Pen Duick by BobG - Artesania Latina - 1:28

[VTHokiEE]

I used to love launching rockets... my kids aren’t quite the right age yet; I had forgotten about joke much fun it was. I recall building one that the top popped up and released blades so the rocket “helicoptered” back to earth. Sorry to sidetrack the log, but you reminded me of some good times.

[BobG]

Don't worry about "sidetracking" my build log. I enjoy the conversations and those folks who aren't interested in the chit-chat can easily skip ahead.

 

I remember the Estes "helicopter" rocket. It was very cool. I built a bunch of rockets while I was studying for some state boards written and oral exams after my internship. That was a stressful time in my life and building the rockets was a great respite for me. I'd take my son and his friends to a large schoolyard and we'd fire them off. I love it when they exit the launching pad with that big WHOOSH! rocketing into the sky. The kids would yell with excitement and run after them as they parachuted back to Earth.

 

One of my favorites was a 2 stage rocket with two big C engines in it. It went nearly out of sight and then slowed a bit before the second stage lit and then BOOM! it went out of sight. Unfortunately, we never saw it again. 

 

Those are fond memories for me. You might want to build a few for your kids when they are old enough to enjoy seeing them fly.

 

Cheers,

[BobG]

55 minutes ago, hof00 said:

Are you going to mount the Hull on pedestals/plinth?

Hey Harry,

 

I haven't decided about the mounting yet. I not too keen on the plain stand that comes with the kit. I've been thinking about pedestals but I've never done those before.

 

It's certainly going to be "onward and upward" now. I'll be doing the masts and rigging after I get more of the deck furniture and fittings installed. I'm worried about the rigging since the instructions are essentially useless for the rigging and I haven't been able to make sense of the rigging drawings yet. I think I'll be flying by the seat of my pants for a while!

 

Cheers,

[hof00]

Yup,

Agreed, the Rigging plans are not very helpful.

I had specific questions that I asked Mr. Google.... Reefing Tackle - Mainsail/Topmast and Jack Yard Rigging.

Just had a "Look-See" for any saved searches, my end, but nothing sorry.

 

Research is rewarding.... 🙂

 

Cheers....HOF.

 

 

[vaddoc]

5 hours ago, BobG said:

The only thing I might do is polish it a little with some Tamiya Finish Paste on a Tamiya Polishing Cloth. 

Excellent outcome Bob! I d be a bit concerned trying to polish the varnish though, I think it is risky. These pastes are abrasive, they work by removing a layer of varnish and little scratches with it, so that the light reflects better. Your newly sprayed surface is completely flat and smooth, the only reason the light does not reflect like gloss is the medium (dust) suspended in the varnish. I do not think the paste or cloth will work very well. If you want to increase the shine, I d put some wax on after the varnish has cured.

[BobG]

10 hours ago, vaddoc said:

Excellent outcome Bob! I d be a bit concerned trying to polish the varnish though, I think it is risky.

Thanks, vaddoc! I've been watching some youtube videos recently about airbrushing clear coats. Many plastic modelers polish their clear coats to a mirror finish by wet sanding with very fine grit sanding pads or cloths (6000-12,000) followed by a mild, automotive polish that is made to remove very fine swirls and, finally, waxing with an a liquid Carnuba wax. I'm not looking for a mirror finish but have seen plastic modelers also polishing their clear coat with Fine Tamiya Paste followed by the Finish Tamiya Paste. That's where I got the idea that the Tamiya Pastes might be a gentle way to finish off the clear coat. 

 

The sheen on my hull looks good to me right now and maybe a little wax, as you suggested, would add a little more shine to it. It isn't quite as smooth to the touch as I would like it to be. It is flat and doesn't have any orange peel but it isn't quite as slick to the touch as I'd like it to be. There is just a slight friction feel when I draw my fingers across it. Maybe some wax would make it feels more silky...?? 

 

So I might try a little wax on small area at the very bottom of the keel as a test and see how it looks and feels.

 

As always, thanks for your informative comments and your interest in my model.

 

Cheers,

[BobG]

Now that I'm satisfied with the painted hull and the clear coat I can move ahead with the build. I added the mahogany caprails today and gave them a coat of Satin Wipe-on-Poly, and, as with just about everything in ship modeling, it took me longer than I expected to finish them.

 

The caprails are 1.5 x 3 mm mahogany strips and they needed to be edge bent to the shape of the gunwales before gluing them on. This is an older kit and all the mahogany is pretty dry and brittle. I traced the outline of the hull on the plywood sheet I do my building on and then edge bent them using a dab of water and an old, non-steam travel iron. It was slow going but, once I got them fairly close to shape of the gunwales, I went ahead and started gluing them on.

