popeye the sailor

looking good Michael

that is so cool Mark! never done this before......I'll be watching

simply amazing Nils.........I enjoy doing railing work I see you buy in bulk :D

do you wish you had done one more row of planking for those eye bolts? it's good to see your still tool'in in the workshop. hope you feeling better.

cut 'em some slack....he showed you a boat didn't he???? :D looking forward in seeing the finish gallery Patrick........nice looking oars! the Connie huh...........now that will be fun!

thanks Sjors.......still more to go yet, before I get to that point thanks for the good word thanks Sherry.......the nests were the big scratch build part of it......that is......unless I think of anything else to do thanks for looking in and you kind comment

thanks Frank.......the masts are just fitted in place......I want to finish them before I cement them in. they are off a little......the fore mast more than the other two. the mizzen is set in place already......no adjustment needed.....the fore mast needs to be brought forward a tiny bit.....and the fore mast needs to have negative rake {lean forward a few degrees}. one problem I always tell myself to do..... apparently I didn't listen on this build, is to create mast pots under the deck platform. since this is a POB kit, there are on inner placements for the masts. the main mast is the only mast that the mast root goes all the way to the keel.....it's free floating inside. the mizzen sits tight in the two collars.......the lower collar is as far as it goes, with hardly any at all past the deck. the fore mast at the moment, is sitting on a ledge inside the hull.......where?.....I don't know when I do cement the mast in place, the root is going to have nothing to sit on in there, the collar is going to be the only anchor point. when I do the standing rigging, I will have to be careful not to distort anything. so, for now, it will be to clean the masts up and stain them {got my fingers crossed with the crow's nests}.....and then the eye bolts and blocks. I'll need to create jigs for the fore and main masts.........but I have a few more things to do before I get to that point. I hope to finish what I'm doing to this build very soon..........then I can begin some more work on the build I've been teasing everyone with {in the background}. thanks for the good word!

thanks Bob........when kits start coming with 'text book assembly instructions' ........then we can build 'em like the pros. of course, it may take a few years to get all the tools they used to build it........to be honest, I can't wait that long I guess I'll just have to depend on all the great R&D developers, here on the site..........wha'd ya say to that! :D thanks for the good word Bob.........I yam, wot I yam!

thanks Augie......the fore mast has to lean forward a little more than it is, but the main and the mizzen have just about the same rake, which is good the canopy is still off a little......about 1mm........pretty good considering it was off 3 to 4mm's to begin with. I can probably do something to fudge the excess. thanks for the good word

with the exception of the bow spirit......the masts were dry fitted on the ship. they stood up proud, without too much prodding.......so I was able to get these pictures. why waste the moment!

with the fore and main masts somewhat completed, I looked at getting the mizzen mast squared away. once the correct dowel was chosen for it, the adjustment of the rake, was the next step. using the bottom hole as the pivot, sanding at the front of the upper deck hole took place. there is a mast collar for the main and upper deck holes.....they were stained at this time. I noticed that the main deck collar was a little lighter than the upper one.......I just ran a Q-tip with some mahogany stain over it, to darken it up. after the collars were cemented in place, a little more sanding needed to take place, for the mast to fit through. a little more sanding was done......still needed a bit more. I got it to about 1mm, and will leave it as is.....as mentioned, if I go any more, it will be out of alignment with the main mast. to sand out the mast hole, sand paper was cemented to smaller diameter dowels the rest of the mast was assembled......the cross tree and upper section of the masting.

thank you Nils.........making them was fun. they're not perfect......I may do a little side project and experiment a little with this......I'm sure the methods I used could be improved but not right now though.........I think it might get me into more trouble :D quite a compliment coming from an experienced modeler like yourself....thank you I'm still humbled from Doris's kind comments

oh......it was so nice to work only in my smock again {actually it's a button - down shirt, but I have a habit of wiping my hands, and the mouth of the paint bottles on it}. I'm not a sloppy person.......I just look 'lived in' :D ! I made some good progress......the mast steps have been assembled. they still need to be sanded and cleaned up.......stained and {or} painted. I also took care of the Mizzen mast......it's not perfect, but if I went any further, the darn thing would be perpendicular to the deck.......and that just would NOT do I started to assemble the fore mast......I have already whittled down the top part of the second section for the cross tree and cap for the final section. how I whittled the top part down, was to score around the dowel with miter box and saw, and then shave it using an x-actor knife. I took those photos, while I was assembling the main mast.

