Perseverance 1807 by Mike Hunt - Modellers Shipyard - 1:48 scale - Colonial Brig - first build

[Mike Hunt]

Hi all.

 

First time building a wooden model boat

First time on this great forum

First time attempting a build log. So please be patient while I learn the ropes and make a start. Feel free to throw some horse blinders over my head if the need be.

 

I had been looking for about six to eight months for a model to build that would satisfy my curiosity and offer me some satisfaction in the process. I didn't want to get a basic or to me, boring, starter kit, so I went for this level 2 kit that looked challenging enough to keep me stimulated without going over the top. It was also visually appealing, Australian, as was the kit manufacturer so it was a no brainer.

 

I was sold on the Perseverance after a YouTube video by a chap in Brisbane whose channel is called Harry Houdini Models. Based out of Brisbane, Harry has a somewhat irreverent view on life which I warm to. Anyway, here is a link to the review that sold me on this kit:

 

I hope I am allowed to put links in like this, please forgive me if not.

 

 

 

 

I started the build in March 21, about a month after I received the kit. I wanted to do a stocktake, as it were, on the parts because I have read many times that there is often a shortfall but in this instance all was as it should be. I can't really comment that much on the quality as I have nothing to compare it with so don't want to be adversely critical about anything that might be ordinarily acceptable.

 

My only observation was thus far was that I seemed to be slightly disappointed with the quality of the wood. I felt the surface of some of the timbers was a tad rough in places, I also noticed that the dimensions varied considerably on some strips varying by as much as 1 or 2 MMs which made it a little tougher when doing the deck planking etc. Again, let me say that this sort of thing may well be the norm.

 

I parted with a few extra shekels to obtain the 3 DVD instructional  video which is a tremendous help, BUT, I discovered many inconsistencies between the videos and the manual which greatly confused this old faurt and so I had to resort to emailing the company for clarification on a few things. I was rewarded with extremely prompt and helpful answers  which is very endearing.

 

I have been trawlling YouTube videos for tips and tricks for many months so much so that you can easily get confused as some experts might proclaim one methods while another completely poo poos it. In terms of first layer planking I subscribed to Harry Houdini's methodology, have a look at his channel and planking videos. Yet for the second layer I opted for a different method I found on OcCre's website in tutorial videos section. More than one way to skin a cat as they say.

 

OK well, enough of an intro, I will over the weekend attempt to start posting progress pics and if I'm doing anything wrong please let me know.

[Mike Hunt]

13/03/21  Assemble the keel and bulkhead frames  (dry fit only)

14/03/21  Assemble the keel and bulkhead frames  (glued)

15/03/21  Putting extra glue at bulkhead joints

16/03/21  Putting extra glue at bulkhead joins

16/03/21  Made and glued on bow blocks to be shaped later

17/03/21  Made and glued on transom blocks to be shaped later

18/03/21  Started fairing

19/03/21  More fairing and building up of bulkhead 8

20/03/21  Started fitting false deck

 

HTD:  16

 

 

Bulkheads glued on and used bull-dog-clip method to keep square. Not good enough, lesson learnt, will use square aluminium stock or building jig on me next venture.

 

Making transom and bow blocks

 

I painted the edges of the bulkheads as suggested/demonstrated in the video to help indicate progress in the the fairing process. I found this helpful.

 

Transom blocks glued on

 

Printed up some 3D printed sanding blocks to help with the task 

 

Fairing in progress

 

Shaping the lower transom blocks ( I know that's probably not what they are called bet hey.....)

 

False deck glued in place

 

 

So far loving the project and relishing every minute. Have not coma across any issues other than some of the bulkheads needed reducing and some building up.  My lack of experience let me down with the assembly of the false keel and bulkheads in terms of their squareness. But you know, sometimes it's better to learn these things in the flesh so to speak rather than a YouTube clip although they are a great resource.

[Mike Hunt]

21/03/21  Finished attaching false deck and spent a little time on the "out of shape bulkheads.

22/03/21  Cutting, gluing and shaping upper transom blocks.

23/03/21  Final shaping and gap filling of transom blocks.

24/03/21  More final shaping of blocks and fitted first plank PS, yessssssss :-)

25/03/21  First plank SS fitted.

26/03/21  Planking.

27/03/21  Planking.

