Hello folks!
Well that's been a while... the build suffered a mini hiatus, but I've been back at the bench over the last couple of weeks and have made little bit progress.
Here's what I've been up to;
First things first - a couple of pics of the earlier anchor hawse disaster made good -
The too large hole filled then drilled to the correct size.. then the (painted) fittings added, hiding all evidence!
Now for the most recent work - belay pin rails fitted on the bulwarks;
Then fitted the rudder; the hinges were very fiddly and I'm not 100% satisfied with them, unfortunately. However, with a lack of alternatives available, these will have to do.... The hinges will have the paint touched up after I've worked on the waterline and have painted the undersides white.
Deck fittings going on...
... a few close ups of the various bits on deck;
The bow -
Mid-ships, showing the rather nice capstan - straight out of the box and highlighted with a light coat of wood stain to bring out the details;
And finally the stern, showing the tiller - brass rod with the handle machined using a dremmel and file, then an attempt at replicating wood grain with various colours of enamel paint over a black undercoat. tried carving one from an off-cut of the planning wood, but decided to go with the brass in the end. I suspect that it would have taken a man of some stature to operate the tiller without any assistance, so will be adding some blocks and sheets to secure it in position (not that it's going anywhere with those dodgy hinges!!)
That's all for now folks, away to try and order a nice little ship's boat to hag from those stern davits (nothing supplied in the kit unfortunately - heading back to Blighty for a few weeks so will need to keep space for it in the suitcase. (and a few other goodies, including 1:1 scale sailing bits and bobs!). I also need to do something about procuring some fittings for the base; my searches in the souq proved to be fruitless.
That's it for another month!
Cheers,
Spud