popeye the sailor

your first attempt isn't bad at all......don't feel like that. if you do replace them though....the top of the door frame should overlap the sides. simply all you'd really need to do is put molding around the frame and leave the door the way it is. not too much to do...to make it look nicer.....I love that door...it looks rustic. I agree with Matti as well.....darker wood with the light wood really set it up nicely. try diagonal cuts when doing the door molding.....like a picture frame while it would be nice to have the doors functional, just doing them the way you have done is pleasing enough. keep that idea in mind for the next one......Ideas never die.....unless you want them to

now your getting into the good stuff..... this is what will make the hull, a ship

looking good Sjors I can relate to what Augie says.......whenever I see something about a build that I don't like, I simply see it as an opportunity to bash wonderful progress you've done there!

thanks Kevin......I haven't done much with them as of late. waiting till the weather get a bit warmer, so I can bring them out to the garage for a complete sanding job. they are going to be singular builds, but under the same subject / theme. one of my ideas though might not be as good as I once thought. I at least want them to be practical, so I threw the skating rink idea out. I do have an idea for the third hull, but it doesn't pertain to the subject. if that happens, this project will become a duo, and I'll save the other hull for that purpose. however this turns out, it will still be fun to do. thanks for looking in

decking looks nice Nenad........very well done

nice bit of progress........the detail your putting into it is really neat!

there is supposed to be a bit of curvature to the deck platform. I would sand the top of the frame work to this curvature.......if there are a couple at this point that shows more that what you should have, thin flat stock shims should take care of it. the bulwark posts seem to be rather thick with this kit.....I would fare the hull frame and either install the bulwark panels {if the kit has them}, or plank the bulwarks down to the deck line. then they can be thinned down, and the excess at the deck line can be hidden by the waterways or deck planking. the bottom line....just as the hull frame need to be fared for the planking to sit flush, the same is the case for the deck platform. I haven't built one yet that I didn't have to do this to....and yes, I have had to shim here and there.

good to see you bench cleaned off .....happy birthday my friend! working on her majesty is a wonderful way to spend a special day!

looking very nice Nils

nice bit of progress......glad to see your on the move again! really great

very nice progress Dee Dee........are you going to be adding in rigging as well?

nice the way you did that was that in the kit plans?

thanks Patrick......while it would be something really cool.....I don't think I'd be doing something like that none too soon I just threw it together for some idea on numbers. I'm not a big fan of this preliminary stuff either.....I'd rather be building. I've never done anything like this {of this size} before....I want to make sure I have things in order. thanks for the good word

another toy......hopefully, you still have room for your builds :D more fine rigging....and more in store! she's looking good !

thanks for the good word Dave. it's part of the reason why I chose to do this conversion......the deck sections are warped. you can see it in the pictures. what would a plastic model be without warpage? I hear you John........I only have so much of the 3 mm planking, and I don't have the funds at the moment to get any more. the areas I plan on fudging will not be seen, and what I have in mind will look OK with what can. the main objective was the masting.......I see that I will need to make mast pots under the gun deck, probably about 1/4 inch deep. this might be a bit too much, but I'm just throwing a number out there. I do have a couple of thoughts that I'm toying with.....sort of a plan B. thanks for the good word

I haven't done much with transfers. I would imagine there is a program out there for it. transfers work backwards from decals, the film for it would be on the surface, and with decals, your printing on the film, but then another film needs to be overlaid as a sealant. I could go into the process of both mediums, but that would be moot.....the process I speak of negates both. whether you use a decal program as I did, or you do this through a paint shop program, the results would be the same. the one thing I can add is that with softer cloths, the use of a sealer may be required to stiffen up the cloth. a light coat would be the best. this might even be good to prevent hidden problems, like ghosting, and the ink bleeding through the other side of the cloth.

the box came out of the closet I can't stands n' more! the deck planking bug is really getting under my skin here......how much of the gun deck is....or is not visible? what is the plank length in the molded detail? an even bigger question occurred to me.....masting. that's down the road a ways.....but I did begin to scratch the surface on it. to get a good sense of the mast aspect, I started by cementing the sections together. the fore and aft stands were cemented to the hull the spar deck was cemented together I needed to make sure that the addition of the planking would fit in the tabs of the inner hull. after a bit of fidgeting, I managed to dry fit this together all this was to see what actually can be seen of the gun deck. I didn't think of this when I did it.......but this would make a very nice diorama. I'd need to correct the joints of the sections {they're a little off}.......well worth hanging onto these parts for perhaps something in the future. so, I marked of the areas that could be fudged over with wider planking. even through the gun ports, I don't think the difference will be seen. I won't use simulated calking on these areas, I will use a ruler to scribe in the lines later. the spar deck will be totally planked with 3 mm planking.

