popeye the sailor

hello there Ed........glad to hear that my favorite reader is doing better! I hope she's following this build.......I'm sure she'd enjoy it.......I'm hoping it gets a bit more interesting. Once the warming house is close to being finished, I can then get into more boat oriented stuff......like the pilot house I'm keeping her in my thoughts, to be sure....tell her I hope the trend continues for her. give 'er a hug for me. you two kids stay off the dance floor.......no jitterbugg'in.......OK!?!?!?!?!

I don't know if I mentioned this before.......but I was looking for future floor wax, and do you know that neither of the two big grocery chains carry it! I did find something though......I haven't done anything with it yet. I was looking at the windows and resumed finishing off t he last set for the port side. I also picked up the doors....they still need to be finished as well. so, I set up the ruler again and laid them out. I made up a pair of door handle plates.......pre drilled them so not to cause any adverse damage to the doors. the top hole is for the door locks and the bottom is for the handles themselves. the heads of two 10 mm brads and two shaped pieces of brass rod, will serve the purpose quite nicely. cemented in place, they look like this. as I did with the door knockers, I now have to do to them......so I masked up the doors. first painted with flat black, and them dry brushed with gold.......I'm hoping to achieve sort of an antique brass then.....of course, to finally find a home for those door knockers as I was doing this, I was putting the windows, that were already finished, back in place. I had shown the candle lights I'm planning on using. one crapped out on me, so I only have one left. now that the roof is assembled, I can show you how the structure will look lit. the effect with the roof makes it all worthwhile the admiral really liked the lighting effect. still more painting to the hull and cap railings.......not to mention the siding and getting the roof finished........and of course, the windows.... I swear, it will NEVER end

since I started to do the drip edges, I'll finish them. both drip edges are in place, and at each end, I matched them up with triangular pieces of planking. these will be trimmed and sanded flush with the mating at each end. trimmed and sanded, they give the edges a beveled look.......front and back. with the roof put on the structure, both pitches of the roof now lap over the edges, like they are supposed to. next I'll have to see if drip caps can be done to close them. there's still more to go yet for the roof

your right Michael......since every house has got 'em don't know why I didn't figure them in. I guess you could consider it a casualty of freehand modeling. thanks.........and thanks to all who hit the like button.

hello Lawrence.......always glad to see you yea......going through the boring stuff right now.......watching paint dry {and hoping it won't ripple in a certain spot}. your just in time to catch an update.......I think we can move on now thanks for the good word my friend........and thanks again for those who have been following along. I've been hoping that ideas would be coming to me a hundred miles an hour {like the Andrea, or the M&M}......but with this build, I seem to be flying by the seat of my pants. who would have thought that it would be so hard to nail down a concept here? I'm going to keep going with this build.......perhaps I'll get a brainstorm ......and off I'll go but for anyone who is new to the hobby, of those who want to try something different.......I like to think that I'm doing this to let you know that there's more than 'a' ship in that kit you bought. look at that hull you just created and think of how many ships have that same hull construction. hopefully, you saved the parts panels, or traced out the bulkheads, just for chuckles and grins. then make that other hull, and see where your imagination takes you. I have the perfect kit to further show this....{actually, I have two}...........I can't wait to get to them! anyway....................last week began to show us a splash of color for the Jingle Belle. there is one 'fly in the ointment' though......hopefully I can fix it and move on. three colors are already on the vessel......there are two more that will adorn the outer hull. OK.......sand the offending area....again......... it was then brought back down stairs and given another shot. to my amazement, it looks like it's starting to come back! knowing that I had to work last night at the airport, I decided to let it dry and see what happens. I did rip the masking off the top part of the ship. I was very happy to see that there was minimal over spray in the scuppers. I will have to decant some primer paint to remedy the situation, but a light sanding will remove most of it before the touch up. so, let this be a lesson to you.......never leave your scuppers open. now, I've cleaned up the front and rear roof edges along the walls.......they look good.......but what about the roof edges along the port and starboard sides? for this, I'm going to add drip edges. I did get to finish this before I had to leave..........I can fine tune this when I get home. I took one last look at the drying process, and was amazed to find that the nonconformity had almost disappeared! there is a slight blemish from the sanding.......the spot can be seen, but only at certain angles. I can live with that we'll move on from here!

I use an air brush........wouldn't do without it. I have a very low cost spray outfit which is sold by Testor's.......does just as good a job, as a high priced brand. it's a kit called the 'Amazing Air' airbrush kit. it run with a can of compressed air, but I adapted it to my 25 gal compressor. I also have a spraycraft gravity feed, and an Aztek 320, which I have all the accessories and two of each tips {never used} to know more about the Testor's airbrush kit: http://www.testors.com/category/136949/Airbrushes I thought I had another link........but I guess I deleted it. here is an old friend of mine.....he's tried many airbrushes and may give you more info on them. https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/home

super progress Tom........cannonades and bumpkins look great!

would there be sailors tending the capstan while this is going on? interesting that it's the messenger that is wound 'round the capstan and not the anchor rope itself........to be honest, until I came to this site, I was not sure how this process worked. you've done well in shedding light on the process.

hey there Jesse.......I see it's never a dull moment at your ship yard. I hope you recovered most of the parts......naughty kitty good to see though that your making some progress.......and looking very nice in the process super job with the head rails.

