First build - Halcon kit

[Jawz]

Some folks here welcomed me nicely and asked me to share my progress....Here goes, progress as of today.
3 planks set.
Then I had bought some barrels to add and painted these and then jumped onto painting the cannons and anchors

I'm seriously enjoying the new hobby!

An update - Having trolled some of the advice here at the forum I have learned that I must pay more attention to details. My mistake here was to place the cannons on the trolleys the wrong way around.. This weekend I will see if the cold glue will forgive me and allow me to reverse orientation. Lesson learned = Do a lot more research!!!

 

[Jawz]

Sunday 11 Jan Off and On
More planking

And from the stern

I'm going to do a bit of a change at the stern here.Im not happy to bend the planks in. My thoughts are to use some of the left over sheets and shape small pieces either side of the rudder and finish it that way.
My 2nd thought is to use small amounts of wood filler as caulking and paint the hull rather than leave the gaps looking uneven

 

[Jawz]

Sunday 25 January 2025 - Build update

I spent some of yesterday and most of Sunday afternoon finishing the planking.
You will note that I bought some wood filler and am slowly filling in gaps to finish the hull to my liking. More to be done on this as I prepare the hull for a paint job.



Looking at the bow you can see some of the filler gone in. It looks rough right now only because I needed to finish planking before completing the filler and "fairing" the hull.

 

[Jawz]

Smoothed off/Faired the hull

 

[Jawz]

Painted the planking. Could have taken a bit more care on this, but then that's what the 1st model is meant to teach!

 

[Jawz]

Painted the bulwarks and started on installing the deck details

 

[Jawz]

More deck detailing added.
I am enjoying the new hobby immensely and have 2 more TEMU supplied models heading my way for future builds. I realize that the quality is not all that great as regards details but I am prepared to accept this because the pricing is good. Good quality models here in South Africa are costly and start off at about R3500 per model, a bit rich for my pocket!

 

[Jawz]

Hi All. So, I have been progressing on the weekends. Here you can see that I have had to make a few small bits myself as the Temu kit didnt have these parts, a dolphin striker and two mast end caps, main and mizzen. You will also see that I made a slight error too on the bowsprit in that I have added a wooden crupper rather than a rope tied crupper. What do you folks think? Should I remove it and replace the wooden one with rope?
You will also see that I decided to cut the anchor and re-glue the stock perpendicular to the crown, a little detail that matters in my opinion.

Another detail to point out is that I have reduced the diameter of the mast poles from bottom to top to make it look a bit more authentic. I did the same with the bowsprit.

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

Don't worry about the crupper. There are so many things inaccurate about this kit that it won't really matter. This kit is a practice piece to help you prepare for larger and more detailed models. It still makes a very attractive decoration, especially if you do some extra work replacing the oversized anchor and adding some accurate rigging for a baltimore clipper. Practice models are essential for growing one's skills. I made this model for basic learning on how to rig a fore-aft sailed ship, and gave it to a friend as a gift.

 

[Jawz]

Some more progress this past weekend. Here you will see I have made up chain-wales for the main and mizzen shrouds.
Also broke off the 1st crupper and replaced it with thread.
Glued the mickey mouse cannons in place with some thread to 'secure' the cannons.
Put my first piece of standing rigging in but then discovered that I need a super small diameter drillbit to work on the dead-eyes I have. These have the tiniest of holes that I must bore out to take the thread I have.

 

[Jawz]

My first attempt at making up ratlines. Mixed results here. I drew the layout to size on a piece of cardboard and glued the lines in place. Once all installed I used wood glue to stick the ratlines in place. My big fail was trying to install the deadeyes! What finicky work this is, and in trying to use superglue to make the thread stay on the deadeye I managed to squeeze the glue tube too much and got it all over my fingers....LOUD SUBMARINE CLAXON SIRENS!!! Idiot!!! Next time try the gel type!!!
Bought and glued in place an eyelet in the anchor rope hole.
Installed some, somewhat oversized belaying pins.
LInes installed on the bowsprit. Here I managed to break the ply while drilling a hole for the copper rings I made.
Large cannon ropes installed to brass rings.
Glued one small cannon ropes to the bulwark inner.

Now I am getting worried about those tiny blocks for the rigging later. I think I will attach blocks to lines separately before attaching to the masts and spars. I have to have a workable solution before bringing these anywhere near the model. In preparation I bought thinner cotton thread for the rigging. The thicker thread that I used on the bowsprit I will also use on the stays, but other rigging will have to be the thin thread for the size blocks I have.

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

No matter what method you use to ratline, it's always tedious. Gel CA is definitely better for this application.

 

[Ignatius27]

Some folks here welcomed me nicely and asked me to share my progress....Here goes, progress as of today.
3 planks set.View attachment 569572
Then I had bought some barrels to add and painted these and then jumped onto painting the cannons and anchors
View attachment 569573
I'm seriously enjoying the new hobby!

An update - Having trolled some of the advice here at the forum I have learned that I must pay more attention to details. My mistake here was to place the cannons on the trolleys the wrong way around.. This weekend I will see if the cold glue will forgive me and allow me to reverse orientation. Lesson learned = Do a lot more research!!!

Jawz - Depending on the glue you used you can unjoin the cannons from the trolleys. If you used wood (PVA) glue, like Titebond, Gorilla Wood Glue, or Elmer's Wood Glue, you can easily separate them by using a little water or 90% isopropyl alcohol (I apply a few drops with a Q-tip) and then blasting it with a heat gun or blow dryer at low-medium heat. Work the joint with an exacto knife and keep adding more drops as you go. It requires patience and care not to cut into the trolleys with the knife. If you joined them with crazy glue or super glue (CA glue), you will need to use 90% isopropyl alcohol, acetone, or vinegar and the heat gun. Once separated, remove all the old glue before rejoining. Here's where you can find the info. Good luck!

 

[UssIntelagentFIsh]

Nice build