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This is the start of my second build, the ‘18th Century Long Boat’ by Model Shipways. I had bought this boat prior to reading some threads on this web site, which convinced me that my first build should be the ‘Lowell Grand Banks Dory’ by Shipways. This model was a fantastic first build; it was cheap, simple in design, covered a number of needed skills for the future, and allowed me to make a lot of mistakes on a cheap model. Even with the errors, I was very satisfied with the outcome and enjoyed the build. Actually, my first wood boat was a Model Shipways solid hull that I tried to build about 20 years ago. I never got past shaping the hull. I tried to start it a few times and always got frustrated since I didn’t know what to do or how to finish the hull. Now with COVID, I started building plastic airplane models again which I enjoy very much. But I wanted to do something different and thought about wood ship models. I always like how they looked in stores and really enjoyed them in the U.S. Naval Academy museum. So here I am with my second build, the ‘18th Century Long Boat’. I’ve tried to apply what I learned from t he Lowell Grand Banks Dory and this web site. False Keel: not sure I got the rabbet right, did it all by just sanding, we’ll see when I start planking. For a model that I’m sure a lot of beginners build, the instructions could use a lot more pictures. Didn’t look at other build logs until now. Attaching the Bulkheads: I built a simple jig to hold the keel while I glued the bulkhead on, learned that from this site. I applied a lot that I learned about the importance of getting the bulkheads plum and level from my first build and tried to apply here. I relied on a small 1/64 metal scale I had from the old days and did a lot of measurements on each bulkhead while the wood glue was setting. I also glued scrap wood pieces to the top of the waste bulkheads to keep them plum/level. This work extremely well since I could not figure a way to hold the bulkheads with the few clamps I have. Learned this from other build logs.
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So, this is my first build log here. I've tried my hand at models before, notably the HMS Bounty, but felt I bit off more than I could chew. Hence, I'm scaling it back and trying a smaller model to gain some skills. -
Well its taken me a few days to look through my kit backlog to decide where I wanted to go next and ultimately decided on the MS 18th C. Armed Longboat. Hoping that with the continued "shelter at home" order in place I might get another one of these smaller projects finished, or at least make some decent headway. Ive enjoyed reading the other build logs, but especially appreciated the two by Dr PS and Arthur Wayne (the only two completed logs that I know of). Im also grateful to Ken Foran in advance, should he decide to weigh-in as he has elsewhere. I won't belabor the details of the kit, as I think those are well covered in the great review by Dubz, here. For my own copy of the kit, I found all the required parts accounted for and the plans printed at the right scale. Others found the plans printed a few percentage points off, but after measuring the 1" reference, my copies were spot-on. A pet-peeve of mine has always been creases in paper, all paper. I typically take my fresh plans into my lab for proper flattening, but given the situation Im stuck without this luxury. I tried a few ways to deal with this at home but none worked quite right, and I'd rather wait and do it the right way then muck about doing it a less right way. So creases and all, they hang at the ready. I'll just jump right in at this point as many of the preliminaries are well covered in the previously mentioned logs. Ill note one thing I do miss though, after reading through the instructions I didn't really find any sort of mention of source material or bibliography (did I miss this?). Usually found is some sort of history or contextual bit. Part of the joy in building for me has been the background pleasure reading that can go along with the modeling subject. I would have liked a short list of books or other materials that might capture the period or use of these vessels to better paint the picture as I turn my focus to them. If anyone has anything in particular to recommend, Id be very thankful. The build commenced with the all-to familiar assembly of the keel and false keel components. I almost always get this wrong, though it is probably - or should be, the easiest step. I generally sand too much or not enough or round things off so with this build I was extra careful and slow. I never seem to be that successful getting these things as well as some of more accomplished builders out there. I feel Im always chasing the air-tight joint and never able to get there. Some one doing a short tutorial on their edge prep methods would likely earn a LOT of kudos for the time spent - *hint, hint* Not having a good example of how this is done is maddening, as learning how to sand off the scorch marks, while not taking too much off and keeping everything square shouldn't be this hard! I marked everything out with pencil first, including guidelines for carving the rabbet along the narrow edge and the opposing side of the deadwood. Anyway, Ive done what I could.. As I said before, I went extremely slowly here, as Ive learned its very easy to remove too much material. One peculiar thing in my kit were these curious stains in the wood which I can only guess are drops of oil or something that may have fallen off the laser machine? Im not sure how much they bother me at this point as Im not sure how much they'll really show once the whole thing is together. I may follow Arthur Wayne's approach and only tack-glue the keel to the false-keel just in case it becomes something I can't live with and needs replacing. Ill whittle out the deadwood tomorrow as I wanted rest and a good cup of coffee before tackling that bit. Its likely not as big of a deal as Ive made it, but as Ive said Im always shooting for the kind of tolerances I see on some the builds around here so I planning to be as deliberate with each thing here as I can. -
I finally finished Syren after two years and five months so I started a smaller project as a "breather" before I launch into another multi-year build.
