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Thanks Steve. I’ll Go for marking the frames. Derek

Thanks Meddo, I think I’ll follow your advice.

Certainly seems faster uploading images - well done all!

Thanks for the likes and comments - they're appreciated. I'm still faffing about with fairing and preparing for planking. I debated whether or not to fair the transom on the bench or after fitting on the boat. In the end I decided on the latter; although I knew it would be very delicate, I thought it would probably be more difficult getting the bevel right if it wasn't on the boat. So I glued and pinned it: I'm in two (or three) minds how to go about the planking. Having seen Chuck's videos I was raring to go - he makes it look positively easy! The first issue I came across was the width of the planks. The kit supplied wood is 3/16" wide, which equates to almost exactly 10 strakes midships. My timber is slightly narrower, simply because of the board I milled my strips from was 4.25mm thick. This equates to about 11.5 strakes midships. So I either include one or two wider planks or I trim a few thou off my strips and go for 12 strakes per side. I went for the second option. Next, I'm undecided on marking of the frames with the tick strip method. I've had a go but found it very fiddly given the small size of the frames and the sheer number of them. I'm reluctant to go to the effort of marking out all the frames if it's not worth it on such a small boat. My other main concern is around fitting the final planks on each side. From other people's logs and the kit instructions its clear that if you plank from the sheer down and from the garboard up, you're going to end up having to cut and fit a weird shaped final plank. Thinking about this, I wondered if it would make sense to work solely from the keel up, leaving a final plank at the sheer with hopefully just one awkward side to shape. Presumably any horribleness would be covered by the frieze and by internal planking. I'm probably over-thinking all this, and should probably just get on with it. After all I've already done the small version (although that was painted which covers a multitude of sins). Before I start though, I'd welcome any comments or advice on the points I've raised. Derek

Started on the fairing. The miniature chisels from Veritas are ideal for getting into tight places. The one shown is 1/8". Before going much further I decided to try to harden the keel a bit with some coats of shellac. I just need to look at the basswood and I get dints in it. I'm glad I decided to go for boxwood for the planking and fittings. Not easy to see in the photo, but straight off the saw the boxwood has an almost mirror sheen compared to the timber supplied in the kit. Don't get me wrong, the kit timber is very good quality as far as it goes - straight, consistent colour and dimensions and no faults - but it is basswood. I know some people get great results with it 'cos I've seen their logs, but boxwood is more forgiving for someone at my skill level. Dry fitting to see how the fairing's going. Not bad so far, but shortly after this a 6mm section broke off the side of one of the frames. I was just holding the boat in one hand whilst fairing the other side, and applying very little pressure. Gluing it back in position was easy, but the breakage demonstrated just how fragile the frames are and what soft hands you need. I'll leave the dockyard now - enough excitement for one day! Derek

James - I'm not a member of that forum, but this thread sparked my curiosity. I read the post you refer to about HMS Victory and I must say I found it so disjointed and rambling as to be almost unintelligible. I had to smile when I saw that someone had responded with a "well said" post. Simply reinforces my already poor impression of anyone who would support the sort of blatant piracy promoted by that forum. I was surprised and disappointed to see that one of the moderators is someone I recognise as a former regular contributor to our forum - I assume he has been rightly banned now that he has gone over to the dark side.

Although the spacers I've put between the frames have made the model fairly stiff, the fact that only one end of each spacer is glued (to aid eventual removal) means there is still some movement. So to help fairing I've added strengthening strips in line with other people's advice. I've stuck a block on top so that I can clamp the model upside down when needed. Next, I started ripping some castello boxwood strips - a doddle on my new Byrnes saw. I think this is what the psychologists call displacement behaviour - I'm looking for any job to do rather than getting to grips with fairing and planking! Derek

Steve, your model looks very elegant on the long thin tubes - I think you've convinced me to ditch the pedestals. Btw, how did you do the label - that adds a very fine touch? Derek

