- Joined
- Feb 2, 2022
- Messages
- 18
- Points
- 58
A new project has started, the St. Gabriel. This is the vessel of the explorer Vitus Bering from Russia in which he explored the passage that is known today as Bering Strait between Asia and Noth America.
I hope you don't mind if I won't elaborate here neither on the specific historic details nor the kit itself. This has been done quite a few times in various other threads, the kit itself being quite a few years old by now. A few other build logs are available here and there, and I'll try to incorporate some of their knowledge into my build as much as possible. The difficult part here is to remember: read first, glue later...
The build did commence a few weeks ago so I'm already in the middle of it. Which means, this is going to start fast, but will soon change to my usual slow building speed. But don't worry, the first steps are not too fascinating anyway, more like a wooden 3D puzzle.
For the basic shape an unusual amount of filing and sanding was necessary to get the pieces together. That suprised me, because that's not what everyone else reported - maybe the wood of my kit expanded or shrunk a little for reasons of moisture or whatever.
But in the end everything was put together nicely and glued in place. Everything is quite foolproof so far. But not totally so for complete morons like me. Two of the parts from the stem slid out of position a bit, maybe while pushing the last one into its place I accidentially pressed too hard on the neighburing ones.
Not really clearly visible on the photos, but quite obvious in reality. I had to saw the tips off, and after fitting the false gunwale I could reinsert them with some minor adjustments.
The false deck was glued into the frame, the first planking added, and the remaining spaces where filled with scrap wood and wood paste, and as of now I'm in the process of sanding the hull into shape.
The result is a massive piece of wood, ready for the final planking. The other build logs have shown how beautiful the results can look, so keep your fingers crossed...
Cheers,
Frank
I hope you don't mind if I won't elaborate here neither on the specific historic details nor the kit itself. This has been done quite a few times in various other threads, the kit itself being quite a few years old by now. A few other build logs are available here and there, and I'll try to incorporate some of their knowledge into my build as much as possible. The difficult part here is to remember: read first, glue later...
The build did commence a few weeks ago so I'm already in the middle of it. Which means, this is going to start fast, but will soon change to my usual slow building speed. But don't worry, the first steps are not too fascinating anyway, more like a wooden 3D puzzle.
For the basic shape an unusual amount of filing and sanding was necessary to get the pieces together. That suprised me, because that's not what everyone else reported - maybe the wood of my kit expanded or shrunk a little for reasons of moisture or whatever.
But in the end everything was put together nicely and glued in place. Everything is quite foolproof so far. But not totally so for complete morons like me. Two of the parts from the stem slid out of position a bit, maybe while pushing the last one into its place I accidentially pressed too hard on the neighburing ones.
Not really clearly visible on the photos, but quite obvious in reality. I had to saw the tips off, and after fitting the false gunwale I could reinsert them with some minor adjustments.
The false deck was glued into the frame, the first planking added, and the remaining spaces where filled with scrap wood and wood paste, and as of now I'm in the process of sanding the hull into shape.
The result is a massive piece of wood, ready for the final planking. The other build logs have shown how beautiful the results can look, so keep your fingers crossed...
Cheers,
Frank
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