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Hello Everybody! I was encouraged to start a build log. I stated that once I received the replacement part from Model Expo that I would do just that. I received my package on Friday and so I am now going to begin my log. Let me apologize in advance for all of the "basic" questions that I will have along the way. As I have previously stated, I am very eager to learn from all of the incredibly talented people on this forum. The first picture is of my workspace (it's a good thing that I am single lol) The remaining photos are of the bearding line and rabbet The keel and false keel are not yet glued in the following picture but soon will be Please, if anybody sees something that i have done (or am doing) incorrectly, tell me - I promise that I won't be offended Aaron -
I've been working on this kit for a little over a month now. I delayed posting a build log until now, I wanted to make enough progress to be certain I wouldn't be creating yet another unfinished build log. I'm in the military and will be changing duty stations later this year so I'm hoping to complete this build before move day arrives. This is my second model ship (I guess this is technically a boat). My first kit was the Artesania Latina Bluenose 2, which I built back in the mid 90's. I got to the 90% finished stage however I used several coats of very glossy polyurethane on the hull and deck and then realized I hated how it looked. I ended up giving it away to a friend. I'll get my build log caught up in a number of posts. First the obligatory box photo of the kit: I read through the manual numerous times to ensure I understood each step of the build. The manual is somewhat lacking and a few extra photos of some critical areas would have been nice. Also there is some vague verbiage which I will cover in later posts. Unfortunately the plans are not to scale, they seem to be a 101-102% enlargement. So far from what I can see, they aren't actually needed for the build but I do find it odd that they aren't scaled to the kit. Aside from these issues, I think this a pretty good quality kit, neatly packed and nothing damaged or missing. After shaping the rabbit and beard line, I installed the bulkheads. I did have to adjust several that sat too high or low so that they would meet the rabbit. I deviated from the kit by omitting the supplied strong back which is glued down the center. I chose to use 1/8 square basswood in segments so as not to pull the bulkheads out of plum. This also prevented all but 1 of the bulkheads from splitting during the build and kept everything plum while it was planked. If I could go back and do this over, I would have drawn a light pencil line connecting the bottom of the bulkhead cutouts on the sides of the false keel, this material is removed after the hull is planked. A pencil line would have made a handy guide when cutting the false keel down. If you build this kit, make sure the joint between each former and the side of false keel is securely glued, when the inside of each bulkhead is removed and the false keel is cutdown the resulting bulkheads are just a butt joint against the false keel. Finally I did cheat and only tack glued the keel to the false keel with gel CA which is easy to break free without splintering the wood. This will allow the planking at the bow to be sanded easily giving a nice tight fit when the keel is glued back on. I faired the bulkheads with 180 grit finishing with 220 grit sanding blocks I made for this build. I also made various length blocks for up to 400 grit sandpaper. Despite my best efforts, bulkhead 4 still ended up sitting a bit too proud (with the hull upside down). There is a small knot in the keel near the stern. Since I originally planned to paint the lower hull it didn't concern me but now I have decided not to paint the lower hull so that knot is going bug me till the end of my days. I also dowel pinned the transom to the keel because it seemed a likely candidate to be knocked off. Since the transom will be painted the dowels will never be seen. It was cheap insurance, the transom stayed put all the way through planking. -
Took a long time to decide on a first build, finally picked the 18th Century Longboat from Model Shipway. Spent the first day sanding the burnt sections off the pieces, assembling the Keel and creating the bevel from the bearding line. I also followed BobF's direction to mount my ship with brass rods.
