Elia

Hi All,
 
The framing of the gun ports is moving along nicely and one pleasant thing I learned was that
there are no sweep ports to worry about.
 
A batten strip was pinned to the bulwarks at the previously marked reference lines and a smooth
run was established. I then marked the bulkheads for the final placement of the sills. The sill and
lintels were cut from boxwood.
 

 
At the bow the bridle port fell over a bulkhead and the bulkhead had to be cut away prior to framing it.
 

 

 
To add the lintels a piece was cut at the correct height and long enough to sit on both sills this
gave a consistent height and eliminated the need to measure each one.
 

 
I have done the preliminary sanding to the out board side.
 

 

 
On to the transom soon!

Hi Ben, Unfortunately it's a long haul for me and I won't be able to attend.
Sorry it should be a great time. I hope you get to go.
 
Ok I've been moving along just haven't been able to find time to post.
 
The hull is faired fairly close to its final shape. I still have a little work to do on
the tops of the bulkheads but I'll wait until I frame the gun ports to finish it up.
I didn't need to use any cross bracing either. The plywood was good and solid
and I was careful too.
 
I next  planked the two platforms of the lower deck with pau marfim.
 

 
After that it was time to add the bow fillers and bollard timbers. Two of the fillers
needed to be a total of 7/32" thick. While the third timber needed to be 3/16" thick.
Chuck used two pieces to obtain the 7/32" thickness, (1 x 3/16" & 1 x 1/32"), I used
my thickness sander to thin down a piece of 1/4" wood I had to the 7/16". Same result
I just used one piece.
 

 
After that it was time to make the bollard timbers. these are not the traditional way to
make them but seeing there are bulkheads and not frames only the tops will be seen.
As you can see from the plans there are different angles, thicknesses and a hole it was
a bit of a challenge. At least every piece was made twice and some three time before
an acceptable one was obtained.
 

 

 

 
 
The bollard timbers are just set in place for now. Next up it is time to start framing in the gun ports.

Hi All,
 
Not much to report on. I have started sanding/fairing the lower portion of the hull. When I do that
I set the hull upside down on a small homemade down draft table to help contain the dust. I place
some wood blocks on the table that are thick enough to keep the tops of the bulwarks from hitting
the table and hopefully protecting them. Then it's just a matter of sanding, checking with some
planking strips, sand some more, etc etc etc.
 

Hi Chuck S.
I'm no chemist but I don't believe the stuff I use is water based. It's Elmer's Craft Bond
Rubber Cement . It also has a warning that it is flammable and has a smell like contact
cement. Like any liquid that you put on paper it could cause distortion.  When I place
the paper on the wood I try to lay it as gently as possible and not to pull or stretch it.
If I have doubts I'll closely compare it to the plans. So far no issues for me doing it this way.
 
Well all of the bulkheads and braces have been glued in place, and it is very solid. I won't
have to worry while fairing the main part of the hull. As I move up to the tops of the
bulkheads especially the longer ones I may use some bracing on them. I'll have to see
what's what when I get there.
 

 

Never a kit...just the plans and book.  It will be a while to Seawatch Books dismay.   But they will publish a book with plans.  I will supply some materials and laser cut parts,  but not a kit.
 
Chuck

Yupp....you are correct.  There is one for every station line.  Four times as many in a typical kit.  It will make framing the gunports easier as well.
 
Chuck

Hi druxey, I'm hoping that by measuring at the former where there is no movement and by paying
close attention to the fit I should be able to keep a creeping error out of it. Fingers are crossed here.
 
Hi Daniel, Oops I got talking about the bulkheads and filler blocks I forgot all about adding the stem
and keel. Chuck uses a cleaver way to create the rabbet. He has you glue a 3/32" x 1/16" stripe on
the edge of the bulkhead former. It extends down the stem and continues along the bottom edge of
the bulkhead former. Once the keel and stem are added, this strip will form the rabbet. At the stern
I had to trim the former to form the bearding line. Once this was completed the stem is test fitted
against the rabbet strip and adjusted until a good snug fit is obtained. The stem is them glued to the
rabbet strip. After that the keel and false keel were glued in place too. I did not need to pin or bolt any
of this assembly in place as it was a snug fit and glued good and tight.

I've been working my way towards the center and this is how far I've gotten.
 

 
While gluing them up I had a thought about putting some bracing between the bulkheads to
help stiffen them some more for when I have to fair them. I also thought it may help eliminate
any change of the hull twisting.  I took and measured the distance between the bulkheads at
the former and cut a piece of bracing and glued it towards the outer edge making sure not to
displace the bulkheads.
 

