popeye the sailor

have a good....and safe work-tour {can't find a good term for that in any of my books} the summer seemed too short, but you made lots of progress. I'll look forward for your return....and hope to see the finish of your fine vessel. nice to hear your going to be able to enjoy the Christmas holiday........I'm planning on doing the same, taking the week between Christmas and New Years off {two weeks of eggnog and dodging fruitcake. more to come in your adventure saga..........I'll be watching

I decided to take a short break from the Gothenborg, to do a little on the Syborn.......I guess I felt a little guilty, for neglecting her for so long. I still have to do some touchups from since I've done the hull paint, but I'll take care of it while I have her out. I had made up the outer part of the upper deck platform, with the last of my flat stock. I have more now, but I chose to use what I had done already. I do have a small inconsistancy with the height of the lower structure, but I went ahead and put a second coat of white on it and cemented on the doors. I also cemented in the aft cabin doors as well. I used a compass to mark the outer lip...and made the cut. ....and after a little more sanding, dry fitted it into place I did another mock-up of the bow. it will be planked, and will have railings, instead of bulwark walls I have a couple of extra vents....in case I need them, but I think two will be enough. I have a few more things I still want to do......I continued with the lower structure, adding in the railing molding. I hope to add more to her soon.

I enjoyed these last pictures........she looks very well done. I think to myself.....she's going to look even better with her paint and copper

ohhhhhh.....John while you were on your vacation {your round the world jaunt}........you didn't by chance pass through an Island villiage, and tick off a native, did you??? sounds like a curse, to me :o just kidding......{I hope} perhaps your little beauty.....doesn't want to be finished. I'm sure you'll correct her with no problem.......tomorrow will be a better light for you all will end well.

I'm glad that I was able to be of some help.........I'm glad to hear that the flushness was indeed an optical illusion. I was kinda worried that I might have come off a bit 'over the top w/ a dash of critic'........not my intention, I assure you yea.......staining the transom, before all else, can be somewhat of a handicap. there is always the risk of not being able to match the color later on. it'll work out........sounds like your being careful. I'll look forward in seeing what you come up with.

what I find neat about it.......it fastens the yard to the mast as your doing it. it's not that hard to do though, because I suspend the yard with the lift rigging. this is sort of loose terminology, on my part.........lift rigging are the two pulley assemblies that are tied to the ends of the yard........the pulley assemblies that are located at the center of the yard, is know as the halyard rigging. in any case, with this rigging done first, tying on the perril strap is a breeze. I did one end before the yard is raised, and the other end after the yard was set in place. the holes also insures that the strap is going to locate in the center of the yard, and not loop over or under the yard. if you do this......be sure to put a clothes pin on the end of the thread, so that if you pick it up without thinking, the beads won't go flying all over.........ask me how I know this :D :D

I use files as well........I have two sets....not as much as the sticks though. I do use the files to square up corners.

I think I need a more 'up to date' dictionary you've made such wonderful progress with the mirage........when is this little gem going to see some love?

I really can't say anything, because my imagination always gets the best of me........yea, if the plywood's 3/16........go 1/8 on the door fillers......the indention will give it a nice touch. if you really want to get crazy.......do the windows too.....5mm piece for the sills. I know your still on the mend....and you said you didn't want to do too much bash work. I am just so pleased to see you back in the shop, my imagination is working over time for ya! I got your back, man!!!! :D

I make my own as well........different widths of strip stock........white glued in place. I don't know why I do.......I have sanding sticks {guess I'm just old fashioned} nice job on the planking...looking real good ! go for it!!!!

wow Henery! you've done some nice work here..........especially the gold work! I'm kind of a gold nut too.......but if it all goes dull uniformally, I don't complain. I just hate it when it shows the handling marks I never tried the dullcoat on it......though I have used it before on wood builds.........I like the way it looks. very nice work !

sorry if I read too much into it Nenad.......just trying to cheer you up.....you sounded down I'm kinda surprised that didn't work for you.......it was that flimsy....huh! it looked good.......layered like bricks, it would have been thought to be stronger than that. you could try it again using a different glue, or you could try three pieces, the size Robert specified, and stack them on one another.

superbly done Andy.........such a clean look about her! sad to hear your going to be gone for that amount of time.......is it normal for you to be gone this long........it about two months

it would please me just as much, that both of you gentlemen finish your builds, rather than conceed due to problems and inconsistancies. these builds hold the potential towards becoming a beautiful ship, with or without thoses small details that would make it stand out, as a replica build. I find it to be lots of fun, throwing things at the wall, seeing what sticks........and to much shegrin....what don't. when showing the boat to friends, I show them what I added in.......they have no idea what the mistakes are. as for your stern Nenad.......can you sand down the end of the stern to give it the look of being eliptical....you can always repair with filler and sand to shape later. I'll look forward in seeing the continuances of your fine builds

great information........I never knew that! I always thought they relied on inflatables to get on and off the ship. a great bit of detail indeed!