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This is my build of Chuck's (Modelshipway's) kit of the longboat. I am building this as part of the Chicago TriClub group build. The Chicago TriClub is comprised of the three Chicago groups: Midwest Model Shipwrights, Northshore Deadeyes and Nautical Research and Ship Model Society of Chicago. I plan on painting the model based on the prototype. Although I had originally planned on building out-of-the-box, I personally found the basswood strips too soft and fuzzy and so all the planking is castillo boxwood. I have plenty on hand from my Atalanta build. Two of our club presidents designed a building jig to help with installation of the bulkheads. This is simply some plywood with two wood strips separated by the width of the keel. There is a block with the stem width routed in to it anteriorly. This keeps the keel from flexing as the bulkheads are installed. Because this is a laser-cut kit, there is some char which needs to be sanded off. Also all of the cut surfaces must be sanded to that they are exactly perpendicular to the basswood sheet. Otherwise the keel scarf will not be correct and the bulkheads will not slip into their slots easily. Once all of the bulkheads were installed, I glued in spacers between the scrap portions of the bulkheads to prevent the hull from flexing once it was removed from the jig. Finally, the hull was faired. Toni -
Well I was finally able to start my build. I muddled my way through the bulkheads and fairing with only one mishap. I broke frame 3 while sanding. A little too aggressive. CA to the rescue and all is well. Next up planking. -
Began this kit a couple days ago. Had a couple frames and the transom snap during the fairing process but no biggie, pinned and glued them back. Maybe a little too aggressive with the sanding... It seems that it will be a pleasurable little build. It's a nice scale to work with, my first wooden ship kit was MS's 1:48 version, very small! I plan on making some changes to this one, mostly color choices. I aim to make it look like the ship's boat on my Syren model. Also, I may play around with putting sails on this one. I think maybe half set or something like that, we'll see. I began by starting the garboard strake on frame G, seems like it will work out better there. Thanks to Arthur Wayne for the tips and problems to look out for as I move ahead. -
It's official, I'm gonna start making sawdust! I ordered the kit Saturday, and got tracking info this afternoon... I might be a little excited... I've been reading other ALB logs, and checking out the planking articles, but it's a bit fuzzy... I'm thinking things will probably make more sense once I have the kit on my work desk... I'm more of a hands-on learner with stuff like this... I will probably want to put a sail on the boat (I prefer the look of models with sails, they look naked to me without them). Not sure if the kit mentions anything about sails, or if I'm gonna have to figure it out on my own... Can't wait to start the build! -
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Technically this is my second build log, but it will be my first complete build. The first being the HMS Endeavour's Longboat by AL, however I never got very far with it before I switched to this one, then this sat on the shelf for almost 2 years and I have finally came back to it to finish it. I deleted the build log for the Endeavour's Longboat because there wasn't much there and I don't plan to go back to it for quite some time. My next build is to arrive Tuesday, the Model Shipways Syren US Brig, I'm excited to get started on something much bigger than this little guy, but this one has been fun. I have done a lot of plastic car and airplane models as a child, as an adult I have made some remote control rock crawlers, I also enjoy assembling and painting fantasy miniatures. I have never built a wooden model ship before, but it has always been something I have wanted to do. So here are some photos showing my progress along the way, I'll try to add some commentary as I go. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of opening the box and the contents, however I did the same with this kit as I did with my Endeavour shown below. I went through and took inventory of all the parts and put masking tape tags identifying what the various parts are. Here is a workstation and tool storage I built. Next up is attaching the false keel, then adding the bulkheads. I did all this back in September 2017 when I purchased the kit. Then for whatever reason, life I guess, I didn't come back to this until February 2018 when I started planking. I think maybe I was a bit scared of the planking, not wanting to mess it up. In the end I think it came out ok, especially after painting, but I have since done a lot of reading and now know what I could have done differently. By the end of March 2018 I had completed the planking, sanding, and removing the insides of the bulkheads. Then it stayed like above until the end of last month when I started working on it again. I am now nearly finished, I only have about 3 more things to tie on for the rigging and finish carving out the pedestals for it to sit on. After starting up again, I sanded away all the laser marks from the inside of the bulkheads, added the cap rail, friezes, paint, and began working on the inside details. I had attempted to make the cap rail out of a single solid piece of material, but it ended up splitting on me on the port side of the stem. I also broke the stem off at least twice during the whole build so far. Here is the rudder and the mast attached. I still have to add the friezes to the rudder, it is removable not permanently attached. I have almost all the rigging done, I did not get photos of the bowsprit, boom, or gaff, but they are made and attached. So there she is for now, that's all the photos I currently have. I will post more as I take them. I have to finish rigging the jib, attach the anchor, and paint the oars and I believe I'll be done. I certainly learned a lot from this kit, I have purchased the Granado by Caldercraft, but I wanted something with more instructions before I tackled that one, which is why I chose to purchase the Syren just last week. I'll begin it shortly, and look towards the Granado after I complete the Syren. There are certainly things I could have done better with this little boat, but as long as I realize that and learned from my mistakes, my next one will be that much better. -
