Half Moon by popeye the sailor - Billing Boats - 1:40 scale kit

[Jim Lad]

Just catching up after a few days away, mate!

 

She's really coming along well.

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Bindy!  you can make your own sanding sticks,  any shape you want.   I also do it with odd pieces of planking.....various widths.

 

 I didn't need to buy her a new Iron..........it's got a Teflon coating :D :D .....no stick!   thanks for the good word

 

thanks John.......good to see your back

[petervisser]

Wow Popeye,

 

I just got caught up with your Half Moon build. VERY well done. Einar Billing would be very pleased, I'm sure. You are one of those rare breed of ship model builders who seem to have real fun, building, improvising, and crafting different aspects of the build. And, passing on all these little nuggets of your experiences to others. A rare talent!

 

Keep up the great work.

 

Peter

[popeye the sailor]

thank you very much Peter.......and thanks for the idea about the little windows.     back when I was building the Cux, one of the boats I built for Tom Richardson,  it was the plan that he was coming to pick up the ship personally.  it was an added surprise to hear that he was going to bring along Kent Billing,  so we could meet.   that would have been so cool!  it never came about that way though

 

the only thing I wish I could do {well.....maybe a couple of things}......is to be able to see everything ahead of time.  still a hard lesson to learn.

[popeye the sailor]

Holy cow!   I just realized that I hadn't posted last Friday's pictures!  basically,   it was aimed at setting the mast collars so I could stain the masts.   the mizzen has already been done.....once it's set in place,  it won't move.  to set the main and fore mast though,  I had to come up with a pair of jigs for the proper rake.

 

it took a while to do......a lot of checking,  at different angles. 

 

 

 

from the bow,  all of the masts are in line with each other.......I tried to take this as dead on as possible.

 

 

the main mast has almost the same rake as the mizzen mast........the fore mast has what I would call a negative rake.....leaning toward the bow.  the jigs are quite simple,  and once the masts were set,  the collars were tacked with a touch of CA.

 

 

it only took a couple of minutes for the glue to set....I was able to pull the masts.   the jigs were then broken apart to remove them from the masts.  the collars were then glued from the bottoms,  so that there weren't too many blotches.   the masts were then stained with the dark walnut....and then done with the mahogany,  for the reddish tone.  I still need to do the other parts I've stained earlier.

 

 

the mizzen and bow spirit

 

 

I was hoping you could see better,  how the nests came out......they are a bit blotchy.  I figure that I'll touch them up before I give them the clear coat......I'll need to experiment a little.

[patrickmil]

Popeye, those masts look incredible. I really like seeing them in place on your Half Moon. Great pictures and even better progress. I spy a couple other builds on the table too. Are we in for some updates on those as well?

[popeye the sailor]

this session,  the bow got some work done on it.   the plug had been removed from under the grating frames,  and the decoration was pressed into place.  it fit tight enough,  that I did add any glue.....I figure the clear coat will do the job for me.

 

 

the thin strip for the grating was stained and cut to shape

 

 

 

 

the trail boards are a bit different in the pictures.  weighing it out,  I chose to go with the kit supplied boards,  encasing them in a frame of their own.

 

 

they need to be alter a little to fit well on the bow.  working with the starboard side first,  the inner side was stained.  then the holes were covered with scotch tape,  trimmed to fit and pressed in place.  on the outer side,  scotch tape was laid over it and the center was trimmed out.

 

 

it was then painted with Mediterranean blue........unfortunately,  it's a gloss.........the clear coat is a flat, so I'm hoping it dulls it out

 

 

[augie]

WOW!  Spectacular, all around.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Patrick.........there's still a bit more to go    I was wondering when I was going to be asked that........yes!  actually,  I'm looking for a good spot to wrap up what I'm doing,  so I can get on the Gothenborg.   thanks for the good word......if I can get this one on the other table, I'll see where I can go from there 

 

I'll have to do a couple of close ups of the nests.....I think that's their good side  :D

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Augie!!

[captainbob]

Nice work on the bow.

