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Hi Folks, I have returned after a holiday in Vehicle Modelling (non-military) building a Citroen 2CV Barn find, which has been relaxing and enjoyable but drawing to an end. I've long wanted to build a wooden sailing fishing boat at a reasonable scale. Perhaps the time has come what with my shaky hand. Having researched the market I think Vanguard Models offer the most comprehensive kit available. From simple fishing craft up..... https://vanguardmodels.co.uk/product/nisha-brixham-mumble-bee/ So here we are Note the quality of the build manual Extract from VM Judging by the way the build stand went together this is going to slot together like a dream A few pictures of a Mumbles Skiff Thanks for stopping by Stay safe Kev

Sometimes I sit at my desk and find I am just not in the mood for what is sat in front of me. I have been working on Plastic and resin kits exclusively for 18 months now which has lead to a growing need to get some relief from a wood kit again. Not wanting to tackle anything to large as I plan to get stuck into a much larger wood kit once I have a couple of other builds done. Endevours Longboat by Artasina Latina fits the bill nicely. Now as a rule I don't buy Artasina Latina kits as they are not being on accuracy, but they do have very good instructions and are generally good kits for beginners and intermediate builders. I actually won this in a competition on another forum that I seldom visit these days as it spends more time reposting the newspapers that anything to do with modelling! As this is my first wood kit build on this forum I will take a bit more time on my way of working, as we all do things differently.. One of the nice things about AL kits, is that the box art is always the actual kit, so you know what your getting. The box content is the usual mix in an AL kit a mix of good quality woods some ply parts, pre stitched sails and a box with the thread, pins, cast metal parts and other bits n bobs required for the build. The build starts with the removal and clean up of the keel frame. It's worth flicking through the instructions to establish if any of this part will be visible on the finished model. After removing from the ply sheet the tabs were smoothed flat with a small file. The for mast brace (just behind the number 2 on the pic below) will be visible on the end kit so this area git sanded with fine sandpaper to remove the laser burn and the open grain of the wood. The various ribs go in next, clean up followed the same process, there is a small part of each rib visible once the build is complete, so again they got some extra attention. each part was dry fitted prior to gluing in place, I am using Aliphatic wood glue. I am also using a magnetic board as a keel jig to help ensure the ribs get set at a perfect 90 degrees angle to the keel frame. Once the Ribs are in there are two stern formers and 4 bow formers to be added. The assembly is then moved to my keel jig before further building. There is some ply parts to be added next, these include a false deck, forward and aft bulkheads and rails, these all need to be fixed in place to add rigidity to the Frame before we fair the hull. To help keep the rails in the correct place while the glue dries I used some mini pegs as clamps, these have the advantage of not damaging the wood. Jase