It's been several months since I last posted my progress. I was entering the "rivets in the Bulwarks" phase, and have finally come out of it. After >4000 Tichy Train parts rivets and a little paint, I'm satisfied with the look. My lines were not always perfectly vertical, but I feel it was worth it to get the detail. I installed the main rail with toothpick extensions to accommodate the topgallant rail later. More rivets! Planked the stern and trimmed the gallery extensions, built the counter and the lower counter, and blended it in with the lower gallery solid pieces which took some trial and error. 
Layout lines for the rivets on the midship bulwarks
Indispensable Mini-mini twist drill for the rivets (Micromark)
Dry fit the Main rail with toothpicks for the topgallant extensions
Topgallant bulwarks installed, riveted, and painted.
Stern planked, counter and lower counter and gallery lower pieces installed. Final sanding comes later.
Wales are planked and 7 rows of planking below that on the starboard side. So now for the next few weeks (months), I'll be planking. In the meantime, I've come up with a solution to detail the topgallant rail. Next is a photo from Bob Hunt's practicum showing the "beading" of the rail. He suggests scribing the side of the 3/32" thick material, especially if I had switched to a hard wood instead of Basswood. He describes altering a razor blade edge as shown in the photos below.
The latter drawing is for the single bead inner rail. I found this was difficult, probably because I was using basswood and my scratch tool was probably insufficient. Needless to say I did the best I could but recently decided to make a rail that was layered with thinner elements. The rail is 3/16" wide and 3/32" thick using the stock that was suggested. So I took three pieces of 3/16" wide by 1/32" thick stripwood and sandwiched a narrower strip of styrene. One strip of styrene was placed in the center lengthwise on the wooden strip and the other was a little wider and placed on one edge of the wooden strip.
Three wood strips 1/32" thick on the left, styrene strips also 1/64" thick in the center (narrower) and the right (wider)
Styrene is glued with medium CA to two of the wooden strips, narrow one centered, and wider on even with one edge. When dry I lightly sanded the flush edge of the strip on the right to blend in the styrene to the wood. Then I glued the bare piece of wood in the center of the two with the styrene. This leaves a railing that's 1/8" thick, but looking at the photos of the real rail, I think it will work. I had to be carefull to let the CA dry completely before attempting any sanding because I didn't want any dust in the groove I had created. Here's the final edges. I will do a final sanding to 400 grit and blow out any dust before painting. I'll paint and install the railing later in the build as the practicum dictates. I certainly give Bob Hunt full credit for including this detail in his practicum and I hope this method will serve as an alternative.
outer railing with three "beads"
inner rail with one bead on the bottom. Needs final sanding!
Layout lines for the rivets on the midship bulwarksIndispensable Mini-mini twist drill for the rivets (Micromark)
Dry fit the Main rail with toothpicks for the topgallant extensions
Topgallant bulwarks installed, riveted, and painted.
Stern planked, counter and lower counter and gallery lower pieces installed. Final sanding comes later.
Wales are planked and 7 rows of planking below that on the starboard side. So now for the next few weeks (months), I'll be planking. In the meantime, I've come up with a solution to detail the topgallant rail. Next is a photo from Bob Hunt's practicum showing the "beading" of the rail. He suggests scribing the side of the 3/32" thick material, especially if I had switched to a hard wood instead of Basswood. He describes altering a razor blade edge as shown in the photos below.
The latter drawing is for the single bead inner rail. I found this was difficult, probably because I was using basswood and my scratch tool was probably insufficient. Needless to say I did the best I could but recently decided to make a rail that was layered with thinner elements. The rail is 3/16" wide and 3/32" thick using the stock that was suggested. So I took three pieces of 3/16" wide by 1/32" thick stripwood and sandwiched a narrower strip of styrene. One strip of styrene was placed in the center lengthwise on the wooden strip and the other was a little wider and placed on one edge of the wooden strip.
Three wood strips 1/32" thick on the left, styrene strips also 1/64" thick in the center (narrower) and the right (wider)
Styrene is glued with medium CA to two of the wooden strips, narrow one centered, and wider on even with one edge. When dry I lightly sanded the flush edge of the strip on the right to blend in the styrene to the wood. Then I glued the bare piece of wood in the center of the two with the styrene. This leaves a railing that's 1/8" thick, but looking at the photos of the real rail, I think it will work. I had to be carefull to let the CA dry completely before attempting any sanding because I didn't want any dust in the groove I had created. Here's the final edges. I will do a final sanding to 400 grit and blow out any dust before painting. I'll paint and install the railing later in the build as the practicum dictates. I certainly give Bob Hunt full credit for including this detail in his practicum and I hope this method will serve as an alternative.
outer railing with three "beads"
inner rail with one bead on the bottom. Needs final sanding!
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