popeye the sailor

there are pictures of this model in the gallery. I broke this model up into two files.......the model and the novelty. the model doesn't have the figures on it......I took them for sentimental reasons. I'm not much for having figures populating my models......actually, the King of the Mississippi is going to be my first.....was. I had fun building this model.......it was so easy to come up with the ideas......it was planned out before I started. here is the model:

10-5-2012 still working on the speakers.....the main boxes are assembled looking for images on line....I found pictures of speakers. I printed them out in three sizes the cabinets were painted chocolate brown the life preservers with the real rope I made up some decals....just basically says M&M.....they were put on the preservers. one was placed in the center of the aft cabin picking out the right size speakers, they were cut out and cemented into the recess of the speakers. the other preserver was placed in the back of the pilot house. taking some netting with fine mesh, it was cemented over the face of the speaker cabinets. molding hides a lot of the mess the table is clear............ that only means one thing......... the model is finished

well hello Clare this was a very fun build.......well worth bringing back. it's a novelty.......got the whimsical fantasy stuff, but it has plenty of scratch building, leaving one wide open to do whatever you want. these fantasy projects are good to start with.......especially if one wants to break into scratch building. one really can't goof up too bad.......and if you do......you don't feel so bad buy a cheap boat kit...and have at it. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to learn. thank you very much for the kind comment I found this to be a really good subject. along the journey building this model, I acquired some interesting pictures from folks, and what I found on the net. Sjors and Anja sent me this one, I believe. through the advertising, the only colors to be shown were red, yellow, blue, and green, the only female in the group. the orange fellow came out when the crispy M&M's came out. only one is not shown......although way back in the early days, the color was shown as a male gender.........in an odd twist of fate......or got caught in the 'Spaceball's' teleporter.......he became a she {it's Ms. Brown} the gaps here were pictures of the characters....but I just realized I can't post them like this.......they're copyrighted these pictures were given to my wife by John {Jim Ladd}. he and his wife were making a trip to the states and he asked me if we'd mind some company I was floored........honored to have them come for a visit he took pictures of the model....we talked shop.....Pam and Phyl entertained each other, and we all had a great chat afterwards. customs between our countries are very different.....they are two very fine folk! this is a store in the Singapore airport if we had a store like this around where we live, I'd never see the admiral

10-4-2012 I had a bow light......can't remember if I ordered it, or I didn't add it to one of my models. I put it to good use right here the record player was cemented together and painted ....gotta have the wiring.........the hard part is yet to come.....I need to make the stylus. stylus made I made sure there is enough wire to reach the speakers.......now I gotta make 'em life preservers ready to go....... when I boxed in the speakers, I recessed the face of them....the front........that's to come

now the admiral knew that I was almost finished with the model. throughout the build, folks suggested ideas to me.........if I could fit it in, I would.....but most of these ideas were already cast in stone, thus some I couldn't do. Andy gave me one though that I couldn't pass up. he suggested that since the windows were large enough, I should add windshield wipers on it. I agreed, and I started to assemble them. these are the wiper arms....at the end are those Billing's eye bolts. I have found so many uses for them. the admiral saw this and she accused me of prolonging the project. so I don't put out another spoiler alert......I'd better show you this first. the umbrellas are in place on the model. I tried one on the disco booth.........I didn't like how it looked.........so I changed it up a notch. gotta have some room for the record player anyway.......the holes for the wipers were drilled above the windshield. and the blades were a work in progress........just strips of brass with the rubber part painted flat black I made up some smaller M&M circles to decorate the booth....painted the booth green and the table top chocolate brown. the wipers were assembled and are now on the model.........two logical positions......... I chose the position on the top.....from right to left. the booth is decorated now....dry fitted in place on the deck. Ha HA.......preservers got a haircut! the plastic rope is all cut off and real rope will take it's place. I started doing it bu using CA to glue it on.......now I just last the rope on and cement the tie-offs here are the main parts for the record player.......the receiver and the record player. high end stuff we're deal'in with here I glued the rope on the life preservers.........the white areas are painted on the preservers.

10-2-2012 it's odds and ends time folks.........time to give it that lived in look we worked late last night on the model...didn't clean up after ourselves. left our soda cans strewn about. note the holes in the center of the tables......now what's that all about?!?!?!?! I know that the last session.......we kinds forgot about the life preservers.......we'll get to them in a bit. the antenna part of the forward mast was painted a darker gray, as was the aft mast I saw these too in Hobby Lobby.......I thought this would be kinda interesting......a record player for the disco booth HA....HA.....preservers got a haircut! ......just a really good tip from Jim Ladd {John} more lights and radar....I'll be prepping them up I made up a couple of decals for the forward mast. here again, now that I look at it, I should have made them red and green {like the nav lights}, not red and blue. it's the little thing one thinks about after the fact the light lenses were filled with the window maker one of the light ended up on the forward mast then the forward mast was rigged with communication wires then it was rigged to the aft mast.......you might see small beads on it that I will use as insulators...... both sides were strung and the insulators were cemented in place a stern light was added as well insulators were added for the forward wires too I bought a package of these umbrellas........they were cemented in the open position. Ms. Green seemed to like them....she had the nerve to have me paint the poles to match the umbrellas........she's bossy