28/03/21  Planking

 

HTD:  35

 

 

Building up bulkheads 8 and 10

 

Fitting the upper transom blocks

 

Transom blocks glued

 

 

Transom blocks finished

 

From another angle

 

First plank PS attached. I used a combination of techniques, the DVD's suggestion of clips and Harry Houdinis toothpick method which I enjoyed doing but it is imperative tp pre drill so as not to invoke splitting. The bull-dog clips are fine to assist in placing the planks and holding them in place but I feel they are not strong enough alone.

 

2nd plank in place I found forceps a great help particularly in the curvy areas to help minimise stepping 

 

A few more planks in place. I alternated with each plank PS, SS etc as I subscribed to the view that if you plank one side in its entirety the hull may be susceptible to warping or bending.

 

 

So I guess I came to my second dilemma starting the planking, although I didn't realise it until the entire hull was planked. And this is another discrepancy between the video and the manual allowing this poor mere male to become confused. The manual states to start the planking with the top of the first plank flush with the false deck which I dutifully did. However, the video looks like the first plank was placed half a planks width down from the false deck. I guess this would have been to give the first bulwark plank more purchase to the hull and a better base on which to add the remaining bulwarks. This would come back to haunt me later on :-(

 

  

[Mike Hunt]

29/03/21  Planking

31/03/21  Started planking in the B band

01/04/21 - 06/04/21  Planking

 

HTD:  63

 

4th plank finished

 

1st plank of band B

 

1St plank band C bow end

 

1St plank band C aft

 

1st bulwark. 

 

Planking progress. Even though there is a bottle of CA visible in the background. I only used white PVA for the planking. I might have used CA on the extreme curvy  bits at the rear (correct nautical term escapes me)

 

No further issues thus far. The other reason I chose to alternate planking PS SS was for symmetry. I felt that for me it might be easier to keep symmetry in check doing 1 plank at a time. It still eluded me on occasion.

 

 

[Mike Hunt]

07/04/21 - 13/04/21  You guessed it, planking :-)

 

HTD:  95

 

Planking progress

 

Planking progress

 

 

More planking but you will notice I hadn't drilled quite a big enough hole for that particular toothpick on the left. Although the splits could easily be filled, the toothpick forces the wood apart thus making it that portion of the plank wider at that point and so some time was then spent trimming that bottom edge of the plank back to its uniform width. 

 

Planking progress. When I was getting down to the lower planks I was no longer able to use the forceps

 

Band B complete

 

 

 

I had been dreading planking but to date I haven't been too phased by it. Also haven't had too many issues with bending. I use a few methods for bending, firstly the soaking and soldering iron method, I also use the Amati crimping tool quite successfully and I saw a great little gadget from a Chinese seller on ebay. So this gadget has a crimped wheel at one end of a 7 or 8 mm aluminium channel there are big knobs which wind the plank forward through the crimped wheel and and another knob to adjust pressure. The more pressure dialed in the more acute the bend.  A great little piece of kit, anyone wants to see pics of it in action let me know.

 

I found myself using the Amati crimper but found one downside and that is when sanding those curves it was very easy to sand down to where the blade actually cuts into the wood, I had to back off quick time.
 

 

 

[Mike Hunt]

14/04/21 -20/04/21  Yeah right, planking.

 

HTD:  120

 

Garboard plank in place

 

Garbourds in place

 

And the planking marches on

 

On the home straight now

 

 

No real dramas this week. The only thing I was uncomfortable with was laying the garbourd plank. To me, this was going to make the fitting of the keel tricky, and it was. Had the keel been placed first then I would have had something to plank the garbourd up to. 

 

 

[Keith S]

They must have a picture of you on the wall at the forceps factory. Nice work so far.

[Mike Hunt]

16 hours ago, Keith S said:

They must have a picture of you on the wall at the forceps factory. Nice work so far.

 

3 for a penny :-)

[Mike Hunt]

23/04/21  Finished planking, yesssssss.

24/04/21  Filling and sanding hull.

25/04/21  Added bulwarks.

26/04/21  Started preparing deck planking

27/04/21  Started deck planking

 

HTD:  141

 

 

Ended up filling that void just to the bottom right of that right hand clamp. I used PollyFilla, I figgured if it's good enough to fill cracks and gaps on plaster walls, it's goog enough for my hull, I hope.

 

tarting the sanding process. A combination of using a small power sander and also a lot of hand sanding.

 

More or less finished hull sanding, added bulwarks.

 

 

Ready for deck planking and as you can see I have already performed 2nd layer planking (mahogany) on inside of bulwarks.

 

Preparing deck planking (Silver Ash)

 

Deck planking commences.

