BareHook

I was unhappy about the thread color and the stark contrast for the crowsfeet, so I'm re-doing them with black line :
 

 
This is not entirely accurate, as to the best of my knowledge they weren't tarred, but the visual aspect is far better.
 
  Danny

So I decided that good is good enough, and I'm tired of painting black layers.  So, I decided tonight would be the night for the 'big reveal'.  How well did my masking work?  Was all of this a huge waste of time because the black bled all over the yellow ochre?  (insert drum roll here)
 
 
 

 
I can live with this.  This is prior to buffing (not fully dry on the final coat of black) and adding a couple layers of clear poly.  Needs a bit of touch up here and there, especially in the bottom and top of the gun ports, but certainly a paint job I can live with for my first run at wood painting.
 
As far as colors go, I painted 4 different color strips (3 different blues and a green) and laid them up against the hull to eyeball, and while the blue certainly adds a nice splash of color, I think I'm going to be different from every other AVS build I've seen, and leave the sheer strake black.  In the instruction manual, painting the sheer strake blue, red, or green is 'optional', and I'm kind of fond of the black right now.
 
Tomorrow I can put the taffrail on, and then apply a couple coats of poly to protect the paint, then it's time to start the 2nd planking of the hull! 

Thanks for the feedback, I'll create that bending fixture for my AVS chainplates, though they are single without the "link" part.
 
Ken

Truly inspiring , I cannot begin to guess as to how long you've been working on it.
I like how you did the chainplates around the deadeyes, you did them without soldering and hiding the joints in the channels?
Ken

Hi Friends.
Construction of the main-top.
Karl  
 
 
 
 
T e i l  5 6

Alistair - to your previous question about the trim piece on the black strake.  I'm still undecided, but for now it's just black.
 
Update - I got a new toy today!
 
One final slightly out of focus (somehow appropriate) picture from the old Canon point and shoot:

 
On to the AVS.
 
I continued working on the cap rails, first placing the rest of the port side on to match the already completed starboard side.  The scarf joint on this side came out great, with only a tiny gap on the inside edge (which you couldn't even see in the picture from the old camera).

 
I managed to trim the main kit piece of the cap rail too short, so I had to add a small shim at the back end of it, but it will pretty much be covered up (except edge on) by the vertical piece at the quarter deck step.  After completing the main cap rail, I added the stern bulwark planking above the cap rail.  For this I used two 1/8" x .030 strips, and left them full width at the stern, and tapered them down to about 1/2 width at the front edge.
  
 
Once those planks were done, I sanded the edges level for placement of the upper cap rail along the poop deck.  This requires the placement of a vertical piece to cover the front edge of the bulwarks at the quarter deck.  I decided to do my fancy edging (if a single line can be called fancy) on the upper cap rail, and I did it on all three exposed edges.

 
One potential downside of the new camera, it exposes all evils, even when they aren't my fault!  Here you can see how much detail (and mess) I can now show by simply cropping out a piece of the 6000x4000 original image.  This shows the small 'shim' I had to add at the back of the cap rail - the vertical piece is on top of the shim.  I can probably get even closer/better than this by over-riding the camera and shooting manual, but it will take a while to learn the new toy.  The wood itself looks pretty rough when zoomed in this close.

 
For the stern cap rail, I decided that edge bending the largish walnut just wasn't going to work, so I used some heavy card stock and made a pattern off the top of the stern bulkhead, measured it out to be the same width as the cap rail, and traced it onto the same piece of wood that I made the bow cap rails out of.

 
The stern bulkhead was too narrow in comparison with all the other bulkheads, even with an inner layer of planking, and I thought that the cap rail overhang would look too extreme, so I glued a piece of 3/64 basswood to a thick piece of walnut (1/16" instead of the .030) and 'bulked it out', so to speak.

