So the Molino is safely tucked away in the closet until my return in October.
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Buccaneer 1:100 by Occre - Build log
Thanks. It was a small community college in Sonora CA - Columbia College.
- Joined
- May 7, 2025
- Messages
- 83
- Points
- 78
Great build log. I’m working on the Albatros right now, which is my first ever build. I’m making a lot of mistakes, but learning a lot. The Buccaneer will be my second build. As a matter of fact, I just ordered it today. Your build log should help out a lot when I start. By the way, I grew up in Lakewood and my parents are still there. I’m in Brighton. Well, at least until next June when my wife retires. Then it’s off to Florida.
Glad it’s been helpful. There have been a number of mistakes, but I’ve learned a lot along the way.
I know Brighton is a bit away, but there is a club in town… the Rocky Mountain Shipwrights. We meet twice a month. Our workshop is the 1st Saturday of the month at the Arvada Police station and our monthly meeting is the 3rd Saturday of the month at Rockler Woodworking. Check us out at https://rockymountainshipwrights.org/.
10/11/25 to 11/10/2025
Greetings from Puerto Vallarta, and welcome back to my Molino build after our five month stay in Colorado (and my Bluenose build).
I’ll be carrying on with my less wordy and condensed build log but will include the full unredacted build log as a pdf for those (hi mom) who want it.
Some of the pictures were right after I completed a step and before the glue had dried, so it is still visible. I’ve found out that if I wait to take pictures of a step until the glue has dried, I tend to forget about taking pictures.
When we got here, Hurricane Pricilla was offshore and heading out to sea when we got here but the waves it caused crazy… beautiful but crazy. Lots of sand, rocks, and water up on the malecón along with some damage to the businesses right along the coast. Do a search for “Hurricane Pricilla in Puerto Vallarta” to get an idea of what it was like. The weather was great, but the waves were bad for a few days.
Another casualty (unrelated to the hurricane and waves) was the whimsical pirate ship Marigalante.
The Marigalante is the reason why I am building the Molino as I wanted to build something Mexican themed as whatever I chose would become part of the condo’s decorations once it is complete. When I asked my wife what she thought I should build, without missing a beat, she said “a pirate ship.”
Now onto the build…
First up is the rudder cockpit.
Time for some introspection… I had made a skylight for my Bluenose that had bars on the openings. And while I was happy with the way it turned out, I will be looking to see how difficult it would be to re-do the skylight using a similar technique as I did with the nails.
Onto the pin rails of which I was somehow missing one of the eight and had to fashion one out of wood that I have down here.
After all is said and done, it is pretty much undetectable (it is the 2nd from the front - I think).
The cannon port frames and lids are up next. My mother-in-law gave me some money as a present with the sole intention of buying something for my ship. Alice passed away last Halloween, but the frames will be going on now. So, a big shout out to her!
I decided to add lanyards to them as well. I know my routing of them up and over the railing would not actually work, but there wasn’t room to drill a hole and just feed it through.
Next up… the deadeye platforms which I believe are called channels. The channel and deadeyes are, at least to me, the start of the overall rigging process.
Time for this portion: 12.5 hours
Total time to date: 216.5 hours
Greetings from Puerto Vallarta, and welcome back to my Molino build after our five month stay in Colorado (and my Bluenose build).
I’ll be carrying on with my less wordy and condensed build log but will include the full unredacted build log as a pdf for those (hi mom) who want it.
Some of the pictures were right after I completed a step and before the glue had dried, so it is still visible. I’ve found out that if I wait to take pictures of a step until the glue has dried, I tend to forget about taking pictures.
When we got here, Hurricane Pricilla was offshore and heading out to sea when we got here but the waves it caused crazy… beautiful but crazy. Lots of sand, rocks, and water up on the malecón along with some damage to the businesses right along the coast. Do a search for “Hurricane Pricilla in Puerto Vallarta” to get an idea of what it was like. The weather was great, but the waves were bad for a few days.
Another casualty (unrelated to the hurricane and waves) was the whimsical pirate ship Marigalante.
The Marigalante is the reason why I am building the Molino as I wanted to build something Mexican themed as whatever I chose would become part of the condo’s decorations once it is complete. When I asked my wife what she thought I should build, without missing a beat, she said “a pirate ship.”
Now onto the build…
First up is the rudder cockpit.
Time for some introspection… I had made a skylight for my Bluenose that had bars on the openings. And while I was happy with the way it turned out, I will be looking to see how difficult it would be to re-do the skylight using a similar technique as I did with the nails.
Onto the pin rails of which I was somehow missing one of the eight and had to fashion one out of wood that I have down here.
After all is said and done, it is pretty much undetectable (it is the 2nd from the front - I think).
The cannon port frames and lids are up next. My mother-in-law gave me some money as a present with the sole intention of buying something for my ship. Alice passed away last Halloween, but the frames will be going on now. So, a big shout out to her!
I decided to add lanyards to them as well. I know my routing of them up and over the railing would not actually work, but there wasn’t room to drill a hole and just feed it through.
Next up… the deadeye platforms which I believe are called channels. The channel and deadeyes are, at least to me, the start of the overall rigging process.
Time for this portion: 12.5 hours
Total time to date: 216.5 hours
Nicely done Hugh! Magic Mike
11/11/25 to 11/23/25
I’ll be carrying on with my less wordy and condensed build log but will include the full unredacted build log as a pdf for those who want it.
