popeye the sailor

I find that the slips work for a short time.....once the frame starts being handled, it's hardly in it mine usually end up on a towel, especially during the faring phase. I haven't updated my signature......if I listed them all, I'd likely scare folks! waiting for paint or cement to dry is usually my biggest downfall

OK.........we have drum roll! 90% of the sanding is done.......there are a few tiny imperfections. I will take care of the tiny cracks and gaps at paint time, which won't be too much longer now. something I realized last night........there is no engine.....no prop! I was thinking of giving 'er one.....but all I have in my inventory, is a 34 mm two blade prop....too large for this model. I failed to get any pictures of the finished sanding......the hull went into the paint booth too fast the hull is still wet. the first passes, I had to wipe 'er down......too slow on the stroke and had runs. then I found out that this was a gloss paint.....no matter. by the time the hull goes for the color, I will sand 'er with a fine paper to hopefully get a glass finish. there's a few things I want to do before that happens....rudder, rub rails and the outer stuff. my usual next step at this time is to assemble the stand. not bad for having the glue bottle land on it .....don't ask how......even made the admiral jump! the use of gloss paint lengthened the drying time.....took all night to cure enough to handle. I did manage to drill the rudder holes though and start to assemble the rudder, but Gibbs wanted to go watch TV and wouldn't let it go until I complied. not that the admiral hasn't voiced her opinion, but I now have a cutting mat, so I don't hack up the table top. I still have the one from the AmericA build {I think}.....I'll bring that one to the table as well. the hull was a tad bit tacky when I brought 'er to the table. I also cut some wedges of wood to strengthen the corner joints on the stand. I still need to paint it and put some felt in the cradle. I'll make a plaque badge for it too.

neat that you can flip it over and see the inner workings.......of course, it won't be seen when cemented in place {it will be totally shielded} amazing work Danny...fortunate that you at the point now where you can scratch make parts. wonderful job!...even with the movable aspect

did you catch my bug? awesome looking hull frame I have a Billing's slip.........like your better.....measurement lines and all! gonna be a large model, no doubt about it.......pleased to follow along {gotta catch up on your other projects first }

I wonder if they make a contact paper in wood grain........the scale of the wood pattern might be in question though. if you go with 0.5 mm thick wood strip, you'll be dealing with strips that are 2 mm wide......it will be a time consuming task. as mentioned.....go to your favorite hardware store and ask about contact cements. tell 'em what your using it on, and I'm sure they can help you looks nice cliff......be on the alert for it separating. I've used white glue on plastic before and it didn't hold. hope you have better luck. here are a couple of pictures of the decks I made for the United States. these are completely made of wood...wood decking planked with 0.5 X 2 mm annegre wood strip. I haven't been back to this project since 2014......the last decks I made warped on me and I had to redo them. these I have in the closet clamped to the plastic ones, so they don't lose their shape.

get better soon EJ !

I use the thin stuff......yea, you gotta be careful I've heard of the mechanics, but have not seen it......it will interesting to see. the Thermopylae I'm working on has a yard that is like this......not sure how I'm gonna do it yet {small scale}. really neat how your coming along on this vessel

one word OC.........no awesome paint work........now she looks seaworthy

superior job on the aircraft.........they really dress up the deck can't say enough on how nice she looks! one of these days, it would be a real eye pleaser, if you took us on a guided tour of that wall of yours if you've done as fabulous a job on the miniatures, I can just imagine the gems you have on display.!

so many tiny parts.........quite an assembly line you have there

same scale but different size vessel......still in the ballpark

they look fine Jesse........they give the sailors some 'duck'in' room. mass produce at will! bow spirit and boom looks super. your mov'in right along...so good to see

thanks for the good word Rob....I've built the Mary Ann as well the shape and contour of this hull carries over in at least two {or three} other Billing kits. I've also cloned a couple of hulls from the parts panels {of the Mary Ann}, to build other models. I just got done sanding off the filler.......only three places that I want to refine before paint. glad to have you following along......I hope you enjoy Thanks Kees! so good to have you look'in in. hop'in it get nicer when I get paint on her thanks alos for all the likes

so......as I mentioned in an earlier post, the two stern blocks are in place. the adjustment made to the bulwarks came out well. I noticed the grain is running differently on the starboard side block......I changed that before it had time to dry. when the time comes to trim them down to the point where I can sand them to shape, this will be to my benefit. more sanding was done along the rest of the hull.......this got rid of more imperfections and cleaned up along the bulwarks some more. the port side has more fill work than the starboard side. the hull really isn't too bad....compared to some that I've done before. the blocks have been trimmed and sanded.....came out quite well . now it the time for filler........I went over the entire outer hull. it sands quick.......I'll be removing most of it, without taking any more of the wood. I'll let this set for the rest of the day, so it can fully dry elbow grease time tomorrow

thanks Piet and Pat I hope your right about the rapid build.....it would be nice to call a few builds done this year. it's been a few years since I've had a finished one {outside of the Jeanne D'Arc}. I've got four in the stash now....one I can't touch because I have to find the fitting kit for it. my resolution this year is to stick to my active projects and get 'em done.....the Nordkap, the King of the mississippi, the Marina II, and the Marie Jeanne will just have to wait. keen to note though.... the latter three are all Artesania Latina kits......I seem to be turning a corner regarding Billing kits. thanks to all who hit the like button

clew line are fastened to the outer corners of the sail......the bunt lines handle the inner edge of the sail. leech lines are fastened to the outer edge of the sail. when the bunt and clew lines gather the sail to a certain point, I believe they are manually fastened with the reef lines {lines that are pleated into the sail} there can be upwards of three lines of reefs ......I haven't seen more than this. this is gonna look super when you rig it up....I've never seen this detail before. nice work...the block looks really neat

gee....now I feel like a heel for not looking...spoke too soon you've made quite a bit of progress....she looks great with the copper bottom very nicely done!.......tree nails look good too!