Hello all. This is my first build log although I have built a few models previously. I am in no way in the league of many of the craftsmen that I see in this forum, so any thoughts or suggestions will be most welcome. This project is the 18th Century Armed Longboat by Model Shipways in 1:24 scale. I assume this model is basically a scaled up version of the early Longboat designed by Chuck. There are not many build logs for the armed version but the smaller version seems to be one of the most popular builds on the site. Hopefully you can point out any differences and steer me away from any major faults. Below is the typical photo of the box showing the build to be undertaken. I’m using this photo primarily to check my ability to add photos properly. -
Well, this is my first wood ship model build, and build log, so I'll just jump right in. I found the 18th Century Armed Longboat on Amazon and thought it looked like a good beginner kit. Then while doing some research I found this glorious site and its great members! To my surprise, there were several completed build logs for this exact model! So after reading thru several and getting some great inspiration I decided to begin. However I did not thing of doing a build log until most of my hull was planked. I thought the process of planking was pretty straight forward, and the instructions were great and helped out a lot. I had a few problems with clamps denting wet planks, and learned a valuable lesson about sanding the rib supports to the proper angle before starting planking. Below are some pics of the fully planked hull. This was after the first rough sanding with 110 grit. I bent all the planks into place and only cut (i forget the proper term) the sheer plank and the last infill plank from a sheet of 1/16. The planking took me way longer then expected to complete. I used yellow wood glue and glued 2 planks a night, and formed and clamped 2 more. So it took a couple of weeks to complete. Time consuming, but I was pretty happy with the results, and only had minimal gaps to fill. Overall great fun and a good learning experience. Thanks for taking a look and any advice or comments are greatly appreciated. -
Hello All I have decided to build my Model Shipways kit of the 18th Century Long Boat. In order to make the build log a little bit different than the others here I am gearing it for the beginner who has never built a ship model before. I and I alone have decided its a good kit for the beginner for the following reasons. 1. The model has a very modest cost compared to others, especially if you catch a sale. At the time of writing this it is listed at $49.99 without entering a sales code on the website. I paid less for mine. 2. Model Shipways quality control is very high and their free replacement parts for missing or broken parts is superb. Although made completely from bass wood Model Shipways strives for the best it can put in the kit. 3. Bass wood is a good material for a beginner. 4. The hull itself will introduce the beginner to most basic hull construction techniques found in many kits. It is a plank on bulkhead constructed kit that when the bulkheads are removed, it turns into a plank on frame construct. 5. Although the planking may cause some difficulty to the beginner because it is only a single layer and errors will show, it is a small hull and the planking lengths should be easy to accomplish. 6. The kit presents a subject with a simplified rig that should not place a barrier between the builder and the finish line. 7. The number of tools needed to build the boat should be limited. I will adhere to some very strict ground rules for the build log. Mostly related to tool use. Those will be in my next post. -
Hello All, this is both my first plank-on-bulkhead build and first build log. I am very slow but hopefully not as slow as my first ship, Scientific Models solid hull Cutty Sark (above) which I started many years ago. My hobby time is divided between astrophotography, model N-Gauge trains and ship modeling. I will start by posting some kit pictures. -
Well I was determined not to do this , too embarrassing. Anyway here I am. I've got to the point of planking this little guy and thats a new experience !!! Those of you who have built this boat know that some master builder decided to start off the planking with an impossible task , namely edge bending. I ruined half my plank material trying to master this mysterious procedure to no avail soooo..... having been an avid model railroader for most of my life I decided to just make the darn planks with the edge bend built in. Off to Hobby Lobby searching through the selection of boxwood for one that didn't have grain running in snake patterns and using some french curves and voila one edge bent plank. I've done about 10 of these and 6 or 7 actually worked. Don't know if anyone has run into this problem or my solution but for what it's worth , here it is. Sorry for the bad photo , I'm a much better model builder than a photographer When I finish planking and using up two or three pounds of wood filler and sq. yards of sand paper I'll post some more pics. if its still in one piece. -