 

 
It seems to be working. I'll let you know when I finish with all of them.

Thank you for the kind words Antony.
 
Well I've pre fit all the bulkheads. Just some minor sanding of the slots was needed so it didn't
take as long as anticipated. Here is the first bulkhead in place. I clamp the angle piece in place
to hold the bulkhead square until the glue sets up. I do one bulkhead fore and one bulkhead
aft at a time and work my way to the center.
 

Thanks Greg, I think I started doing that on the Confederacy.
 
Glad to have you here Jim. Are you going to make it up to CT for the show?
 
Hi Dirk, I hope you do build her. I would love to see it.
 
Also thanks everyone for stopping by and all the likes.
 
I had a great weekend. The real world left me to my devices  and I had a lot of
shop time.  Bulkheads are all cut out and stacked as previously mentioned and I
then attacked the bulkhead former . It is laid out in two pieces and I thought of
just cutting it out as one whole piece. But as Chuck pointed out to me that getting
one piece of plywood that long that wouldn't twist would be extremely difficult.
So after an unsuccessful search I relented and cut it from two pieces. I knew  I
shouldn't have wasted my time but then again I'm not known for my better
judgment and decision making.  
 
Any way the former plans were cut out and glued up, then I cut it out on the scroll
saw and fine tuned it with the disk sander and a sanding block. Once satisfied I
applied glue to both pieces, put wax paper over and under the joint, placed a scrap
board on it and some heavy weights and allowed it to dry over night.
 

 

 

 

 
Now I will test fit all of the bulkheads and then start gluing them up.  

Greetings,
 
The main engine room is complete with the "dog house" and 20mm ready service lockers glued in place.  I still need to attach the dead light covers at their correct locations on the "dog house".  
 
Cheers,
 
Tim
 

OK.  I didn't get any suggestions about puddening the anchor ring so,I am going with my hunch that it wasn't done with a chain.
 
HOWEVER, I do need input on if I made the anchor float to big?  It looks OK, I guess, needs painting to simulate the tar it would have been coated with, but other wise I think it is fine.  What do you think?  Oh, it is 1 inch long, so six feet on real ship.

I have some photos of my progress.  ALL of the rigging I am going to do is done.  The photo of the whole ship does not include the spreaders or it's rigging, nor the bumpkin stays.  I need to ask a question here to see if anyone knows weather or not I need to add "pudding" to the anchor rings?  As this ship used chain in place of rope, I suspect the chain would wear away the rope wrapping on the anchor ring pretty quickly I  would imagine.  I suspect the rope wrapping on the ring was needed when a rope was used to reduce wear on the rope where in rubbed on the ring?  The measurements on the anchor plans were reduced from 3/16th to 11/32 scale.  I made a previous set of anchors that were too small, ah well, I can always use them on my USS United States when I build her.  I will start her when I begin rigging my Columbus.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 86 – Middle Deck Inboard Planking
 
Heavy members – standing strakes – 10” thick by 12” deep are fitted over the waterways and bolted through every frame timber to further reinforce the connection of the deck structure to the frames.  These members are joined along their length by hook scarphs as shown in the first photo.
 

 
These members were also bolted down into the waterways but I omitted these bolts because they will be covered by the next higher planks. 
 
In the next picture some of those planks are being installed and holes are being drilled for the standing strake bolts.
 

 
Note that the top strake being installed is notched for a drop plank to account for the widening planking band where the hull flares out at the bow.  The next picture shows a higher strake being glued in – wedged down to close the joint.
 

 
Standing strake bolts have been installed in this picture.  In the next picture, the next section of that plank is being glued – wedged and clamped in this case.
 

 
I did not bother to jog the planking joints in this work, because hanging knees will hide this detail.  Long planking strips were used and their joints placed under a knee location.
 
The next picture shows the completed planking – except for treenails – at the starboard bow.
 

 
The gap above the top plank is an “air strake” – left open to ventilate the space between frames above the keel.
 
The next picture shows the larger of the two fresh water tanks ready to be rigged into the opening in the decks.
 

 
In the next picture the tank is placed temporarily in position.  The top of this tank will be just below the main deck planking.  A smaller tank located just forward of this one has yet to be fabricated.
 

 
I did not go overboard in making these tanks.  They will be difficult to see at best.  I used the wood blocks shown earlier, some file folder and a ponce wheel for the rivets.  After assembly the paper was impregnated with dilute shellac and finished with flat black enamel.
 