 
I used a heat gun to pre-bend the new stern cap rail over the curvature of the stern bulkhead (I built a curve into the top, rather than having it flat).  This is just laying in place, it's not glued yet, I want to leave it off until I'm done with the tedious priming/sanding/painting process on that bit of inner bulkhead at the stern.  Should have done this piece earlier, but I don't think I could have made everything fit right without the cap rails in place so I could see how it all fit together, and trim the stern bulkhead down to the correct height.

 
Oh yea, and one 'artsy' shot with the new camera.  It has an interesting effects mode called false color, where it will shoot black and white except for specific colors that you tell it to show.

I could see this making some really interesting photo's after there are more colors and the deck is starting to get fleshed out.
 
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone, even if you don't celebrate it in your part of the world!
 

Don't forget the series by Alexander Kent, can't think of titles but enjoyed it several years ago.

I prefer to use scale length planks with a proper butt shift and spiling near the bow as required. I believe it is easier the get a full length fit when doing it in two or more pieces than trying to cut and bond a single full length plank.
 
Ken

I prefer to use scale length planks with a proper butt shift and spiling near the bow as required. I believe it is easier the get a full length fit when doing it in two or more pieces than trying to cut and bond a single full length plank.
 
Ken

I prefer to use scale length planks with a proper butt shift and spiling near the bow as required. I believe it is easier the get a full length fit when doing it in two or more pieces than trying to cut and bond a single full length plank.
 
Ken

I prefer to use scale length planks with a proper butt shift and spiling near the bow as required. I believe it is easier the get a full length fit when doing it in two or more pieces than trying to cut and bond a single full length plank.
 
Ken

A quick update. The hammock cranes have been installed. This work went surprisingly quickly and easily. I used the kit photo etched brass parts which are nicely done. These were glued into holes drilled into the rails. Rather than using rigging line for the guidelines at the top of the cranes, I use wire to provide added strength and stability. After the wire was glued in place, the assembly is remarkably strong.
 
Now for the fun part  -- fitting and attaching the netting in the cranes.
 
Bob

Black Prince may be mixed up with the CNS Alfred a BlueJacket Kit
 
CNS Alfred: copied from www.shipmodelersassociation.org
"The ALFRED was a converted merchantman of 440 tons which carried a compliment of 220 men with 20 each 9-pounder guns and 10 each 6-pounder guns. They think John Wharton of Philadelphia originally built her in 1774. She was originally the merchantman BLACK PRINCE which first made two voyages to England as a merchantman before being requisitioned for a warship by the Continental Congress on November 4, 1775. She was renamed for Alfred the Great, the ninth-century British king credited with building England’s first fleet. Her first commander was Captain Dudley Saltonstall.

The Alfred was the first flagship of the new Continental Navy in 1775, flying the Grand Union Flag of the United Colonies. She was made flagship of Commodore Ezek Hopkins’s eight-ship squadron (including COLUMBUS, CABOT, ANDREW DORIA, PROVIDENCE, FLY, HORNET, and WASP), which occupied Nassau for two weeks in March 0f 1776. On board the ALFRED on her voyage on October 26, 1776, was one lieutenant John Paul Jones, when the ALFRED left New London for a cruise off Nova Scotia during which ALFRED captured nine enemy ships before successfully returning to Boston on December 26th. The British supplied many of the supplies and war material needed by General George Washington and his army by just such seizures of British supply ships originally intended for the British.

The following August, under Captain Elisha Hinman, ALFRED and RALEIGH sailed for France for military supplies. Returning via the West Indies, the two ships were engaged by the British ships HMS ARIADNE (20 guns) and CERES (14 guns) on March 29, 1778. As a result of this battle, ALFRED was captured and acquired by the Royal Navy at Barbados. She only lasted in the Royal Navy for four years, however, as she was then sold out of service in 1782.

There is a fine kit of this model put out by Bluejacket Shipcrafters based upon the research of Larry Arnot who produced the instruction booklet for this kit model that is a textbook on the details of 18th century naval design and outfitting. The model is to the scale of 1:96, is of solid hull construction and comes with brass etching details. This is not a model for a beginner if the modeler intends to fully rig the model."
 
