Mamoli's Britannia racing yacht by That Mike

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Sep 25, 2020
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I am taking up the suggestion of an administrator to keep a build log of my current boat, Mamoli's Britannia racing yacht. It necessarily starts in progress because I resumed building this boat after a several-year hiatus. I'm including a photo of the box art as a suggestion of what it will look like when finished. I am resuming the build with painting the hull. When I left off I had sprayed a base coat of white, but when it dried there were a number of hairline cracks, mainly at the planking seams. I tried a couple of things but ended up sanding it to bare wood, using some wood filler on the worst spots and sanding again. A coat of primer showed there were still some significant flaws so more filler, more sanding (220 and 320 grit) and prime again. That cycle went on a couple more times and on the last one I tried using patching plaster in the last and smallest cracks. If I look real close there are some remaining flaws, so I will employ the time-tested technique of not looking real close. In other words, it's time to mark the waterline and paint.

Here are some pictures. I chose this boat because I like the hull shape. If it is this lovely in gray primer, think how pretty it will be when it is finished.

Wish me luck.br1.JPGbr2.JPGbr3.JPGbr5.JPG
 
As I said in my first post, it's time to mark the waterline and put a topcoat on that dull gray primer. This is a homemade waterline marker I made several years ago from a old ruler, a couple of other pieces of scrapwood and a pencil. It was even cruder then than it is now because yesterday I remade the part that holds the pencil. The original version used staples to hold the pencil to a block of wood. The new one wedges it between two pieces of wood with machine screws and wingnuts. The screws and wingnuts also serve to adjust the height. Does it work betterView attachment 182000View attachment 182001? I have not yet tried it out. Still debating the hull colors.

The box art shows black with what appears to be a red oxide anti-fouling paint. I have used this color scheme on a couple of other boats and it looks fine but I'm thinking maybe I want a change. I looked for some documentation of the original boat's colors, but all I could find was a photo of a model in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, U.K., and the bottom was coppered.

It sure was pretty but I'm not sure I want to tackle that. I'm far from committed to authenticity as long as it looks good, so I am considering giving it an updated look, maybe a white hull with a sort of slate blue bottom. I've checked online and modern antifouling paints come in a bunch of colors, so it's just a matter of choosing one that will complement the boat.

I would welcome any opinions. Chances are I will dither around a couple more days before committing myself. But I already have the white and blue paint so chances are I will go through with that scheme.DSC_0270.JPGDSC_0271.JPG
 
I'm very interested in your project. I started the same model 20 some years ago, and recently took it up again. Since I'm new to all of this, I realized that I needed a lot of guidance when it came time to start the rigging. I have found little to nothing in the way of on-line assistance for the Britannia, but have found Tom Lauria's You Tube videos incredibly instructive. Let's keep in touch.
BTW, I will forward pics of my hull. I followed the scheme and it looks good with some Zinsser shellac spray. Since it had gathered a lot of dust and grit over the 20 years, a simple air spray and then brushing took most off, and the results look very authentic but also "finished." I'm a real amateur so this is trial and error.
Jim
 
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