looking super! extra detail would really spice her up! here's something you can try for the doors.........cut them out and fit in a piece of thinner wood. make the indention appear on the exterior of the wall.....dress as desired

no need to tie them up again........let the back stays do the work your right on track.......keep going! ^_^

your planking looks like it is flush with that upper bulwark {panel?)........are you going to be using .5mm planking, going up from there? is there a wales strip to be covering this line? if so, that may help you with the bow problem. I see the non-conformity your talking about.......just round it off and cover it up...nothing to it the brace problem doesn't look too bad either. follow the way your going, and as the brace begins to thicken, follow it and stay the same distance from the edge. create the same curvature as the brace.......this will blend the counter / transom line, and give you a nice rounded look. there is another curvature further down......be sure to follow the shape of the stern. I need to do the same thing with the Half moon........these ships have this distinctive stern shape.......the high back and rounded stern 'belly' really sets them apart from the others. is that second planking 1mm thick? I've always seen the second planking done with .5mm planking.........it's not a bad thing, but I would imagine that it would add thickness to gun ports, window casings, and eat up the overhang of the cap rails. I've never used archive ink for the outer hull planking. I really like what it does to the inner bulkwarks........the idea you have in making it stand out in this aspect, is a very big plus.......adds more depth to the stanchions. blotch boo boos do happen though......try light sanding combined with the use of a pink eraser. it may take out most of it........if your staining it, this will also hide some of it.......just go a bit darker in this area........no hull is uniform in shading....you do have a bit of lee-way here. it looks really nice so far.......just make sure that you are flush with the sterm wall / stern cap {transom / counter}, so the second planking will lay flat against at the edge {it will hide the mating gaps}. I'm sure that the wales are 1.8mm thick.......laying them over what you have now is going to make them stand out well. if the mating between the second planking and the bulwark {panel?} is flush, you may run into a problem here, in keeping with the wale protrusion. these will need to be cemented in place before you continue up the bulwarks. to plank with what your using would cause you to lose thickness with the wales.....they do sell blonde .5mm strip stock to thwart this from happening. I do hope I'm wet behind the ears on the flush thing........but if this is the case, I hope something I mentioned helps you in some way

that is a cool picture......on the floor! good thing you don't have any cats! there is a tricky part you still haven't done yet......the rest of the fore stays, main stays, and mizzen stays. I notice that the pulley assemblies are beginning to make them sag a bit....don't worry too much about that. keep the rest of the stays as limp as they are, and when you do the back stays, they will tighten them up. do your plans show these stays?

I did something a bit different with the lanteen gaff on my Gothenborg. what I did was drill two holes in relation to the wrap of the perril band. the thread was passed trough one hole, and wrapped to hide it. the thread was strung with the beads, test fitting it along the way. when the gaff was attached, the thread was passed through the other hole and cemented. after it was dry, that end was wrapped as well, hiding that hole. there are pictures of it. I also made up the lower fore yard strap.......I think I have one bead length too many, so it will be used on the lower main yard {I'll make up another for the fore yard}

can't get mine to do it either I might suggest though, that if it's at all possible, to make all the sails before you start working with them. you may find that, as you get more comfortable with making them......you might become dissatisfied with the first ones you made, and may elect to redo them. it would be sad to hear that you had to tear anything apart I need to get busy on the sails for my friend's bluenose. I have them all cut out....they need to be sewn and treated with diluted white glue, to stiffen them up. he lives in Canada.......and runs a plastic modeling forum.........he has cancer, and has stopped working on the ship. one of these days, I'll get surprised with a box in the mail.......long story so, yea, I'm in the same boat as you are.......pretty much on my own with sail making........although, she reserves the right to suggest colors ....hee....hee

chech it out Mobbsie..........he must be 'twitch'in' to get at the Aggie your having fun Sjors.....that's all that matters

I've been meaning to look into an alternative wood source.....the only wood I've been using is basswood , balsa, and obechi

just as long....you don't go too crazy at the touch down! ....don't want to see your ship go flying! very nice job with the railings......... stanchions give her a really cool touch.......thumbs up!

they are actually really fun to make, once you've done a couple. looks pretty good Denis