P.S. I have this kit on my shelf waiting...

Happily, I 've completed one of those tedious tasks that I never enjoy very much. With the completion of the mizzen deadeyes and chains, that work is done. The mizzen work duplicated the work on the fore and main and needs no further description.
 
For those looking at the full profile photo attached to this post, there is an addition that may or may not become permanent. I've been thinking about what to do about a boat or boats. While contemplating whether to try (likely unsuccessfully) to duplicate the wonderful efforts of B.E., Grant and others to make framed and planked boats, I discovered that I had a partially built boat made from lifts. To my surprise, this boat ,with some small changes , virtually matched the dimensions and shape of the 28' longboat shown in AOTS Essex. I'm going to do some more work on it to see if it will produce a result that  I'll be happy  with. Stay tuned. 
 
Bob
 

Black Prince may be mixed up with the CNS Alfred a BlueJacket Kit
 
CNS Alfred: copied from www.shipmodelersassociation.org
"The ALFRED was a converted merchantman of 440 tons which carried a compliment of 220 men with 20 each 9-pounder guns and 10 each 6-pounder guns. They think John Wharton of Philadelphia originally built her in 1774. She was originally the merchantman BLACK PRINCE which first made two voyages to England as a merchantman before being requisitioned for a warship by the Continental Congress on November 4, 1775. She was renamed for Alfred the Great, the ninth-century British king credited with building England’s first fleet. Her first commander was Captain Dudley Saltonstall.

The Alfred was the first flagship of the new Continental Navy in 1775, flying the Grand Union Flag of the United Colonies. She was made flagship of Commodore Ezek Hopkins’s eight-ship squadron (including COLUMBUS, CABOT, ANDREW DORIA, PROVIDENCE, FLY, HORNET, and WASP), which occupied Nassau for two weeks in March 0f 1776. On board the ALFRED on her voyage on October 26, 1776, was one lieutenant John Paul Jones, when the ALFRED left New London for a cruise off Nova Scotia during which ALFRED captured nine enemy ships before successfully returning to Boston on December 26th. The British supplied many of the supplies and war material needed by General George Washington and his army by just such seizures of British supply ships originally intended for the British.

The following August, under Captain Elisha Hinman, ALFRED and RALEIGH sailed for France for military supplies. Returning via the West Indies, the two ships were engaged by the British ships HMS ARIADNE (20 guns) and CERES (14 guns) on March 29, 1778. As a result of this battle, ALFRED was captured and acquired by the Royal Navy at Barbados. She only lasted in the Royal Navy for four years, however, as she was then sold out of service in 1782.

There is a fine kit of this model put out by Bluejacket Shipcrafters based upon the research of Larry Arnot who produced the instruction booklet for this kit model that is a textbook on the details of 18th century naval design and outfitting. The model is to the scale of 1:96, is of solid hull construction and comes with brass etching details. This is not a model for a beginner if the modeler intends to fully rig the model."
 
P.S. I have this kit on my shelf waiting...

Hi all,
 
I wanted to let you know about my experience with the use of basswood for miniature carving.
Quite a lot of modellers, including myself, entertain the prejudice, that basswood is not very good for miniature carving. Instead, the only timber to go for, are all sorts of short-grained, hard-growing fruit varieties.
Not true.
 
I have a carving mentor, who lives near the alps. 1 hour driving time. Every now and then I visit him for a lesson.
The typical alpine carving style is what he does for a living. Nativity scenes and that sort of thing.
But sometimes he does miniatures, just to push the borders and see what's possible.
 
From that, from practicing with basswood,  I can tell you, basswood is perfect for miniature carving. Especially, if you plan to gild, or paint it.
 
