popeye the sailor

really coming out looking great Rob! is there to be a second planking, or are you going to 'plate' the hull, to give it that steel look? the hull frame has a nice form.....very nice!

I do apologize for the late reply.........I was on here the other day after work.......and I was actually falling asleep as I was writing {if that's possible} . getting back to work after a vacation really stinks........I'm looking forward to the day when I can have the full time vacation gonna be a bit broken with the progress.......gotta work a couple nights at the airport, but I'm sure I can gain some ground during the day. I appreciate the kind comments and thanks to all you fine folks who hit the like button. the big thing now is to make some sense out of those two pieces I added to the cabin bulkhead. more progress soon.........

I know what you mean about cleaning the workshop........I finally cleaned my table.. I got tired of stuff getting pushed off the edge and hitting the floor! us mad men gotta stick together the galley badge and decorations look super! I wonder what the model manufacturers do in production lining their kits........they must have flare ups like that quite often. has to be expected though.........you get right down to it, this is a variant to wood burning really nice work there.........and a belated birthday wish to ya.....my admiral has the same thoughts about me and my toys

thanks Mark......and that to all who hit the like button first day back at work...........I wish I had some gusto left....... I hafta say......I don't like the 'lag' when one first gets back to the normal routine...........but man......one loves everything in between! once the progress gets past the hull........there's more.. I'll try and make it interesting thanks again!

well, thanks Patrick.....and thanks as well Piet. glad to know that I did something that resembles a tri-hull. the thing that is noticeable on them, is that the bow is a lot broader, and doesn't come to a point. I think the only way this worked as well as it did, was my lack of tapering the planks. it turned into a blessing I still haven't done the resin......I'm not sure it will affect it....but it rained here and now it's humid as hell. I may still get a chance to get out there...although it's 8 PM right now. I did manage to do something on her........ thanks again for your kind comments so......with the looks improving, I thought I'd take care of the mal-positioned shoe. since a rudder would be useless out there in never-never land, and would require a tiller and an upper shaft bracket {so cool.....I'm making the parts up now } ........I gotta bring all this back into perspective. the first thing I did, was chop a section out, with the shoe still attached. it still boggles my mind it hasn't broke off yet...I have had that hull 'three ways to first night'. {well......that's what they said in that book I wuz read'in} another notch was cut out to transplant the shoe. liberal elbow grease there too Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, and Dr Howard will be assisting me at this pint........errrrr....point! the shoe was transplanted onto the patient. while they were here....we grafted the prop........only a two blade lefty folks......'tis all I got on hand. I guess I should add the rudder at this time too........the hole was drilled in the shoe and the bottom of the stern. a rudder was fashioned from some 1/8 scrap stock. I still have a bunch of those small dowels....a whole bottle full. I won't need any of these dowels for quite some time I don't know how I did it, but I managed to drill the hole through the rudder without ruining it........shows you how small these dowels are. the rudder's ready......I'm ready..... the rudder was pinned into place. I removed the prop so it would be out of the way.......and to see if I can remove it for painting purposes. it can be done! OK..........put it back in place, and here is what the final assembly looks like. I might add some brass parts here and there. for now though, it still need to go back to the garage. I'm hoping that the next time I get back to her, I can even do some painting. first things first.........get the hull back in order....the few touch ups and sanding.....and then the main event

thanks Patrick........little did I know there would be a few errands this morning. get done with them.......and it's raining....not a very productive day. there's still hope though thanks for the good word personally, I thought the last photo was a bomb.......thought it would be hard to see the contour of the bow. I'm gonna go get my eyes checked glad you like where this is going.

the filler work cleaned it up rather well..........looks more to contour. here's a picture of her in her new stand.......the initial fit is really good. I just have a few touch ups to do before I can start with the resin. it should fill in the rest.......at least, that's what I'm banking on. now I need to get my painting stuff from out of the cellar....hard to believe I haven't done it yet. this will be a good thing........I can use the 25 gal compressor again! the small compact one is OK.......but I can regulate the pressure with the Craftsman a lot better. I'll make those side boards too.........Gibbs goes a bit crazy if I use the dremmel in the house. I can trim those two pieces for the windshield. this one is not too flattering..........perhaps you may be able to see the contour of the bow. I've touched up the hull again.........when dry I can finish it off. then the resin......really interested to see how this works out

I never knew we were the same age?!?!?!?! I'll be 60 in August! I hope you had a great day........I hope you spent it on your new build here

that's the trick, isn't it? fresh out of the box, it may look daunting. but soon, you find the direction to go "follow the yellow brick road."