9-27-2012 the life preservers and radar / aerial mast was next to do........ the mast was sanded to shape, with a leading edge and a trailing edge. two antennas needed to be made now. the aerial set up with the wire guides. for some reason, I like it this way put a ball on top and made up the aft mast the bottom section was painted yellow....breaks up the brown the aft mast in place

9-26-2012 it took a while to cover all of the lounge chairs.......I made a couple more too. one more thing to add to the interior of the pilot house........some rolled up maps in the cubby compartment. oh..........and a picture of the gang above the door now......I think the roof got cemented on the black box in the center is the junction box for the lights. a hole was drilled into each side to accept the thread. the nav lights are cemented in place now.

9-21-2012 I used Annegre to do the border around the roof......doesn't matter what I used, it was going to be painted the chocolate brown anyway. I mentioned string'in lights.........I'll wager that you think they may be lit. no.........would have been cool, but I should have thought of that earlier in the project. I found these lights in the dollhouse section at Hobby Lobby. they looked perfect for the task. they will terminate at a box that I need to add to the pilot house. the border around the roof was painted. cutting the M&M material to size, I began to cover the lounge chairs with it. I used white glue to cement it in place.

thank you Ben.......there's a lot more 9-19-2012 {part 2} the admiral had some cloth that had M&M racing emblems on it. I cut up the material leaving the emblems intact. hooks were added to the posts.......they will be closed when the lights are strung, I believe the roof is cemented in place at this time....oh........wait!...no, it wasn't! there's still a little bit more to add to the interior of the pilot house. hooks were added at each of the corners though. the tables were stained, instead of painted.....after they were wiped off well enough, the emblems were cemented in place with white glue. the yellow one doesn't look too good.......I waited to see what would happen when the glue dried. it did get better....good enough to use.....the others are drying as well. they were given a coat of semi gloss lacquer......... <-- spoiler alert

9-19-2012 {part 1} this was a huge session........my picture finger was tired after this one for the table tops, I printed up some images of M&M's - circles with an 'M' bossed in the middle. then the set up to drill the thousand or so holes in the shield.... the back side of the shield was sanded to remove all the drill punctures......them redrilled to clean out the holes. then bent around a dowel to give it the curve. it was then cemented on the funnel next was the set up for the fore deck railings these are the 15 mm three hole stanchions they were spaced by eye after the length was established. I used CA to cement the stanchions in place. the back wall of the nav light boxes were painted the color of the light. they just need a touch up now.

9-18-2012 the funnel was painted silver......the chain was good, but I don't think it's enough. I decided to add a shield to it. the attachment point for the shield was added to the funnel. the roof was painted at this time. pieces of dowel were cut, along with some circles, for the next addition to the model the roof was dry fitted in place. finding the centers of the circles, the pieces of dowel was cemented to them, and then dry fitted on the deck a small thin sheet of brass was cut for the shield

9-13-2012 I had attached the anchor rope to an eye bolt that I installed on the stem. the anchor assembly is added to the model. I plan to have a railing around the funnel. I decided to use chain.....I installed the posts. the roof edge on both sides of the pilot house was beefed up a bit more, to give a better anchor for the glue. the funnel assembly with the chain added. the admiral and I went down to her stash of M&M stuff, it's quite a collection. unfortunately, there were no figures that were to scale, so we chose the best ones. for the time being, I gave them a base so they could stand up on their own. they seem to like it a lot.......red even got behind the wheel. in the interest of the model, I decided not to leave him there though.......I have a reason perhaps if I should do a Walking Dead boat.......maybe I can have Maggie or Darrel drive

9-12-2012 the overhead and got a coat of semi gloss lacquer, along with the other radar part for the dash. the binnacle was painted as well framing for the roof was under way at this time the funnel base was painted the radar for the dash was cemented in place and hard wired in. more framing for the roof was taking place......then it will be painted. the overhead compartment was cemented in place. the rest of the windows were added to the pilot house. the nav light boxes were cemented to the roof

9-7-2012 radar screens and mahogany molding was added to the overhead the nav lights were painted.....why I did them this way....I dunno....bit I did. a base for the funnel was fleshed out. .....and then dry fitted in place with the funnel the completed overhead compartment

9-5-2012 I decided on an overhead compartment and additional radar above. the framework was added to attach it too. the overhead compartment was fleshed out. the windows were added at this time as well. clear cello was used. seeing this now.......I probably would have used the tinted glass {cello}. while it might have enhanced the looks, it might have obscured some of the detail...so I'm glad I didn't have it at that time I use the window maker to cement the cello in place. the overhead was put in place to see how it would look. the rest of the windows will be installed later. when I got it the way it should look, the overhead and the on dash part was painted. the funnel was soldered together at this time. I have the plastic nav light boxes from the Nordkap booty {that's another story long lost.....I'll tell ya about it sometime }. I didn't like them, so I made a pair of my own.