It is not as hard as the fruit timber, but still holds tiny edges. It is worked with normal, small carving tools. You need to keep them in a pristine sharp condition.
But you do not have to invest in expensive high quality dental burr equipment, if you don't want to.
This also means you can finish figures much faster than working the much harder fruits, like pear or box.
 
I am attaching a picture of a quadriga, my mentor did. That's his smallest so far. The groundplate is much smaller than my palm. Again, no dental burrs, only knives and traditional miniture carving tools.
 
Tom 
 

Hello friends,
new pictures of the BHR.
Karl
 
 
T e i l    5 5

Except for a little mopping up, I've finished the first layer of planking. I've been keeping rough track of time spent and I'm at about 75 hours on the build to date. I know that's not fast; not sure if it's slow. But it's the right pace for me. 
 

I've been adding some wood filler to fair the hull - catching some of the places where I had gaps or was a little aggressive in bending planks along the grain, resulting in some laps that needed to be smoothed over.
 

I've sized the cannon ports but have stopped short of finishing them, since I still have to add layers on both the outside and inside. 
 

Funny to have spent so much time at this point and still have no more than 3 pieces that will actually show in the finished model. But that's also a good thing. Not being an experienced woodworker, I needed the learning curve of the inner layer and now feel better prepared to tackle the hardwood layer. Though I'm sure that too will have its share of blemishes.
 

I struggled to maintain an authentic planking pattern, and frankly stopped worrying very much about it - except to plan how I'll do better on the outside layer. Since I struggled most with achieving the right curves at the bow, I think my approach will be to plank the bow section first - being most careful to use that as the launching point for an authentic planking pattern. Once established at the bow, I don't think I'll have any trouble maintaining correct distance between places where planks end.
 

The other thing I'll need to concentrate on is achieving more uniformity in the width of adjacent planks. Again, I think the secret to that, for me, will be getting it right at the bow and letting everything flow back from there. 

Hi Bob,
 
I hope they (Expo) will as well.
 
The "thing" is moving on in time.
 
I know that Chuck experienced some production issues (not to ESSEX's point) with his kits that were cleaned up but now as time moves on there are some other quality control / production concerns that have nothing to do with the design creeping back in.
 
That's what's most frustrating. What I designed and was produced is assembled as the proto-type (and I consider myself an average builder) and it looks pretty good. Once production begins my influence is nullified for the most part.
 
It's up to the builder to interpret whether it's a poorly designed kit or a poorly produced kit - two entirely separate things. My concern is that regardless of ESSEX's design ANY issue will be attributed to the design on my end as opposed to a production issue.
 
I (like any designer) have to accept that inevitably there will be builders who do not like some aspect of my kit design be it drawings, methodology, instruction etc. You can't please everybody - that's just the reality of it. The best example I can give is that there are aspects of Chuck's designs (which I believe are as good as any available) that I don' care for. They're still amazing but I prefer different approaches - doesn't make them bad design.  
 
ESSEX has a shadow over it right now (and rightfully so) Hopefully moving forward the corrections along with a few build logs and the proto-type build log will re-establish the kit.
 
Your efforts have been great in showing what can be done in a scratch/bash/upgrade approach - that's just what I hoped for in designing it. You can attest that even if the kit is followed there are a number of upgrade opportunities for the builder to really go for it. But if they choose to remain true to the kit (which has a lot of scratch build aspects) they'll still end up with a hell of a finished boat.
 
Bob, as you (and a few others) have seen I have the masts and yards already drawn. I was always hoping to rig her to a high level (say along the lines of Grant's VICTORY) so I've got my work cut out for me. I also want to include additional details (boats, anchors, etc) so there's a lot to do.
 
Once I know that the corrections are complete and she's in a good place again I'll start on the rig. 
 
Sam

Deadeyes and chains on the main channels are now done. As should be expected, the work went quicker and easier on the main than the fore. Practice may not make perfect, but it certainly helps. Really nothing new to show here, but I've included a photo of how I set the angle for the chains by using a piece of line tied around the mast head.
 
