popeye the sailor

Oak is such a nice wood to work with..........with that size of a hip, it's gorgeous! very ncely done!

hey there Jerry.......awesome progress! the deck lay out looks really super.......don't feel bad.....I've done the upside down thing too darn Billing's instructions well done!

thanks for the likes.......I got little bit more done on the Flattie. the cabin sides are painted.......time to cement them in place. the cabin bulkhead needed to be lined up......a heavy duty timber did the trick, clamping it in place. pieces of strip wood was put in the corners to help the bonding process. additional clamps were used to close the gaps along the sides. the aft cockpit wall was sunken in for some reason.....the cap molding will not line up. a little piece was added to make it all level. the cockpit was then painted a light gray. haven't decided what color the roof and hatches will be yet.

thanks to everyone for the kind word, and for those who hit the like button. besides a few eye bolts here and there......the mast is pretty much done. now I can give it a coat of paint.......make 'er pretty, and then cement it into place. well.......I haven't cemented it in just yet.....but, I did give it a coat of paint. as for the hold.........it can stay white. I was thinking of some smaller reels.........rigging the booms....etc. I have these small spools.......they might do the trick with a little modification. here's where it gets funny..........I stuck 'em on my dremel, using a wooden dowel that they fit really snug on....... turn the dremel on...........and boy!.....do those things go flying! I had the admiral ducking for cover! after a couple of times.......I saw that it wasn't going to fly {figuratively speaking, of course}........so I swapped the dowel over to a brass rod about the same diameter. there was too much free play, so I used scotch tape to take up the slack and make them fit snugly on the shaft. I should mention why in the world, I would want to do this. the center part of the spool isn't very deep....to wrap thread around it would fill the indention and leave nothing for another layer of thread. the spool would look over full and run over the sides. to make the depth a bit deeper, I can layer the thread and it will look a lot better.........like I have done to this first one. I made a couple of others........I dunno.......they look kinda sloppy. painted, in a rack....wound with thread....some of the weird stuff might not be seen. up against a bulkhead or bulwark......might deter from them even more....... we'll see what else I can come up with thank again all........I'll post more as things develop

this sounds like a super build ! I will be happy to follow along!

thanks a lot piet.........I had a wonderful day! I found that I had these pictures of the hold and what I did to it. with the changes the mast made, it was impossible to leave it the way I originally made it. it needed a little modification...... I had to give it a bottom, to make it strong enough for the operation.........I pretty much cut the top off and leveled it out. the top was an oversize square of flat stock.........cemented in a box frame to assemble it to the hold, and then cement on some molding around it. I painted it flat white.......but I'm thinking better of it......the inner bulwarks and bulkheads are a light gray. I may change it.

I continued a bit more with this build. I want to paint her.......but I need to fit the rudder first. I started the feeble attempt to do a gungeon and pintle set up on the rudder, but I cut the slots a bit too big......I'll need to fill them in. you can see just how 'hairy' basswood can be. the rudder pintle eyes were slip into place, and two pins were stuck in the top and bottom holes, locking the rudder in place. metal caps will imitate the gungeons. after a little sanding........trying to further clean up the hairy disaster, the bottom paint was laid down. I used scotch tape to mask the bottom, to lessen the paint line. it does a fair job........it doesn't rule out the minor bleed here and there. it is good though, if you don't want the paint lines after the masking is removed. not only that.......I'm doing this with a brush.....the first one I've done using a brush in a long time. I was rummaging around in my paints.......I still have a fair selection of Billing's paint. BOY!!!! I'm going to have to do another orange boat real soon! .........haven't done one since the cux! I settled on cobalt blue.......painting the sides and the parts for the cabin. I'll need to pay some attention to the transom and aft cockpit wall......I was a little off with the bottom paint, and the cockpit wall is uneven with the side cockpit walls. I'll have to do something about leveling it off. the beginnings of the tiller is there as well.........more refinement needed

I think that would definitely leave a lasting impression on the nostrils

looking good Marc. sometimes flattening the tip of the eye bolt will give it a better anchor, when pressed into place. I've done this with high stress rigging.

very nice Mike

hello Sam....what a cool looking build you have here gee......I've probably done at least one carrier.......larger than than this one though. perhaps penciling in some lines for the planking, might enhance it a bit......but the one on the right looks good to me. it does kinda knock it out of scale with the grain though......perhaps blonde veneer with a weathered look might be better. it's nice to be following one of your builds again

could have been a dollop of cement that got on there {inside}........something you didn't see. as it cured and hardened, it softened the plastic and pulled it in along with the shrinkage of the cement. sad, but it does happen.....I'm sure a little filler will do wonders the bottom looks really good

I learned from my dad........I had forgotten all about tinning very neat method and jig you have there. pretty darn good copy of the one in the picture......supeer job

great to see some planking going on.....I like the changes you made to the holds and the mast steps. perhaps figuring out a way to sand a group of the strips to the same thickness, before you cut them to plank length.........might lessen sanding in such close quarters. that's going to be a task and a half! she's looking good!

