17th Century Battle Station - HMS Mordaunt, 1:32 - DocBlake

Hi Greg, I hope to be caught up on another project by the end of the week then I will start this one. We also have the world`s junior men`s softball tournament in town that I will be watching all week so I am busy juggling time around that too. Australia has a team here along with New Zealand who are the world champs.
 
I started gluing up the frames by attaching the two outermost ones to the buildboard and the deck clamp. I built a quick little jig to ensure these were exactly perpendicular, and measured the same distance apart at the top as at the bottom. the jig straddles the deck clamp and keeps the frames square to the buildboard. Img_0181.jpgImg_0180.jpgBecause the planking is pre-cut and pre-treenailed, it's very important that the inside frames align with the three gun ports properly.
 
The precision of this kit is amazing! Mike said that if something doesn't fit, it's because something is out of square. He is absolutely right!

It really has been a joy to build so far!!! You are doing great, keep going!!!! I like how you used an outboard planking strake for alignment testing.
 
The frames are all glued in place except for the upper futtocks, above the gun ports. I'll wait until the main deck clamp is installed. Although most of the gun deck beams will be hidden by planking, the ends are plainly visible and the beams must be laid out exactly so the butt joints and treenails fall in the center of each beam.IMG_0183.JPGIMG_0184.JPGIMG_0185.JPG
 
The lower deck was installed next. All the decking for the three kits was randomized so there was no discernible grain pattern in the finished deck on any of the three models. The effect is much more realistic the a plain vanilla deck of holly would be...although we did consider holly for the decking! Next is a fine finish sanding and some poly on the decking.Img_0186 (1).jpg
 
The planking is realy looking good, also with the 5 shift pattern of the joints !:cool:
 
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