Dziadeczek

A while ago somebody (I don't remember his name) has posted this image of the HMS Victory (along many others)...

There are some confusing points in the manual. It is better to check real photos everytime.
 

The deluxe kit has two different sets of helipad net fences. Their shapes are a little bit different.
 

Add this railing. It isn't in the kit.
 

The two antenna masts are the most delicate and complex part in the kit.
 

The 3D printed resin parts are flexible and vulnerable, so I had to be very careful.
Don't forget the masts are straight when you attach ladders.
 

This is my 2,094th mistaek...
Not all the supports are removable. Always check real photos.
 

The second mast is more complex. I forgot to add the C15.
 
 

 

 
Ok... the last part is the radar assembly. 😬

I think the Mughal is finished. I added the nose piece to his helmet. It rather spoils his face but it is supposed to be there so I’ll live with it. I also added the last pieces, the helmet decorations. They were very fiddle to attach, a very small contact area and their weight means that they have to be supported until the glue is completely dried. I switched to ca glue for these parts to stand a chance of success.
I decided that the base depicted old paving stones so I added some sand and glued dry grasses into the gaps between the stones.

This was a really enjoyable project and I pushed myself a bit trying harder with the details. I would have liked a darker face but I need to experiment more. I also met several Afghans with very light skin and even red hair so he is plausible.
I think I will work on another figure before returning to the maritime subjects.
Thanks for looking in, all the likes and kind comments 
alan

General view of the hull.

As you noticed, Imai is long gone, unfortunately...    😞    Replaced by another Japanese kit maker, Woody Joe - check their offer, perhaps you'll find something interesting for you.
 
Many years ago I built a model from Imai - their "Osyoru Maru" (Oshoro Maru) - a brigantine, research vessel from the Hokkaido University's department of Fisheries. I got this kit as a gift from a friend from Japan.
Cute little project, very well designed and easy to understand, even though the instructions were only in Japanese. Recommended for a beginner with some experience with his hands.
 
 

As you noticed, Imai is long gone, unfortunately...    😞    Replaced by another Japanese kit maker, Woody Joe - check their offer, perhaps you'll find something interesting for you.
 
Many years ago I built a model from Imai - their "Osyoru Maru" (Oshoro Maru) - a brigantine, research vessel from the Hokkaido University's department of Fisheries. I got this kit as a gift from a friend from Japan.
Cute little project, very well designed and easy to understand, even though the instructions were only in Japanese. Recommended for a beginner with some experience with his hands.
 
 

Port side bow planking done. 

This is a corner of a sail from the "Star of India" in San Diego.

I am sure there are many different ways to do it and some members will explain their techniques, but I do it in the following faschion:
I use a very thin cotton fabric for my sails, instead of silkspan. I found it in my local fabric store  (www.moodfabrics,com)  a fabric known as cotton muslin, already factory coloured into a nice cream (eggshell) color - perfect for sails, so I don't need to color it by myself. It is used primarilly for linings for suits or similar. But my model is in 1:48 scale, so this muslin is barely thin enough for my sails. It might be too thick for your model though, if your scale is smaller.
I wanted to show all sewn details of my sails, and I feared that silkspan, being soooo thin and delicate, would not allow this...
 
After preparing my sails in the traditional way, I attach (glue) to their edges a bolt rope, making sure that it isn't attached to the edge of a sail, but instead it lays ON the edge, on the AFT side of the sail. After the glue (white glue like Elmer's),  slightly diluted with water, has dried, I sew the rope with a very thin needle and thin thread of almost the same (only slightly darker) color that the sail itself, like on the attached pic. I found out that if I leave the rope only glued there, it has a tendency to split from the sail, if you manipulate it with your fingers. Sewing it, reinforces the bond and secures it.
It is an extremely tedious and time consuming process (if you think, tying ratlines is tedious, think again!), I work with magnifier Optivisor and have a thimble on my finger to push the needle through the slightly stiffened (by glue) fabric. I place the sail on a rubber mat, like yours, but on top of that mat I place a piece of ordinary cardboard and only then I place my sail on top of it. The cardboard allows me to push the needle through the rope and the sail and a bit more (perhaps 2 to 3 mm - the thicknes of cardboard) on the other side. It is easier than, to push it all the way through. I sew through the middle of the rope and  through the sail, just perhaps 1 mm from its edge. After the sewing, the thread is nearly invisible, only from a very close distance, say a few cm, similar to full size sails.

Blckening brass

I don't know D. Dressel's book, but I first learnt the planking technique from the brochure by Jim Roberts "Planking the Built-Up Ship Model".
Basically, after you VERY PRECISELY! installed the wale and the garboard strake (make sure they are perfectly symmetrical on both sides of your hull), you proceed to determine the runs of your battens (very thin temporary glued wood strips). If you chose three spaces (two battens), that's OK.
Very important is that they run symmetrically on both sides, along the entire length of the hull, and equidistantly to each other.
In other words, the spaces between the battens should be the same, and not like you say, one is 52 for the top space, 66 for the middle and 52 again for the bottom space! All spaces should be 52 (or something else, in your case). Reposition the battens.
I assume, these measurements are for the edge of a middle frame/bulkhead, the one that is the bulkiest. Do the same for the remaining bulkheads, taking precise measurements in between the lower edge of the wale and the upper edge of the garboard strake, taken with either a strip of paper or dividers, and then divide the distance into three to obtain the width for each ellipsoid space - for the corresponding bulkhead/frame. Do this for ALL frames, make a pencil mark on each frame and finally connect them all into a curve delineating the run of your batten.
It is easier to do it, than to explain it...   😬
This method is foolproof, if you do it precisely.
Hope this helps,
 
Thomas

When I took this pic, there were no sails hoisted, hence the absence of a foresail tack on the boomkin.

