First Build - Polaris by OcCre, 1:50 scale [COMPLETED BUILD]

El Capi said:
Absolutely well written- mainly your example. This is what I have tried over Years to tell newcomers, but many won't listen
muy bien escrito campanero. tu ejemplo esta extraordinaire. yo aprendi esto have ya mas de 40 años. principalmente del Libro Planking for beginners.
el buque no esta tan mal. unos de Los muchas Costas alrededor de España. siempre se puede mejorar algun detalle, pero es lo bonito. tengo ya casi 80 años ya, y mas de v50 de hacer Barco's.
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Greetings from Spain, sailor
Un saludo desde España, marinero
 
Xmtrdude said:
Haven't had a lot of time the last couple of days in the shipyard, but I did manage to finish filling the gaps on the first layer. After everything was set up, I decided to pull the nails out prior to filling and sanding, as they come out pretty easily with some good sidecutters. It only took a few minutes, and seemed easier that the prospect of filing them all down. I think it worked pretty well...

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So I have applied a coat of wood filler, and will get it sanded down this weekend...

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My plan going forward is after sanding, I will install the bow post and the real keel, in keeping with what @El Capi has suggested. The plans call for it to be installed after the second hull layer, but I don't see how you could keep it neat and tidy doing it that way. It's obviously too late for installing the first layer, but live and learn I suppose. I will not make this mistake on my next build.
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When it comes to filler, less is more. And you really should use color putty as a filler, you can color match the putty to the wood color.
 
Xmtrdude said:
I was able to finish up last night.

Here she is:

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I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out overall. Are there some flaws? Yes. Things I would have done differently? Yes. All this information and knowledge will just make my next one that much better. I'm already looking around for the next one, and I've narrowed it down to a couple of options. I do think that I will take a bit of time before I begin the next build, though. I jumped right into this with several projects left undone. Need to play catch-up on those items before moving forward.

A few notes on my impressions of this kit. I chose it in large part based on it being one of the kits @Donnie mentioned in a post about good kits for beginners, and I have to say, I think it was right on the money. It's not an expensive kit, so if it turns out model ship aren't for you, the investment to find that out is modest. I have certainly spent more on other hobbies before figuring out I didn't want to continue. But, for that small investment, I feel like I got a little taste of most of the basics of model ship building. Double planking, mast making, wire shaping, and just enough rigging to challenge an absolute beginner like me. The instructions and plans were pretty easy to understand and follow, and this is one of the models for which OcCre has a complete playlist on YouTube showing each step, so if something isn't clear in the drawings, you can refer to the video, which has been helpful.

There are a couple of issues, as have been documented here. The planking method is not what the experienced builders would recommend, as I learned, and I will make the effort to employ more efficient methods in the future. Also, the metal yokes for the spars are not at all sized properly for the diameter of the masts. I would say if you are planning to build this kit, ditch those right from the start and just make your own from scrap wood.

So, that's my 2 cents. I've really enjoyed this experience, and thanks to all who have given encouragement and advice.

Thanks,
Mark
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Good morning Mark. Well done on the completion of your ship. You can be proud of her. The key and so awesome to hear for me is that “you enjoyed this experience “. It is the whole point. Cheers Grant
 
Xmtrdude said:
So here we go...

Finally got my workshop set back up after some family responsibilities forced me to give it up for a while. Time for a new hobby! I've always like sailing ships, just from an aesthetic point of view, and have been fascinated by the scale models I've seen people build. But it's always been something that I thought, "even if I had the time, I could never do that." Then, late one night, I found myself down a YouTube rabbit hole, and started to think, maybe I CAN do this if I don't try to build the most complicated thing right off the bat.

That brought me to this:

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I got a collection of tools together (I already had a lot of them, anyway), and ordered the kit. Last night, I opened the box...

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Ooookay... little more intimidated now, but still confident. I started by numbering the laser-cut hull parts, and then separating them from the frame. A quick sanding to remove the tabs, and things are looking a bit more manageable.

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I didn't get any photos of the actual assembly, since I was doing my best not to get glue all over everything, and I certainly didn't want any on my phone. I had a bit of trouble keeping the bulkheads straight while preparing the next piece, then I had a bit of an epiphany:

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Bulldog clips make excellent stabilizers! After about 2 hours of work, it was beginning to look (at least conceptually) like a ship.

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Next step is planking the deck. The instructions call for drawing the plank pattern as a simple staggered pattern, but after looking at a lot of other builds, I like the look of a 5-butt shift. My concern is that it would be too "busy" on a deck this small, but the staggered pattern looks too plain, and not "realistic" to me. Anybody have any thoughts?
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Hallo @Xmtrdude
we wish you all the BEST and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Birthday-Cake
 
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