popeye the sailor

looking good bob.........you must have been reading my mind.........I did some railings this morning nice shaping!

I have the Sergal Thermopylae. another fellow built the same kit.......or is still in the process of building it {I haven't heard or seen any progress since} http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/4738-thermopylae-by-tomasg-timotej-tristan-sergal-scale-1124/ I haven't looked at the plans for a while now {i'm trying to be a good boy}, but I believe that he built the accommodation ladder for his model. one thing I would take into consideration........if your going to put sails on your model, I wouldn't include it. I have a peculiar feeling that it was left at the docks. I think something like this would be the property of the dock owner, and was only affixed to the ship at boarding time. the only ladders I feel you would see on the ship, would be escape ladders.......and they would would be made of rope. I think this is more logical........I hope someone with more knowledge, would add to this.

interesting build Mike.........looks good from what I've seen so far

just read through your log.......such a nice job your doing kit like these are perfect, if you want to go off the beaten path. then again, most kits are 'open ended'.......you can go just about anywhere you want with them. a little modification and bash {or necromancy} and your in business. I've done a few and I think they can be more satisfying than the actual kit it's a bit late to share comments and tips for the hull.......you've done a great job of overcoming the planking and painting. but I'm going to watch further. I have a Flattie, and these two boat have a lot in common super looking boat BTW

all is perfectly well Patrick had some pizza and beer......followed with some cake and ice cream.......I'm feel'in like Hoss cartright right now I didn't get much further, I'm afraid.........I added another strap to the ladder and was in the process of installing the railing, when company came over. I hope to resume tomorrow thanks for the kind comment and the likes all. oh.........I almost forgot the cake!

thanks for the likes everyone........didn't get much done on her today. hope to have more progress soon

and so....the ladder is complete. it's not quite as good as I would like.......but now that I see it on the model, it's good enough. this morning, I removed it from the board and straightened the eyelets that I had bent into the top end of the uprights. knowing that the cutter would send the trimmings flying, I perched the waste basket between my legs and pointed them into it. quite a few of them went through the bag! when I was making these small pieces for the rungs, I would capture the length of wire between my fingers and snip the wire. doing this for a time, my grip became limp, and with a snip, sent one of them into my finger like an arrow! talk about bleed....... that was my only incident though.......so that was a good thing anyway.......once all that was done, I did some sanding and filing to knock down all the nubs while this was going on, some would come loose. in soldering them back on, I robbed the excess solder from some of the gobs, and made them look a bit better. filing should take care of the rest. again, I went into that little container of all the punch outs that can be had from kits. I save them and use them for a variety of things. I took a couple small circle.....cut and sanded them to {or about} the same thickness......I needed three of them. these are to be the mounting plates for the mast lights. they were cemented to the light brackets on the mast. curving the uprights at the top......I was able to locate and drill the holes in the backside of the top, to locate the ladder in place. I drilled four holes down the mast and fitted pins that will secure the ladder to the mast. somehow.......I wasn't pleased with it. OK to be secure, but what about side to side movement. I then got the idea about the strapping.........wrapping it around the mast, and attaching it to each side of the ladder. so, I cut some thin strips of brass and did just that. I have two on there now, and it seems pretty solid........I may add a third one further up the ladder {I'll need a longer strip I think}. I want to put a few more brackets under the top. then add the railing around it.....should be ready for paint by then. it will make the ladder look better.......I did a lot of filing between the rungs.......the shiny solder hides it at the moment back to work!

thanks for the kind comments and the likes........I'm very glad to get back to this build. a couple of the builds, I still need to get stuff for, so I'm kinda hung up. I just got a fresh supply of dowels.......so that renegade fishing boat can continue, as soon as it gets it's color.........paint. perhaps even a name....... hi John........I couldn't agree more, a metal ladder would fit the bill here. I'm glad to say it's done! thanks Pat and Carl.........those are two very good ideas. I will remember them in the future. even though the rungs coming loose was a problem, it really didn't slow me down too much. I just needed to take the time to sit down and do it.........and that's what I did........I sat at my desk and did it. it feels good though to get all that stuff offa here though....it made my desk look as cluttered as my table thanks Jack, Patrick and Lawrence for the birthday wishes. to get to have a day like this, with no problems or mishaps, is all I would ever want it's been a great day thus far. I can't wait to show you what I have done this morning.........I think it came out fairly well

so good to see you back at the table John the beginning of the rigging looks great!

