popeye the sailor

thanks Nigel..........it's just me, refusing to give up on the Billing's paint. I like the paint..........it has a nice shine, and it dries to a very hard finish.....come in handy with the minor bumps and nudges. usually I mix up the entire bottle, but of late, I've been doing it in batches. here's a couple of shots of the paint work. the port side didn't come out too bad.......just a couple of small cracks. nothing too serious but, the starboard side had a bit more wrong. the white blotch you see is where the rippled primer was. I've already sanded it out........take care of the other issues and I'll re shoot it. there is one other mistake I made.......I forgot to cover the scuppers. I can imagine what the deck looks like thanks George...........trouble?!?!?! now, whatever do you mean me.........get into trouble?!

thanks Kees........kinda got into it after I saw how the M&M Fun Ship came out. that one was easy though.....I had everything planned and figured out before I even began building it. I even added a few things, thanks to suggestions folks gave me. The Holiday Harbor Fleet was a concept I had, but I was starting from scratch {literally}, but I had no concrete ideas in how to go about it. it started with three hulls........one of them ended up becoming the Andrea Gail. so now I'm down to two hulls........the Christmas Tree Boat still needs to have it's hull planking done {believe it or not}. I've been focusing on the Jingle Belle........probably because I've already given it a name. you can say that I like this form of modeling......I still have a subject and I have a lot more freedom to add detail and imagination. the jury's still out on the stress level though.......they can be just as stressful, as building a replica ship. thanks for the good word.......I still gotta catch up with your build. fantastic work your doing! Thanks for the good word Patrick.......and thanks all for the likes!

by this time, I have her masked up and down in the cellar, having her primer touched up. ...and while this was going on, I did a little work to the roof section, thickening up the front and rear eves. I'll show the parts involved.......but first the look of the hull, back to square one. the masking wasn't much, I only did the green part. the masking tape had to be trimmed, since it was wider than the strip itself. now that this is done, it will be masked even more........time for the main color. it took a while, as you can guess.....and then back down to the cellar it went. as for the actual paint work........let's just say I ran into the same technical difficulties. it didn't run like the green did, but it exposed cracks in the hull.......ghosts.......and a weird thing, where it activated the primer and rippled it. only in one area though...kinda curious what caused it. while it was drying, I did the rear eves. it starts with strips of 1/16 square stock...inner and outer under the eves. then, a fascia board was cemented over them. this will hide any gaps along the front and read fascia walls, under the eves. the outer surface is then sanded flat, getting it ready to accept a cover board...I'm looking for something decorative. when the back pair are dry, they will be sanded too. any gaps in the roof sides will be covered with shingles. now I go play damage control........it's really not as bad as it sounds.

John said the same thing Greg..........if you folks have a Wal-Mart........I can relocate. I have a very understanding admiral...she loves the boats, but has come to dislike plastic I got the Santa Maria for Christmas......she got it from a website that I like to window shop oldmodels.com it's a Revell kit that was produced back in the mid 60's. it doesn't specify a scale, but I think it's around 1:89. she cringed having to order it it should be interesting when I get to it. now, it's update time......When I had done the cap rails, I used some basswood that I had gotten in an earlier Billing's kit. the cut of the strips was not that great...the edges looked very rough. I figured that I'd be sanding it anyway, so it might smooth it out. it didn't......ended up sanding the outer lip close to the bulwarks. I was going to let it go.......but the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. I was able to fatten up the starboard side with some 1/16 strip stock, sanding and blending it into the existing cap rail. I wasn't so lucky with the port side though, so I had to replace the offending section with a bit more sanding and blending, I can finish fixing the green bleeds, and get her masked up for the second stage of outer hull paint.

