Construction Details
October 25, 05 - Here is the backplane for the model with the station frames, deck, sheer and waterline planks in place. I will finish planking the model next week after I have gotten the three other models I am currently working on started.
Oct 29, 05 - Things have been going a bit faster that I expected and I finished planking this model down to the waterline last night. I expect to finish planking the hull tomorrow (Oct. 30).
Nov. 1, 05 - Well I got lazy and did yard work on Sunday instead of working on models. Yesterday I went to the big city (Bangor, ME) and shopped for wood for mounting boards, so I didn't work on the actual models. So, I finally finished planking the hull of this model this afternoon. The next step is to fiberglass the deck.
Nov 6, 05 - I have now finished fiberglassing the model. This morning I cut out the 13.5" x 44" cherry mounting board. The picture above shows the model sitting on the unfinished board. You can also see a bit of fairing compound I put on the model this morning. Just before lunch today I put the first coat of varnish on the mounting board. Over the next week I will fill, fair and prime the model in preparation for painting. I will also put 6-7 more coats of varnish on the board.
Nov. 11, 05 - Over the last week I have filled, faired and primed this model. This picture shows the model on its cherry mounting board (one coat of varnish). This is just the first coat of primer. At this stage the primer is used primarily to highlight flaws in the surface of the hull. I have also built the rudder. If you compare this picture with the November 6 picture above, you will notice that I have cut the skeg down and rehaped the rudder. Originally I built the rudder and skeg from the plans provided by Sparkman and Stephens. Yesterday, the owner of this boat sent me a picture showing that the real rudder configuration was quite different from that shown on the drawings. The difference is likely due to a design change that post dated the drawings I have or something done by Nautor's during tooling for actual construction. Consequently, I modified the rudder and skeg this morning. This afternoon I will begin the process of spot filling and repriming the hull until I have a surface that is ready for paint.
Nov 17, 06 - I finished spot filling and priming the model yesterday. Early this afternoon I put the first coat of gloss black paint on the topsides. I expect to put 2 more coats of black paint on this model before I paint the boot and cove stripes because black is a very unforgiving paint color and every tiny flaw shows up. The mounting board now has three coats of varnish.
Nov 25, 05 - Since my last update I have painted the boot stripe and installed the gold cove stripe. The mounting board is now ready for its the final coat of varnish. I plan to install the toe rail and paint the bottom over the weekend, so this model will be finished on Monday or Tuesday.
Nov 27, 05 - Yesterday I put the toe rail on this model. This morning I painted the bottom and I put the final coat of satin varnish on the mounting board right after I took the picture above. Tomorrow I will mount the model and box it for shipping.
Nov 28, 05 - This model is now finished. I took this picture in rather ppor light and will photograph it again tomorrow when I have good natural light.