Dutch Sperwer by mrcc - Billing Boats No. 402

[mrcc]

Was debating doing a build log for this older kit that was given to me from my brother, as he received it from a co-worker that had recently passed away, and wished to pass it to him and thus to me prior to his passing...

It is classified as a beginner build but these "beginner" kits from Billing Boats are in my opinion so basic in design and parts and given the poor tolerances for fitting out of pieces and parts, that it in fact it is not a beginners kit.

The high end large kits (now laser cut) with fitment being so perfect, that though classified as advanced, it perhaps could be qualified as much easier to build... anyway my thoughts.

 

I decided to do the build and pass it back to my brother given the emotional connection is truly with him.

My wife is Dutch descent and given my trips to Holland and having seen my fair share of Dutch river barges... I do find them absolutely beautiful!

 

I have decided to build it completely out of the box with no upgrades with the exception of the sails.

I started this in the fall and worked on it here and there... I did forgot to take some early pictures but this is what I have to show for...

 

This thing was not easy to plank at the bow for me and given it is single planked construction, I knew really quickly that this was a plank and paint project... which all of the working Dutch barges' hulls are anyways  - painted. 

[mrcc]

I did plank the deck and cabin floor boards with left over strips from an other kit that is finished... turned out looking good, especially with a couple coats of varathane.

Not so good is how the bulwarks fit and became a real mess for me fast!

 

Some layers of wood fill and touch ups and now looking a bit better... as exemplified in the post to follow.

[mrcc]

Again, building the kit with supplied parts (often plastic), with touch ups to follow, especially on the hull.

 

Unfortunately a bit stalled as waiting to put together a large order of stuff from Cornwall Model boats... short on matching Admiralty paints in order to finish painting the hull (and acquire other fittings for my future project of an old vintage Mamoli Friesland kit which I purchased off of EBay- which surprise surprise is missing a few parts. Lucky that Dusek Models is able to supply the missing items via CMB).

[mrcc]

As she sits now... stalled.

[Knocklouder]

I'll tag along, I am sure your brother will love it. Good luck on your journey.    

Edited February 22 by Knocklouder

[mrcc]

Thanks Knocklouder!

[petervisser]

Very nice work on your Sperwer Julian! Working with older Billing kits certainly has its challenges but you seem to be dealing with them handily. Those planking curves at the bow and stern certainly sure look daunting! I have the Mamoli Catalina coming up next in my build sequence so I will be dealing with a very similar hull. I have also built the Billing Zeeschouw but it had very easy hull planking and it had laser cut parts so it was a pretty easy kit compared to your model.

Keep up the great work and I'll continue to follow along.

Cheers,

Peter

[mrcc]

Thanks Peter for your comments…

 

Funny as I reviewed your entire Cutty Sark build log a few weeks back and enjoyed it thoroughly. 
 

PS… noticed you are on the Island… my parents are retired in Nanaimo and we love to spend time there once a year, time permitting. 
 

Cheers,

[mrcc]

I am certainly not a painter!

 

Good enough as I am tired of fiddling with my roll of 2mm Tamiya masking tape.

 

This is the final color scheme...

 

Edited June 14 by mrcc

[mrcc]

Now the assembly of all this stuff...

[mrcc]

I had someone else make my sails and trimmed a little off the bottom margins to work with my mast and its length 

[mrcc]

A little more work done on the sails...

 

I secured the reef points with a spot of Tamiya lacquer and it has stained the sail where the drop dispersed...

 

I thought I had done this once before without ill effects.  I will be brushing on a layer of GAC400 to stiffen up the sails in order to simulate a wind blown effect and I hope the blemishes will disappear.

[mrcc]

Also added more details to the deck.

 

Secured the bollards with masking tape so they stayed upright while affixing them to the deck railing with a drop of epoxy.

Even though it says 5 minute epoxy, it takes an hour plus to fully cure.

[mrcc]

Started adding details to the sails prior to affixing them on the masts...

Hopefully I can set the mast tonight

 

Absolutely no rigging instructions in this kit... and a couple of lines I am not able to trace their beginning and ending points but should be easy to figure out anyways.

[mrcc]

Treating the sails with a stiffening agent for the "wind blown" effect...

 

Getting close to the end.

[mrcc]

Mast is set with glue with all the rigging lines attached in advance on the mast and sails...

[mrcc]

Working on some of the rigging details...

 

As I mentioned, this is an out of box build, and am somewhat embarrassed to show you pictures of plastic blocks.

At the moment, the rigging is loosely affixed and a tightening of all the lines will be done shortly.

 

Also, I had to do lots of research on the rigging details as the Billing Boats plans are absolutely useless in terms of origin, belay, and termination points.

 

Cheers

[mrcc]

Both sails are up... lines are all tightened and secured with white glue but the ends are not cut to length or rolled up yet.

Edited August 13 by mrcc

[mrcc]

Worked on the kit supplied flag - a self adhesive fold over with an added layer of tin foil.

I hope it curls into a nice shape and yes I know the Dutch flag is upside down on those last 2 pictures.

[Knocklouder]

Looking good my friend   .  At least it's not glued to the ship,  

Bob M.

[mrcc]

Able to get the rudder fitted out...