popeye the sailor

looks awesome Nenad..........now you need to make the other one the buckets came out great..........nicely done!

good to hear your OK Vivian........hope you can get past your currant setback looking forward in seeing your continued build

look'in really sweet John.........you can't rush a fine build. hope you feel better soon.

rudder looks super Mark. glad to hear your going to be setting her upright soon.

looking awesome Patrick. leave the woodwork and just do accents.......it would be sad to paint over any of it

thanks Mark Keith and Greg.......also to those who hit the like button. white primer is good.......it will keep any color that the hull will be, bright as it will affect that pigment in the paint. I have a color in mind, but I'm curious to see what hue it will become, using a darker primer. not only that, but the red primer will also work as the bottom paint. I worked on her a bit more last night......I put a border strip around the top of the inner bulwarks. it will reinforce the bulwarks and give a better surface to cement the cap rails to. I have a thought about the fore deck........and the helm room. I want the helm room aft, but with what I want to do, it can't happen. I didn't make the fore deck large enough to accept it.....but in writing this, I thought of something that would be a good solution. one problem though.......the more I think, the more that the tree boat concept takes a back seat. I have also given this some thought as well.........I do have a back up solution, but I don't want to cause confusion. it would be sad to think that this type of hull, was a bad idea to base this concept on. thanks for your likes and comments, I really appreciate it

I'm in deep do do right now.......you ought to see my desk. there is sawdust from one end to the other......sandpaper and tools......strewn about. the word was handed down from above {yes.......she was towering over me......"you WILL clean this mess!" lord Vader has nothing on that stare *gulp!* I just watched the latest Star wars movie......if you haven't seen it.......you must! I spent the morning playing with a plastic aircraft model......a Fokker D VII in 1:28 scale. it's not totally accurate, but it builds into a very nice plane. from there, I went on websites to catch up with folks here and in other places. this is where it gets dicey.........right in the middle of a post, I began rubbing the tree Boat with fine sandpaper. the more I rubbed, the more I fell.........the plane model ended up in the living room I worked out a few of the minor imperfections........the heck with it, I'll work the rest out by the time I paint. I got out some 1/8 x 1/8 square stock and went to work on the rub rails. first I did the initial rub rail on both sides. cutting bits of square stock, the starboard side looks like this....... the stern has a single rail across it connects the two sides together and is rounded. across the fore deck, a cap beam was installed.... 3/16 x 3/16 square stock was used for it. the main deck has a huge joint down the middle......yea, I got plans for that of course, and like clockwork, an errand popped up out of the woodwork. I had to leave it for a while. when we got back, I began on the port side....cutting all the little pieces and laying down the upper part...... crap! another errand ......laid it back down and took off again. we got back and ate supper. I picked it back up like I didn't miss a beat........laid the bottom and started to sand the crap out of it. all of the bottoms are rounded to a blunt point.......first with coarse grit to bring them down quick, followed with fine to smooth them out. took care of a couple of other slight imperfections along the way. only the upper verticals on the bow are rounded blunt, as the bottoms. the bow has a nicer look to it.......they stop at the stem and are rounded to meet it the top verticals towards the stern are left straight, so they will meet the cap rails.......the top edge of the bulwarks are sanded down to meet them, as well as the inner posts. I have plans for the inside.......nothing drastic,, I assure you. ....and the bow, with both upper and lower verticals rounded blunt. I wanted to give it a coat of red primer........something a bit different......and to kill the white, to make her a little more photogenic, but it's getting late. I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do some more tonight. Gibbs tried to get me into the living room.......I laughed. "where the heck were you when I was watching the Star Wars movie?" he trotted off to the living room by himself.........I may give in later.......depending on how late I work on the Tree Boat

just do what you can......hope you feel better soon. every bit of progress you make brings you closer to completion

well done Sjors!

that's some sweet looking rigging.......the sail definitely doesn't hide it at all

thanks Pat........appreciate the kind comment

superb color for the sails...appears that they send a purplish hue down to the deck. the ship looks so awesome with them on! very nice work

simply super glue them on......probably not a good idea to try and drill holes.

hard to think that they would be hanging outside the bulwark......they'd be in the way of the mizzen shrouds. perhaps the hammock cranes were built off of the inside bulwark walls. the sketch shows the bulwarks thicker, but is pretty vague on what makes them look thick

nice job on the buckets Nenad.........unbelievably small my friend! shoulda put those ants to work insteada lugg'in stuff around all day in their jaws......you mighta started a trend ! good use of imagination there!

