popeye the sailor

I started in the plastic medium..........I'm sure it was around then {HO scale trains and such}. it was probably at the hobby store I used to haunt......never seen it. that was back in the days when I was hack'in and slash'in car bodies and sprues. when I first came to this site, it seemed like plastic was the big bad wolf for wooden ships........I never thought that........just that some of the parts weren't right for the aspect they were made for. plastic has the ability to meld joints and give a better seamless assembly for most applications. Kees demonstrates this very well it's a learning curve Bob.........but for you, it will be a very small one skylights look very good

with the caliber of craftsmanship I see you do.........I'll wait and let you surprise me nice progress on the sumwings...........garlic?!?!?!.....got anyone willing to hang 'round you while this is going on? . actually, I found some netting material in a craft store.......good for the larger ships. for smaller ships I find that they sell bunched up bath sponges {only word I know to describe them} work well. yea......I know.......we find our supplies in our travels rest assured that no vampire will be mugg'in you in the next week or two

such wonderful detail!.........you've done quite a bit since I last looked in! your imagination is quite vivid.......shown in the clarity of detail you've nailed it!

she's look'in good Walt.........glad to see your still work'in on her. still got a bit more to go though....it's the fun part

well said Bob...........some of my best work, has been through mistakes me thinks you did a very fine job

what a pleasant thing to come in to see.......the galleries and windows look great Mark! really super job!

I am as well John.........I no sooner get caught up..........put my head to the table...........look again........and find I'm just as buried as I was before! at the moment, I'm play'in with a few ideas......and doing yard work {UGH}. nothing really to show for progress yet..........but if things go the way I want them to, the results should be startling {best word I can think of for it} thanks for looking in and the good word!

glad to see you've resumed in this build.....nice bit of progress

Augie's passing took a lot of us by surprise. safe to say for all that we were fortunate to have had the pleasure of his company while he was here. he will be missed. "take care of those you call your own....and keep good company." looking forward for your return............make sawdust, not war!

the plot thickens

lots of progress since I last looked in Nils.........gangway and the masting really looks great! very nice detail work

my word.....you have been busy...........! so much detail......the interior looks fabulous! what's interesting about this build, is you've defied the logic that bigger is better so amazing..........even the loo!

I hope you cemented all the parts on the aft deck........it looks perfect! {except for the cannon............of course } you did a really good job of capturing the detail..........I think anything more would be overkill. {after adding the blocks and rigging}. I'm not much with programs like that..........I just work off from the pictures I find. really great stuff!

........that's only part of 'em bug.........I'm hopeless I guess my inner child thinks I started too late in life......and it's trying to catch up. either that, or I'm too imaginative for my own good the admiral doesn't mind though.......she likes the wooden ones better than the plastic kits i used to build. I have another six years and six months to go before I can retire..........I'll still have plenty to do when I get there thanks for look'in in and the good word! so good to see you

I see you've increased the spacing.......are you going to continue with wider spacing till you get to the stern? repetitive work is a bear.......but when fared and ready for planking, your going to be happy how it will come out

finally got a chance to really tune in this weekend.........very nice work on the galleries Mark!

this has turned into quite a project.......the detail you've put into each aspect is really super. I'm sure you'll figure out the assembly as you go along...one idea will facilitate the next. you will do well my friend

I agree with Dave as well........you did a great job with the planking. you've set yourself up quite well....the second planking will be a breeze!

sounds interesting.....I'm sure you'll find more missing details that can be added. the model is large enough. a friend of mine who owned a Billing Boats franchise {warehouse}, was supposed to send me a copy of the plans. sadly he couldn't get them {I imagine}. the kit is too expensive and out of my price range {for now, anyway}. I haven't had too many problems with the laser cutting, except for the occasional delamination of parts {ply separation}. I've built enough Billing's kits to overlook the vagueness of the plans........I don't squint so much any more

....and the shark smiled for the camera

you'll do just fine.........I'm sure of it well done Nenad

that could very be the wave of the future

you do fish very well the figures look super..........I like where this is going

I should also mention that, if your planning to paint the hull, you can use filler to fix all of the imperfections....prime and paint. save all that wonderful walnut for trim work and other fun stuff. if you still wish to veneer and are going to do the coppering too........mark off the waterline, plank down to that line, and then copper from there. many creative ways to accomplish this.

there are a few different approaches to planking. I'm not an expert at it. looking at your photos, in planking at the stern, you've already done a 'stealer', which is simply a wedge of planking used to fill in a gap. basically, it follows the way that the plank wants to run. but there are time where the plank wants to run on top of the previous planking. here, you want to taper the plank....remove that excess material, so that the plank will fall into place without hinder. the best way to do it, is to create a straight line along the hull {bow to stern}, and maintain that line all the way to the keel. using the scale planking method, as I mentioned earlier, you can work with a shorter plank and shape it much easier. some folks will figure and determine what the scale length is for their particular scale, but there is an easier way {that I use}. I use two bulkheads as the scale length. where you mentioned that the veneer is shorter than the hull, this should work well for you. remember to end your plank on half the bulkhead width, so that the next one butted to it has a cement point. one method will have you 'band off' quadrants of the hull form bow to stern. with this method, the planks are trimmed to fit the quadrant, before moving on to the next one. each quadrant is measured so that all of them are equal and take into account that the bow and stern are wider than the mid ship. this will determine how the plank must be fashioned to fit the quadrant and fill it in. every method use these three ways of preparation. taper: when a plank wants to fall over the previous plank line. this excess material need to be trimmed and removed, so the plank will fall into place naturally, without any gaps. stealers: when a plank wants to fall away from the plank line, leaving a gap. the field in which this plank is to lay, is too wide. there are two methods to remedy this, but this the easier of the two, and is mostly used at the stern. a wedge of planking is trimmed to shape and installed, filling in the gap, and maintaining the plank line. jogging {or joggling}: this is the second approach to the stealer, and is mostly used at the bow. this calls for the merging of two planks at the bow, into one at the mid ship, back to two planks at the stern. two planks are tapered towards the mid ship, each tapered to 1/2 the width of the plank. the mid ship planking butts up to these planks and runs until the width begins to widen from the line again towards the stern. at this point, it will then be tapered and fitted back to two planks for the stern. the plank line must be maintained throughout this process. this doesn't always occur like this, but that's where careful planning come into play. from what I see, there are no hard rules to planking....it changes from ship to ship. some start at the bulwarks...some start at the keel. some will even plank down to the chine and then merge it from the keel. the second planking goes a bit easier, working with thin strips. I try to do the best I can with the first planking.....most of the time I could get away from doing the second planking. {unless it's a decorative wood or too many glue blotches} I hope I gave you something useful........as mentioned, there are folks who are much better at it than I am. it gets the job done