Hello all, This is my first try at posting a project to MSW, so please be patient with me. As part of the Longboat Tri-Club build, I've been lagging hopelessly far behind everyone else. After studying the various models already posted, I feel that my offerings will be very redundant, and certainly not as good. Anyway, I'm going to start with square one, and go from there. Removing the burn marks on the back side of the sheets went quite well. Next step was to duplicate the bearding line on the port side of the false keel, and make the necessary bevels for the rabbet. Using a piece of glass and some clamps, I assembled the keel, stem and false keel. I then squared up the stem and keel. Using the glass plate and a sanding block it went quite well. The sandpaper was attached to the block with two-sided tape, which is one of my most useful tools. At this point, I constructed a building board. The angle brackets had to be adjusted to ensure that they were square. I then epoxied some basswood to one face of each bracket. Slightly undersized screws were used to affix them to the building board. This provided some adjustability. Two steel blocks, a small square and a clamp were used to ensure that the bulkheads were plumb when glued to the false keel. The small angle was adjusted up or down as each new bulkhead was put in place. Although the blocks were a bit cumbersome, the results were acceptable. I found that it was necessary to introduce some play into the bulkhead notches before they were glued in place. The Elmer's glue caused the wood to expand, and on a number of occasions adjustments were almost impossible to make. One bulkhead had to be re-glued twice before it had the correct orientation.
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This will be my first wooden model and also my first model ship, as an ex-RAF engineer I’ve been making plastic models of the aircraft I served on. I do have a long history of working with wood though so hopefully the engineering/woodworking/plastic modelling skills will come together to result in a wooden boat I can show off with pride.
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Greeting All! As I described in my introductory post a few days ago, this is my FIRST EVER build. I built plastic models when I was a kid, but that was decades ago. I appreciate the input I've received so far and look forward to learning this new skill with all y'all's help and suggestions. Having never done this, I am starting at square one. I chose this model, in part, because of the combination package that included tools, paint, and glue in addition to the kit itself. Also, if I found I got little enjoyment or was constitutionally incapable of managing the process, my downside was limited, So far I'm enjoying myself...unsure of lots of tasks, but having fun! So far, I've managed to get my work space set up (with LOTS of help from my wife) and have added some tools and equipment that should help me as I proceed. I got a little ahead of myself and removed the false keel, keel, and stem from the parts sheet and did some fine sanding to remove some of the burn marks. A trip to the hobby store got me some spare basswood pieces so I can practice techniques to improve my skills. I also built a jig to set the hull into as I progress. Nothing fancy, but adequate (the keel pieces are fitted together but not glued): In preparation for bearding the false keel and cutting the rabbet I practiced on a spare piece of 3/32" basswood. I found sanding to the required thickness at the stern is my best option. I will have to cut the rabbet with a knife. I transferred the bearding line to the opposite side of the false keel by making a photocopy of the plan. After being sure that it was properly scaled I placed it on the part and marked the keel by making pin pricks every couple of millimeters. I finally used the pricks to draw the curve using a french curve. In preparation for cutting the rabbet, I masked the bottom of the false keel with 1/16" art tape and verified my dimensions before cutting down to the appropriate depth. I believe if I cut too deep anywhere I can regain structural integrity when I get further into assembly. I then masked the other side of the false keel. Lateral cuts on the sides were done after completing the length-wise cuts.The picture below shows the masking: I'm currently sanding the stern from the bearding line to the edge of the keel and stern. I'll update after I complete the false keel and combine the three keel sections. -
My first build log. My first plank on frame model. My first wooden model ship. I lie. My first wooden model ship was an attempt to build the Mamoli HMS Beagle. As any of you experienced modelers know...it's a big mistake to jump into the big end without first learning to swim. I had gotten far enough to have a hull and a little bit of deck furniture but things then went so badly I was considering just bagging it. But the thing that had driven me to this model is the history of the Beagle and Darwin and when I realized that the only thing this model has in common with the Beagle is a hull...I bagged it. Some may suggest kit-bashing the model to the Beagle...but that didn't occur to me. The model now sits on a shelf more as a reminder of my dream than anything else. I still often dream of building a realistic HMS Beagle. I have the 'Anatomy of the Ship' book on it. Someday I'd like to scratch build the HMS Beagle