 

I had previously substituted 1 x 5 mm limewood for the gunwales instead of the kit supplied 2 x 5 mm ramin. So there was only a 1 mm edge on the top of the gunwales to glue the caprails onto. I debated whether to use PVA or CA and decided to go with CA and work carefully in small sections as I went along the gunwales gluing on the caprails . Knowing that that I could easily make a mess of things with any smears of CA on the outer sides of the black painted gunwales, I worked in 1 -2 inch sections using a dental pick to just add tiny amounts of CA onto the top edge of the gunwales. Then I carefully fit the caprails so that its outer edge was flush with the outside edge of the gunwales and held them with light finger pressure for a few seconds. It turned out quite nice and I managed to avoid gluing my fingers to the boat in the process!

 

Here's a photo of me edge bending one of the mahogany caprails followed by two photos of how the deck and the hull look now. The rudder is just dry fitted in place for the photos.

 

 

 

 

[BobG]

On 8/1/2020 at 8:25 PM, hof00 said:

Agreed, the Rigging plans are not very helpful.

Hello Harry,

 

I took some time to carefully study what little there is in the instructions and the plans for the rigging. It's so confusing! Anyway, I have a question about how you worked with the flat brass strips which are used to make the brass bands and other that go around the masts in various places. Did you use CA to glue the joints together on the brass pieces or did you solder the joints? Thanks.

 

[hof00]

Hi Chap,

No Brass Bands on my version....

Brass Rings on the Mainsail.

The Junction of the Mainmast/Topmast, (Hounds?), had pre-formed "Caps" and a pre-formed wooden ring for the Mast Coat.

 

A couple of photos....

 

Could you clarify your quandary?

 

There are Brass Strips which are used to make the fittings to affix "Sheets?" next to the Cockpit.

 

Cheers....HOF.

 

 

 

[jwvolz]

Looking very nice Bob!

[BobG]

Thanks, Joe. It's slow going right now because the rigging instructions are useless. I love the boat and its history so I'm determined to figure things out and complete the model.

[hof00]

Hi Chap,

How did you get on studying the plans?

Was my previous post helpful?

 

Cheers....HOF.

[BobG]

Hey Harry, 

 

I haven't had any time to look closer at the plans in the last few days. I hope to spend some time on it tomorrow and, yes, your photos are always helpful and appreciated.

 

All the best,

[hof00]

Hi Chap,

Happy to try and help where I can.

 

Cheers....HOF..

[glbarlow]

Expert work with the airbrush. You have a nice looking build going here.

 

My wife would have airbrushed me if I sprayed anything in the kitchen. 

[BobG]

37 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

Expert work with the airbrush. You have a nice looking build going here.

Thanks, Glenn, appreciate you stopping by.

 

I stumbled and fumbled my way with my new airbrush but I finally got a good result and learned a lot in the process. My build is on temporary hold at the moment with some other responsibilities to take care of but I'll be back in my boatyard soon. The rigging instructions and plans in this kit are essentially useless so I have some detective work to do to try and figure things out. I love this boat and its history and I'm determined to finish this build though.

 

Cheers!

[vaddoc]

Looking very good Bob!

To figure out gaff rigging, Tom Cunliffe's  and Leather's books would be very helpful, you probably will need the basic rigging lines. You might also find my Deben log helpful. These books also explain the top sail arrangement.

I watched again the video you posted with her sailing in that busy harbour. The deck looks very clean and the rigging appears very simple which is surprising, I would have expected many more ropes, probably using winches simplifies things.

[BobG]

On 8/23/2020 at 1:24 AM, vaddoc said:

Looking very good Bob!

To figure out gaff rigging, Tom Cunliffe's  and Leather's books would be very helpful, you probably will need the basic rigging lines. You might also find my Deben log helpful. These books also explain the top sail arrangement.

Thanks very much, vaddoc.

 

I recently bought a couple of old, French model boat magazines that feature the Pen Duick that I found on the French eBay. It will be a while before they arrive in California but I hope they will be helpful. One of them features all of the different versions of the Pen Duick yachts from the Pen Duick I to VI which I think will be very interesting to read about also. I may get Cunliffe's book, Hand, Reef and Steer version 2 also. Leather's books are very expensive.

 

I'm limited to a certain degree as to the amount of detail I feel I skilled enough to add to the AL model at this small scale and the with the materials that are supplied with the kit. I would like to have a reasonable facsimile of correct rigging though. I know it won't be a thoroughly authentic model since it is a kit and not a detailed scratch model. However, I think it can still be quite nice when I finish it and I'm enjoying learning about the history of the Pen Duick and Eric Tabarly too.

 

I'm at a bit of a standstill at the moment waiting for the magazines which will probably not arrive until mid-September. Also, my son is visiting for a couple of weeks and his job requires him to work remotely due to the Covid shutdown here in California so I had to clear off my ship building desk so he could have a place to work.

 

I also read over your Deben build log and your build is a absolute masterpiece! Beautiful and exceptionally detailed in every way. Congratulations! 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

superb work  Bob. Vlad. 

[BobG]

Thanks so much, Vlad.