she looks awesome on her stand.......you truly have created a wonderful model. It'll be interesting what project you do next a superb showpiece indeed!

looking very nice!.........the cap rails do compliment the deck!

if it were stowed, it would probably be brought below deck.........or on a rack, on the side of one of the cabins. if it's a rope type ladder, it may have been rolled up and stowed in some out of the way place on the deck. I'm sure they wouldn't clutter the deck.......too much going on. for something that doesn't have a lot of info.........I for one might not add it

does anyone have a Z scale train I can borrow?

as mentioned earlier........good suggestion about the flux, in the event that the welding wire has some sort of coating on it. I used a Q-tip to swab the wire with flux. I believe the wire changed hue a little bit there. it may have been the case, because it went a bit better after that. I still had some trouble with the heat transfer loosening up the closest rung....I had to keep going back over them. it turned out to be a good thing though, since it picked some of the excess solder along the way. at this point, I measured it with the ruler... 6 3/4........getting close to the 8 inch mark. I counted the rungs......I was curious. it felt like more than that. is this one of those thankless repetitive tasks I hear tell about? the solderings are getting better..........with a little filing, it should look OK. finally.........I made it! I even gave it a little more....just in case might be hard to see.........8 1/2! not for the sizing and clean up!

I want to thank every one for the nice comments, and those who hit the like button. I've dealt with the work week and gave it a solid raspberry for over half of it........I took two days of it off. for the last couple of days, it's been spotty, finding time at the table. but I did manage it though. the ladder took up most of it {not for this build, another one}. of course, I got to tinker with this build as well. sanding that chunk 'o timber I glued onto the bow was a tough one, but I got the job done. it looks pretty good I know that I said that this was to be a quick little build.........I summed it up as I did in my Word Press log..... " Now…….I had devilish plans for this kit. The centerboard, which acts the same as a Leeboard, could be detailed out {I saw pictures of it while I was looking for color ideas}, as well as a few other aspects, that could be modified to embellish the looks of the model. In trying to deal with the funk I was in, I am to toss out any thoughts of doing a multi build of this kit, and just build the darn thing! Nothing fancy…….don’t get cheeky or cute…..and don’t get too complex with it……just do it! Remember…….it’s supposed to be a therapeutic build to cheer me up. But…….how therapeutic can it be…..if you don’t let me get necromantic? Com’on…….it’s like eating Cheerios without milk! " Well.....there are some things I just can't let go. I really can't do the center board, since in doing it, I should have modified the keel first off in the build. it's too late for that. so I'll settle for the little things.......like the rudder for a start. being a level 1 kit, they instruct to simply glue it to the stern post. marking off an upper and lower contact point, two slots were cut out of the stern post. it was then drilled from the bottom, past the gap, and into the center piece. this will enable me to insert pins in them to hold the rudder in place. where I had marked the supplied rudder, I tried to drill the two holes I needed to make........but the rudder was simply too thin. so I made a new rudder from some 1/8 thick flat stock that was lying around {the rudder from the kit is 3/16}. with the added thickness, I was able to drill the holes and insert two eye bolts to act as the Pintles. making the change in rudders kinda threw my measurements off for some reason, so I will need to make some adjustments. when they are made, I'll cap it off with some brass. when the rudder is in place and the pins installed.......they should come out look'in like a pair of Gungeon. I still need to round off the rudder edges with some sanding......and then I can make a tiller for it.

super pictures Nils.........love those shots from the side nice !

glad to see your back in the shipyard........

