popeye the sailor

I did get to play with the hull a little bit during the work week. a couple more strakes were laid, before fitting in the garboard. I finished filling the rest in last night. I will do some minimal filling......I want to keep the plank lines more soon

nice work on the masts the kit has a bit of a problem with the aft mast...there is no hole drilled for it. when I did some customer service for Tom, I fielded a question about it. the fellow did a great job drilling a hole and anchoring it to the back of the pilot house, as I suggested. with mine, I made a platform for the shrimp cooker to sit on......the hole was drilled in it and I anchored the mast to the back of the pilot house. was it your idea to move the pilot house inward on the base? it worked out just as good and looks super. are you going to make the goose necks for the booms on the main mast? nice progress so far

bulwarks and transom looks good Bob neat and tidy!

really nice job on the weathering .......are they both the same scale? is that what your questioning?

congratz! the time has finally arrived...... when you get to unpack 'er...I wouldn't toss the crate. you'll need it for when the ship goes to the museum really top notch! hope everything goes smoothly for you.

deck framing looks super........very nice progress!

nice work on the sail Nils.........all three done like that will look super! really nice detail attached to the yards! .....make that......TWO sails!

great progress Ben.......nice to see your beginning to frame out the wall petitions

very nice improvement on the statue..... the garments......even the shape of the hands lend a more life like appearance. while I do agree that your first rendition of the statue could have been better, I think your first one was fine. if you look back at most of the carving that have ever been done on ships {figureheads etc}, they were not carved to resemble like like figures. done freehand, some had a sort of cartoonish approach........some were carved to be intimidating. very seldom, it was a stroke of luck that any held some degree of positive facial recognition. you've certainly shown that you can improve.....your artistry is amazing and so very intricate the rest of the stern decorations are exquisite! first thing I though of when you wrote you lost your drive.....is it couldn't have gone far I really can't tell from the additions you've added to the stern, that you need to brush up on your research, but I can relate to the way you feel. it happens to us all from time to time....if you do pause.....I hope it's not long

WOW! you've made some fantastic progress on the hull! very nice!

Michael speaks true.......don't second guess it! you did an admirable job the paint work came out great...and you did so much to enhance the rigging! I did a double take to make sure that it was a Billing's kit. I do the same thing with the life rings......a tip I got from one of the moderators here. she's a beautiful vessel...I had to show it to the admiral.......you have her approval as well. do you have your eye on another project? I've enjoyed following along

looks really good

thanks for the likes gents.....I know it looks a bit like a sow's ear right now, but after a little repair and some sanding, the bow looks a lot better. I added a sliver of wood to the starboard bulwark, here it failed to meet the stem. the port side is actually dried white glue, showing a bit of transparency there. when I do the filler along the stem, it should disappear. I evened out the bulwarks and sanded the tops to level them off. I was very careful not to get glue on the deck........I will be planking it over, using the print as a guide. as for the hull, the port side is fully planked. after a good sanding......I'm rather pleased with how it cane out. there are a couple of places where I will do some filling, but I think if I were to paint over the rest of it {the way it is}, the subtle plank lines would show, adding some overt detail. ...something I'd like to achieve. I was hoping to have the other side done......but the afternoon got hectic. I'll try and make an effort over the work week, with any luck.

gonna be 30 for us.......kidding aside.......for two people who aren't a good match according to the zodiac, we meld quite well together. we proved it on a trip out one day.........no music, but we both started sing'in the same song, same verse, at the same time. did it again at the grocery store the other day. as I told her the other day when we were just sitt'in 'round yesterday.......it's been a fun 30 years I keep her company she keeps me in line

awesome progress........ship looks in fighting trim very well done!

enjoy................look'in good!

yea...I know what you mean about the scale issue. I treat them as large eye bolts. I have a brass variety that are medium sized......and I have a smaller size that are a copper color. what I find neat about them, is that they come in different finishes......antique, blackened, copper, and a bare steel. I've also seen them in a pearlish chrome.......but they just don't have that 'ship' quality. me too.......I have to get permission from the budget director to take my ship for a spin too. if I don't she'll fit me with a bridle and reins.......and I don't like the 'bit' that she uses

hello all...........is the model calmed down yet? .....new movie coming out........"when Models attack".........or......"attack of the Killer Model" cripes....the clamp was as big as the model........good thing it wasn't the larger one! I gotta get a new set of them......they are falling apart and or breaking through repeated use. yup......that the current state of the hull. Just gotta finish filling it in. the night before.......the bulwarks and transom were cemented on the model. of course, there were a couple "I should have's" in there, when O looked at it in the morning. I do have some repair work to do. I marked off the 2 mm instead of the 4 mm they wanted me to do, in gluing the bulwarks on....that worked just as good. I used thumb tacks to hold them in place......made me think of a Viking ship >mild chuckle here< I did note that the bulwarks were not equal.......the parts themselves, not the cementing part. one side at the bow is a little too tall........ .......as well as one side at the stern....... the damage control isn't too bad.........just a bit of shaving should do the trick. when I get to the deck, I'll deal with it then. first thing I want to do, is plank the hull. the transom part shifted a little during the drying process.......I started the process of evening it up. the stern post was added to the keel after the transom was sanded to shape, the planking started. I used CA to do this.......I got off to a bad start. I can fix it later with some filler....I'm not going to risk making a mess out it this early by trying to rip it up. I have those Testor's glue nozzles, that I fit into the opening of the tube of filler....I can just run some beads of filler, instead of slathering the hull with it. I don't want to lose the planked look. pulling the rudder off of the card......and cleaning up the spot glue mess on it, I fitted it into place. there are no gungeons and pintles in the kit.....I'll do something with it. I did some rounding and evened it off.......and put it back in the box, after I made up the filler plug for the rest of the slot. I left enough room for the G&P embellishment. you can see the planking rounding the transom. the planking was looking better....there is some minor clinkering.......it should sand down fairly well. I planked the other side to match the side I was working on. where the planking joined together at the stern, I made a filler piece to border off the rudder hole. the bow isn't too bad.......a bead of filler will take care of the gaps. I may have goofed up a bit more......I tapered the last plank on the port side, instead of evening it up to the starboard side. I hope to get the hull finished today.

she's a tall model Tom........WOW....she look'in good though not too much more to go.......gotta feel good seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

cannons look very nice EJ! that is a neat tool........they have eye bolts already made in the bead dept though. they are in there with all the little bobbles.....not sure what size they are though. they have an elongated shaft, in case you need it and can trim it off if you don't. what you cut off can be used to make more eye bolts, for which you'd need the tool. what a never ending circle.......huh?!?!?!

congratz on your wedding my friend! may you two prosper! one thing that always helped me along, is ya gotta have a sense of humor. but.....hold ye tongue, if ye has a quick wit I recall the time the admiral and I were having a rather heated debate. since it was late in the day, she decided to get into her lounge ware. walking off. she she stated that she was going to go change. my quick answer was "for the better, I hope!" yea.......did not go well.

super progress J........got most of your masting ready to go I have one of those helping hands......I've used it to some extent, but I need to fasten it to the table somehow, to be better effective. there are no holes provided. those little dead eyes are a bear aren't they ?!?!?!

coming along splendidly Julian........ the overall picture of the ship looks really sweet!

fantastic update Chris.......the windows look really cool! third level is coming along in super fashion........you'll be finished before I get there

nice work on the dead eyes and straps