I had thought that the tedium of doing these would lead me to take a break and do something else, but I've gotten in a rhythm and will finish up the mizzen chains next.
 
Bob

On the AVS, it is a cleat on the boom

So I'm progressing with a single coat of red paint on the bulwarks each day, but I'm an impatient sort (I'm sure nobody has noticed that by now) so I've decided to start working on the outer planking while still working on the bulwark paint.
 
I started with the black strake, which the kit provides walnut strips to make.  Luckily, the walnut in this size is actually pretty nice and easily worked and not all splintery, so I inked it after carefully cutting the piece to length and shaping both ends, and placed this key component on each side.  Prior to actually gluing, I clamped some scrap of the same walnut stock in place along the gun ports and used that to do some final sanding of the lower port sills so that they would match the top of the black strake.
 

 
The photo showing the wale and black strake at the stem came out blurry, so I'll probably take another one later, but I'm really happy with how evenly they came out, and how sharp the match with the stem is.  The photo of the other side at the stern where it mates with the fashion piece came out blurry too.
 
I sealed the black strake and wale with a coat of wipe on poly after they were in place, and hopefully this will protect it a bit from my antics as I work on the planking above and below them.
 
I also got a delivery in the mail today - a drawplate from Jim Byrnes.   So of course I had to play with it, and made a few tree nails out of maple, and holly.  The green box is maple at .031", and the blue is holly at .031".  I am having a very difficult time getting tree nails smaller than the .029 drawplate hole, so if I chose to use real tree nails they would pretty much have to be .031 holes.  I really like the holly appearance, as the edges are quite sharp, and the color is the most subdued of all the real wood nails I've made, but they appear too large and out of scale to me.  In addition, the holly was very difficult to draw, I kept breaking the wood, so it would be a huge pain to make enough holly tree nails to do the entire deck.
 

 
In the end I'm probably going to go with the newer wood filler in .028, and try to do a neater job than the test planking when I'm doing the hole drilling and then shaving of the deck after the filler has dried in order to get a crisper edge on them.

HI all - 
 
After finishing up some other projects and some chores on the "honey-do" list, I am back building the QAR.   Here is my progress.
 
I realized that I had not planned or installed any scuppers from the gun deck to the outside of the hull.  Using a set of outside calipers I located and drilled five on each side of the hull.  I lined them with lead from a wine bottle wrapped around a toothpick, glued, and slid into place.  Once the glue was dry the excess was trimmed with a sharp blade.  They fit well when they were located under the gunports, though this meant that the upper ends in the waterways at the edges of the deck were all hidden by the guns.  Here are two on the port side of the hull.
 
1
 
Next I turned to the guns.  First were the stowed guns on the starboard side.  I played around with the test gun station that I made up a while ago to see how it might have been done.  I figured that the crew would have used the breaching rope and the train tackles which were already available.  I found that the breaching rope could be tightened up through the rings in the bulwark, which would have secured the gun pretty well.  Then the train tackles could run from the eyebolts on the carriage to the hooks in the bulwark.  Once they were tightened the remaining length of running line could be frapped (overwrapped) between the blocks.  I found that two layers perfectly used up the free line.  This seems a workable solution, but there certainly can be others.
 
Note that I have installed a lead vent cover secured with light line, which would have been used to keep water from entering and rusting the vent hole.  
 
2
 
Here is the line of four stowed guns in the waist. The guns are secured with a metal pin through the rear axle and into the deck, which is hidden between the truck and the carriage. There are two others, one forward under the foredeck and one aft under the quarterdeck, which can only be seen at a low angle.  Those that cannot be seen were not installed.  
 
3
 
On the port side the guns are run out, so all of them can be seen to some extent.  The three aftmost and the one in the bow were simplified.  The trucks were replaced with cleats for added glue surface and security, while the capsquares and rigging were not installed.  These were pinned in place as well.
 
