Sloup by HakeZou - Corel - 1:25

[HakeZou]

I never intended to have two builds going on simultaneously, but...well...here I am. Life has been pretty wild for several months now, including a bad stretch of work-related burnout. During that time, my Terror build languished, while I procrastinated on the lifeboats and the shrouds. So, in order to get my hands active again, I decided to pull my "next kit" off the shelf and just get started on it.

 

After working on the Terror for so long, I was ready to get back to a small working boat with simple rigging. I had been eyeing Corel's Sloup for a long time, so I picked up a kit when it was on sale a while back. My goals are three-fold here: to continue working on my planking skills; to better understand how to shape the stem, keel, and rudder; and to continue working on my rigging skills. I'm grateful to CaptGino and Dee_Dee, who have also done some great build logs that are serving as vital resources for me.

 

Right off the bat, this kit has presented me with unexpected challenges. I have only dry-fit the frames and the decks (and installed the bow filler pieces); the transom is just dangling for now, since it isn't yet glued into place.

 

But even this little bit has been a fair amount of work. The challenges:

 

1. Frame 3 was positioned 3mm too far aft. I made this assessment based on the deck pieces. I cut the slot in the correct spot, then ended up gluing that one frame into place, along with a shim to fill the gap that I left. This has implications for the mast, since the hole in the deck does not line up with the slot in the false keel; I haven't decided exactly what to do about this yet, but I'll work that out soon.
2. The bow fillers are oddly shaped and either line up with the slot for frame 1 or with the stem post. Not a big deal, but it took a bit to figure out how best to position them—and then required some trimming and sanding, both on the fillers and on frame 1.
3. The fore deck and the main deck needed much more shaping then expected to sit comfortably in place. (And the main and aft decks still need a little more attention.)

 

All of that said, things are off and rolling, and it felt good to have my tools in my hands again.

 

PS: My son and I got tools into our hands last month, too. It was time for his final Pinewood Derby. He wanted to go all out and, after some brainstorming, we ended up teaching ourselves a bunch of new metalworking skills so he could have a brass-plated car! Some pretty amateur-looking work, but we were both thrilled with how it turned out. The car also ended up being ridiculously fast (averaged 233 scale mph) and easily took 1st place—winning every heat by more than a tenth of a second. Watching him grin throughout all of the races made for a nice way to wrap up Cub Scouting!