The detail of the actual tanks, like many other things, is a bit of a mystery.  Webb’s Challenge had rectangular iron tanks so I followed that design.  I based the design for these on pictures from the JL Mott catalog from 1886.  Mott was the foremost New York ironmonger from 1828, making a large range of iron goods well into the 20th Century – a likely source for these tanks.  The catalog featured cast and wrought iron sectional tanks.  It is likely that these large tanks would have been of the wrought iron type – probably lead lined.  They were built up to the required size in formed modules.  The top and bottom manways are speculative.  No nozzles yet.
 
 
 
Ed

Shipwrights - it has been a long time since I last posted progress on Arethusa.  I have been working away on her, in little snippets of time here and there.  Springtime turned to summer, when my modeling usually all but ceases, replaced by outdoor activities.  Autumn typically welcomes the shipwright (me!) back to his work shop.  This year my wife and I decided to embark on a large home improvement project and it has taken far more time and energy than initially estimated.  That resulted in less model time than I had hoped for.  I am now getting a little modeling time in and following are some progress photos.

 

The saga of the yellow cove stripe is almost over.  I had removed the offending strip of wood, per my previous postings, glued in the repair strip, and spackled, sanded and faired it.  I then painted the yellow stripe region.  After the painted dried for a couple of days I applied the 1/64” wide masking tape.  It was surprisingly difficult for me to get it to run straight and true along the new piece of wood.  ?!  Once in place I painted a light coat of the yellow over the masking tape to seal its edges for bleed under by the black topcoat, which followed.  The resulting stripe looks thin and yellow, as desired, though it wanders a wee bit. I think I’ll live with it.  As you can see if the accompanying photo I’ve added some white to the scuppers.  All of my remediation work had filled in the scuppers with spackle, sanding dust, primer, and paint.  I cleaned out the scuppers and applied some of my white paint as touch-up.  Once the chainplates are attached I’ll apply black topcoat and it should look tidy (at least that is the plan).



 

Speaking of chainplates - I have been working away on those details.  First off was making the deadeyes.  Ron (Oneida build) was very helpful in providing me a direction in which to proceed regarding making my deadeyes.  I followed his lead, similar to Harold Underhill, in making a jig to locate the lanyard holes and setting the height of the deadeye.  

 

I don’t know if you shipwrights ever see a detail on the full size ship that just sticks with you and you find you need to model it, but that happened to me on the deadeyes.  The large Gloucester schooners had deadeyes which were iron stropped to the chainplates.  That in itself isn’t unusual.  What is unique (in my mind at least) was that the strops were double wire loops.  Not one, but two iron strops restrain the deadeye to the chainplate.  I had purchased britannia deadeyes from Blue Jacket Shipcrafters for Arethusa but upon inspection I found I could not easily make the purchased deadeyes accept the double iron strop arrangement.  Thus I set off on making the lower deadeyes.  I used boxwood as it is hard, has little grain direction, and cuts and sands cleanly.

 

The larger deadeyes on the larger schooners were 7” to 7 1/2” in diameter and the width was about 5”.  On my model the ones I’ve made are 0.160” diameter (4mm) and 0.10” thick.  The smaller lower deadeyes were 5 1/5” in diameter, and my model ones are 0.115” diameter (3mm).  Interestingly these double stropped deadeyes are essentially flat faced, making fabrication a little easier.

 

My deadeye fabrication process was as follows:

 

Shape wooden rod from square stock using chisels to form first an octagon, chuck it in a hand drill, and use progressively fine grits of sandpaper to sand to the final deadeye diameter.



 

Using the little jig and a pin vise drill the three lanyard holes.



 

Chuck the dowel in my benchtop drill press.  Use the jig to mark the final width/cut of the deadeye with a fine kerf saw (on the drill press).



 

Use a triangular section file to create the strop grooves (on the drill press).  This was the most inconsistent part of my process as I didn’t have (or use/implement) some ‘tool rest’ with which to steady the file.  Remove the deadeye from the drill press and saw off the deadeye at the previously marked line.



 

Finish drilling through the lanyard holes.



 

I eased the holes with a micro “V” shaped gouge, followed by using the lanyard hole drill bit in the pin vise, rotated slowly, and angled to create a shallow groove.  All edges were then lightly sanded.



 

I have made the chainplates, both (16) longer ones for the lower shrouds and (4) shorter ones for the upper shrouds.  I used a jig to locate the chainplates for drilling the bolt holes.  The upper loops are soldered.  A few extras were made as I typically lose or mess up some when working through the fabrication steps.