thanks Bob......this is the part of the build that I tend to feel more critical about. I've always said that the time before the model sees paint, they always look terrible and a bit ugly. then it's getting rid of all the imperfections........I wonder if the hull will survive. I'm confident that I can turn 'er around I'm glad you found me Mobbsie......now I can truthfully say ALL my friends are look'in in talk about troubles.......jeeze, the planking splintered like it was brittle........and I just took another look at the other assorted strips {after knocking them on the floor with a wipe rag}, some of them aren't cut too good. not a problem though......I have plenty of wood in inventory. the main part of the boat is assembled now, so I'm past that stage. I had to run out to take the admiral to her doctor's appointment....but when we got back, I cemented the stern blocks in place. when they are dry I can trim them to shape. I hope to have another update soon.......I hope to have them done. happy to have you following along what's the hold up with your project? dying to see more

nicely done Bob.......very clean and neat

I like the color........really nice shots of the hull. you did a great job.....nice and smooth

.......to further along what I did with the bulwarks.....yea, for a little while, the hull looked like a clamp holder. the top strip narrowed at mid ship, and I wanted to make sure I didn't have any areas that bowed outward. the 5 mm strips didn't take the curvature of the bulwarks very well. when I removed them all, the excess needed to be removed.....it was trimmed close and then sanded flush. this also trimmed off all of the posts, so that was a win / win. once completely trimmed down. it looked a lot better, although the stern still wanted to flatten. if there were a couple of extra posts, it might have taken the curvature better, but once the cap rails are on, I think it will pass muster. I haven't checked the cap rails for fit yet....I'll deal with it next. all around where the bulwarks met the hull was sanded to bring the 'fault line' flush......it came out very well. now to get the rest of the hull straightened out, to improve the overall looks of the hull. perhaps even get a coat of primer on her,,,we'll see

thanks for the kind comments.......even more the folks who came to look in......thanks as well I finished planking over the bulwark panels.........once sanded, will put that tiny problem to rest. I'm pleased the way it turned out. at the moment, it still looks like this: as soon s I remove the clothes pins, trim it and do a little sanding on the top, I'll know better. I'll save the rest of the hull sanding till I get the two stern plugs in place. thanks Pat.......yea, it will be paint. still in the raw stage at the moment. I've been itching to get the margins along the bulwarks on the deck...perhaps I can get that done too. it will make deck planking a lot easier thanks OC.......now I can get creative with the hull.......glad it done too thanks Lawrence......the Lasagna was great! the admiral wasn't too upset with my taste testing.....I'm her best barometer as to how good it is. I had a picture of the finished product......thought it best not to post it. nothing worse than food envy I'm halfway though with the worst part.....fleshing out the hull. I'll really be happy when I can get some paint on her thanks Mark.....the admiral is fine.........she gave me a hard time when I got home tonight......that's a good sign work wasn't too upset with me.....I got a write up {so what}. thanks for the good word. the Norden is a coaster of the 1930's. they mentioned seine netting, but that's not to say that it wasn't used for gill netting. the practice of gill netting goes back pretty far in history......and met with a lot of regulation through the years. gill netting was introduced in the US, as early as the twenties. a friend of mine, who is a driver for Wal Mart, is a relative of Albert Arnold, a fellow who gill netted all his life. he and his family came from Norway, bringing the art with them. they settled in the great lakes.......he and a group of others came to be known as the Michigan bears. later they migrated all the way to Gloucester Mass. Ken gave me a lot of information on the Plyllis A, Capt Arnold's boat {named after his daughter}. he wanted to see if I could make a model of her, but I needed more pictures to do a good replica. I haven't gotten the pictures yet the boat is supposed to be up in Kennybunkport, Maine, but I believe due to cost, it has since been moved to Gloucester Mass, as a sort of museum. one of these days perhaps I'll look into this some more.......perhaps I'll find something really appreciate your help...thanks!

perhaps a more delicate approach.........scissors you can borrow my shoulder....I feel equally as saddened. do what I do.... I laugh at my own mistakes..clean it up, and start over again. it's all you can do my friend

stick up to far would be the better assumption........I think the way the first two are set in place looks better too. you've got the right idea as long as they don't spread the netting out of shape, they will look fine. that looks like the same sail cloth that I got with the Gothenborg kit. I may have to do the same thing when I get around to the United States and the Connie what your doing passes muster in my book

I was home today.........I was up most of the night taking care of a sick admiral. she's OK now........but not getting too much sleep, didn't do much for my morale, nor going to work.....so I didn't. just as well.......it's turned into such a hateful place. I figured that since I was home....I'd put the finish to the hull planking. it's almost closed now anyway, after making a little more progress from the last picture I showed of it. I did a little sanding after the hull was done......even began to add filler over some of the imperfections {I'll coat it completely later}. before I got too carried away with the sanding, I should take care of the outer bulwarks. as mentioned, these panels are not the same thickness, as the planking, leaving the two surfaces not flush with each other. I have some 0.5 mm thin strips that I will add to the bulwark panels, to make it so. looking like this may be the cure-all, I cut a piece of 1/32 flat stock, making sure the grain was going in the direction for flex, and soaked it for about 20 mins. cut down to a more applicable size, the open area at the stern was repaired later it was sanded to conform to the shape of the bulwark. once done, I was able to go all the way around with the thin strips, thickening the bulwarks. the top of the bulwark has to be trimmed, because it's 5 mm wide.......it took two and partial one to get to the top. I did the port bow area......after sanding it smooth, I see that it took care of the problem quite well