Polaris by Occre [COMPLETED BUILD]

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Jan 5, 2021
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Location
Portland, Oregon
Thought I'd post a few pictures of my first wooden ship build, Occre's Polaris.

Starting with the skeleton, taking my time to make sure everything went on square and level.

1skeleton.jpg

Then planked the deck and made my first mistake! As I was trimming the deck, I got in my head that I need to cut the tabs out to make room for the skeleton to fit. Time to repair first screw up! :)

2deck.jpg

So I made some patches out of scrap decking and sanded everything flush. It gives the deck some unique character. :)

3deck.jpg

More mistakes to come!
 
Started the 1st layer of planking, trying not to push the pins in to far so I could easily pull them out after the glue had set

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Planks went on without much problem. But it became clear that I didn't get the geometry perfect when I was sanding down the skeleton ribs. Specifically at the bow and stern seemed a bit thick.
5planking.jpg

Got the pins pulled, some putty for the gaps and some initial sanding done. The stern is clearly chunky. The bow isn't much better. :)

6planking.jpg

Everything sanded (and sanded some more). Started planking the stern.

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More to come!
 
Started the 2nd layer of planking on the stern. Becoming more clear the stern post geometry is off. Needed to spend more time when sanding the ribs to check that the curves for the planking were spot on.

9stern.jpg

2nd layer of planking started ok. Was worried if I was going to be able to plank the 'triangles' with enough precision so there wouldn't be obvious gaps...

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Planking pattern didn't exactly match what was shown in the plans and online videos...but it was close.

The major mistake was not getting either layer of planking to close the gap at the bow. I dry fitted the bow piece to late in the game. So there will be an ugly gap on either side that I'm going to have to fix or live with.

11planking.jpg

All planked. Looks ok from 5 feet. But there are some small gaps that the light colored planks below show through. Some of the 'triangles' aren't very precise. But I know have a better idea of how to cut those pieces in the future.

12plankingend.jpg

More to come!
 
Got the side rails attached and a clear coat applied

13sidevarnish.jpg

Got the inside painted and the first pass of sanding the tops of the...not sure what they are called...moldings?? done. :)

14inside.jpg

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That's where we stand this morning. Hoping to get some more done today and this weekend.
 
First models are always a learning process. Fortunately by the time you've finished you will have either forgotten or gotten used to any mistakes and others won't have your critical eye! Yours looks like a fine start. :)

I will suggest taking time to peruse the other build logs. They are full of tips, ideas and information.

Fair winds.. Ed
 
Red,
I believe they are called Bulwark Stays.
Ship is looking really great.
Steven
 
Our school district had a snow day yesterday. A snow day in Oregon is less then a 1/32" :)

So I got a little more work done.

Got the rudder hole drilled out. Having a small dremel tool has been great for working on this project by the way.

rudderhole.jpg

Then got the bulwark stays (Thanks Steve!) sanded and stained. After a bit of fiddling, got the top trim pieces attached. No gaps and the transitions between the 3 separate pieces are pretty darn flush.

gunwales.jpg

gunwales2.jpg

Working on getting the rudder attached this weekend.
 
Thought I'd post a few pictures of my first wooden ship build, Occre's Polaris.

Starting with the skeleton, taking my time to make sure everything went on square and level.

View attachment 293099

Then planked the deck and made my first mistake! As I was trimming the deck, I got in my head that I need to cut the tabs out to make room for the skeleton to fit. Time to repair first screw up! :)

View attachment 293100

So I made some patches out of scrap decking and sanded everything flush. It gives the deck some unique character. :)

View attachment 293103

More mistakes to come!
I did the same exact thing with my Albatros by OcCre, also my first build.
 
Made some good progress this weekend. Nothing is glued down yet. Still need to touch up everything and put a clear coat on.

The hatch stain didn't turn out very well. So I'm going to redo that this week.
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The pilot house isn't quite square. You can see the gap at the bottom right. So I gotta work on fixing that. BUT, the tiny little doorknobs came out great! So that's positive. :)

I didn't like the look of the wire stern decorations. So I'm working on a paint mask for the ship name instead. Just Polaris in white or gold on the stern I think.

More mistakes to come!
 
Well...she's all done!
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Decided not to add the sails. Thought it looked a little cleaner this way. Rigging went well. But on the next project I will make a jig for the deadeyes so they all end up even. I

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Enjoyed making the coiled ropes. Took a little practice, but they came out ok. Just used a piece of tape, white glue and a little patience. :)


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Here are some of the tools that made life a little easier.

The helping hands was great for holding pieces in place for glue to dry.

The micro dremel was a lot easier to handle for all the small holes / tight spaces and sanding then my larger dremel tool.

The sanding block is made out of foam and is flexible to get around curved shapes. Good 2 dollar investment.


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Made lots of mistakes. Learned a few tricks. Really enjoyed following everyone else's build logs!

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