you've been busy since I last looked in ....some really great progress here! fore and main masts are almost identical......main is a bit taller. mizzen will be a size smaller. each step will be smaller.......but I'm sure you know that good fix at the aft deck.....and sizing of the chicken coops. I'm working on a set of stairs that are the largest I've ever done.........a couple of tests, and I'm sure you'll arrive at what your thinking of super job Nenad!

amazing Patrick! pitch and rotation was never a thought in my mind..........to pull a pair of them off, would be a great feat indeed! .......and here they are! splendid work Patrick..........truly! must have taken a lot of patience!

thanks Pat.......I know it took a few days to reply......I was still wrestling with the work week. I've taken two days off.......so I got a couple more days to finish this. I didn't mean my admiral........second floor we go out on our porch sometimes and the smell from up there makes us wonder what the heck they're burning up there...........besides weed thanks Jesse.......I'm sure it's the same principle. I did think of that though......this welding wire might have some kind of coating on it. might be good to rough it up some Don't tell me that Bob...........that means I'd better do 16 inches! I used to do my own plumbing back when we owned our home.....that was a lifetime ago though. I will try the new solder iron and see if there is a difference. thanks for the good word.

she's gonna look great with the deck laid out getting the hull to where it is now {to me, anyway}, is the toughest part. it's like a mad dash to get to the point where fittings can be put on.....which I think is the fun part she looks awesome so far Jerry........but yes, getting the cap rails painted would really finish the hull off....and out a nice contrast to the deck kind of olive to ask AK-k-k-k-k-k-k-k! finally reaching a good place with the Holiday build, I'm gonna move on to some of my other builds, and try to get at least one of them done. I did hit kind of a doldrums of late......but I revived it by working on a smaller kit that I had in the closet. almost ready for paint on that one I read a few posts back that Olive might do a log for her Santa Maria {the kit she got....right?}.........well....I hope it's true. she did a super job with the Bounty, and I'm sure she'll do the same with this build. I for one, am looking forward in seeing her log. sending my best regards as well......here's hoping the school year leaves you with just a little more free time

I had somewhat the same problem with my United States decks, but my problem was I left them stagnate for too long, and they warped. another problem was which way I had the grain going. what I've done with the new decks, was to clamp them to the plastic decking before putting them in the closet. it's been some time since the model has come to the table, but I do check on them periodically...they still look good. I also changed the direction of the grain so they would bend more easily. I planked the decks and sprayed them with semi gloss lacquer........I kept getting the 'white'. temp + humidity ÷ by the drying time between the temp and thinner saturation. perhaps you added too much thinner to the paint? it appears grainy, like the paint is drying as it's coming from the nozzle. it's also true that heat can play a part in it...cracking due to shrinkage.

really nice bit of progress Sjors.........your not coppering....right? I like the way you worked around the gun ports too......it would look better with the lids somewhat embedded, rather that simply laying on top great job!

my two grandsons got me a snap together model of the Black Diamond for Christmas {Revell}. I built it......adding rigging, since it didn't come with any. my son told me it was their idea.......their choice. they love to come over and look at my boats.....I sometimes take any one they question off the shelf, to a lower table, and we talk about it. on one of my outings to the hobby store, I picked up two snap together cars for them to try. times and schedules being as hectic as they are, we kept missing one another.......that is until a day came where we were asked to do a bit of babysitting. it was the younger one's birthday {or as close as can be}....so he had presents from us as well. we had fun building the cars.......they even got to roll them around on the floor...fun time! Tripp's presents was these two large lego sets.......we had even more fun putting those together it was my pleasure to follow your grand daughter's build. the youth today are very creative.........and if one can bring it out......then you are to be commended for introducing them to crafting { I was going to say at the beginning, that there are many different type of wood working, but I didn't want to douse the flame}. kudos to you.

planking is the biggest question, besides rigging. there are many ways to accomplish it........there are also many great tutorials out there too. I'm not an expert at it....if I had seen your question then, I could have been more timely. no matter though.......you seemed to have taken care of it well enough. your ship came out great.....and that's all that matters