awesome work on the masts.......lighting them will be a treat! gonna be some cool looking rigging as well

thanks Mark.......I still have to touch them up a bit. cold doesn't play well with paint thanks for the good word

thanks Lawrence........I lucked out considering how long ago I planked the fore deck.......it could have meant a redo.

a 'patchwork orange' must be someone who is in a lot of trouble "son........have you seen where all my quilts, got off to?"

thanks John, Bob, and Patrick......and who hit the like button. I don't think I'm going to add any more rail cover........although it might look cool on the bow railings. Michael showed me some really neat approach to the stairs......but since these were solid treads and I wanted to use this ladder up, that was the best I could come up with at the moment. I seem to be doing a lot with stairs and ladder in recent weeks.........don't be surprised if you see something new in the near future. after all.........he did give me ideas thanks all for the kind words and the likes!

I use white glue, and I keep a damp cloth with me for whatever oozes out. I rinse it out periodically to keep the cloth fresh. after a good sanding afterwards, I've even opted for staining, rather than the second planking. I've only done one hull that I've second planked. there are many methods for planking. the plank will tell you how it wants to lay.......whether to taper, or not. don't be intimidated......think it through. after a while, it'll be fun.....you'll see I haven't even come up with the perfect hull yet

awesome job on the ship's wheel {s}. they look very nice on deck!

I feel your pain Russ........I've got a few more years yet. and when I get there, they'll probably have raised the bar another couple of years the bottom paint look great........touch ups are part of the process. you'll be doing it until you throw up your hands and say 'I'm finished!' {I've done it on all my builds } it a good color scheme....red and white compliment each other. good to see your working on her again

nutz! I didn't get any pictures of the railing cover being sewed on. I did get pictures of the railing in place though. I added to it.......the angle made it too short at the bottom.....you could see the ladder. adding a piece to it covered it well enough......I used CA to add the piece on. it hides the seam quite well, I think. then ......like the proverbial fool that I am.......I took both railings out on the porch to give them a coat of flat white. we were getting 2 - 4 inches of snow.......it was way too cold out there, and the paint behaved as paint does when it too cold. I was going to wipe down the railings, but I figured to just let it dry, and I'll do it in the cellar or wait for a warmer day. anyway, I was going to redo them before I show them to you all, but now that they are dry, they don't look too bad {except for a few bare spots}. so here are a couple pictures of them painted and in place. I hope to get more done tomorrow

not really Bob........that is since it involved almost ruining a fore deck that's been finished for over a couple of years. I'll start from the beginning......... I had an idea on how to make the railing for the stairs.....it consisted of bent wire and a three hole stanchion. as I have done along the bow line and for the upper landing, I bordered it off for the stanchions to sit on. I needed a very small piece of wood {I forget the size} to fit the span between the ladder and the rest of the border. I painted some up with the flat white. now, I'm making that section of border......and shaping the railings, and trying to gauge where to drill the hole for the bottom stanchion {it's to be part of the railing itself}. in between all of this, I must have forgotten to tighten down the cap on the flat white.......I began to shake it. I noticed my fingers turning white...........but it was too late........a couple of paint drops landed on the fore deck! I wiped them up as fast as I could.....but they still left the remnants of their mark. so, I had to sand them with fine sandpaper to get rid of them.......now the blemishes are much larger. I gave it another coat of semi gloss lacquer......thus removing all trace of the paint fiasco. I saw another spot on the upper stair landing....some thinner took care of it well enough. then I cleaned up the table, because there were spots on it as well. once that dilemma was over, I looked over the winch to take my mind off of things for the moment. this winch worked well for the Nordkap.....I believe the same one was used for the Cux and the Mary Ann. the big drawback with it, is that it only has two spools.....I need more, so I'm going to have to add to it. how......you may ask? I can't tell you just yet. the binnacle is in place in the helm room. so with the piece of border in place on the upper landing...hole is drilled, and the hole is drilled down on the main deck, the railing was set in place and the rungs were cemented in the position they needed to be in. when the CA had set......it was moved to the desk for yet another process that was to be done with it. the short rungs will be cemented to the existing railings after everything is painted....the stair railings and the bow railings. I'll see if there are more pictures in the camera