Norwegian Sailing Pram by Taken Aback - Model Shipways - 1:12

[Taken Aback]

Outer hull painting is in progress; I have decided on warm white for the exterior and a Prussian Blue (AK) for the interior, rudder & dagger board. I first applied two coats of Minwax Sanding Sealer, with some light sanding and buffing after each coat. I like this stuff! Sands easily, seems to fill well, and a quart should last me a lifetime of models. Two coats of white have been brushed on, and I am now shopping for an airbrush. I have been using my wet palette which keeps the acrylic ready to go and a bit thinned.

 

Also in the works are some of the metal rudder fittings. I first annealed the tubing, per instructions, but, as others have found to their woe, it becomes far too soft and malleable to work with. I made up a quick centerline to work over, and taped my flat pieces down. After annealing I then used Bondic to adhere the tubing to the flat piece, then tried to cut it off. This did not work as the heat from cutting released the Bondic and the tubing bent and smashed.

 

By the way, my first notion was to use JB Weld, as it is very controllable and strong, but I found that I was out of one part. Next trip to the store will fix that, and I suspect it would work beautifully on this little application.

 

 

Bondic is a liquid plastic, which you squeeze from the black handle tube, then harden using the UV light at the other end. Ten seconds sets the plastic up hard, but clear and workable. These little gems are quite handy for a variety of uses.  The plastic remains a viscous liquid, nearly a paste, until you use the UV light on it. Almost infinite working time. It doesn't make for the strongest joint, but as a filler it is fabulous. For this application, I think the strength will be sufficient.

 

 

I next changed gears and used a razor saw to cut off appropriately sized lengths of unannealed tubing, then held them in place on my straps using the rod inserted in the tubing, and hit with the Bondic. This went very well. You can see the clear bead in this shot, but from any distance it is invisible.

 

 

Lastly, I bent the rudder straps and will attach the tubing bits and pintles to the outside of the bends, after attaching the straps to the rudder, again using the rod through both pintle mounts to keep things lined up. That is the plan, in any case.

 

 

 

[Taken Aback]

After a week or so out of town for family holiday visits, I made it home, and after a brief sugar detox/recuperation period I resumed work on the pram. I did, however, pick up a few handy tools as presents from my father, including a Veritas mini-shoulder plane and this little gem:

It is, as you can plainly read, a digital protractor which I think will prove handy at times, not to mention, it is also another block to use for squaring up bulkheads, etc. Slick.

 

As far as work on the vessel, I finished painting the hull, and have glued in the floorboards. The paint colors are warm white and Model Colors Prussian Blue, which looks almost black in the photo, but is a deep navy blue in reality. The floorboards I finished with one of my favorite wood finishes, Odie's Oil.

I'm happy with the real life paint appearance, and will give it a coat of clear sealer when the last of the thwarts are fitted in place. Then to hanging the rudder, crutches and the stays. 

 

I have begun shaping the mast with my new Veritas plane, and it is a wonderful tool! I can't recommend it highly enough. Pops did well this year.