Polaris by Gr8teful Rick - OcCre - 1:50

[Gr8teful Rick]

FINALLY, ready to start my first build! As some of you know, my Polaris kit (and the Beagle kit, too!) were supplied with warped keels that I tried to straighten w/o success by using some MSW suggestions. I ended up ordering replacement keels from Occre; they were delivered yesterday, and, though much better than the originals, are not perfectly straight. The suggestion to cut my own keel was beyond my skill (and tool) set. I realize this is an inexpensive beginner's kit, so the quality is what you pay for, I guess.

 

Meanwhile, with some friends' help, I made Doc Blake's keel clamp just to be building something ship-related, though I now realize it won't be much help after all the ribs are fixed.

 

 

This is what the new false keel looks like; the wrong-way bend between ribs A7 and A8 doesn't seem like it will affect the structure as long as I take care to glue the ribs properly.

 

 

I'm using Havelock's technique for clamping the ribs to the keel using small metal corner braces to keep the ribs square.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by Gr8teful Rick

[Cathead]

Looks like a good start. I'm not familiar with this kit, but the final product looks like a good level for a starter kit before tackling something more complex. Hope you'll keep us updated as you proceed!