I dunno Pat........I think your shrouds are excellent! in real life, it's hypothetically impossible for all of the dead eyes to be the same height.......not if they've been periodically adjusted for tension. same as the gun port lids {I'm sure that was drilled into their heads during gunnery practice}. I feel it's the tiny things like this, that gives it a life - like look. I know we try to shoot for perfection, but I think life - like and realism is harder to achieve. I still have a long way to go, to get where you folks are, with your wonderful builds

looking very nice Jens.........the Dolphin striker looks super. really great pictures I have the Sergal Thermopylae.....can't wait to start it

really coming along nicely Sjors so good to see you back in the work shop!

very nice detail Patrick........with the imagination your putting into her, you'll have no problem whipping up a cat engine

thanks John.........good that I'm on my work week ......it will give the paint time to fully cure. then I can fix the bad spot. we'll see what it looks like when I do the last bit of it thanks for the good word....and the likes thanks as well Patrick.......the Boulogne Etaples...the hull that I modeled these from, is a stern trawler. it was very easy to modify this hull to become the Andrea Gail. but I liked the large deck...I'd have lots of room to play with I still need to get a prop, so I can do the rudder, but I ca play a bit more on deck....and I will. I gotta put in another order....I getting much needed supplies a little at a time. I need to replace the parts for the Boulogne.......then I can bring her out for a while

it was a productive morning........a little bump, but otherwise A-O-K I had said....the heck with it......the bottom paint is going on as planned. I used the Model Master paints this time....Dark Drab for the bottom paint color. funny how it works though.......you get comfortable doing something.....and then other things get in the way. shopping......Gibbs......putting a starter in my son's car.......things meant to keep one on his toes. I wanted to get a shot of the hull without the masking on the bottom, but I was too fast for myself. I had the upper part of the hull masked and ready. all I could get was this I almost did it again........I was removing the masking before I took this I left the deck masking still on there, so I can fix that bad spot again........still don't know what's causing it. it's not as bad, as it first appeared.....so I may be getting the better of it. there are a couple of really minor bleeds that can be easily touched up. take care of them, and fix the blemish......and I should be ready for phase 4.

very nicely done Charlene!

you are kidding.........right!?!?! love the sloop.......she's really sweet

I'm sure of that.......Billing's sells them, but they're plastic and in halves {you gotta put them together}. I'm not a big fan of that type of plastic either.......and worst of all........they don't incorporate a throat in the bowl, like you do. {I drilled mine}. hee...hee

I don't believe the word rush is in the modeling handbook....but the word impatient pops up a lot take your time and take advantage of life's opportunities. we'll still be here.....watching the creation of that gem of an engine......and soon, the creation of the hull to put 'er in.

me too Nenad.......you'll do well in getting her hunkered down.

vents look awesome nils..........that is one sweet idea. I've seen those in various sizes at office supply stores. definitely something to keep in mind

I use photo shop......sounds like they're pretty much the same. I also use the Testor's decal paper, both clear and white. knowing that printers don't do white, I've been able to print white decals by altering the background color, like I did with the Andrea Gail. white decal paper would be a good choice, since the white decal film will act as a backing for the image and produce a bolder finish. the only problem I see there though, is that laying the decal on a different color surface, would create a 'sign' effect. I saw this while trying to do the depth markers for the Cutty Sark {this build started me doing my own decals}. I think you'd do well with wood Kees........you have the eye, the skill, and the talent. most of all.....imagination

thanks Marty.......welcome to the project I did a few repairs to the hull and took it down to touch it up. that one spot has resurfaces again! I did however, remove the bottom masking and most of the green area {I left the area where the spot is masked for the time being}. I like the looks of it.......next will be the bottom paint, and the pin striping along the borders. I should have something to show for my troubles soon thanks for the good word!

sweet looking search light you make your own decals too? what program do you have? I have the Testor's 'decal it' standard edition {it's put out by 'sure thing'}. they come out nice, but this program has a sort of transparency issue. I don't have the means to darken them, or adjust the pixels. so, it limits where I can use them......mostly on light colored backgrounds. I can change the background to match the color I'm using, but there are so many off shades and hues, it tough to get a good match. does the manufacturer have a web address?

I did a search for the Meta.....found a couple of old auction sites. quite a ship you have there. I looked in the Billing's instruction archives, and they don't list it, which means that it's been a long time out of production. I used to know the fellow that ran Billing USA...I keep in touch. the last time I heard was that Kent sold the business...but he didn't say to who. the denmark site has been up and down........I checked tonight, and I saw what everyone else has seen....a new website coming soon. I also looked for the instructions.......bust! probably the only way your going to find out, will be to keep your eye on E-Bay...or other auction sites, until one surfaces. hopefully, a fittings kit shows up. box art may be your only hope. for anyone who is looking for Billing's parts for their builds, the Billing USA site is still up. it is now run by Ages of Sails, out of California. http://www.billingboatsusa.com/ http://www.agesofsail.com/ecommerce/