When I took this pic, there were no sails hoisted, hence the absence of a foresail tack on the boomkin.

dupuytren's contracture treatment - Google Search

I heard there is non-surgical treatment for this as well...

I built my first ship model more than 30 years ago - Billing Boats "Norske Love" only with Elmer's Glue All white glue and today it sits there, still intact.
My latest, scratched French 74 guns after Boudriot, I built using Titebond Original. I'll let you know after another 30 years.   😁
I think, both are good for wood, at least for our purposes.
Titebond II and III are for waterproof applications, II - for water resistant and III - for waterproof (if you are building a floating model, for RC etc.)

I built my first ship model more than 30 years ago - Billing Boats "Norske Love" only with Elmer's Glue All white glue and today it sits there, still intact.
My latest, scratched French 74 guns after Boudriot, I built using Titebond Original. I'll let you know after another 30 years.   😁
I think, both are good for wood, at least for our purposes.
Titebond II and III are for waterproof applications, II - for water resistant and III - for waterproof (if you are building a floating model, for RC etc.)

dupuytren's contracture treatment - Google Search

I heard there is non-surgical treatment for this as well...

I don't know much about the Hemingway's Pilar yacht, but in my opinion, if you intend to completely cover the hull with planking, either wood will be OK. Especially, good quality plywood, like Baltic plywood has great stability. If, however, you want to only partially plank your hull (Dockyard style model or similar), you do not want to show the layered edges of your bulkheads made from plywood, and in this case - use solid wood, any of the hard fruit woods will suffice, eg. cherry, apple, pear, plum, but also maple, birch, beech, etc. If your pockets are sufficiently deep, go full blast for boxwood or even some, more exotic species, peroba, etc.

Here is some museum info on him.
 

Over a period of ~ 25 years, I visited this museum probably about a dozen of times, or so. And each time I took a handful of photographs. So, today I have quite a collection of pics from there.
It is not nearly as big as, let's say, The US Navy Museum in Annapolis, but It is a very interesting little maritime museum, with an exceptionally friendly staff, mostly of volunteers, passionate individuals, who fondly greet every visitor and are willing to help him/her.
This is the museum, the next NRG conference will be held next year.
Their collection of ship models includes, among the others, about half a dozen ship models by the late Edward Marple, who was a dental technician, so he was quite handy with his dental drill and was using it quite skillfully for carving the ornamentation for his models. Among those especially interesting ones, are his Sovereign of the Seas, the Royal George and the Royal Katherine...
The museum also has quite an interesting collection of maritime paintings, among them a large format painting of the Royal Sovereign by Van de Velde the Younger. I also like very much their paintings by John Stobart.
Here is a handful of my pics from my last visit in June 2019. (Hopefully I will be able to attend the upcoming Conference and revisit their models again).
 
 

Sovereign of the Seas by Edward Marple
 

Sovereign of the Seas by Edward Marple
 

Sovereign of the Seas by Edward Marple
 

Sovereign of the Seas by Edward Marple
 

Vasa by William Siegfried
 

Xebec L'Indiscret by Unknown
 

galley La Reale de France
 

Frigate Seahorse by James Cutler
 

Royal George by Edward Marple
 

Royal George by Edward Marple
 

Royal Katherine by Edward Marple
 

John Bentham Dinsdale "English King Charles II receiving the fleet after the Battle of Solebay 1672"
 

prisoner of war bone model
 

Royal Katherine by Edward Marple
 

Mars
 

HMS Serapis
 

Charles Martin Powell "British Man-O- War with Dutch Sailing Vessels in a  Choppy Sea" 1805
 

Chinese Exhibit
 

Steam Yacht "Mayflower"
 
 

Steam Yacht "Mayflower"
 

John Stobart "Vallejo Street Wharf, San Francisco 1863"
 

Montague Dawson "The Atlantic sailing packet Daniel Webster"
 

Jonn Stobart "Clipper Ship 'Nightingale' Towing Out Past Greenwich in 1852"
 

John Stobart "Nantucket Sunrise"
 

Edward Marple's workplace (museum reconstruction)
 

E. Marple's workplace
 

E. Marple's workplace
 

E. Marple's workplace
 

HMS "Prince" Edward Marple's last model (unfinished)
 

E. Marple's workplace with unfinished HMS "Prince"
 

E. Marple's workplace & unfinished HMS 'Prince'
 

E. Marple's workplace - detail
 

Roy Cross "Robert E. Lee in New Orleans 1870s"
 

Roy Cross "Steamer Adelaide Passing Fort McHenry"
 

Roy Cross "The Devonshire"
 
 

John Wilson Carmichel  "Squadron of Frigates and Fishing Vessels in a Choppy See off Holy Island"
 
 
And the last pic here is a general view of Mr. Marple's workshop (reconstructed) again

dupuytren's contracture treatment - Google Search

dupuytren's contracture treatment - Google Search

I heard there is non-surgical treatment for this as well...