4
 
The visible guns were glued to the deck and a metal pin was drilled at an angle through the rear axle and into the deck.  The breaching rope was rigged through the rings in the bulwark and secured to itself with two round seizings.  The rope was softened with water and shaped to 'droop' onto the deck.  Once it was approximately positioned it was painted with dilute pH neutral white glue and teased into final position as the glue dried.  This also secured it to the deck.  The train tackle was rigged from the carriage eyebolts to the bulwark hooks with the running line coiled on deck.  I did not flemish the coil since I do not think that a pirate ship would be that 'shipshape' or fastidious.
 
5
 
As long as I was rigging the guns, I experimented with loading procedures.  I was surprised to see that when the gun was fully run in for loading the back of the carriage covered up the deck ring behind it.  I double checked the length of French six-pounder cannon and the breadth of the deck and they were correct, so it is likely that this was what happened.  The only way I could make the system work was to hook the run-in tackle to the ring on the opposite side of the deck.   
 
6
 
With the copper clips standing in for the gun crew this seems to be a workable solution.  But again, this is speculation and may not be correct.
 
7
 
The rest of the port broadside was installed and rigged.
 
8
 
There are no pumps in Budriot's plans, but they do appear in a photograph of Berti's model of Le Mercure.  His are round, which I did not like, so I made mine hexagonal.  This was done in a straightforward way.  A length of half inch maple dowel was cut and the end marked with a six pointed star.  The lines were extended down the dowel then the wood was carved away between the lines.  The pump bodies were cut to length and the sides adjusted by hand sanding.
 
9
 
The well at the top was drilled, milled and darkened.  Blackened brass reinforcing rings were installed, as was a blackened brass outlet near the base of the pump.  The yoke for the handle was fashioned, installed and secured with three metal pins.  The handle was shaped and given a pivoting lifting bar at the business end that dropped into the well.  The handle was mounted on a metal axle pin through the yoke and the finished pump was given a coat of clear finish.
 
10
 
The completed pumps were installed adjacent to the main mast location.  Their bases had to be angled slightly to match the round-up of the deck, then secured with metal pins into the deck.  The handles are angled outward where they can be accessed easily by the crew without getting in the way of the rigging to come (at least I hope that there will be no problems).  
 
11
 
Using Pirate Pete for comparison, I am happy with the size, scale and look of the pumps.
 
12
 
More soon.  Be well.
 
Dan
 
 
 
 

Wow, it's been a full week since I've updated this.  Vacation from my posting for everyone!
 
Thanks to everyone for the likes and comments on last weeks update, I do read and appreciate every one of them.
 
The reason for no updates this last week is really that I'm in a phase of the building where very little visibly changes from day to day as I was working on completing all of the gunport sills which took me several days, and then another couple days to fit the inner bulwark planking and prepare it for painting.  This morning I put the first coat of primer on, and it's now drying so with nothing I can really do on the ship, time for an update here!
 
Let me start out this update with a bit of commentary on two of the most useful tools for this segment of the build, and really I see them being some of the more heavily used items in my inventory going forward.
 
1) The common disposable syringe with a 23 gauge industrial (not sharpened) tip.  I got these from Amazon because I'm an Amazon junkie.
 
100 Syringes and 50 tips are about $20 bucks to my door, which makes them pretty darned cheap individually, and I find that I can use a single syringe and tip for weeks before needing to replace the tip or syringe.  I cover the tip with masking tape in between uses, and when it gets clogged up, a #78 micro-drill is a perfect fit to clean it out and keep on trucking.
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001889SBA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0021M3NSQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
The syringe allows for very precise placement of very small amounts of glue in places that would be very difficult to get into with the regular glue dispenser (especially with CVA), and it is not messy and wasteful like using a toothpick, and I don't have to deal with the CVA bottle tip cleaning constantly.