 

 

 

Some nice progress this week. Got the hull finished and added the bulwarks. Made a big mistake in not adding enough bulwarks owing to misinterpretation of the instructions/video-guide and visual queues. This would come back to haunt me later and take a week or so to correct. I am but a mere male after all :-(

 

It was nice to start the deck planking, a nice change from days of sanding. I set up my cutter with a 100mm stop and cut my planks, stacked them side on in bundles of 10 or 15 and did the pencil thing. I proceeded to lay them in a two offset pattern but maybe next time I might try a 3 offset. The manual suggested the 100mm strips while the video used entire lengths and pencil in the butt joins. I noticed many people do planking with PVA, CA but I opted for the video suggestion of contact cement. I had to be very carful when laying the planks as it was unforgiving if a mistake be made.

 

The Silver Ash has a lovely pattern and came up ticketyboo with some fine scraping (no sanding) and a few coats of satin varnish.

[Mike Hunt]

28/04/21 - 30/04/21  Deck planking

01/05/21  Put another layer of planking on inside of bulwark to help cover gaps between deck planking and bulwark

01/05/21  Placed nail details on deck planking using a soft led pencil and gave it three coats of satin varnish 

02/05/21 - 08/05/21  Spent a few days adding more bulwark planks that I missed earlier

 

HTD:  171

 

Deck planking continues

 

Final deck plank

 

 

Putting another layer of mahogany over the inside of the bulwarks to help cover any slight gaps where deck planking meets bulwarks

 

That nasty harsh light exposing some gaps between planks. I found it difficult to find planks of uniform width most of them had imperfections in width, a bees dick here, a poofteenth there.

 

 

Just about ready for second layer planking :-)

Edited July 1, 2021 by Mike Hunt
Correction/modification

[Mike Hunt]

08/05/21  Second layer planking commences

09/05/21-18/05/21   Second layer planking continues

 

HTD: 202

 

 

First five or so of the second layer planks.

 

 

9 rows down

 

 

On the home straight

 

Filling and sanding and also planked under the transom area.

 

Second layer planking completed without too much difficulty. I used contact cement so great care was needed when laying the planks .5mm Mahogany. I tossed aside my dressmakers tape and subscribed to one of OcCre's training videos techniques, in particular the following two videos were of great help to me. I wasn't as game as the instructor doing ten or fifteen at a time, instead I plodded along one at a time.

HULL 019- How to place the second hull lining 1. ENDURANCE - Naval modeling

&

HULL 020- How to place the second hull lining 2. ENDURANCE - Naval modeling

Edited July 1, 2021 by Mike Hunt
Correction/modification

[Mike Hunt]

20/05/21  A generous coat of sand-n-seal was applied to hull before much sanding from 180 to 240 to 320 and up to 400

21/05/21  Applied first coat of satin varnish. Steamed and bent transom and set overnight before gluing

22/05/21  Re bending transom as not happy with initial efforts. Also made a fifth aft bulwark, pre laminated it as I thought that might make it easier to glue on.

23/05/21  Glued on 5th bulwark

24/05/21  Filled and sanded 5th bulwark and did my best to try and make it look like it wasn't just added on

25/05/21  Glued on transom

26/05/21  Removed and refitted transom as on close inspection was not symmetrical

27/05/21  Second layer planking to transom

28/05/21  Varnishing and sanding

29/05/21  Varnishing and sanding, repeat and rinse

 

HTD:  221

 

 

Transom on, had to use a few toothpicks to get the transom to hold shape with the deck.

 

 

 

Final coat of satin varnish, looks like gloss but only because it's still wet.

 

Close up of the satin finish. One model ship builder I follow on YouTube insists on using full gloss for his hulls and everything else which I feel is the equivalent of SCREAMING. Each to their own I know but I prefer the gentle lustre of the satin finish.

 

This was a pretty bad week in terms of the progress. I had difficulty with the transom which required removal, rebending and refitting. The bulwark saga revisited as I discovered I needed yet another row on the aft section. This was a lot more difficult for my lack of experience to accomplish but I kept reminding myself this was a learning curve and a mere stepping stone to bigger and better things. Nowhere in the manual or video did it specify how many planks above the deck were required. I worked it out myself in the end by skipping forward in the instructions and used the stanchions as a guide.

