popeye the sailor

nice little boat Shawn.......planking job looks pretty good

thanks Randy......I hope what I've outlined above helps you as well. here you have the old equasion of the equal and opposite reaction

while you might want to reinforce the pin rails and racks {which is a good idea}, there is the other factor to consider........how taught are you rigging the lines. I have done this with a lot of plastic kits, and did a bit of experimentation with 'absolute zero'. this is where the lines are taught, but don't offer to much tension to the termination points. here is a good test for you: take a piece of string that you plan to use.......holding the ends, pull it taught enough to remove the slack. now pull it even more and observe the line. at this point, relieve the tension a little at a time, observing the line as you do it. you can actually see the line become thinner as you stretch it, and grow fatter as you relieve the tension. soon you will se it begin to go limp and sag......pull it taught again, until you see the limpness disappear. do this as many time as you need to, until you see the pattern.....and you can see where the 'zero' point is. all threads have it, unless it says that it is pre-stretched {but even with this thread, there is some}. rigging one line is one thing.........but your talking about a part of a ship that has multiple termination poins on it. line tension multplies with the numbers involved......too many, and it might not matter how well you've affixed the rack. been there.......done that there are different ways to bracket a rack too. you could go with a simple knee.........build the knee into the bulwark........or make up an elaborate bracket to slide the rack into, after you've 'boxed' the bracket into the bulwark frame {but all this should be done before you plank the bulwarks}. I hope I've given you some ideas

thanks Patrick........I hope to be finished with this part soon. this has been a bit of extra work, but it is sure worth it I really need to get back to the Goth.......I moved it into the living room to keep it out of harms way. thanks for the good word. I'll keep an eye out for that build Andy.......I'm sure you'll want to fully mast Peg, before you do

STOP IT!!!!!! STOP IT!!!! your giving the admiral too many Ideas! :D :D {she reads some of these comments too} do you have any tips to keep kids from slamm'in 'em? doors too?

what 'old people'..........all I see is 'mature modelers' I'd be s***less to make cuts like that..........fantastic work!

you can fix it Nenad........I got faith

model master is also a good source for paints....flats would work best

now I can say that Sjors........if I had used those cap rails, the difference would be that mine were wider :D yea, where she has done the cap rails, it might look a bit odd.........they are not wide, so it would be best for hers to stay that way. I had to clean my table..... with what I'm doing, I had stain speckles all over the place! to accent the structures on the deck, I'm doing them in the two stain method, with the dark stain and the mahogany {to give them the reddish color}. I hope she can find some extra time to devote to her fine build.

man.....that going to be a cool build....especially with that crane and gantry. I was looking at it......I am already in envy!

thanks Rowan. kind of makes you wonder who developes these kits. I could have gone the wrong way......but listen to some of the folks here........there are many good Ideas out there.....and many helpful folk

don't why you felt bad Andy.......you just pointed out the obvious, and Kester confirmed it. thanks to the both of you the sad thing is, is that the solution was so easy to figure out and do........it makes the direction I was going to go look unthinkable. I saw your signature...when is the kit coming? thanks John...........I just did the work........Andy and Kester lit the pilot :D :D

thanks for the good word sherry. on the San Felipe, the knees can be made longer, so that they can be located along the side of the posts, butting up against the bulwark wall. I haven't seen these plans, but I'm guessing that is how the inner bulwark walls look. some kits even show this being done in their assembly to the bulwarks.

it is a bit funny that you ask that question Robbyn........just so happened that I did the stern pin racks today......I was equally as curious as to how they would fit into all this. rather than make a whole new pair for the masts, I'm just going to modify the cap rails....no sense wasting them. they were cleaned up, cut up, and sanded to shape. fitting them in place, meant to cut slorts for the posts, so they would fit against the bulwarks. of course there is no support for them, so I made up a batch of knees. this is simply just planking material, cut square according to width, and then cut in a diagonal fashion. they are cemented in place so they will rest against the posts. after thay are dry, the entire assembly is sanded and trimmed, and then touched up with stain. I did finally remove the clothes pin clamps from the step-down rails....here is how it look now. I have done most of the posts for the port side mid ship. and I also did some of the posts for the fore deck. the two front posts will need to be removed.....I have done this with another pair further back....at the stern. this way, I can install a full post. when the pin racks were ready, I installed them. one of them gave me a bit of trouble, so I had to prop the ship up in a strange way so it would stay in place, until it dried. now that it has had time to set, I can set her back in her stand. I will be doing this for the other two sets.........the knees are almost invisible {not that they need to be}

thanks Andrieke! I'm sure pleased with them as mentioned, on other models, I see the thinner cap rails......look to be around 5 mm. even with an overhang, they ate up the deck space. these were supplied in the kit, so I went with it. if it wasn't for Andy and Kester, they'd still be there. thanks for the good word there are many ways Robbyn.....for deck rails, the best method is to fit thin dowel in the bottoms of the posts and drill holes in the deck for them....you can even use brass rod. for locating them on the bulwarks......it's hard to do the dowel pins if you don't have posts to locate them on. so, I used another idea that I like to do......knees. I've done the mizzen pin rails.......I have to do some dishes {the admiral has been baking}.........when I come back, I will post the pictures of what I did today. you'll find it very easy to do......may be something you might want to try. I'll be back.

thanks Edwin........just cemented them in place when they dry, I can get a picture of them. thanks for the good word and looking in

I never thought to do something like that. sounds like a very useful tip.......please thank him for us all........I'm sure I'm not going to be the only one trying it......Hee.....hee simply terrific work!

it looks great Kevin......did you get the wood deck kit as well?

I still have a number of post to install........mid ship and fore deck. the stern decks are done now, and I was curious how it would look with the rails. so, I stained some 3mm strip stock and installed them on the stern. just before I went to bed, the cap on the end was cemented on. it will be rounded up and touched up when it's dry, as well as the tips foreward towards the mid ship. I did manage to shape the three step-downs that the actual ship has........I'm going to have fun trying to do the edge moldings ....hee.....hee the posts for the foredeck overhang are installed, complete with the cross beam and the cap board. one side has been trimmed and shaped.......I did the other side there is to be another section of rails for the step-down section. what I'm using doesn't take too kindly to being bent sideways, so I'm just going to go this route. the posts for this section will be the same height, with just a very minor step-down. when these are dry, I can better show them. now.......on to the mid ship and fore deck! I also have a cool idea for the pin racks........I'll do the stern racks and will be able to show you soon.

glad to hear your almost ready to start this build.........I will enjoy following along

nice idea........labor intensive, but nice just the same. on my United States build, I came up with a way to make grates. it turned out to be labor intensive as well, but there was some fruits to the labor. the only thing......they all came out the same. you must be using 1/32 square stock.......what are you doing to keep them from sticking to the jig?

:D :D

did you move?????

just what the doctor ordered........plenty of fluids! :D Nenad......I wish I had an easy fix for you. getting things to sit flush and level, is something I agonize the most over. hopefully, the aft deck can be removed without too much trouble, and sand the starboard side........and perhaps concentrating on the flat of the stern as well will make it flush to the main deck. I hope you fared well at the Dentist.

thank you Paul....I'm finding it rather neat how I am treating stain. I'm staining as I go, using a paint brush to touchup where I sand and stuff. it's not that much different though.......I paint before I assemble anyway. thanks for looking in, my friend......too bad about work keeping you busy..........I miss your fine work I should have another update soon.