thanks Max.......this is an interesting observation. I know of another fellow who is building the corel kit, along with Anja and yourself. he made the same observation. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with copyright, but I also think it has to do with the amount of R&D they do concerning the kits they make. just between these two kits alone, there are differences with the crow's nests, the cap rails, as well as the assembly of the bow and decorations. heck.......with the Billing's kit, I've found differences with the kit itself, and the actual ship. the most prominent feature......is the stern. I'm sure that the Billing's drawing is of the 1565 - 1611 ship.......the picture is of the more modern rebuild, used as a floating museum. Anja was very kind and showed me the corel plans......I see some very nice pros with the corel kit. I've come to the conclusion that most kits are generic in nature..........why do I continue to build kits?...... .........because they are the perfect 'backbone' to build the actual ship. many people do research on the ship they are modeling, because they know that there are inaccuracies in the kit. it's a corel kit, but you are the one building it.........and I must say......you have done one spectacular job with that kit! you have put your best effort into her.....I'm very much looking forward in seeing future projects from you so in my view........the day you bring the box into your house, it stops being a corel kit......it becomes YOUR kit......YOUR build.....and you build 'er as you see fit thanks for the good word I really appreciate your kind comment!

I'm not that familiar with this type of hull Sjors.......filler blocks would definitely help you out here. I wonder if it might be a benefit if you continued this planking from the keel up? I see lots of plank bending in your future.....you'll master it, I'm sure of that! the cannons look really good....they're going to be some mean looking 'barkers' when you get them finished.

it is unique, because it has two purposes.......to try out new ideas and techniques, and as a diorama when the ideas and techniques are successful! wonderful work Daniel..........it's obvious to see all of the thought that went into them nice!

...good way to utilize a piece of wood

congratz Steve! it's nice to see she went well with the trial..........good to see your best laid plan, came together!

weathering is a hard thing to do......one of the reasons why I don't do too much. do one aspect, then you have to do it all........I always end up thinking I did something wrong..........then I end up fixing it I need to let loose my 'inner child' .........back in the day when I loved getting dirty! :D you could do your planking.........the difference in the color will do half the work for you. then make up a batch of gray wash.......make it very......very thin....all you want is pigment. brush it on and wipe quick.......do small areas at a time. this should give you the gray tint, and still let the wood color be the dominant color. I would probably use an acrylic for this.......don't try enamels....the suspensions in it might seal the wood. if you can find this in a stain.......might be your best bet.

Awesome Nils..........I'm at a loss for words!

looking good Popjack! the chain plates are coming along great!

now.......that's awesome! very nice work on the furniture your moving right along and doing a very nice job!

thanks Robbyn.......actually, I just held the camera up there and took those.........couldn't see what I was snapp'in see......there is a place for these little 'point and shoots'........only took one take thanks for the good word! thanks Piet! my first time making crow's nests.......not sure how I'm going to do them. I do know that there might be quite a few glue blotches if I stain......if that happens, I may need to go with a similar color brown....or even black. if that happens, I will do the rest of the masting to blend it in. the mizzen though, I do have a problem.......there is a bit too much rake and it interferes with the canopy. once adjusted, it will cure the problem. there will be rake.......but not as much thanks for the good word! well folks........I'm back at the table! it's great to get up in the morning and feel a normal temp in the apartment! this thing runs as well, as a clock can tick! we never got the snow that they were forecasting.......in fact, quite the opposite! it's 35 degrees and the melt continues......but I won't hold my breath. we will get one of those storms, we always do........but it won't stay long. the season is changing my friends..........and I for one, is ready for it!

big strapping guy like yourself......with no lady friend under you arm......poor Andy! are you using the right lure? don't use bait.....girls don't like bait.......like the phrase.....' with baited breath ' who ever thought that one up was ill! you'll find that lucky one, one day..........all in good time

no, I don't think you'll have any trouble with the men in the white coats........they'd see that your a modeler, and think it all.....quite normal wonderful work on the shackles..........your metal work is truly amazing!