[MadDogMcQ]

On 8/1/2020 at 11:58 PM, BobG said:

 

 

 

Bob, that paint-job looks just fantastic. I especially love that beautiful shade of green.  WOW!

[FriedClams]

I've been checking out your build on the Pen Duick Bob and I'm impressed with the execution and fine fit you're achieved.  The hull came out spectacular and what a beautiful paint job!  I'll be keeping tabs on your progress.  Very nice work.

 

Gary

[BobG]

8 hours ago, MadDogMcQ said:

Bob, that paint-job looks just fantastic. I especially love that beautiful shade of green.  WOW!

Thanks so much, Tom.

 

Getting the hull painted to my satisfaction was a bit of a journey for me. I used an airbrush for the first time and there was a learning curve for me. I've learned that I need to redo mistakes and things I'm not happy with or it bugs me every time I look at it even if nobody else would notice. So I ended up sanding and painting the hull 3 times before I was happy with it.

 

Thanks for stopping by and good luck on your most interesting build.

[BobG]

6 hours ago, FriedClams said:

I've been checking out your build on the Pen Duick Bob and I'm impressed with the execution and fine fit you're achieved.  The hull came out spectacular and what a beautiful paint job!  I'll be keeping tabs on your progress.  Very nice work.

Thanks very much, Gary.

 

As I noted in my previous post, the third time sanding and painting the hull was the charm. I'm still a rather aspiring novice but I'm finding this hobby rather addicting. Your current New England Stonington Dragger build is a work of art.

 

Thanks for taking a look at my build.

[BobG]

On 8/23/2020 at 1:24 AM, vaddoc said:

Leather's books would be very helpful

Hello vaddoc,

 

I downloaded the Gaff Rig Handbook by John Leather and it's excellent. I think I'll be able to make sense of the gaff rig on the Pen Duick now. I also found a used copy of his book, A Panorama of Gaff Rig, and it should arrive next week. I'm very visual so a picture is worth a thousand words when I trying to understand something. Thanks for suggesting these books to me.

[glbarlow]

Now that I see the real thing your paint work is even more impressive.  I think you should take up Spyglasse’s comment  and make a working version of the deck and just throw stuff everywhere 😂🤣😂

[glbarlow]

14 hours ago, BobG said:

bit of a journey for me.

That’s the fun of it though right.  Journey or not I think this is my third post saying what a great job you did.  And, welcome to my do it over until you get it right club😁

[Blue Ensign]

That is one impressive looking hull Bob, and a great colour combination. 👍

Very nice work.

 

B.E.

[BobG]

On 9/5/2020 at 1:46 AM, SpyGlass said:

I just found this pic which i think shows the rigging quite well - it is fairly simple and fairly standard - whats your problems in rigging ?

Hello SpyGlass. I'm afraid I'm not very knowledgeable about the rigging of these yachts even if it is quite straight forward. I've been studying the kit plans more carefully and it's beginning to make more sense to me. The plans just don't clearly show where the various lines go especially when things get crowded where the main mast and the topmast come together along with the spreaders. 

 

The topsail is particularly confusing to me at the moment. I don't clearly see how the topsail yard is secured to the topmast. It has a jackyard also that appears to be laced to the topsail. It's not clear on the plans where the halyard, downhaul and sheet are properly attached to the topsail also and where those lines would go to where they are belayed.

On 9/5/2020 at 1:46 AM, SpyGlass said:

The club is restricted in activity at the moment of course but I believe that there is a contemporaneous model in store and lots of pics of course of the races she took part in. I will  be going down in the next couple of weeks and will have  alook to see if I can find anything  if you like. 

That's very kind of you to offer. I'd love a few photos especially of the rigging and sails especially if they show where the various lines are attached to the sails and how the sails are secured to the masts etc.

 

On 9/5/2020 at 1:46 AM, SpyGlass said:

I was actually on board her and met Taberly one evening many many years ago in St Malo. 

That's a very special experience. I originally chose to Pen Duick because I think it's such a beautiful yacht. Then I began reading about Eric Taberly and began to realize what a legendary yachtsman he was. It's such a tragedy that he was lost at sea doing what he loved best.

 

On 9/5/2020 at 1:46 AM, SpyGlass said:

And congratulations in taking on the AL kit you have made a great job a very old kit !

I can assure you that your deck looks VERY much better than the real thing did !!

Thanks very much for your kind words. I love the lines and the colors of the Pen Duick and I hope I will do her justice. I'll do my best with the materials that are provided in the kit. I really think that this boat is so lovely that she really deserves to be scratch built but I'm a long way from being skilled enough to do that.

 

Thanks for stopping by. 

[BobG]

On 9/5/2020 at 7:05 AM, glbarlow said:

Now that I see the real thing your paint work is even more impressive.

 

On 9/5/2020 at 7:23 AM, Blue Ensign said:

That is one impressive looking hull Bob, and a great colour combination. 👍

Very nice work.

Thanks very much Glenn and BE. Your comments are much appreciated.