. another trademark of an older kit.......the printed wood look'in good!

look'in good J

I heard about it too........didn't try it though. progress is coming along nicely.........glad your back

never tried one of these plastic hull ships.....looks really good

good advice to be sure..... thanks everyone I have some stuff on DVD's as well....are they any better? thanks also for look'in in and the kind comments on Wulfie. I still have the other wing to do, and then I can get to the fuselage......bunch of stuff to do there. then it can all some together can't wait to see her in the flesh

I dunno........I have plenty of copper paint. I'll see how the hull comes out first......I'm correcting a few things, like the hump at the #3 bulkhead {yea......it bugged me}. just don't forget the patina...I don't think this boat's been in dry dock too often

Billing Boats sells it......they used to supply basswood planking in their kits. they started substituting Obechi some time ago. it'a a rough wood, not very dense........when wet it does have some flexibility. it does sand fairly well....doesn't give the hairy appearance that basswood sometimes gives.......I'd have to rub the hull down with a soft cloth to remove it, then a fine paper sanding after that. I also have some thin strip called annegre......it's something like mahogany, but it's not as brittle. I keep a fair stock of both in various widths. I would say that if you were building a larger hull, this stuff could be put to good use {could be used without milling it}, but for small models, it's just plain too large. it would clinker all over the place! the amount of supplied wood in a kit is usually matched to the surface area that it is to cover.......this stuff I highly doubt it. that orange stuff is interesting though.......I love to plank a deck with it, or wall up a structure

I would say stepped. the Clotilda was a schooner, so looking up a rigging diagram should reveal the rest. the model is set up like a brig.......since the kits supplies tops and adequate yards to outfit her as such. unless you looked up one of the ships named in the Wiki, you could find out how other ships were rigged. 2 section masts, fore and main........if desired, one square sheet can be added to the fore mast, I'd go no more.

well then.......I'm just in time. no bin for that momma sun........we're build'in them.....I don't care what scow we come up with. {the viking funeral in the end will be fantastic }. too bad you ordered wood......I could have sent you some Obechi. since I posted the pictures on my log, I figured it would be good to post them here too. this is the Clotilda, but I think that the layout will do well for this ship too. note that there is no tiller, but a ship's wheel, and that it utilized a windlass. other striking features can be seen. the stern bulwarks do sweep upward slightly.......interesting aspect to include........and check out the waterline. I've never done copper, so it's either bite the bullet or paint {lots of patina}. they sailed into a secluded cove near three mile Island and off loaded the slaves onto a river boat, which took them inland to a holding facility. there they would be sold and divvied up later on. the Clotilda was then sailed to a more secluded spot, where it was set afire to get rid of the evidence. they were transported naked and shackled to the deck. after the war and they were free, they settled in the very spot where they toiled. they called their settlement, Africatown. the article is very good reference. they went through a lot to get what they { you might as well say } worked for. the remnants of Africatown can still be seen......only a few of the original ramshackle huts remain......time and progress took the rest.

now that I have the magazine with the article I read, I promised I'd post the pictures. it's of the Clotilda, but I think this model can be outfitted like this and not be wrong. I rather like the layout. when the Clotilda entered and docked in a cove near three mile Island, the slaves were off loaded onto a river boat, which took them inland to a holding facility to be sold and divvied up later. the Clotilda was then sailed to a more secluded spot and set afire, to get rid of the evidence. they were relieved of their clothes as you can see, and shackled to the deck. after the war and they were free, they went on to settle in the place that they toiled. they called it Africatown.

it's not my first time

just what I need Roger......a yellow submarine no Lou....I just patted everything down and left it to dry. 15 or so model subject's worth of pictures is a lot to lose....probably have room for one more completed model file. good thing it wasn't my 32 GB.....double stored with room for much more. there I also have all my stored instruction files...all on PDF. quite a cry if that one went south

thanks OC........nice looking craft I'd have to get a B 17 G for this one.........and silver........I have a surplus of silver. your making my wish list longer.....you know that.......right?

AWWWWWWW! that looks so sweet! love turquoise I'd lift my pant leg and thumb for a ride excellent model.......really nice. Lou.......I was like 9 or so when that happened. my father would catch us up there and he warned us that if he caught us up there again, we'd spend the night up there. the barn was where we pulled engines out of cars.....a telephone pole spanned across the middle with a chain fall. the two sides were for hay and there was an area above that connected the two lofts together. we kept some of our stuff up there......my old tryke being one of the items. the car was parked below.......I started to ride it around up there and one of the rear tires went off the ledge......me and the tryke followed rather quickly. put a real good dent in the hood! we had to go to Currier's junk yard for a hood and a valve cover. took a few good falls in my day.........never on my head though

any progress to report........I'm all eyes!