 

Because the second layer planking is only .5mm thick the sanding of the curvy bits on the aft of the hull started to reveal the first layer in one spot. I patched up using a Mahogony coloured wash and end result was satisfactory for me.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mike Hunt]

30/05/21  Fitted and glued on keel and stern post

31/05/21  Fitted and glued on bow post

01/06/21 - 05/06/21  Varnishing/sanding/varnishing/sanding of hull 

06/06/21  Started on rudder

10/06/21  Fitted rudder, fitted mast heels.

 

 

HTD:  231

 

 

Stern post and keel in place

 

 

Bow post in place

 

third coat of satin varnish applied

 

Rudder attached

 

Mast heels placed. Just used a piece of dowel to keep heel centred over hole while glue (CA gel) set.  

 

Had to cut the rudder stem short as it wanted to poke a hole in the transom otherwise.

 

 

No real dramas this week. Again, I wish I had glued the keel, bow and stern pieces into place before I commences planking so that I had something to plank up to.

 

The only issue I had was with the rudder in that when put in place the top of the arm wanted to poke through the transom. So I don't know what I did wrong to cause this but what I did to fix it was to cut it off short and glue on another piece as a sort of extension I guess at a more perpendicular angle.

 

The mast heels in the picture are not the ones in the kit. The kit ones are just ply precut and not particularly attractive albeit functional. However, in the instructional video they used the same heels as seen in my picture. I bought them from ModdlersShipyard for about AU$8 the pair.

 

[Mike Hunt]

11/06/21  Added that little extension to the rudder arm

12/06/21  Started preparing the gunwales 

13/06/21 - 18/06/21 continued work on gunwales. rounding edges, painting, varnishing etc

19/06/21  Started preparing cap rails

20/06/21  More cap rail prep and started gluing gunwales

21/06/21  Started fitting cap rails

 

 

HTD:  248

 

As well as using the bending iron. I found with the gunwales I could just wet them, clamp them in position and let them dry for 24/48 hours, they held their shape for the most part.

 

I thought that rounding the edges would make for a prettier gunwale

 

 

More visible in the top gunwale are some CA glue stains :-(  I also used brass pins to help hold the gunwales in place. The pins for the upper gunwale were cut to about 2/3 so as not to protrude into the deck area. I would paint these nail heads later.

 

Clamping the lower gunwale in place was more difficult because I didn't have the depth with the deck for my clamps to reach down so this was the best method I could come up with.

 

 

 

Fitting the cap rails.

 

 

 

It's funny how such an innocuous task of applying gunwales and cap rails posted quite a challenge for me, up there with planking and reasoning with the fairer sex, quite tough. The top gunwale was easier in that my clamps (bulldog clips) could reach down and hold onto the gunwales without too much trouble. Although the upper GW didn't need pins, because I used pins on the lower I thought I better match them by doing same on top. I stuffed up though and realised that my eyesight is not as good as when I wore a younger mans clothes. I misjudged and in a few places drilled through the top surface of the deck :-(   I am now a wiser man for it :-)

 

The lower GW was trickier in that my clams couldn't reach down that far so I just used scrap bits of wood from the top GW to try and sandwich it in place (see pic above) and coupled with the pins thought I did a reasonable job.

 

Cap rrails were also difficult in so much as the inside edge had to be flush with the edge of the bulwarks so that the stanchions will sit flush. In any event, my cunning plan to achieve this failed and I had quite a few spots with overhang. I had to delicately try and trim this back with my knife and then repaint which is more difficult when in place, I wish I hadn't had that fourth scotch but I think I pulled it off. 

 

Also with the CR's for some reason I found it difficult to get them to sit flush with the bulwarks and so I again used a couple of pins to help hold them in place. I would remove them after and paint over the holes. Again, my failing eyesight found me drilling off centre and popping out where they were unwelcome. Incidentally when drilling in this type of situation I use the Dremel with the flexible extension thingy. I find this very functional compared to using the pin vise to drill where I am more prone to breaking too many bits.

  

[Mike Hunt]

22/06/21 - 27/06/21  Cap rails

 

HTD:  255

 

So I steamed and clamped the aft cap rails to the inside edge of the hull to take shape and allowed 24/48 hours to dry.

 

Despite my best efforts to keep the inside edge of the aft cap rails flush, I failed and damaged the finish in the process of rectifying it. Scalpel too sharp, eyesight not sharp enough.

 

 

 

Continued to struggle with cap rails but end result passable for first attempt. Of course I can now think of many alternate ways to tackle these chores next time around.

 

[Mike Hunt]

28/06/21  Started preparing bowsprit parts

29/06/21  Painted mast cap

01/07/21  Assembled bowsprit and painted figurehead

02/07/21  Several coats of varnish to bowsprit

03/07/21  Glued on figurehead

 

 

HTD:  261

 

Shaping the jibboom 

 

Figurehead glued on.