I took a tip from a few folks here, who use archive pens. these pens use India Ink. I buy the medium tip pens and they work great......I even bought a bottle of India Ink and refuel the pen from time to time the only trick I find, is don't go too slow..... I currently use this method. I've used the crayon method......that works well too, but the surface needs to be scraped a bit before sanding. crayons are messy and leave crumbs. I used to scrape off some of it though and blend the rest in through sanding.....gives a nice tone to the wood. another method I've tried is the thin mahogany strip.......I had a Billing's kit that directed using this. I like this method as well, although it's very time consuming.. if I use a practicum at all.......I only look at the technical stuff. the artistry, I go by experience perhaps that's why I like Billing's kits so much.......there's not a lot of text

good to see her fully complete..........you've done a stellar job

awesome job Piet!

war of the roses? so nice you and your son can do that.......I couldn't even get mine to do a 50 piece puzzle!

the bow came out great Patrick..........glad to see that the rest of the fix went as well! glad to see her back in shape!

started right off early today........figured out what to do about the shoe. odd that I didn't do it before it went out to the garage.........darn thing STILL hasn't broken off! hmmmmmm, what to do this morn.....I know! I'll play with a bunch of scrap wood! "......that should be good 'n hostile!", he said with a devilish grin. I had cut out the bottom part of the windshield using 1/8 scrap stock {used to be a big piece}. but.......something else could be done.......I was sure of it. sure.......I'll make a sandwich here's the formula.......1/32 + 1/32 + the thickness of clear cello.......should add up to the thickness of the windshield "box". I'm not pleased with that either.......I think that when I do what I'm gonna do regarding the sides of the helm {there's gonna be something there}, I'm gonna trim'em. so, now to make identical plates I had to keep track of how the pieces were cut and glued.......later I'll need to tape them together for sanding. then I though how cool it would be if it had tinted windows.....so I went and got that roll I had found >hoarded< I'll be able to do many builds with this.........it's a huge piece. by this time, the two windshield plates were taped together, and the process of fitting them was taking place. this took a while.......I had cut it a bit wider.....larger.....so that it could be shaped without ruining the part..........especially now, that it has been assembled. I expected some breakage during the process.........with some wax paper in between, I could re-cement the broken part without having to take it apart. every once in a while, I would dry fit it in place......it was sticking out above the side pieces. it was getting closer towards being level...as I went along........the air gap between the windshield and the bulkhead was my guide. when I do inside the helm bulkhead........this will be hard to see. with more sanding and trimming, it looked even better, as far as the air gap went what is left now, I can probably skim off the top, without notice. the portholes were trimmed of any flash and stuck to the sticky side of some painter's tape, waiting for paint. the hull went to the garage.........the only thing I can do now, since the hull is drying, is make the stand for it. I did clear the table....it looks much better. first the stand parts were traced out. ...and that was the last picture that my camera let me take. it needed to be charged. I was able to assemble the stand in the time it took to charge the camera........this is how it came out. hopefully, I can post some after shots of the hull

should be a fun build Rob.........as with all your other builds I've looked in on. pleased to take a seat on this one, if you don't mind

looking great Jerry

nicely done

looking very nice Nils.........the figures fit well. as we say over here.........'nailed it!'

thanks for looking in and the kind comments. reality can be a hard thing, especially when one gets as far on a design, and finds out that it's really not a good fit. I'm lucky that there is another direction I can take. thinking of how futuristic it looks...........I thought of something a bit more involved.......and quickly blotted it out! ........a river boat?!?!?!? "Welcome to my Nightmare" good thing this isn't plywood Carl..........it would have been a tougher repair. I work a lot with flat stock.......1/32 x 4 x 24......1/16 x 4 x 24....etc. I have found it wider........I get it when I can. I will most likely have to give it a seal coat, unless the resin will lay down the tiny hairs that basswood produces after sanding. I try to use a real fine paper for the finish work, but they do have a tendency to rise anyway. I still have some ground to make up......I'm not at the point yet, where I was with the other boat. I was hesitant Patrick....I really didn't want to confuse anyone. this needed to happen though........I was thinking too much 'fishing boat' and not enough 'tree boat'. the perception and sad reality caught up with me....especially when in my travels, I would run across those pictures. the thoughts that would go through my head after were getting pretty loud. time to answer them.......and shut'em down.....once and for all I combined those two tubes of wood filler last night.........while I was play'in on the computer, I was shaking it. kneading the tube from time to time.....I think it got a good mixing. I'm still doing it this morning I'm messing with another aspect at the moment........I really should be thinking about the hull and what I'm going to do with it. the admiral is eyeballing my table..........the shavings and such are beginning to hit the floor. time to clean, one thinks

