popeye the sailor

hope you had a great Christmas Jesse given the way your Syren looks, the addition of the yards will make her look even more impressive!

rats look awesome BoB! merry belated Christmas.......hope you had a super one!

looking great EJ.............those deck railings with the sheave holes look especially good! simply awesome! merry belated Christmas!

looking really good Greg........knocking things off is part of the territory ........just as long as things aren't destroyed in the process! love the way you handle paint merry Christmas......even though I'm a bit late.

thanks Tom..........you betcha! first Christmas in your new home...........you two must be psyched about that! have a wonderful Christmas .....and have a wonderful Christmas to all!

count me in! I've been waiting to see the start of this one Sjors! so cool! you should insure it though............

thanks John if you want to hear a really good tongue twister, rent or buy the movie 'V for Vendetta' the guy that plays 'V' does a good one

thanks Carl.........I did get to play when I got back.......ha ha. the dentist visit was the first alignment.......I have another one to go, but that's a couple of months away barring any other problems. most of the issues were with the lower dentures...........the way they feel now, he fixed most of them they feel much better!

the cut is snug and neatly done........I see no problems with the scarfs. great job on the deck..........my compliments

thanks Piet, Robert, Patrick, and Vossie for your kind comments I used an aggressive grit to get past the roughness, and shape the hull. I'll use a finer grit to smooth it out. not sure if I'll give 'er a coat of resin yet........not sure if the weather will permit me to do it. I do it out in the garage due to the smell. when I did the Nordkap hull, and it was revealed to me that it was a bad thing not to cement between the planking, I sanded down the hull and gave it three or four coats of diluted white glue. this produced as smooth a hull, as I would have gotten using resin........which was the other option I had to remedy the problem. I posted pictures of the hull after painting.........the splits were everywhere! another thing I did here, was to fill in the small cracks with white glue. now dry, the gaps can be seen......but id I were to give it a coat of primer, they would disappear, because they are filled in and sanded smooth. I do notice a few that I missed.........filler of the white glue method will make they go away this is the rough sanding........the finer sanding is next. as for the companionway, I do like the idea and I have seen them on smaller vessels......I'm sure they are fairly common on larger vessels too. it's the probability aspect that convinces me to go forward with it. there will be other furnishings in the helm room as well. large windows means good visibility.........I've redone pilot houses before to enlarge the windows for better visibility......the Mary Ann was one of them. I went to the microMark website........very impressed with what I saw. so far I bought one of those elongated tweezers.......the 12 inch has some good reach .....and I bought a 'chop it'. no more manually cut deck planking for me.......I hope to get consistent butt joints in the future I was also drawn to an item that I saw in Hobby Lobby, and kicked myself for not buying it..........it was a bag of odds and ends brass pieces. off cuts, odd pieces of tubing and flat pieces.........something to really get the imaginative juices flowing I'm sure other things will tickle my fancy. I have a dentist appointment this morning..........then it's playtime thanks again to all who hit the like button

thanks OC

you ought to build a tiny boat to go in that case.........it looks really cool!

wow! looks real nice Robert

hello Bob and thanks for your kind comment. oh.......I'm sure I goofed up somewhere along the way; but it came out well in the end I'm not going to complain I had just as much fun, as I did with the Nordkap. thanks for the Holiday wish.............I hope you and your family has a great Christmas as well here is the second part of the update........that idea I've been batting 'round in my head. at first, I thought it might be too tough to do.........but the more I looked inside the helm room, the more I wanted to try it out. I need to do one thing, that once done, there's no going back. I'm thinking of adding a companionway......it will involve cutting a hole in the floor and boxing in a pit. first....the doghouse. I didn't want it to rise to high above dash level and obstruct the windows. the top was beveled........the lower point will mate the dash line. the back of the sides, notched so they will seat into the moldings I added to the kick panel of the dash. fiddling with it, bits of 1/16 strip pine was used to make it more sturdy. sanding and trimming went hand in hand, as it was fitted to the dash, but not cemented in place just yet. by this time, it was fitted well enough to be shown dry fitted in place. to cut down on the size of the pit, I will use double doors.......1 left and 1 right I'll have to clear the portholes so glass can be added.........wide enough for the hinges..........and the depth will pose the need for a pit. I figure one step down to access the doors.......maybe two at the most...........with either casements or railings on both sides of the pit. this will mean that the ship's wheel will be offset to the left...........or would it be better on the right side{?} since I'm going with two doors, the pit won't need to lead out to far in front of the doghouse.........I made up a template and drew the cut out, leaving enough for the doghouse to be cemented to. there's still plenty of deck space inside, so it won't be too intrusive. so.........whadya think........good idea...........or no?

the first sanding is done......DRAT! no sooner type out the beginning, and the admiral announces that we need to go out now that we're back and I start typing again, she mentions that I need to check the tree for water..............will this madness ever end! hold for a moment............. OK..........I'm back.......believe me..it's worth the aggravation this is a two part update due to the length........first the hull after the first sanding . I would have had a shot of the bow, but the camera froze, and I had to pull the battery. I still see a bit more sanding along the sides, but it shouldn't take much more to pass muster. I took the hull out side and blew it out with the compressor. the inner bulwarks and deck came out good too. once the margins and deck is laid, none of the gaps will be seen. one thing left to do.........dry fit the cabin structure to show the total progress on the Progress

thanks OC........I got right back to it after i stopped browsing here. had to catch my breath ... kinda miffed at myself .........almost closed, I dropped a pin inside, and I forgot to remove it. got it down to a small opening when I remembered, and I shook the hull trying to get it to come out the opening, it did, but only the metal pin part.......the ball on the end was too big to come out. so, I took a pair of needle nose pliers and grabbed it....pulled, and the ball came off of the pin. now I have a plastic BB rattling around in there..........hate that! "where are the tools"................"what tools?"............."the tools we've been using for the last ten years!" "oh.............those tools!"