 

 

I really enjoyed making and assembling the bowsprit. I gave it three or four coats of airbrushed Vallejo satin varnish but it still looked the same as it did before I started, could easily have been my inexperience with an airbrush and thinned it too much. Anyway, I ended up hand painting it with the same satin varnish I used on the hull and much happier with the result. I shaped the top pointy bit of the bow to accept it in the morning when the varnish has dried.

 

Not at all happy with the fitting of the figurehead. The piece was way too wide for the bow post and I dare not attempt to squeeze the gap out of it as I think the part is cast and therefore likely to break. So I think I will pop some shims into the gaps and fashion a small cap to cover the brutality.

[Mike Hunt]

05/07/21  - 08/07/21  Started preparing forward stanchions, sanding, shaping, painting etc

08/07/21  Installed forward stanchions. Filled gaps and made a cap for figurehead  to hide gaps

08/07/21  -  09/07/21  Preparing aft stanchions, sanding, shaping, painting etc  and painted figurehead and cap.

10/07/21  Installed aft stanchions and glued bowsprit in place

11/07/21  Shaped and painted bowsprit cradle, bent transom cap, sanded and readied top rails

 

 

HTD:  268

 

 

Bowsprit glued in place top rails just sitting on top waiting to be painted before gluing. Also making a top-saddle for the bowsprit.

 

Still had the cutout for the transom so copied shape to bench and banged in a few brads to help bend transom cap, will leave it to dry for a couple of days, I think it should hold it's shape..

 

A relatively nice easy week with nothing too taxing on the grey matter. After top rails and transom cap painted and installed I should be making a start on the deck furnishings towards the end of the week. Looking forward to that.

 

 

[ccoyle]

Looking very nice -- beautiful wood and very tidy work.

[Mike Hunt]

17 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Looking very nice -- beautiful wood and very tidy work.

I bet you say that to all the girls

[Chook]

Hi Mike, you are certainly making progress on this model. I am making the same one right now and have been for a couple of years but at your rate of progress you will be finished well before me. Looking good.

[Mike Hunt]

20 hours ago, Chook said:

Hi Mike, you are certainly making progress on this model. I am making the same one right now and have been for a couple of years but at your rate of progress you will be finished well before me. Looking good.

Do you have a build log of it?

[Chook]

No, sorry I don’t have a build log.

[Mike Hunt]

12/07/21  Gave a few more coats of paint to top rails. Glued bowsprit top cradle in place

13/07/21  Glued on top rails and painted transom cap

14/07/21  Finished cap rails. Final shaping and sanding to aft cap rails and final painting. Bent head rails and started bending head rail caps. Glued fence in place.

15/07/21  -  17/07/21 Working on head rails and head rail caps and glued in place.

 

 

HTD:  275

 

 

Cap rails glued into place

 

Cap rails and transom cap in place

 

Head rail and net-fence in place.

 

 

 

 

A fairly easy week this week. Despite what I thought was a clever idea bending the transom cap, after gluing it on I noticed a few gaps that disappointed me somewhat. Still, the casual observer will not notice and think I am brilliant regardless.

 

I was surprised at the level of difficulty creating and placing the two head rails would prove. The two rails were precut ply, so I soaked them in boiling water and tried to shape them by clamping them to the rim of a glass. They weren't budging and so I left them soak for 24Hrs by which time they had begun to delaminate. I was going to cut new ones out of balsa or something but ended up just squirting some thin CA between the layers and clamped them down to dry. I then commenced bending again with much more success this time, probably ended up with more bend than was required. I then edge bent the caps for the head rails and glued them on. By the time I finished sanding and shaping the two rails were slightly different in many aspects  but I proceeded to glue them in place none the less. The head on shot, which I have chosen not to include above, shows a lack of symmetry that is unsatisfactory to me but chose to move on regardless.

 

As this is a stepping stone model to bigger and better things, the observation has been well noted. As I have discovered a number of other such challenges, I have decided not to go straight onto the Gorch Fock, a level 4 kit from OcCre, but instead, a Level 3 kit from the same kit manufacturer as this one called the Matthew Turner which is on it's way as I type.

 

I think I am ready to start deck furniture/accessories next.

 

Any constructive comments or criticisms would be most welcome, thanks.

