That is a lovely planking job!

The symmetry looks spot on the stern.

I do like the higher bulwarks/barricades on the forecastle.

2 hours ago, RolandR said:

I just realized, looking at your pictures, I would be completely under-clamped for a big project.

You can never have enough clamps lol. I had to order more myself as I was hitting the bottom of my clamp bag.

Small update.

I have been working on some of the deck fittings over the last few days. Nothing is glued down yet, and I still need to make another set of stairs and add rope to the gangway stanchions.

I always like to glue these pieces together on the deck to make sure they line up.




I painted these in black, and decided to leave the cross bars on the bitts natural.

Also a new feature I am really loving in this kit is the updated deck ring bolt design. They are much easier to install than the older design in my opinion and look really nice as well.

The easiest/least fiddely way to glue these in I found is to just lay the ring on the deck and then add the glue to the bolt and just slide the one end into the bolt hole, and the other end through the hole of the ring while it lays on the deck.

That looks really nice. I agree that the deck bolts look much better in this kit and I like your way of fitting them (note to future self).

I just had a "why didn't I think of this" moment reading this post: slip a ring under the "U" bolt tie down for the cannon. Thanks! Not too late to add these to the stations in the visible midships section of my build. Thanks @KillicksToastedCheez , your gundeck and excellent hull planking is looking sharp.

Coppering
Over the last couple weeks I have been pondering on when I should copper the model. It's another one of those jobs where you need to flip the model upside down, on it side, and move it around in ways where knuckleheads such as myself could easily break fragile things. So I decided to just go ahead and get the model completed to a point where I don't have to flip it over anymore before I start adding the fragile pieces.

Last year I coppered the Vanguard Speedy kit, so I have a pretty good process down already and I am able to jump right into it without having to refresh myself. I am an accountant by day, long boring repetitive tasks are my bread and butter.


Here are the tools I use. Thick CA Glue which I pour onto the cup. I then use the makeup applicator to brush glue on the plates. I hold the plates with the tweezers to minimize contact with my hands. Normal household scissors are fantastic at cutting the copper plates. I use a pencil to make marks for cuts, and a small piece of scrap wood if I need to push plates down without scratching them. Then lastly I have a pair of brass faced non-marring jewelry pliers if I need to straighten out any bends in the plates.


Then just go at it like laying bricks. Thats about 4 hours worth of work.

Very nice job, and so fast!

Family has been under the weather for the last few days. While the wife and daughter like to nap a lot, I've never been much for napping while sick. So I figured what better low energy activity to do than just grind away on my copper plating while everyone else is napping.

One side is nearly done, the other is about half way done. Then I will go around and clean up the edges and then add plates to the edge of the stem/keel/head.

That serious progress! Looks nice, and get well soon there!

Over the last couple days I was able to finish up the coppering. After I cleaned up the dried glue that managed to seep out, and then degreased the outside with a mix of Dawn dish soap and water and lightly rubbing with a damp cloth to get any oils off. Once that was dry I added several coats of varnish to give the copper a little protection.

I will add a strip of wood to cap off the copper at the waterline, but I will probably wait until I paint the lower hull first.

Great work, looks good

Such a good looking hull! Very inspiring!

Excellent work with the copper. It’s the part of this model that I dread the most. I’ll do it, but I won’t like it.

On 8/3/2026 at 9:23 AM, KillicksToastedCheez said:

only have enough clamps to do one side at a time, and while one side was drying I decided to order some more clamps

One can never have enough clamps, I have two drawers basically full of various sizes. Ordering more is never a bad idea. 🤣

Now that I have completed a few large tasks on the outer hull such as planking and coppering, I decided to pay some attention to the smaller more detailed parts on the gundeck.

To start it off, I began by installing a lot of the deck pieces I had already completed such as the pumps, gratings and gangway steps.




I also painted and glued down the brick work for the stove. I mixed Vallejo Flat Red, and a Red Earth Brown together until I got a color that I felt suitable for brick. I then added some gray wash with a dab of white grey color mixed in to give me a really light gray wash to simulate the mortar between the brick.


At the same time I turned my attention to the aft cabins. I had already painted the pieces in Ivory white, but I needed to complete the fiddly window pieces. I'm getting a little better at photo etch on clear acrylic, but I still struggle to get clear window pieces glued on without making some kind of mess on the pieces. I added the hinges, and for the door handles I used laser cut ones from Syren. These really improve the look over what the kit uses.



I did have some gaps where the pieces met the side bulwarks, so I painted up the trim pieces that the kit provides to cover the gap if there is one.



Thanks for looking, here is a view of how the model currently looks as a whole.

Really nice work!

I agree with Russ, looks stunning.

Lower Capstan:
I completed the lower capstan. Like all Vanguard capstans I have put together these easily slot together, and the most work is really just char removal and sanding. I decided to go with the same style I did on my Neptune Double Capstan kit, with a Ivory white top on a natural wood bottom.


Here is the Neptune double capstan kit designed by @Chuck that I completed earlier this year, I highly recommend this kit as a fun little project that only takes a couple weeks. It's a great palate cleanser after a long project.


While the paint was drying on the capstan, I also decided to put together the dresser that comes with the kit. It was easier than Ikea furniture, and now the Captain will have a place to store his socks.


Thanks for looking.

Very tasty work, Killick....and speaking of taste, will you have Lucky Jack's favorite meal sitting on the table in his cabin?

8 minutes ago, modelshipdood said:

will you have Lucky Jack's favorite meal sitting on the table in his cabin?

My plan is to try and recreate the movie scene of Killick complaining about the noise of the music, while in the next cabin preparing the toasted cheese "Scrape Scrape, Screech Screech, never a tune you can dance to" . I think it will go great with the figures that come in the kit already playing the instruments. I just need to figure out how to make the figure first haha.