suitably enough that some institution would want to display it. Anyway...that's just a little bit of why I'm here. So I chose the 18th Century Longboat to begin learning. In looking at the kit, that may have been a mistake (the parts are small, my hands are big, my patience needs growth). The following photos aren't that great. Setting up a space with appropriate lighting is on my to-do list. The box... The opened box... The box unpacked... The tool chest I didn't really need but it seemed almost a freebie. My machining hobby (small steam engines) taught me to avoid kits of tools and that I'm usually better off getting better versions of only what I need. Some wood. Which at this point reminds of something I often forget...to put a ruler or coin in the picture to help show the scale. And here's the beginning. Some clamps used to keep the keel and stem in line with the false keel (after making the rabbet) and some clamps to keep the keel and stem against the false keel. (I'm hoping I'm getting the terminology right.) Some of the clamps worry me a bit but the keel seems pretty square. I welcome any and all suggestions, comments, humor, and well-placed kicks to keep me going. BTW I use paint.net to resize and/or adjust contrast and brightness. It's free. There are many tools available to do the same thing. I just happened to start with this for other reasons some years ago. My camera is a Canon Power Shot ELPH 190 IS. A good small camera with decent macro and telephoto capabilities (nice to travel with) but I think I'd prefer something larger with inter-changeable lenses for shop work. zee -
Hello Everyone, I've had this kit for some time and decided that it will be a good short term project. Also, I purchased the boxwood upgrade from "Crown Timberyard". Crown Timberyard includes 1/32" x 1/8" boxwood for laying the hull strakes. I had some difficulty bending these to shape, so started spiling from a 1/32" sheet of boxwood. It's so much easer to lay the strakes once one spilies. Following are photos of my progress. False Keel added to a boxwood keel. Port side view. Stern View after faring. Port side view. Back in the build board. Build Board with level lines to sight bulkheads, with strips added to the tops of bulkheads and a block to hold the boat. More to come. Bob W -
Well ordered the model and after reading about a dozen threads on here I'm about to start my first wooden model build. I'm totally new to this so please bear with me if my terminology is incorrect at times 🙂
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This was my first wood ship build. I didn't take many pictures during the build process. Didn't think to do so. Prior to this, I built a USS Constitution by Revell 1/196 scale, plastic. That is the extent of my model building experience. Comparing the process of building a plastic kit and a wood kit, I am totally hooked on wood ships. Also of note, I am a software developer by trade and have never worked with wood or did any painting so I am very very new to every part of building models and it is apparent in the quality. I am happy with the final results but I can only get better from here. I did modify the color of the red paint that came with the kit. The kit came with Bright Red and Hull Copper Red. I mixed a little of the Hull Copper Red in with the Bright Red till it came out with the color I liked. Here are some photos before I started on the masts and rigging. -
Hi there everyone, this will be my first post here on Model Ship World. I have been trawling the many build logs for several months now and I'm excited to finally become a part of this community! As a quick introduction I'm an Englishman and recent graduate working in Los Angeles. Since I was a child seeing the model boat in Tintin's 'Secret of the Unicorn' I've had an interest in the complexity and beauty of models ships and I'm glad to finally be making a boat of my own! With that said I have very little prior modelling experience other than a few Airfix plane kits that I would glue together as a child and then throw out the window to see if they would fly. As such I thought it would be a good idea to start with a rather small and low difficulty model. When I stumbled upon Chuck Passaro's 18th century Longboat it seemed like the perfect kit to cut my teeth on. So far I have relied on the instructions and reading through build logs but I do now have a couple of questions that I want to pose to you guys. Firstly, at what point should I apply the poly coating to the different elements of the boat? Right now I am beginning to glue in the interior details (only the floorboards so far, everything else is dry fitted) and it seemed to me like this might be a good time to apply the poly whilst I can still reach everything easily. Is that something I should do now? Also I hear most people talk about using wipe on poly. Right now I only have the clear satin poly provided with the kit and have been applying it to test pieces with a brush. Is this a method you guys would recommend? As I say I'm completely new to this so any advice is welcome! And Secondly, in the instructions regarding the mast it simply says to seize two single blocks to the iron bands. I'm a little unsure of how to do this especially on such a small scale. I have looked around a fair amount but still do not feel very confident in my understanding of what I need to do. In one of the following images you can see that I have attached one already but I did this simply through tying a couple of knots and applying a tiny amount of CA to the knots. If there is a more accurate way to achieve this I would love to know! Below are some photos of the boat in its current form.
Our Emblem