 

I have fabricated the jumbo, jib, and flying jib stay ironwork from brass sheet stock.



 

I have made some cleats:



 

And some chocks:



 

And for the deadeyes I have begun making the double iron strops.  Here is a photo of my jig for forming the strop from 26 gauge brass wire.  I solder the one loop end, trim off the excess wire, and file it to resemble a hoop end.  I then use a larger drill bit shank to wrap the double strop around and straighten the hoop ends.





 

Once the strops are complete I'll proceed with assembling the deadeyes to the chainplates.  I intend to stain the deadeyes black and paint the strops (before attaching them to the deadeyes) dull silver (for they were galvanized).  I'm scheming now on how to solder the bolt and nut hardware, joining the iron strops to the chainplate.

 

Hopefully it won't been almost a year before I post further progress!

 

Cheers,

 

Elia

Earlier than my steering wheel endeavor I had fabricated the cat heads and installed the chainplates. All of the deck furniture remains only temporarily placed for context.
 


 


 
Funny thing about the deadeyes - they don't want to stand upright, as in the photos. They lay over, free on their pivot pins...
 
And last, but not least, thank you to all those who've 'liked' my updates!
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

Bob and Frank:
Thanks for those kind words.
 
Frank, there are many things about this model I like, but I can also see all the problems. Granted, most people will never see them, but it will always bug me. However, it is all a learning process and hopefully, some of things wrong with this model will help me make the next one better.
 
Russ

Sam:
Thanks for the kind words. Also, thanks to everyone for the likes.
 
Yes, the captain would steer from the side. In many cases, we see photos with the captain kneeling next to the box to steer.
 
Russ

Thanks. The windlass needs a few more details, but it will get there eventually.
 
The windlasses normally seen on local schooners are generally much simpler affairs than those found on schooners up in the Eastern seaboard for instance. However, I seen several different types used down here, so it really pays to research old photos to see about what was used in any given instance.
 
Russ 

Thank you for all the "likes" and comments. 
 
Hawse timbers... version 4.5 (1 side was replaced once, the other twice).   The hard part (to me) is that lines drawing give no shape to the bow forward of the first cant fram so I'm fumbling with templates and photos.  I think I'm close.  I've filled in most of the low spots and sanded down the highs.  Cherry has this nice feature  that if it ages a bit and darkens, when you sand it the sanded parts become light. This, coupled with a batten and templates gives you a pretty good idea of where one stands in the fairing.
 
They still need more fairing but I need to hold off a bit.  Frankly, I'm getting tired of the sawdust in the air at the moment.     The reality is, I need to put in the gunport sills and fair those in.  And then the interior.  The deck clamp "knees" (actualy just nubs of wood) need to be worked such to give a smooth sheer to the clamps.  I'll have to hold on the clamps though, until the stern is finished.
 
Yes, I'm avoiding the stern like the plague.  Hahn doesn't give you a template on the plans for the transoms so I'm sorting this out.  I have the stern framing showing height and width of the timbers, the side showing the location and depth but no top view showing the shape.  Again, much staring at the prints and Hahn's limited build photos.  This seems to be one of those areas that are "up to the builder" to sort out like the quarter galleries.   Speaking of which I'm also sorting out that area as it's not really defined on the prints as to timbers.  However, I'm putting together a plan, which if it works I'll happy dancing for weeks.
 
So... to the pictures.  The first three show the hawse timbers and cant frames.  None of this will be visible when planked.  The last is kinda' artsy-craftsy looking at the interior so I can get an idea of amount of fairing in there to be done.
 




 
 
As always, feel free to click on any picture to enlarge it to full size.  Oh.. sorry for the sawdust and debris.  I really need to hit this with the shop vac.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 85 – Middle Deck Binding Strakes
 
The binding strakes provided an additional reinforcement to the connection of the deck beams to the hull frames.  These 8” thick members, placed against the inboard face of the waterways, were bolted vertically into each beam and horizontally – edge bolted – through the waterway and each frame.  On the model I represented this bolting with monofilament – one down through each beam and one edge bolt above each ledge between beams.  There were probably twice this many bolts used on the real ship. 
 
The first picture shows the forward section of binding strake on the starboard side being glued in place.
 

 
The binding strakes were joined with hook scarphs as shown in the photo.  They were also rounded over or beveled down to the deck planking on the inboard side.
 
 In the next picture the joint measurements are being transferred to the end of the next section.
 

