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Santa Maria1:48 (Pavel Nikitin)

Hi Rob, the graphic on the bottom of the image above (Pack 8) shows the bumpers are already notched??? I doubt the manufacturer would do that since wale locations could vary between builders...but it might give you a clue on how to proceed?
 
Thanks doc.

The pieces are not notched for the reason you mentioned. I glued together the left and right #1 bumpers. When you put the numbers on the inside when gluing together, there is quite a groove between outside edges due to the angle cut of the laser. Quite a bit of sanding to make them level. I'm not sure I have the skill to either cut the wale or bumper correctly. The hull looks good the way it is. I might just leave the bupers off.

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I just decided I'm definitely not cutting the wale. Just incase I can't cut the bumpers so they look good. I'm not getting a good feeling about this. So, guess I'll try cutting notches in the #1 pieces to see if I can do this. Bumper #1 goes all the way up into the 'paneled' area of the forecastle. Since I didn't put vertical boards in this area, and left it open, I will have to shorten the #1 bumpers.
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Question doc. Here is a photo of the hull...
Link to SOS images

Screenshot 2026-01-05 at 10.12.02 AM.png
It looks to me that "starting at about the center" (maybe 1 bumper in front of the main mast) the bumper is vertical. As one moves fore/aft, it looks like the bumpers start tilting 'outwards' at the top. Is that the way you see it?

Another question... The last bumper at the stern 'butts' up against a decorative piece. Were would you suggest I start with the first bumper so I can get this last bumper in the correct position?

Looking at the drawings that come with the kit, I measured between the bumpers. They tend to get a litte further apart as one moves fore/aft of center. Don't know if this is an illusion from looking at a flat drawing.

I just wrote to Pavel asking about the distance bewteen bumpers.

Guess the logical thing to do is put tape on the hull and "mark" where the bumpers should go. What ya think?
 
Guess the logical thing to do is put tape on the hull and "mark" where the bumpers should go.
For sure you need to do this.

I agree that from the side view it appears they start to tip fore and aft - but I wonder if that's just parallax looking at a curved object. Can you measure between the top and bottom of the bumpers on a drawing or the above image? In any case - what Pavel is showing looks GREAT so I would try to replicate that!
 
Per Pavel (he calls them bumpers) this is what I need to do...

First I must install the decorative piece on the stern. This must go on 1st as bumper #12 fits against the angle on fhe front edge of the decorative piece. This gives the bumper the correct fitment angle.
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Next I must temporarily place the chainplate board in the correct position. It has 4 notches that fit across the bumpers. So placing the chainplate board in the correct position gives correct reference to where bumpers 7 throujgh 10 are positioned.
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13.jpgi was able to clean up the hull a little from removing the wale. But there was quite a bit of CA glue and the dry would not stick to it. i scrapped as much CA off as I could. There were still light (and shiny) areas the dye would not stick to. I ended up applying some similar colored paint with a tiny brush, then airbrushed over again. The dye stuck to the paint. It's a little darker than the surrounding wood, but the wale I removed is walnut and the 1st wale below it is also walnut.
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This will definately be a challenge for my skills... Since I didn't put vertical planking on the forecastle, I'll have to shorten the 1st bumper. Guess I'll put bumper #12 in place as it fits against the front edge of the decorative piece at the stern and that angle can't be changed. Then put in the center bumper as it looks vertical. Probably put #1 in place next, and fit the remaining in between these three. There is no uniform distance between any of them (or angle) per Pavel. Will estimate from the plans and distance between them.
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Hi Jan. Yes will notch them. Not going to cut the wale as this might be above my skill level. If I can't make them look good I'll leave them off. Something I forgot about and didn't mention in the prior post. Bumpers #7-#10 fit into the chain plate board. So their fitment will be uniform. I'll just need to temporarily fit them in the notches in the chain plate board then adjust the angle. So, in addition to bumper #12, bumpers #7-#10 must also go into a fixed position.

I went back to post #68 and added a note that I put the wrong wale in place where the decorative piece goes at the stern, so if anyone looks at this build they won't make the same mistake I did.
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I've been following your build closely. I have that kit on the shelf and worry that it might be way beyond my skills. I've browsed through your log several times and watched Pavels videos from the 1st through the current one over and over.

Jan
 
I finished 1 of the #12 bumpers. Not glued in. It fits tight so stays in place. Think it took about a hour to slowly trim it. One airbrush coat of Pave'ls patina and two coats dark walnut dyes, then steel wool a little shine.

I noticed on other builds the bumpers don't always fit the shape of the hull. I tried sanding the middle to lower the bottom end. The bottom end is 2.5mm away from the hull. Didn't want to sand any more. I soaked the piece in water, held it in place and applied the heat gun to dry it. It came out perfect.

Now... If I can just do this 23 more times!!
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The cutouts in the chain plate board (hope that's the correct word) are much smaller than the bumpers widths. Cut them larger on the scroll saw then filed to correct width. The cuts are square and are a tight fit that holds the bumpers in place. Forgot the bumpers are on a slight angle (I made them so tight I can't angle the bumpers), so I'll file a slight angle later when installing the chain board.
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This is how I'll fit the first grouip....
Using the ships plans, I marked kitchen waxed paper along the wale, then the angle of the bumpers.
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Transferred position and angle to tape.3.jpg

the marks line up with the chain plate board. Doesn't look like it, it's the camera angle.
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Careful positioning the chain plate board. It looks amost uniform, but the bow end to the bumper hole is shorter.
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