I have seen many topics about making flags and sails. on some early galleons and ships of this period, the main sail......and in some cases, other sails as well, are embossed with crosses and crests. I had suggested in the past, to try using your ink jet printer to make flags.....but wasn't too sure how this would apply to the sails. this week......as a spur of the moment, I embarked on such an experiment. I went on line and found lots of images of crests, shields, and stuff. you can also find quite a bit of scroll work there as well. these images can be brought into paint shop to alter and change to your specifications, but for now, I didn't go that far. I used the Testor's decal maker to do this little experiment. on some crosses, the bottom appendage is elongated. now, I used what many would say is an Iron cross, but if you look at it in the mindset of motorcycles and Harley Davidson.....I think you'll forgive me the admiral did some looking as well, and she came up with a couple....one of them I really like. so, in the decal maker program, I sized it and changed the color. since the decal sheet is half size, I re-positioned it so it would fall somewhere close to the center of the cloth.....yes....cloth. first, I ran a sheet of paper through. it looks good, but there are some abnormalities with it. I'm thinking that this is the first image....the printing track may have something to do with it. plus the fact that I've done nothing to clean it up. now, the cloth that I used is very soft and flimsy....it did bind up the printer a couple of times. I did manage to run it through. I'm hoping that these abnormalities are what I think they are. they did clean up to some degree. it may be the type of cloth I used, but printer lines are quite visible through the image. I have some sail cloth from other kits that I can try this on. they are of different textures and a bit stiffer as well. here is the same image on some of the material I got in the Gothenborg kit. .....as opposed to using soft cotton cloth there are different textures you can use.....here is the cotton cloth I used first {bottom}, the white cloth I got from the Regina kit...stiffer but smooth to the touch {roll on the left}, and the beige cloth I got from the Gothenborg kit {roll on the right}, stiffer than the Regina cloth, and feels like canvas. I won't be using it.......sadly, there isn't enough there to do all of the sails in the kit. I haven't gotten farther than this....at this point, the embossed image needs to be sealed onto the sail. I would think that if the image was allowed to dry, the sail perimeters could be drawn and cut out. but, before the sail goes through the rigors of the sewing machine, the sealing process should be done first. the process could be done in a couple of ways: 1) you could use decal bonder or some sort of fast drying sealer....anything that does not contain water. 2) this would be an experiment in itself.....mixing white glue and alcohol. this would have to be misted a very light coat at a time.....not that you need to give this a very thick coat, but it does need to get into the fabric to be effective. sealing the image should be done in light coats anyway.......saturating it would result in the ink bleeding and creeping. the sail should lay flat for this process, which is the only detriment I see.......not good if you desire billowing sails, but I think shaping may still work. bend to shape.....lay them on a crumpled towel or rippled surface, and give them another coat. preferably, with a flat clear coat of sorts.

if that mark won't sand out.....make a small crate or a couple of barrels usually cover up nicely. just use a prop

very beautiful Den......lots of glittery stuff! your style of rigging is really cool......heck I'd have to keep all that crap out of my way just wonderful!

the more research you do, the more changes and additions.......pretty soon, your not in Kansas anymore! with multiple builds of the Connie going on, it's neat to see the individual takes on her. looking forward in seeing the finished frame work

looks awesome Piet.....lots of cool detail to it!

looks great Steve.......now you need to get all your measurements, so you can frame in the mast plates.

wonderful job Vivian........I see the red arrow pointing to a mark of sorts.......something you need to do there? I like the looks of the hull.....very nice use of woods to show you how imaginative I yam........I saw the pictures with the paint brushes in the background.....and thought she would make a very nice trawler :D

nice work with the straps and dead eyes. they look great on the ship