 
The length of the hook is being marked here,  The piece was cut back to the angle first.  The next picture shows the last section on the port side at the stern being fitted.
 

 
The next picture shows the binding strakes installed at the bow – ready for bolts.
 

 
The holes for the horizontal bolts were drilled before installation – those for the vertical beam bolts after.   In the next picture a length of monofilament is being glued in to represent one of the beam bolts.
 

 
After installation of the binding strakes the deck was given a final leveling with 220-grit paper as shown below.
 

 
This was followed by final sanding using 220 then 320-grit paper – by hand and using the detail sander shown in the last photo.
 

 
Next will be installation of the side inboard planking, starting with the heavy 10” x 12” standing strakes over the waterways.  Hatch coamings and some decking can also be started.
 
Ed

I just found out some information about the Lettie.  Back in July, John Cole, here on MSW, started to build America’s cup racer Puritan.  Since Puritan is on my “to build” list, I decided to do some research on her.  She was designed by Edward Burgess who also designed cup racers Mayflower and Volunteer.  About that same time (1888) Burgess was approached to build a schooner.  For two years his schooner won every race it was in.  It was then sold to the fishing fleet.  That boat was the Fredonia.  Because of its speed the Fredonia was copied several times. Those boats were referred to as Fredonia models.  The Lettie G. Howard was the last of the Fredonia models.
 
This is not a model of a brand new boat.  This boat has been around and working for a while, first as a private yacht, then as a cod fisher and finally as a mackerel fisher.  This model is of the mackerel boat.  You’ll notice that the rigging is not consistent.  That is to say the fore mast is not a copy of the main mast etc.  That is because as modifications and changes were made they used what was “at hand” as long as it worked.
 
Now some pictures of the build at present.  A lot of MSW members publish pictures with each add they make.  I don’t seem to be able to do that.  So here are a lot of little things.  Still a long way to go. 
 
Bob
 

Over all
 

Main halyard
 

Fore halyard
 

Jombo jib halyard
 

Bowsprit shrouds
 

Bowsprit
 

Main gaff
 

Fore gaff
 

Spring lines
 
 
 
 

Hoi Carl, - - -           
Okay, I'm off the floor.  Drunken sailors indeed.  That reminds me of another story my father told us when he was fancy free and footloose, i.e. before being married to my mom.  You want to hear it ????  Oh, okay you twisted my arm   
 
After shore leave he was boarding the boat (no not the O19) and the officer of the deck stopped him and said, "mister you are drunk."  My dad said, "no, I'm not."  with that the officer of the deck told my father to walk the deck-slat."  Now one thing he could do was walk in a straight line when snookered.  So, the officer of the deck said, "well, I guess I made a mistake, carry on."  My father then, in his drunken mind was rather peeked at the officer of the deck and said, "like hell you say, I am drunk and I think you also need a drink."  With that he heaved the officer of the deck overboard.  Well now, that sobered him up enough to realize that that was not a very smart thing to do.  So, he got himself a broom, a rope and one of his shoes tied to the rope that he tied to the broom and proceeded to go "fishing."  
That got him to a visit to the psychiatrist instead of being thrown out of the Navy.  
The doctor had a hearty laugh about his story and made a note in the records of 'temporary insanity.'
 
As a young lad I pictured all this in my mind and thought it rather funny.  As you can see I still remember many things about my father, which I treasure.
 
Yeah, it's a shame that I was behind that flag otherwise all y'all could have seen one handsome 5 year old    and say, aaaahhhhh, how cute. 
 
Cheers,

Hello all, again - very little done on the O19 today.  Just a little more paint touch-ups.  I'll also need to redo the load nummers, they are too high.  Fortunately I have enough of them so there is no problem.
I didn't take any pics of the decals being placed on the model for that very reason.  After that's done I'll put the edge sealer on the decals and then maybe take a few pics of her.
 
There is still plenty little piddl'n stuff to do before we can truly call the model completed.  I need to make one torpedo from aluminum rod so the loading sling looks like it has some weight on it.  Thanks for pointing that out.  Then I need to make the boarding ladder, hinges for the mine bun lid, new flags and the dingy.  My real challenge will be to make a few members of the crew.  I'll start with my father of course and at a scale of 1:50 he would be about 35 mm.  That seems about right when looking at the photo where he is standing next to the con.  I like to place him in the "bathtub" or the bridge with another figure.  This can always be done after the model is completed.
 