[Fernando E]

Hi Mike, looking really good. I had similar problems with the transom cap with some minor spacing showing. I just put some tiny bits of wood filler and painted the spots the same black as the cap and....voila, spaces gone👍

 

Cheers.......Fernando 🍻

 

 

 

[James H]

Beautiful stuff 🥰

 

Love the heavy metal to hold stuff down and all those clamp forceps! 😝

[Chook]

Hi Mike, I know that the instructions say to put the bowsprit on now but I made and fitted it at that stage but did not fix it into the model until I came to rigging. It is just to susceptible to damage sticking out like that. Not sure if you have made provision for the two small blocks which are attached to the bowsprit to stop the main stay from sliding along the bowsprit, it would be easiest to make them early on with a positioning pin and locating hole on the bowsprit for later fitting. Not sure if the instructions tell you that. Looking good.

[Mike Hunt]

2 hours ago, Fernando E said:

Hi Mike, looking really good. I had similar problems with the transom cap with some minor spacing showing. I just put some tiny bits of wood filler and painted the spots the same black as the cap and....voila, spaces gone👍

 

Cheers.......Fernando 🍻

 

 

 

 

Thanks for that Fernando, strangely I hadn't thought of the filler particularly given I used it generously around the figure head gaps. I have a very nice porous filler in a tube from Vallejo that has a fine tip which will make it ideal for those transom cap gaps.

[Mike Hunt]

57 minutes ago, Chook said:

Hi Mike, I know that the instructions say to put the bowsprit on now but I made and fitted it at that stage but did not fix it into the model until I came to rigging. It is just to susceptible to damage sticking out like that. Not sure if you have made provision for the two small blocks which are attached to the bowsprit to stop the main stay from sliding along the bowsprit, it would be easiest to make them early on with a positioning pin and locating hole on the bowsprit for later fitting. Not sure if the instructions tell you that. Looking good.

 

Well, thank you indeed for that tip, I will remember it well for my next build because as you have correctly pointed out, it catches on everything. As you know this is my first build I am so reluctant to go it alone so I am dutifully following the manual albeit somewhat naively. Your tip has also thought me to read way ahead so as to preempt things like the slip blocks you pointed out. There are no mention of these until doing the rigging and fortunately it is covered well in the video.

 

But because you pointed these things out I discovered another glaring error I have made that I'm sure you noticed but were too polite to point out. This I will rectify next week and replace photo when I have done so. I will leave the offending pic up so as to be a badge of shame that I might not make such a silly mistake again.

 

But thankyou very much for the heads up 

 

 

[Mike Hunt]

2 hours ago, James H said:

Beautiful stuff 🥰

 

Love the heavy metal to hold stuff down and all those clamp forceps! 😝

 

Well would you believe that the "heavy metal" came all the way from England. I bought them very cheaply on eBay for a different purpose but glad I was able to find another use for them. They were listed as Jewellers anvils if I remember correctly.

[Mike Hunt]

16/07/21  - 22/07/21 Remaking head rails.

23/07/21  Glued on new head rails and cut out cargo ports in bulwarks.

24/07/21  Fitted cargo ports and made frame for same on the inside. Fitted transom decoration.

25/07/21   started to make companionways.

 

 

HTD:  284

 

New head rails in place, less curve this time and the right way around i.e. concave not convex, oh the embarrassment.

 

Cargo ports fitted

 

Top view of top rails, symmetry not great :-(

 

Cargo port with internal frame and check out my handsome transom :-)

 

 

Starting to make the companionways.

 

 

 

So this week, for the most part, was spent recreating the headrails and as I have mentioned before it is so surprising how something so deceptively simple was so challenging and to be honest I am not much happier with the new ones. I suspect a seasoned modeler would have stripped them off again and again if need be to get them just right.

 

Cutting out the cargo ports was not as easy as I thought it would be, much less 70 odd canon ports on the Trinidad or similar, a labour of love for sure. Anyway, got them cut out but to me, not perfect as the gaps, as seen from the inside, were all over the place, as seen in one of the pics above. The manual didn't call for an internal frame for the cargo ports but as I said, just too messy naked, as it were. None of the stains I had came close to the finish of the bulwarks so I just painted them black which disappointed me because you now can't see the mitre joints employed in the making of them that I prided myself on.

 

Today I started making the two companionways. I started out thinking this will be so easy and fun. WRONG!! Rushing too much I put things on back to front yada yada. Anyway, have rectified the mistakes and will slow down with the completion of them.

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by Mike Hunt
Needid too corekt speling mistackes