Gold Version of the Black Pearl - My First Build

Just beautiful. It is so great to see a "clean-looking" Black Pearl in natural wood colors. This also puts paid to the fallacy that all pirate ships were poorly maintained. In fact, in most cases it was just the opposite - just look at the "Privateers" who were nothing else than pirate ships and which only gained "legitimacy" because they were seconded by governments to serve in their navies.
 
I’m still around guys. All of my time has been diverted to wood floor installation in my home. I’m almost done but then need to do baseboards and paint so the build will slow for a bit. Also doing a bamboo wall in the bedroom.

Cheers, Larry
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I'm late to the party for this, but I've really enjoyed this log. Very envious of your skill AND ambition. I really want to build the Pearl, but I never would have chosen it for my first build! Maybe when I get a couple more under my belt. Keep up the great work!
 
I'm late to the party for this, but I've really enjoyed this log. Very envious of your skill AND ambition. I really want to build the Pearl, but I never would have chosen it for my first build! Maybe when I get a couple more under my belt. Keep up the great work!
Thanks man, I appreciate the compliments.
 
So much great looking woodwork in this post, your build is looking fantastic, I will keep following with interest.
 
Build Time 76.5 hours

On to the dinghy. There is virtually no instructions for this thing. I got the ribs in and am waiting for them to dry. Trying to figure out the best way to put pressure on the frame so I can glue it to the ribs. I assume you plank this thing with the same walnut as the ship.



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I used thin planks that were flexible. There’s also the possibility of sanding through them. I had to use sawdust and glue to fill the cracks. Nobody can tell because you can only see straight down. If I had it to do over again, I’d probably paint it black. Many of the parts broke. I wound up only making two of the three for the all scenario version. It was a mess. But my next attempt on my Constitution fared a bit better, even though I had to combine different width planking from two different ships. Experience helps. And I find .7 mm thick the best.
 
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Hi Larry

I don't know if the top railing is just lying loose on the frame or if it is glued down. If glued down, my concern here would be the space that is showing between the frames and the top railing (yellow arrow). My Kolderstok lifeboat has the same basic build, but the top railing can flex and needs to be pushed down in the middle so that it can be glued to the tops of the frames. By the way, you are doing the right thing by putting the top railing on first - also, start planking from the top.

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Hi Larry

I don't know if the top railing is just lying loose on the frame or if it is glued down. If glued down, my concern here would be the space that is showing between the frames and the top railing (yellow arrow). My Kolderstok lifeboat has the same basic build, but the top railing can flex and needs to be pushed down in the middle so that it can be glued to the tops of the frames. By the way, you are doing the right thing by putting the top railing on first - also, start planking from the top.

View attachment 246436
Sorry for the misleading photo. The top rail was not glued down in this photo. Here is the current progress. B422A552-9520-4787-A9EF-C5C939B142BA.jpegE729F896-8F83-4903-8008-ADAAFAFC8EBB.jpeg
 
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