Dec 26, 05 - Here is the completed model. You can see the in-hull port that is a characteristic of the Beneteau 40.7. The mahogany mounting board has 7 coats of Captains gloss varnish, followed by one coat of satin urethane varnish.
Dec 26, 05 - This picture shows the sugar scoop transom. You can also see the shape of the ballast buld on the keel.
Dec 12, 05 - This picture shows the backplane for the model sitting on the unfinished mahogany mounting board. You can see the locations of the waterline and the station frames.
Dec 12, 05 - After I took the picture above I cut out the station frames and glued them to the backplane. Next I put the deck on and then planked the model down to the waterline. Tomorrow I plan to finish planking the hull and start shaping the keel.
Dec. 14, 05 - Since my last update I have finished planking the hull and have shaped the keel. I also cut out and sanded the mahogany mounting board. Tonight I will start fiberglassing the hull and will also put the first coat of varnish on the mounting board.
Dec 17, 05 - I have now finished fiberglassing the model. Although you can't see it here, I have also built the sugar scoop transom. The mahogany mounting board has its first coat of varnish on both front and back. The color of the mounting board will even out as I build up more varnish coats. Later today, after the epoxy is fully cured, I will begin the filling/fairing/priming process to get the hull ready for painting.
Dec. 19, 05 - I have finished the major filling and fairing and put the first coats of primer on the model. The mounting board now has three coats of varnish. You can also see that I have cut the in-hull port into the hull. The engraved nameplate also arrived today. After I took this picture I spot filled the flaws in the topsides. I will sand that filler out this afternoon and then reprime the topsides. Tomorrow I will spot fill the flaws below the waterline. Please note, that the gray primer on the bottom is temporary. This model will have white bottom paint, so I will switch to white primer on the bottom after the topsides are finished.
Dec 21, 05 - Yesterday I put the final coat of primer on the bottom and the first coat of gloss white paint on the topsides. I am now ready to put what I hope will be the final coats of paint on both the topsides and the bottom. I intend to paint the bottom tomorrow and to paint the topsides on Dec. 23. If the next coat of paint on the topsides comes out OK, I will paint the boot and cove stripes onto the model on the 25th or 26th. The mounting board has five coats of varnish on it. It looks like it will need about 2 more build coats before I put the finish coat on.
Dec 25, 05 - The model itself is now finished. After I took this picture I finished sanding the mounting board and put the final coat of varnish on it. Tomorrow afternoon or perhaps Tuesday morning (Dec 27, 05), depending on how quickly the varnish cures, I will mount the model. The model will be ready to pack and ship out on the 28th of December.
