This model is a fully detailed half model of a Gilmer Blue Moon 23. The model is being built at a scale of 1"=1' and will be approximately 30" long including the bow sprit and boomkin. I am building this model from a partial set of lines supplied by the client. The cabin house is white cedar and all the trim on the model is oak except for the hatches which are cedar with mahogany strips. The model is mounted on a teak stained oak board.
Here is the stern view showing the rudder, prop, boomkin and stay.
Here is a top view of the stern which shows the cockpit details as well as the cabin top winch and genoa track with turning block on the oak bulwark cap. You can also see the steam bent oak tiller and the main sheet. Note the raised panel companionway drop boards and the mahogany strips between the cedar planks that make up the hatch.
Here is the midships view. You can see the cedar cabin house, deck box and forward scuttle. You can also see the oak eyebrow on the cabin house. The ports on the house are bronze. On the cabin top there are two cleats and a Lewmar 28ST winch. The stainless chain plates also show up well in this picture. The mast has two bronze belaying pins on the mast band an a bronze winch.
This view of the bow shows the sprit with its bob and whisker stays. You can also see the forward scuttle and the samson post. The CQR anchor sits on its roller. Its chain rode is led to a hawse pipe on the foredeck. The anchor is fully articulated (the hinge works) and I also cast lead into the tip of the anchor to aid in bottom penetration.
This model is a fully detailed half model of a Gilmer Blue Moon 23. The model is being built at a scale of 1"=1' and will be approximately 30" long including the bow sprit and boomkin. I am building this model from a partial set of lines supplied by the client. The spacing of the stations on those lines was about twice what I needed, so my first task was to add 5 stations to the lines. When I finished that task I laid out the backplane and laminated it.
Feb. 5, 07 - Today I cut out the stations, glued them to the backplane and started planking the hull. The hull proper is a bit over 22.5" long and 4.25" deep. This picture shows the hull planked down to the waterline. At present I have a false deck on the model that is flush with the top of the bulwarks. After I finish planking and fiberglassing the hull, I will remove the false deck and build the final deck. Tomorrow I will finish planking the hull.
Feb. 6, 07 - Today I finished planking the hull. The next step is fair the hull by double planking a couple of low spots and then sanding the model fair with a long board. When that is done I will fiberglass the hull.
Feb. 16, 07 - I set this model aside while I was finishing off the two Hinckley Bermuda 40 models I was building. Since I finished those models I am now working this model almost exclusively. Since my last update I have fiberglassed the hull. You can see the spots where I double planked and then sanded the hull fair. I have also curt out the false deck and put in the final cambered deck. After I took this picture I sanded the hull and put the first coat of fairing compound on to start filling the weave in the fiberglass cloth and to further fair the hull. When I finish filling and fairing the hull I will cut the cockpit into the deck, also cut the scuppers in below the bulwark and then start building the cabin house.
Feb. 19. 06 - Yesterday I finished the bulk of the filling and fairing, so I primer painted the model. This first coat of primer serves primarily to help me identify pin holes and other flaws in the hull's surface. I will spot fair those areas then reprime the hull.
Feb. 19, 06 (cont.) - Today I did built the cockpit and roughed out the cabin house. The cabin house is built in balsa, but it is 1/16" undersized since I will be facing it with cedar after I finish painting the model. Tomorrow I will rough in the forward scuttle and start working on the bulwark.
Feb. 22, 07 - Since my last update I realized that I had made the deck too low relative to the bulwark, so I ended up removing the cabin house and deck and building a new deck and cockpit at the correct height. I then cut the scupper into the hull, filled and faired and reprimed the model. Tomorrow I plan to begin painting the model starting with the deck and cabin cockpit. The cabin house is just sitting on the deck in the picture above. I won't permanently attach it until I finish painting the deck.
Feb. 26, 07 - Over the past few days I have been painting the deck, cockpit and bulwark with Grand Banks Beige Interlux Brightsides. The first coat came out a bit poorly because I was using a new airbrush and hadn't completely worked out the settings. However the second coat came out a lot better. I have also finished facing the cabin house with white cedar. In addition, I cut out the oak mounting board and put a coat of stain on it. The picture above shows the model sitting on the mounting board. After I took the picture I sanded the planer marks on the mounting board out and restained the board. The cabin house is held to the model with masking tape in the picture since I will be varnishing the cedar before I permanently mount the house. Tomorrow I am going to finally build the forward scuttle and put the first coat of dark blue paint on the topsides. I will also put the first coat of varnish on the mounting board.
Feb. 28, 07 - Yesterday I built the forward scuttle, varnished the cabin house (coat 2) and the scuttle and then painted the topsides. The first coat of topsides paint was put on intentionally heavy to fill minor surface flaws. I will sand it out tomorrow and recoat. Hopefully the painting will be finished by this coming Monday so I can get started building details. Incidentally, the apparently black areas on the mounting board were caused by using a little too much jpeg photo compression. Their actual color is the same as at the other end of the board.
March 13, 07 - Since my last update I have made considerable progress on this model. As you can see in the picture above, the topsides have now been painted and buffed out. The boot stripe still needs one more coat before I can paint the bottom. I have also finished building and varnishing the cabin house and forward scuttle. In addition I have installed the oak cap rail. The unvarnished deck box is sitting on the deck, but will not be permanently attached until I finish varnishing it. I have also made up the cockpit coaming and will install it when I finish varnishing it. Finally, I have made up the sprit. Over the next few days I will finish painting the boot stripe and the bottom. I will also finish varnishing the mounting board (the next to last coat of varnish goes on this afternoon). When the mounting board is finished I will mount the model.
March 20, 07 - For the last few days I have mostly been varnishing. Last night I put the final coat of varnish on the mounting board. I have also finished varnishing the deck box at the front of the cabin house and the cockpit coaming. Both are now installed. In addition I have built and painted the final bow sprit and machined and installed the Lewmar 28ST winch on the cabin top. I still have one coat of varnish to go on the cap rail on the bulwark. When that is done I will paint the bottom and mount the model on the mounting board. After that I will start building and installing deck and other detail components.
March 23, 07 - Yesterday I painted the bottom. The addition of bottom paint really changes the look of the model. Today I mounted the model. From here on I will be building and installing details starting with the rudder.
March 25, 07 - This weekend I finished the rudder, installed the rub rail and put the bob- and whisker stays on the bow sprit. I also installed the oak trim on the top of the cockpit coaming. The samson post is built and I will install it tomorrow after the last coat of varnish dries.
March 25, 07 - This picture shows the cockpit so that you can see the steam bent oak tiller with the fiddle I put on it as a handle. You can also see the raised panel companionway boards in this picture.
March 30, 07 - Since my last update I have been working on details. Working from the stern, I have put the white boot stripe on the rudder (it still needs a bit of touch-up), built and installed the cutlass bearing and prop, cut out the mast, installed the varnished samson post, and built and installed the CQR anchor, anchor roller and hawse pipe. I have also built the boomkin and the a hand rail that goes on the front of the deck box. The boomkin and hand rail still need a couple of coats of varnish befor I install them.
Apr. 2, 07 - The mast, boom and main sheet are now in place. It doesn't show up very well in this picture, but the boomkin is also installed. Tomorrow I will build the boomkin stay with its turnbuckle and the jib track and turning block that go on the cap rail. As the week progresses I will put on the last details, which include two cleats on the cabin top, the engine controls, the compass and the running lights.