I will have something soon Mark........had to work this morn.....got home an hour ago. I have an errand to run and then..............

thanks for the good word Greg and Bug! also to all who hit the like button my admiral....what a peach! she saw the look on my face when I came up from the cellar, after the botched paint job.......she directed that I do my painting in the house. she pointed to the kitchen table. I simply told her ....'you don't know what your saying!" our weather has moderated.........I've cleaned up the mess on the hull, and even modified the top rails. they had a couple of shallow spots on the bulwark. I'm at the point now, where it's time to mask her up again.......this time....the main hull color. I should have an update soon.

looks great Mark......you'll have that stern looking sharp before you know it!

yea....we got a lot of folks crying in their snowcones up here what crazy weather we're having

nice progress Sjors! masts are looking excellent!.....time to call the spider brigade!

thanks for the good word and the likes. we dodged the bullet on the big snowstorm George, I feel bad for those south of us. some parts were hit with over 2 feet of snow! in my area, we still have patches of lawn peeking out........getting very little snow fall to date. this is all well and good........but I bought a *#%!%$ snow blower......and so far, it's not paying for itself! we're heading into some milder weather......should be better for painting. I know it looks plain at the moment......but while the hull is getting it's splash of color, I'll be adding to the roof. hard to say exactly what will be added, but I will try to make it interesting

it's roughed out Mark......now with the aide of your new toy, your going to be able to clean up these areas and enhance her looks! very nice upgrade!

getting more done on the roof, it begins with the front and rear fascia. then the roof underlayment because of the shape of the roof, trimming was needed for them to fit good. I left 1/4 of an inch overhang at the front and rear......I have something I think would be neat to do. should have left a bit more on the pitched ends though....I will fix it cementing down the bottom panels was a bit tricky. here is a shot of the tabs that locate the roof assembly to the house. so, this is where I am at the moment. there.....the roof is done. now perhaps I can get the boat painted

thanks Patrick.....it's all covered.....I just wish I had the gumption to do more tonight.......work prevails. I'll try to get the progress pictures up

thanks everyone for the nice comments and for the likes I'm not sure John........it was a thought I had. I was also thinking about a clock.......I'll do something, I'm sure

what a taffy pull.........which way do I go.....! I want to finish painting the hull.....but I can't do that.......I need to build the roof! the windows are still another chink in the armor...........do you know.......neither of the two major grocery chains in our area carry future floor wax! not to worry though.....I think I found something that will work...this isn't over yet! in the meantime......I started to cut up the mahogany strips to create the shingles. so, that's another ongoing process. I don't need super long pieces......it will make things easier. since the roof is such a big issue with getting the boat painted, I'll put together the main part of it and finish it while the paint work is being done. the base is together......next is the front and rear eves the front was made in advance.......once cemented in place, the back one was created. later, the peak beam was cemented in. then I did some framing foe the back fascia. then some framing for the front fascia roof rafters were the next to add to the roof. next will be to get some covering on it.........I think with what I've got here, to cover it will be plenty strong enough.

slowly but surely my friend! she's really beginning to take shape I don't think it's a bad thing to jump around.......some of my beast ideas come to me like that. you'll also get to see if one aspect will work with another...or if it will need some tweaking. keep going, your doing a fine job!

quite a bevy of boats you have there! there is no understatement of the quality that you've put into them. "peg" looks great in her new house. congratz on the finish, and thank for allowing us the pleasure of seeing your talent and skill

awesome looking life boats Jens.........never knew that there were two sets on board. nicely done. there are folks that have used the plastic ones as jigs here on the site.........I've just planked over them with thin strip. really like the way you did that

I can't imagine a Victory as a snap kit Frank stranger things have come down the pike.......... thanks for the good word ! thanks Wayne...........anything for my grand sons!

to learn to scratch produce parts is a useful tool.......with the quality control some manufacturers supposedly have, it a wonder why there are shortages hope you at least get the cannons........the frames can easily be dealt with

blow torch.....jack hammer........no problem! keen to see what your idea is

look'in good KP.............love the old car

awesome pictures

the kevels look really good Piet........I have to make a couple for my Half Moon {they were missing in the kit}. deck's looking pretty busy

thank you all for the nice comments and all of you who hit the like button work has me busy at the moment.......it will be refreshing though getting back to the table, and able to get back to my builds. I can't wait for the boys to see it thanks one 'an all