Next up are the chainplates and their channels. And that got me thinking about rigging, and more accurately, the fact that I have not yet done any rigging.
But why do chainplates make me think about rigging?
I been told that the rule of thumb in standing rigging is shrouds, then ratlines, and then the stays.
But the shrouds must be connected to the lower deadeyes , so is not the order: chainplates, lower deadeyes, shrouds, ratlines, and finally the stays?
I am following my modified rule of thumb and hence, I will now be starting the rigging of my Molino with the installation of the channels, lower deadeyes, and the chainplates.
I am going to follow a few other builders and after cutting out and sanding the six channels, I will be adding a thin board to the outside of them to make them look more finished.
After a light sanding, they get painted with two coats of a homemade Judea Bitumen mix.
The channels are then glued to the hull.
I plan on putting Molino’s rope chainplates at slight angles to give the overall shroud as much strength as possible and to keep the overall shroud as straight as possible from the hound through to the end of the chainplate. One straight line.
Keeping with the straight-line theory, each shroud will get a bit more angled the further away from the mast it is and those closest to the mast will be closest to being 90 degrees. This means the chainplate closest to the mast will be pretty much straight up and down and each one as you move aft becomes a bit more angled.
This is part of why I say the rigging begins with the chainplates and lower deadeyes. The angle of the chainplates on our models is many times a best guest approximation since the masts have not yet been installed.
To estimate the height of the hound, I put a small mark on the mast and tape a string where the hound should be. Holding the mast as straight up and down as possible (the Molino’s masts are not raked), I gently pull the string so it lines up with the hole for the chainplate. I put a mark approximately 3/4” below the channel in line with the string. Using a pin vise, I drill a 0.3mm hole at the mark and then insert a small brass nail into it. I tap it in until it is about 1/2 way in and then move onto the next one.
I create 32 chainplate and lower deadeyes.
I feed each chainplate through one of the holes on the channels.
Each is tied off using a half hitch around its nail and the line is tightened.
Each knot gets a drop of fabric glue at the knot at the nail.
Once the glue is dry, I push and or tap each nail in until it bottoms out at the hull.
I cannot wait until I continue with the rigging.
The anchor davits are created using a 4mm x 4mm board that is attached to a piece of laser cut wood. All straightforward except that one tip of the 4 x 4 needs four 1mm holes drilled in them. Doable, but a drill press of some sort would have been helpful (again).
The tips near the holes are sanded at slight angles, and the two pieces are glued together.
One dried and after a light sanding, they get painted with two coats of my homemade Judea Bitumen mix.
Part F of OcCre’s instructions is complete.
Time for this portion: 11 hours
Total time to date: 227.5 hours
I’ll be carrying on with my less wordy and condensed build log but will include the full unredacted build log as a pdf for those who want it.
Next up are the chainplates and their channels. And that got me thinking about rigging, and more accurately, the fact that I have not yet done any rigging.
But why do chainplates make me think about rigging?
I been told that the rule of thumb in standing rigging is shrouds, then ratlines, and then the stays.
But the shrouds must be connected to the lower deadeyes , so is not the order: chainplates, lower deadeyes, shrouds, ratlines, and finally the stays?
I am following my modified rule of thumb and hence, I will now be starting the rigging of my Molino with the installation of the channels, lower deadeyes, and the chainplates.
I am going to follow a few other builders and after cutting out and sanding the six channels, I will be adding a thin board to the outside of them to make them look more finished.
After a light sanding, they get painted with two coats of a homemade Judea Bitumen mix.
The channels are then glued to the hull.
I plan on putting Molino’s rope chainplates at slight angles to give the overall shroud as much strength as possible and to keep the overall shroud as straight as possible from the hound through to the end of the chainplate. One straight line.
Keeping with the straight-line theory, each shroud will get a bit more angled the further away from the mast it is and those closest to the mast will be closest to being 90 degrees. This means the chainplate closest to the mast will be pretty much straight up and down and each one as you move aft becomes a bit more angled.
This is part of why I say the rigging begins with the chainplates and lower deadeyes. The angle of the chainplates on our models is many times a best guest approximation since the masts have not yet been installed.
To estimate the height of the hound, I put a small mark on the mast and tape a string where the hound should be. Holding the mast as straight up and down as possible (the Molino’s masts are not raked), I gently pull the string so it lines up with the hole for the chainplate. I put a mark approximately 3/4” below the channel in line with the string. Using a pin vise, I drill a 0.3mm hole at the mark and then insert a small brass nail into it. I tap it in until it is about 1/2 way in and then move onto the next one.
I create 32 chainplate and lower deadeyes.
I feed each chainplate through one of the holes on the channels.
Each is tied off using a half hitch around its nail and the line is tightened.
Each knot gets a drop of fabric glue at the knot at the nail.
Once the glue is dry, I push and or tap each nail in until it bottoms out at the hull.
I cannot wait until I continue with the rigging.
The anchor davits are created using a 4mm x 4mm board that is attached to a piece of laser cut wood. All straightforward except that one tip of the 4 x 4 needs four 1mm holes drilled in them. Doable, but a drill press of some sort would have been helpful (again).
The tips near the holes are sanded at slight angles, and the two pieces are glued together.
One dried and after a light sanding, they get painted with two coats of my homemade Judea Bitumen mix.
Part F of OcCre’s instructions is complete.
Time for this portion: 11 hours
Total time to date: 227.5 hours
Chainplates are looking good.