off to a good start Tom...........I'd like to pull up a chair too

she is one sweet model the rigging is phenomenal, and the sails look so realistic!

thanks CDW........it will be nice when I can get her upright and continue on the deck can't seem to get that idea out of my head........something silly, but I think it will enhance the interior of the helm room. we'll see what happens I also want to get the bow cabin installed......still on the fence about the design of the outer bulkhead. silly me though.......I'll have to make another bulkhead part........I used it for something else. I hope Santa brings me some sheets of flat stock.......I'm running out!

huff......puff............pfffffffffffff! what?!?!?! I haven't expended this much energy, since the Olympics.......{fell asleep watching it}. the last bit of planking was glued in place yesterday.... tell tale bits of sawdust.........I was at it even then. just preliminary shaping..........., he said, to cover up the face that he just can't seem to keep his hands off the sandpaper I didn't get to do much more than that though........but I did find out about the windows. there are four of the deep frame, and six of the shallow frames.........tells me that the four belong on the sides and the six belong on the front fascia.....the thickness of the wood used was a dead give-a-way. models.........they're so predictable the starboard side has undergone the first round of sanding.......I'm on the port side now. Gibbs is stationed at his usual post.........my loyal crew mate the admiral, on the other hand, was alarmed by the amount of sanding dust that was in the air. so, I stuck the fan in the window.....I'll get the wet/dry vac to suck up all the residue and fall out that is too heavy {fancy way of saying sawdust} should have more soon thanks for the kind word John, Patrick, and OC..........you'll see her on the stand very soon Patrick. thanks to all who hit the like button too!

she coming along nicely............very well done!

the update is a little late........shut down the computer early last night. I got quite a bit done though, and continued again this morning. the hull is down to one last wedge at the stern. once dry, I'll finish it off. I knew I was fooling myself, if I though I could refrain from sanding until the hull was finished. I've been sanding around the mid ship and counter.......it wasn't very hard to achieve the contour of the turn. I cup the sandpaper in the palm of my hand, adding extra pressure here and there with my fingers. I wanted to assemble the stand too.........I will need something for her when completely planked. in thinking about it........this will be the third stand that I've made, using the Nordkap diagram. the original one is under the trawler........likely permanently. I had made a second one for the Nordkap, which was a bit sturdier that the first one......I've had to fix that one a few times. I plan to make this one the sturdiest one yet! the kit supplies a length of 8 x 8 mm pine.......the spine, the two end parts, and the uprights, were cut from it. the centers of the end parts was marked for orientation, when cemented to the spine. the uprights were cemented on the end parts first, beveled for the proper spread, according to the instructions. the spine was used as a jig, as the uprights were measured and set to dry. a couple more full strips will be needed to close the hull........then I will rely on the cut off pieces to fill the rest in. comparing it to the earlier picture of the hull will give you an idea of how much more I've done. so, as I did with the port side, I will do the same here........from the bow to the stern. while the newly added plank was drying, I did more with the stand. holes were drilled into the upright joints and brass rod pieces were inserted. the holes are merely pilot holes......the pins were a tight fit, pressed into place. as mentioned, I couldn't stop myself from sanding. the beginnings of a model's assembly can look rather disheveled and ugly...........until the model sees it's first coat of paint or varnish, it usually doesn't look very attractive. I see other, more experienced model projects, and they make me feel a bit self conscious. it's likely what drives me to doll 'er up a little bit, so no one thinks I'm some kind of hack I am..........but I'm a tidy hack just bringing down some of the rises, smooths out the contour. if I keep this up, I'll only have to concentrate on the bow and stern! the hull is now closed well down the mid ship by this time..........and yea, I'm play'in 'Mr Clean' on this side as well. more assembly was done to the stand.......one of the ends was cemented in place. it set a while before the other end was glued in place. after it had time to dry, the holes were drilled for the pins. here I used twp pins per end......I may add another pin for each upright.........can't be too careful. last but not least..........I'm finally down to what would be considered, a stealer at the stern.......a short triangular piece. both side have seen some sanding..........isn't going to take much to really smooth out the hull. any gaps were filled with white glue and sanded over a short time afterwards to force sawdust into them. the stand was put on the hull to gauge the angles of the uprights as they touch the hull. they will have a felt button on them, so a bevel here will allow them to seat fully on the hull. does seem kinda low though.......and small. the spine is 190 mm long.......roughly 7 1/2 inches long.........add the thickness of the end parts, and the span is 8 inches. the depth is roughly 1/2 inch from the keel to the stand's spine........not much to play with. perhaps I'll get creative with it ans see what I can come up with.......from this angle, you really can't see how small it is in relation to the hull. I was really good with the wood usage too......I usually show this with all my builds.........but give or take a piece or two, this is all I have for waste.... out of 50, 7 mm planking strips I ordered to replace the mahogany strips, I have 13 left over. all is good

those tiny bits of detail are adding up fast! when they are all together, you'll have one decked out deck very nice!

sorry to hear of your mishap as well Eric....won't weigh in on healthcare. thinking about it just fries my eggs