 
2) The UMM Micro saw pack - http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/product_info.php?cPath=21_28&products_id=37
and the UMM micro mitre box - http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/product_info.php?cPath=21_28&products_id=3340

 
This has rapidly become my go-to tool for cutting of pieces to length.  It's fantastic for trimming overhanging pieces very closely and very precisely, and with the mitre-box it's much more accurate than the X-acto aluminum mitre-box and razor saw and has a much finer cut with less splintering.  I found this on a post on here, but I can't seem to find it now.  Whoever recommended this a couple months ago, thank you, it's an awesome tool.
 
On to the actual update.  My deck on the port side has some issues that I did not realize until last week when installing the spirketing planks and seeing how badly out of whack the gun ports were with the top of the plank.  The photo doesn't really show it very well, but the deck has a significant dip, and then a corresponding rise at the forward two gun port locations.

 
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I could fix this, and I sanded down the spirketing plank at the forward gun port in order to make the sill be at approximately the correct height on the outer hull.  Other than that I finally went with the "Congress" solution, and stuck my head in the sand, pretended it didn't exist and went on.  I don't think it's fixable at this point, as the core issue has to be in the bulkhead tops under the false deck, so I'm just going to work around it as I go and see what happens.  Chalk this up to lessons and try to figure out how to better detect this at the fairing step on future builds.
 
Adding the inner bulwark planking was fairly straight forward, just cutting pieces to length, edge beveling to get a nice close fit to the previous plank, and gluing them in place.

 
At the bow, even though everything will get wiped out by the hole for the bow-sprit in the future, I decided to try a technique I've seen in a couple other builds, and rather than bevel the ends to try to get a perfect alignment with the other side, I 'criss-crossed' them.  I put the first plank on the starboard side all the way to the bass-wood on the other side, then butted the port side plank up against that one, and then put the next port side plank all the way to the bass-wood and on top of the first plank from the starboard side, repeat to the top.  I really like the results, and will probably use this technique in the future for places where planks join at an angle like this.

 
The poop deck area required quite a bit of work and trimming before I had both sides pretty equal and the inner planking fitting correctly, but in the end I think it came out well.

 
After sanding (going to need to make myself some oddly shaped sanding tools/sticks in the future for working on the 'inside' of things like this), I thinned Model Shipways primer - 1 part water to 4 parts primer, and applied the first coat of primer.

 
And that's where I'm at now.  I did however, between various things do a bit more experimentation with my Holly decking.  I increased my drill size to .031" from the original .024", so the holes are now oversized for scale, but I'm going for 'appearance' vs. accuracy here.  I made some tree nails out of round toothpicks, as I wasn't happy with the bamboo.  I think I'm even less happy with the toothpicks, they get very dark when sanded down flush with the deck.  I also tried wood filler in the larger holes.  Still wasn't all that happy, but when I applied the wipe-on poly, something magical happened, and the wood filler got just slightly darker!

 
Above shots are with 3 coats of Min-Wax wipe on Poly with a steel wool wiping between coats.  For the final deck I believe I will split the difference in hole sizes and go with a .028" hole and use the wood filler.  I will test this on my test deck first, but based on the appearance of the wood filler in the .024 & .031 holes I am fairly certain this will get to the appearance that I'm looking for.
 
Whew.. if I was talking I'm sure I'd be all out of breath now!  Until next time, take care all, and happy ship building.

I'm on the last book of this Drinkwater series; "Ebb Tide" and I have to say I like the series.  Like Hornblower Drinkwater doubts himself, feels guilt for the things he must do, the lives lost, etc; but he's resolute, knows his business, and doesn't pull punches when it gets down to it.  As for the writing, I have to say Richard Woodman gets to the point much quicker than O'Brien ever did.  Woodman writes like the sailor he is and I had no problem keeping track in my mind's chart just where things were relative to each other.

If you like Hornblower or Aubrey/Maturin you'll certainly like Drinkwater.
 
See, I can say positive things, I didn't mention once how much Bolitho sucks.