fear not Mark............{famous last words} .......remember, I said the words 'icky may' {or is it spelt icky mae} I'd put the clip I have in my you tube vids about Beetlejeuce tell off the deet's, after they declined his offer. ahhhhhhhh, but the F-bomb would kill the mood it's wasn't that serious {did you hear the ominous organ playing?} it went like this.........I use a couple size drills to reach the size hole, where I can use a sandpaper dowel. I tried to rush it.......but since it's basswood, and only 1/32 thick to boot. it didn't like what I was doing. it ripped out a chunk of wood. what I ended up doing, instead of tearing out the whole piece, was to trim it out as square as I could and glue in a piece.......sanded later. it will be filled with putty later and sanded. you'll see in a moment. wood can be fickle.......the harder the wood, the cleaner hole you can make. I was going to do a piece on wood-ology on another site, but they drew the wrong folks.......the folks that frequented there didn't care. all they wanted was to get their answers, answered, and off they'd go....most likely, never to be heard from again. look at wood down to it's fiber......softer wood has stringy, loose fiber, while harder wood is more compact, bonded together in it's own pulp. it also affects it's bend ablilty. I like to use the softer woods like basswood and obechi........but they do have their drawbacks. basswood is smoother that obechi, which is usually rough cut, like someone used a dull blade. it bends better than basswood though and it's a lot cheaper. basswood does not drill well either......it tends to want to tear at the most inopportune time, and that's what it did here. sadly, the only picture I took was the repair.....but believe me, it's bad enough.once I could work with it again, I used my sanding dowels........I'm sure some of you use these too. different size dowels with sandpaper glued around them. I took a different approach this time.....I left the paper loose on the dowel. once it was in the hole, it was twisted backwards so that the paper would fan outwards in the hole, enlarging it as it was moved in and out. the one on the bottom is the loose fitted one. here it the starboard side after I had enlarged the holes. I still have some portholes from the Nordkap boon, that I'm going to fit in them. I also have some of the Testor's window maker left over, and I'll be using it to make the 'glass'. the boat only has one porthole on each side, but I decided to add a couple more for copyright reasons. ............not that I'm at all worried about the small stuff.......folks should be happy that someone think their boat is model-worthy. here's what it looks like......... .........a little bit of putty. this stuff was kinda dry......didn't want to stick too good. I usually add a little water to it, to make it more like a thick paste. I have two tubes and I added too much water to the other one........I need to combine these two together and cure the problem. I'm going to need it for the hull soon. giver some sanding after it was dry made it look better.......the inconsistency you see might be the CA that showed though after sanding. now........the other side came out much better. the wood did tear a little, making a rough hole, but I passed a dowel through them a few times to clean them up some. sized large enough for the portholes, this side is almost finished. even with sanding, care needs to be taken with basswood.......the front hole is slightly oblong. I need to fix it. I like this picture........the shape of the bow allows both sides to be seen. the idea of the three portholes is pretty good too........kinda gives it a bit of a 'capt. Nemo' look I only have two more portholes left now, and one more square window frame, from the Nordkap boon. the rest of the parts......the winch and the anchor winch....{I think that's all that's left}........will be used on the trawler Syborn. I've had such an urge to flesh out the mast on that one........undecided if I want to add a mast top on it {I would then have to make a ladder for it.....ugh! another ladder!!!} my god.......I'm babbling tonight!.......it's almost like I don't get out much cripes.....I'm all over the map, aren't I?!?!?! here is the picture.........enjoy

thanks Gerhard..........and all who hit the like button been doing more on her this morning...............and then diss-asta struck! WHAAAAAAAAT! NOOOOOOOOOOOO! uh-ohhhh surely it's a small set back.........show ya what happened a bit later.

thanks Piet for the good word........I could be guessing here........but this boat kinda reminds me of the boat Tom sent me a while ago. when I was working with him {when he owned Billing USA}, I had an idea to try and build a boat from all around the country {US}. the Maine Lobster boat was a good representative for the New England states....that particular hull design could very well mimic many other boats.....fitting them out differently. he in turn sent me a picture of a boat that is fairly common to the great lakes. I mentioned this picture earlier...the Noree Jo.........I love the design. if I ever do it, I wonder how much of the interior I could flesh out..... the large bow cabin of this boat that I'm making here would give the crew enough room to warm up during those cold nights fishing. seems like a common fitting for great lakes boats. I think it would tickle Tom's fancy, if I ever did it {he was planning to do it.....but he has since gone back to working, and it quickly has taken up most of his time}. I might have been happier doing a schooner..........but this little ditty, for it's purpose, will do just fine thank you.....and thanks for all the likes I do have a small update........I finished roughing out the bow cabin. in fitting the side cover for the starboard side, it was a bit wider.......I was off with my cut. I filled it in with a sliver of wood.......I have plenty to choose from by this time I also began to cover the top.........I failed to mention that I'm using 1/32 flat stock to do this. it doesn't take much to cut it and shaving the edges {trimming it}, is very easy. it took three sections to cover the top..........I used rubber bands to hold them in place as they were installed. I was sitting at my desk, playing a game {waiting for the cement to set}.......when I heard a snapping noise. all I thought of was stressed wood giving way......wrong.........just a rubber band at the end of it's usefulness. even the admiral heard it......whenever she hears something that I might have broken,,,,she goes....uh-oh....... I put her mind at ease soon, the top was covered. later it was trimmed and sanded........I had to add a bit more glue to the bow tip, to fill in gaps and secure it down. more sanding was done.........I used a finer sandpaper to eliminate the fine hairs that basswood produces when sanded with rougher grit paper. sealed and resanded with fine paper will smooth it out....but I can wait till later to do that. more to come

very nice progress Nils...........and a very ambitious plan for the railings. no doubt in my mind that you'll figure them out

they turned out great Sam........a very nice job indeed!