 

Bob

[popeye the sailor]

the starboard side was cemented in place......then I got busy with the port side

 

 

the stand was stained and felt was put on for the time being.  when I clear coat it,  I put some better stuff on.

 

 

both sides are on now 

 

 

 

 

 

[NenadM]

Extra work. What more to say

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Bob....first time doing a bow like this 

 

thanks to you as well,  Nenad!

Edited March 20, 2014 by popeye the sailor

[Jim Lad]

Nice!

 

John

[newbuilder101]

She's really coming to life now! Great job!

[popeye the sailor]

thanks John and Sherry....doing some more painting at the moment.  I'll be glad when the hull work is complete and I can get some clear coat on her     thanks for the good word!

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Lawrence.......I'm looking forward to it........don't believe I've ever rigged a ship of this era before.   ....and there will be crow's feet! :D

[captainbob]

WOW.  If I had just waited one minute before posting I would hav seen the bow even better. 

 

Well done.

 

Bob

[patrickmil]

The details on your bow are looking great!

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Patrick and Bob........there's more paint to go    now that we're back on line,  I can post the latest pictures.

[popeye the sailor]

yes.......this was inevitable......tried to stall it till I did a test on this,  but I guess there's no better time to see if paint will stick to stain.   the stain has been dried for quite some time on the hull.  I began with the transom,  setting the back drop for the decorations.

 

 

 

I have no flats in blue.........I'm working with what I have.   I will be using a flat clear coat,  I'm pretty sure that it will even everything out.  the sides of the stern was next.  I was having some trouble getting the Frog tape to stick,  so I took to using scotch tape,  which did a good job of it.  any bleeding that occurred, will be covered by the rails,  laid over the seams.

 

 

this color green closely matches the picture.......it's an old bottle of Testor's paint.   the old label.....it doesn't even tell you what the color is.   since it is hard to bend a plank strip sideways,  I'm having to do a bit of assembly to the rails.  the inclines have a rounded appearance,  so I'll have to create curves rails to fit them.  these are the top rails.

 

 

I haven't forgotten about the rudder........I began to plank one side,  but I found that it will be too thin for the keel stem.  I'll need to beef it up a bit.

 

 

the yellow is a model master color...British armor sand {something like that}...closely matches the color of the middle strip.

 

 

and then the blue again,  which is a Billing's color...Mediterranean blue.  I used the same color on the transom......don't be fooled by the light refraction.

 

 

 

for the fore deck's outer hull,  the colors are reversed,  and only the sand and blue.

 

 

 

[augie]

Looking good!  I put paint over stain all the time.  As long as the stain is well dried it's not a problem.

[popeye the sailor]

the curve along the outside of the rails isn't a problem......what of the inside curve?   a tiny triangle of material is cemented in place there,  and will be sanded to a curved contour.

 

 

 

the paint work is done.  I found that the paint stuck quite well.......I was able to mask it off with the scotch tape,  pulling none of it off when removing it after wards.

 

 

 

 

more work done to the rudder,  thickening it up

 

 

now I'll have to see what's still in the camera 

[Jim Lad]

That's looking very nice, Popeye!

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Augie.......I've probably done it in the past,  but didn't realize it.   all I could imagine,  was cracking and flaking as it dried

 

glad my thoughts were put to rest.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks John......this is the basis for the hull decoration.   when I get the rails on,  it will really stand out 

[patrickmil]

That's looking great with the paint!

[popeye the sailor]

I went into the camera........yea,  there were still a few in there.  here is a close up of the nests.

 

horror show...........or no?

 

 

more work on the rails......progress on the top rails.

 

 

here is the center rails

 

 

the other side of the rudder is planked over.......now to wrap the outer edges to hide all the plys

 

 

the top rails are shaped and ready for stain.   the center rails are next,  and then I can make the final pair of curved rails.

 

 

 

I'll even need to bend a couple to run along the edge of the mid ship...from the bow to the stern.  more to come.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Patrick........the only color that I didn't do is the reddish brown.......didn't want it to clash with the mahogany.   not sure how I'm going to go with the striped strips.......I may have to do some curving with it as well.   thanks for the good word!