Hello, everyone,
I just finished building the Buccaneer by Occre and during the build I was really wishing that I had a plank bender. The 'soldering iron' kind. So I started googling around and didn't really want to spend the ~$40 the retailers want for it. I ended up on Ebay and noticed that somebody was selling an open box Occre Albatros for total price of $80 and inside the box, lo and behold, was a plank bender! Wooooo, I just couldn't pass that one up. I had already decided that my next build was going to be a beginner's ship so this was a deal I couldn't refuse. And that's how I decided to build the Albatros.
The Buccaneer is an amazing ship. I absolutely loved building it but, wow, was it hard. I had no idea. None. Nada. Zilch. Time for me to go back to the basics and practice, practice, and practice some more until I feel confident enough to move on to another ship that requires a slightly higher skill level. Like the HMS Victory. Just kidding!!!
I haven't gotten very far yet but already I'm feeling way more comfortable than when I started the Buccaneer. I already have a bit of an idea how the ship goes together just from reading over the instructions whereas with the Buccaneer I was totally and completely in the dark and way, way over my head.
So here's what I've done so far:
Used Legos to get the ribs as perpendicular to the false keel as I could.
Glued the planks onto the deck without again making the mistake of cutting out the planks on the side slots:
Drew the deck lines and nail heads
Stained the planks on the main deck and quarter deck using a Judea de Bitumen wash (love that stuff)
While waiting for the deck to dry after applying a clear coat I built the lattice hatch
And here are the completed pieces
That's it so far. Not much done at this point but it's been much smoother "sailing" then with my Buccaneer!
Thanks very much for reading. All input welcome anytime!
Have a beautiful day
I just finished building the Buccaneer by Occre and during the build I was really wishing that I had a plank bender. The 'soldering iron' kind. So I started googling around and didn't really want to spend the ~$40 the retailers want for it. I ended up on Ebay and noticed that somebody was selling an open box Occre Albatros for total price of $80 and inside the box, lo and behold, was a plank bender! Wooooo, I just couldn't pass that one up. I had already decided that my next build was going to be a beginner's ship so this was a deal I couldn't refuse. And that's how I decided to build the Albatros.
The Buccaneer is an amazing ship. I absolutely loved building it but, wow, was it hard. I had no idea. None. Nada. Zilch. Time for me to go back to the basics and practice, practice, and practice some more until I feel confident enough to move on to another ship that requires a slightly higher skill level. Like the HMS Victory. Just kidding!!!
I haven't gotten very far yet but already I'm feeling way more comfortable than when I started the Buccaneer. I already have a bit of an idea how the ship goes together just from reading over the instructions whereas with the Buccaneer I was totally and completely in the dark and way, way over my head.
So here's what I've done so far:
Used Legos to get the ribs as perpendicular to the false keel as I could.
Glued the planks onto the deck without again making the mistake of cutting out the planks on the side slots:
Drew the deck lines and nail heads
Stained the planks on the main deck and quarter deck using a Judea de Bitumen wash (love that stuff)
While waiting for the deck to dry after applying a clear coat I built the lattice hatch
And here are the completed pieces
That's it so far. Not much done at this point but it's been much smoother "sailing" then with my Buccaneer!
Thanks very much for reading. All input welcome anytime!
Have a beautiful day