I also cleaned up my build dock and put new paper on the board, it looks neater that way 
 
Okay, we had a little discussion about the railing and I went to my photo archive and dug up a bunch of photos with the O19 having railings.  I mainly used the official Wilton-Feijenoord drawings for my railing.  It shows the railing and from where to where it was placed.   I may have to remove a few stanchions on the aft deck when taking a closer look at the photos.  This is okay, no problem.  Looks like the builder deviated from the plans.
 
The railings were still on the boat on her voyage to the Netherlands East Indies from Holland in 1939.  I have two pics with the O19 in Alexandria, Egypt, one of her stops for fuel.  Before arriving in Alexandria though they performed magnetometer tests in the Mediterranean Sea, submerged.  This shows that the O19 did go submerged for quite some time with the railings installed.  Unless, as Freek pointed out, they removed them and stowed them before diving.  Seems like a lot of work each time she comes up and goes down again.
 
In any case, the reason for my model is to show how the boat actually looked like with everything on it, including the things that may be temporarily stowed for underwater cruising.  Obviously they wouldn't load torpedoes, have the AA guns out or the dingy out and neither the boarding ladder.  It's for static display and show and tell 
 
I hope all yuns don't mind me having the railings on a submarine 
 
Let me add a few pics for you to see a submarine with railings 
 

This is the official drawing from WF.  Here you can see from where to where the railing runs.  On the last photo below of the commissioning in 1939, you can see that they didn't run the railing as far back as the drawing shows.  Well, one more small alteration to make.  Yes, the drawing still shows the original identification number, K XIX, which was changed to O 19.
 

This picture shows the O19 docked and presumably in the Navy base Den Helder sometime in 1939.  Here you can see the railing stanchions.
 

This shows the O19 in Alexandria, Egypt on her way to the Netherlands East Indies in July, 1939.  The railing is clearly visible here.
 

Here is another photo of the O19 in Alexandria, Egypt on July 1939.  The railing is clearly visible.  Yes, it was common practice to span tarps over the deck for shade.
 

This is a picture of the O19 going out to sea for proving runs.  My father was on board for each one of course.  Oh, I remember one hair-raising story he told us about what happened on one of these proving runs    Shudder, shudder.
 

I may have shown this one before but this is a photo of the commissioning of the O19 on July 3, 1939.  My mother, sister and I were there to witness the event.  I have annotated the picture where it shows my mother holding my hand  but my sister and I are hidden by the Geus, the flag at the bow.  Hey, I was only 5 years old then but I still remember quite a bit, it must have made a big impression on me, I guess     Remco directed me to a website where I copied newspaper articles about the commissioning where my father's name is mentioned.  This was his third trip to the colonies.  Oh, sweet memories
 
Cheers, 
 
 

Hello again.  This morning I took the bull by the horns and removed all the old decals.  If I have to repaint the effected areas then so be it.  As it turned out I only had to repaint both sides of the con and the starboard bow.  The paint on the con was discolored under the decals and with placing one before,  the paint just looked terrible because i used a brush to repaint it.  Just a sanding with some fine sandpaper, then wiping with a damp rag with enamel paint thinner, masking the area and shoot with a few coats of enamel paint.  
 
Sorry Remco, I was going to send you a personal message regarding this but got so wrapped up with this that it was your bedtime by the time I finally had a minute.  Had to help Gwen too, well you understand how that goes.  
 
It only took an hour or so and I now have a good looking finish for the decals.
 
As the paint was drying I started to paint the railing stanchions and could only complete the starboard side.  The port side will come tomorrow and then I need to give the railing cable a coat of dark grey paint.  I have no clue what color they used way back then but the dark grey may off-set it nicely with the light grey.
 
I made a few before and after pics of the repainting project for my own records and archive.
 

This shows the masking off of the forward part of the bow.  I could use the hull plating lines to prevent a paint ridge.  I have added three coats of enamel paint.
 

This shows the masking of the con.  Here I could not  prevent a paint ridge at the aft end but it worked out that the very thin ridge kinda looks like a weld seam. 
 

Here I have just removed all the masking.  This pic was taken with flash and it shows the ridge at the red bottom and a few specs I need to address yet.  I want the paint to dry and harden for a few days before i can work with it.  It looks very good op close and I'm happy.
Yes Andy, the nav lights or side light as you call them, will get their correct colors and perhaps a lamp too.
 

Here is the con with all masking removed.  Both sides look very good, better then before I must say.  The sanding helped smooth it out quite nice.
 
Now comes the tricky part, putting the decals on - - - correctly! 
 
Cheers,