7/30/25 to 8/15/25
Before working on to the furniture/structures on the front 1/2 of the ship I must create the “unknown” piece located next to the wheelhouse. It is 1/2” in diameter and is 0.20” in height. I use a 1/2” dowel and sand a curved look to the end.
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To make it look like it is two separate pieces, I hold the dowel in my miter box to cut right at where the sanded curve begins. At this point, I cut a groove using a saw completely around the dowel. I then use a small, pointed file and sand the groove a bit to open it up.
I then put a mark just a little more than 0.20” and cut completely through the dowel using a saw. I sand the entire piece until it is 0.20” in height.
Two coats of white paint, a little sanding to match the curve of the deck and it is ready to be glued in place.
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On to the skylight and companionway. Neither of these are very complex, but since there are not any instructions, I created them much like I did for the previous structures. Creating the instructions took about an hour.
During the Rocky Mountain Shipwrights workshop on Saturday, I cut and sanded the four wall pieces of the skylight and rough-cut and glued the three taller sections of the companionway (that were taller than 1/2”).
As with many of the steps of creating these two structures, I did certain tasks at the same time - for example as stated above, I cut the pieces for the walls of both structures at the same time. For the build log, I will detail the building of the two structures separately.
Skylight
The skylight walls were made with 1/16” x 1/2” sanded down to 0.3” (the height of the skylight).
I need two lengths of boards that are 0.56” and two that are 0.44”. These are glued together using 1/8” x 1/8” x 0.25” posts in the corners creating a 0.56” square base.
The sides are sanded, filler added and sanded again. The corners are then rounded using sandpaper.
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4mm holes are drilled on the port and starboard sides and given a little reaming/sanding with a small round file until the portholes fit.
The skylight is given two coats of white paint.
The roof is created using six 1/16” x 1/8” x 0.7” planks. Used pencil on the edges to look like grout. Once glued together, it is sanded down to 0.68” square and the corners are rounded.
I had built a jig to help with sanding edges square (90 degrees) and at 45 degrees. It is a shooting board, but for sanding instead of using a plane. It works ok, but I need to add some “wings” to hold the sandpaper up at the height of what I am sanding.
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The roof is given two coats of classic pecan stain.
The portholes are glued in place and then so is the roof, leaving about 1/16” overhang on all the four sides. As before, thanks for the portholes goes to Alice, my deceased MIL, as she wanted to be part of the hobby that I get so much joy from.
I stained a couple of short (around 3”) of 1/16” x 1/16” stock which will be used for the coamings with golden pecan. These are then cut down to size, miter sanded (using the updated jig) and glued in place at the bottom of the base. This should be enough for both structures.
The bottom of the skylight is then sanded to match the curve of the deck.
The skylight is then given a coat of clear satin finish.
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After a suggestion from Phil in the RMSW, I will hold off on glueing it in place until I determine if it will get in the way while I am rigging.
Companionway
The sides of the companionway are quadrilateral (like the wheelhouse) whose sides are 0.3” (fore) x 0.56” (aft) x 0.65” (bottom) x 0.71” (top). The top is at a slight angle, about 78 degrees.
To get the height which is just over 1/2” at 0.56”, I cut two 1/2” x 1/16” and two 1/16” x 1/16” pieces to about 0.67” and glue them together creating boards that are 0.56” x 0.67”. I do the same with two pieces (of 1/2” x 1/16” and 1/16” x 1/16” that are about 0.45”) to form the tall (aft) side. The short (fore) side is not over 1/2” so I just cut/sand down a 1/2” piece of 1/2” x 1/16” to 0.3” x 0.43”.
The walls are glued together with 1/8” x 1/8” posts in the corners.
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In looking at pictures I thought there was a need for a 1/16” x 1/16” board on top (in addition to the one on the bottom) of the front wall. This was true for the main cabin, so it made sense, but when I really looked at the pictures, it was not needed, and I had to cut/sand it off.
Cut horizontal groove in center in the aft wall to simulate two panels that lift out when the entrance is open.
It was at this point I realized that the aft wall should have been pushed in slightly to the fore instead of even with the side walls. To correct this, I added two pieces of 1/16” x 1/16” boards vertically on the aft corners.
I cut six 1/16” x 1/8” planks that are 0.8” and used pencil on the edges. They are glued together and then sanded down to 0.78” x 0.7” (using the jig) with slightly rounded corners.
The aft edge of the roof is notched in about 1/16” to match the shape of the base.
The roof is placed into golden pecan stain for a few minutes then dried off and put in the stain again for a second coat.
The rails for the sliding cover are created by two sections of 1/16” x 1/16” boards that are cut to 0.78”, painted white, and glued onto the roof. The sliding cover was made using 1/2” x 1/16” x 0.7”. The 1/2” is sanded down to 0.45” while all but the aft edge is sanded to give it a curved appearance. It is painted white. It is now where I see where the 1/16” x 1/16” board (previously removed) is needed. It is needed perpendicular between the rails as without it, a 1/16” gap is created between the stained roof and the sliding cover.
I cut and sand a piece until it fits between the rails and glue it in place. The aft facing side, in addition to the aft facing edge of the stained roof, are painted white.
The sliding cover is glued to the rails.
Using the pre-stained 1/16” x 1/16” stock, I created the coamings. These were then cut down to size, miter sanded and glued in place at the bottom of the base.
The companionway is then given a coat of clear satin finish.
The bottom of the companionway is then sanded to match the curve of the deck and given a coat of clear satin finish. As previously with the skylight (and main cabin), I will hold off on glueing it in place until I determine if it will get in the way while I am rigging.
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Next up is any of the remaining eyebolts and rings. I have already installed 16 of them to the bulwark stanchions, eight along each side, leaving only four to be installed along the front of the main cabin. Since the cabin was not glued onto the deck yet, these are easy except that while looking at pictures of the cabin on Suburban Ship Modeler, I noticed that there is a small fascia right under the roof that was not detailed in their instructions. I look at a couple of other build logs and it is hit or miss if this is there. I will admit that it does look better with it though.
I strike a happy medium and instead of putting one up around the entire cabin, I only put one on the front of the cabin as adding one around the entire cabin would require redesigning the structure. Again, since the cabin has not been glued in place, it is an easy add. I cut a 2.5” section of 1/16” x 1/16” lumber and glue it in place, holding it with three clamps. I am going to add a note to my main cabin post bringing this to light so others can decide whether to add a fascia or not.
It is then painted white to match the cabin and I mark off four equally spaced holes along the fascia and drill four 0.6mm holes.
An eyebolt and ring are glued into each of the holes.
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Next up were the so from the two mooring chocks, the bow and stern chocks, and the steering wheel, all from the Britannia metal pieces.
I used a few small files of different shapes to sand them free of the parting lines and gave them a couple of coats of primer.
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And then Covid hit me again (and yes, I am vaccinated and bolstered). After a few days, I was up to some painting.
The chocks were easy as they are painted black.
I had wanted to dress up the steering wheel, so I used black, brown, and gold. They looked okay after they were done, but when I looked at a few pictures I had pulled up to give me ideas, I realized that in my Covid-infected brain I had mixed up where I was painting some of the black and some of the gold.
It sucked, but I repainted it and felt it looked better the second time around.
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These five Britannia pieces are then glued in place.
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Work time: 12.5 hours
Total work time: 305 hours