thanks Piet

thanks everyone for the kind comments....and for the likes as well. of all the ladder experiments I've tried.......I am very happy to have tried to do this again I'm sure there is a better method out there........but I'm just as satisfied with the way I did it. now to expand on it I did some work to the gallows.......I won't scrap them as previously thought.....I'll just cut them down some so they look more to scale. the hold had been modified and is in place on the deck.....I just need to change the color of the cover. I'm back at work..two more days to go......perhaps I can post something before then

well......that's true in a sense Keith.......I was using this build as sort of a springboard, so I'd gt off my duff and assemble the syborn's mast. I have done that now........at the expense of not going any further with the Flattie. I did do some sanding to the rudder.....it looks a bit better, but I still have to make the adjustments to the stern post. once I do that, I can paint. that's how I got into this mess in the first place Carl.......working on one, while paint is drying awwwww.......what the heck, it's all in fun I never tire working with wood.........I've said it once......I'll say it again......I should have ignored my thoughts about these wood kits, and jumped into one at a much younger age! glad you found the log Mark...always a pleasure to have you following along. I may not go too crazy with this one......but you never know the shock does wear off Nenad........to show a picture of all my projects together, would be stunning. I've done it in a small scale with the Holiday Harbor build.....made even larger now with an extra hull to build. looking back at some of the builds, I have made progress........a few of them are getting close to being finished. they'll be like pop corn on the hearth thanks for the likes my friends.........I will have another report on her progress soon.

congratz to you Kevin on the start of this mammoth build. will you be able to join it together at some point, to show it's size? that would be so cool to see!

thanks for the kind comments and the likes progress continues slow, but the mast is almost complete.......which I'm pretty happy about almost ready to do that Carl, but in doing that, I found that I needed to revamp the hold. I got that done, but I might repaint the top part.....the light gray I used for the bulwarks had dried up, so I used a flat white instead. I got some ghost gray.......it might be close. I'm sure that the next time you see the mast, it should be painted and cemented in place....I hope. I want to do the anchor winch / fore deck.......at odds on how I want to set it up. thanks Rob.......I have both means......but I though the flame method might set off the fire alarm. I also soldered the railing on the mast, so the flame might have caused a bit of an issue this has been more soldering than I have ever done.....and I liked it

looking great Marc.........very nice indeed!

well said Greg.........never let it stop being fun!

sounds like someone is being his own worst critic.......just keep doing the best you can do........in the end she'll look great! nice pictures BTW

they look excellent Nenad.........very well done!

the mast is close to being done. seeing how other folks assemble their masts {Kees}.....I saw a lot of good aspects , that normally I wouldn't do. .........a lot of neglected detail thanks for the belated birthday wish Pat.......and yes Patrick......I had a great day yesterday it was further emphasized by reading all the PM's and posts I got.....I have such great friends in the community, and many of them After putting on that third strap.....I began to set up for adding the railing around the top. silly me had put everything away, and I had to set things right back up at my desk. did I actually think I was going to get away that easily? I was simply going to use CA to assemble the railing.......but in looking at the ladder, the railing should be a piece of cake. more practice time too the good thing was I didn't need the board.....yea!!!!! I don't have to reach for the back of my desk for the mouse!!! I have some one rail 15 mm stanchions.....might look too open up there, so I went for the three rail 15 mm stanchions. the holes were pre drilled, so I'd know how many I needed. I still have the aft section to do. the first part: here's what the ladder looks like with the three straps. I used the vise to bend the railings to do the second part of it. it was used again to do the third part, which has three partitions {across the front}. it needed to be curved to follow the shape of the top. the railing was soldered in place on the top.......I had messed it up at one point, making an adjustment. I wasn't going to have it happen again. during this task......two of the light brackets became loose. I tried to be extra careful. it was at this time that my older son and his four kids came over......so work ground to a halt! it was a nice visit.......my oldest grandson, Chase, stuck to me like glue. he loves the boats.......especially the lobster boat I was very watchful that they didn't get too cozy with the table......being real poor at being child proof. soon, it was time to say good bye.......{they got to have ice cream and cake too}........and with that, I got back to work. the fourth and fifth sections were done. it was trim and file the ends of the railing {s} at the ladder........and it was then cemented in place. the mast was placed on deck to see how it looked. .....and then the camera died. so, while it is being recharged.......I'll be thinking of what to do next.

thanks for the kind comments also for the likes as well. the third strap makes the ladder look more complete......there was quite a gap after the second one I put on. a Z scale train Nenad is the smallest you will ever see a train at. the whole set up would sit nicely on my desk. I would say that four cars, side by side, would fit nicely in a cigarette pack. unfortunately......I don't own one......I do have a G scale for around our Christmas tree though. it is another hobby that I would love to get into........but I think that after a while, the admiral would shut me down. the expansion would drive her crazy :D I don't know Sjors........I'm still learning too. it's not too hard though....the only thing I really need to watch, is not to gob on the solder >continued in next post<