8-30-2012 continuing on with the pilot house interior.......we need a radio. here are the raw parts that will create it. adding some structure to the back wall along the roof edge. the radio was assembled..... making the rest of the window frames......and being more careful more done on the radio..... I came up with another idea concerning the radar screen I went online and found some images for ship components. they will be shrunk to a more usable size. more cemented in place inside.......the radio with wiring and mic, and map sprawled out on the easel other 'wires' were added to the interior. they will be routed elsewhere.

8-28-2012 continuing on with the pilot house, I concentrated on what was to go inside. wanting to add some instrumentation, I started off assembling a computer screen. it looked a bit too odd to be there..........hey Barbie........I made yas a computer! I'll think on this some more then I went on to flesh out the dash board and ship's wheel. this was actually a punch out from the Gothenborg kit...the center cut for the tunnel. I always save these cast off pieces. the ship's wheel was painted at this time. the telegraph was assembled too. molding was added to the dash... round bits of cast off material was used to make the gauge bezels. it was given a coat of semi gloss lacquer. I had copied an image of a gauge decal sheet.......I printed off a sheet of them that will last me quite a while. a column of levers was created using a 1/2 piece of dowel and brads for the levers

8-22-2012 mahogany was used to band the aft cabin roof edge. mahogany was also used to line the rub rails and additional hull moldings as well. the windows were also lined with mahogany frames.......it did come at a price though. I had a repair job to do. I now wish I had redone this particular part of the pilot house wall.......I was too geared into going forward {still am as a force of habit}. the best thing to do in my mind as this point was to touch it up with paint. getting it the best that I could........I left it at that.

8-21-2012 there are to be six posts that will line the bulwarks, in which to run some festive lights. I had found a vast assortment of eyelets, used for belts, straps, and shoes. sorting some of them out {gonna be a huge task}, I chose some chrome ones to install in the deck at {as close to} equal spacing. the hatch covers for the engine companionway were created and painted. decorative molding was cemented around the companionway, wheere it mates to the back of the pilot house. to aide the posts, to stay upright and vertical, brackets {large eye bolts} were created and installed above the chrome post seats mahogany molding also lines the paint separation along the back of the pilot house

thank you very much for all the likes I got up very early this morning........I was hoping to get the log wrapped up today, now that I'm back on my weekend. 8-16-2012 the portholes were painted the chocolate brown, and filled with Testor's window maker........I think I've done this with earlier models. this product works amazingly well for creating small windows......especially in aircraft models. I can't count how many times I cemented in small windows, only to turn cloudy because of the glue. the cap rails were also cemented in place on the model. they stop at the fore deck, where railing will take over, running up to the stem. one side in place.. painting the fo-pah........making amends the window maker starts out as a milky fluid......it will dry clear. I've had the bottle for quite some time......haven't used it since I last was heavy into modeling. I can't say how many years. I believe the pilot house is assembled at this point. the mating lines have been touched up and some sanding has been done to get the mating surface for the roof flush. both cap rails are in place now there was still more to add to the wall of the aft cabin. added are a pair of lights that will illuminate, so that folks can find their way easily. they too are filled with the window maker.......I probably should have dabbed in some white or yellow paint inside to color the lenses. when dry, they can be painted on the inside......just carefully go in with a wet brush. here they are after an hour or so......the milky appearance is going away. they are in place now......hard to see, but the appearance of glass is there. still looks rather visible.........I'll touch it up again after the paint has cured.

well.....I am very sorry that I lost track of this project! I've been watching the show........darn good series! I can't wait till it comes out on DVD....definitely will be added to my collection superb modeling and intricate detail......very nice workmanship..and man!....I absolutely love that deck! very sorry to hear of what went down...glad that a compromise could be reached quite an accomplishment!

make up a black wash and your good to go look'in great Mark!

sometimes scratch building can be full of odds and ends........fits odd but everything ended well if you planned the floor as you went along, would that have made things go easier? looking very good.......lining up well too very nice!

8-15-2012 along with the easel, I made a seat the moldings I had made were painted and cemented in place. I will need three doors......one for the pilot house, and two for the aft cabin, which is nothing more than a changing room for the guys and gals. the doors were assembled. with the handles, it gives me one left and two right handed doors. the two for the aft cabin needed some signage on then to denote the gender. I though this was kinda cute I like to think I meant to do this, but I had goofed. the opening was too tall. since I didn't plan it with any form of step up, I will close the open area with a piece of flat stock. I'll do that later........I was having more fun making a disco booth for the deck layout. I'll go with that for now........hmmmmmm decals are fun.........I'll do those next! the doors are in place now on the aft cabin. I did some simulated hinges to finish them off. along the bottom of the cabin, I painted some 1/4 round molding and ran it across the deck edge. the progress so far........... the cap railing is just dry fitted at the moment. I still need to make the rest of it. the opening above the pilot house door was closed up, and I began to shape the roof. I like the idea of the large windows......the interior can be seen quite well. I plan on adding a lot of detail....probably the most I've ever done. I hope I get to do all that I want to do more to add tomorrow