I want to sort out how I'm going to mount the model before I go too far - a mistake I've made in the past. I don't think a cradle would be best suited to a small model like this, but as the keel is so thin (about 1/8"/3.2mm) any fixing will have to be correspondingly thin. As the pinnace will be very light, this shouldn't be a problem, so I intend to use 1/16" brass tube (should be more rigid than rod). I'm not sure yet whether to fix the tube though a brass pedestal, or simply insert the tubes straight into holes drilled in the stand. The pedestals look a bit clunky to my eye, so I may go for the bare tubes. Either way, I need holes in the keel: I used tubes on a model I made nearly 20 years ago and its stood the test of time, so I may go down that route: Derek

Thanks Steve - I learned a lot from your log! Derek

Thanks again Meddo. I hadn't realised you'd finished the pinnace - it's not marked 'finished' in the Quick-find Index - so I've only just now looked through your log. I'm very impressed - I especially like your deeper shade of red. Fitting the frames went quite smoothly. I think the fact that they were loose in the false keel wasn't a bad thing, as it made me take extra care to make sure everything was square as the glue dried. I'd read how fragile the frames can be during the fairing process so I decided to cut some spacers to fit between the frames - this also helped to keep everything square. I just glued one end of each spacer to make it easier to remove the central parts of each frame in due course. My thanks to MikeB4 for this tip. I've just spotted the smaller building board in the background of this shot - the one I used for the 1:48 version of the pinnace I mentioned in the first post. The last frames in place... ...and the lines are starting to look good. The last job today is gluing the filler pieces on either side at the bow. Four pieces are supplied in the kit but you only need two. Before I start fairing I'm going to sort out supports for the final model. If I have to drill into the keel I'd rather do it at this stage. That'll be tomorrow's job. Derek

Thanks Meddo. As I start this build, I must say what a pleasure it is to see such clear, comprehensive and well-illustrated instructions, courtesy of Chuck Passaro. Having just completed two models by Panart and Corel I was struck by the contrast. I started by drawing the bearding line on the false keel. I laid a photocopy of the plan on the basswood sheet and used a pin to prick through the bearding line every few millimetres. I inverted the photocopy so I could use it on both sides of the keel. The next step was to taper the false keel below the bearding line. I followed the advice in the instruction manual and used a strip of 1/16" tape to act as a guide. This worked well, although I got a bit over-enthusiastic with the file in places! Hopefully this won't adversely impact the planking. The next step was gluing the stem and keel, both fairly straightforward operations provided you keep everything flat and in line. This is especially important as the edge of the false keel that you are gluing has been reduced to half its previous width. Next, I dry fitted the frames. To my surprise these were quite loose. Based on the instructions and other pinnace logs I had expected them to be tight. I hadn't sanded the slots and when I miked them they were slightly wider than the components meant to fit into them. I can only assume the manufacturer has slightly altered the slots in recent times. Just means I'll have to be extra careful in fitting the frames.

This kit wasn’t planned. I was struggling to find a suitable ship’s boat for my Royal Caroline when I came across Blue Ensign’s excellent Pegasus build log. B.E. based his boat on Model Shipway’s Pinnace, scaling down the plans to his smaller scale. I decided to do the same. I was pleased with the result, and am looking forward to completing the kit as intended. I debated whether or not to start a log – there are already several very good Pinnace logs on the forum and I wasn’t sure I would be able to add anything useful. However I decided that logs aren’t just about showcasing advanced skills, they’re also about those of us with more modest abilities learning as we go, and especially learning from our mistakes and sharing those experiences. I scratch built the small version from boxwood, but for this model I plan to use the supplied timber for the frames, keel, stem and stern post then mill my own planks and internal fittings. The other decision I've made in advance is to leave out the rather strange extension piece at the stern. As the original model and plans were by Chuck Passaro I'm sure this extension is historically accurate, however I just find it odd. I'm sure a practically-minded captain would have drawn the line at such a fragile and seemingly useless piece of decoration! I left it out on the Caroline build and I liked the result so I'll do the same here. Anyway, I'm looking forward to a comparatively short project and my first build log.

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