I started this build log on Ships Of Scale and have been wondering about posting it on MSW, so when DDM launched, I thought it would be a good place for me to “repost” it. I will be maintaining/updating the existing log on both sites. I have a second log on my Bluenose (Model Shipways) that I’m reposting here as well.

 

5/5/23

Got this kit about a month ago and have been waiting to start it until I got to Vallarta, and I’m finally here. Since it is only my second build and my first not at home, I knew just getting everything to Mexico would be a bit of a challenge. After all, I’m still learning what tools and supplies I need at home, let alone trying to pack them up for Mexico. I was taking the approach of bringing whatever I thought I’d need and leaving it here. Adding to the challenge is flying not just internationally, but on Frontier. 

Normally we fly here on Southwest, but this time we tried Frontier, and a 40 pound checked bag limit (Southwest is 50 pounds). You might think 40 pounds is plenty, but that one checked bag is for both my wife and myself. Luckily as we got close to the limit, my wife suggested pulling a few things out, and none of them were model making stuff. She’s definitely a keeper. 

I know I said on my Bluenose build to not set tough goals on what to accomplish on the build, but that doesn’t mean to not set goals. I’m hoping to get the keel and bulkheads together, including some temporary battens attached to the bulkheads to reduce any warping or twisting that may occur in the hot and humid climate (completely opposite of what I’m used to in Denver, CO) and maybe the decking. I have about two and a half weeks here before heading home with our next trip down here in probably late October. It really isn’t too much work, so it should be doable. 

I expect at a minimum to have a couple of hours each morning (wrapped around my morning walk on the malecón/beach) as I wake up early and my wife sleeps in. 

The view from my work place is definitely different than at home. Instead of looking out at my pine tree lined yard, it a tropical vibe overlooking the pool and courtyard. 

Now it’s time to settle in and make sure everything is in the box. Everything appears to be here. I was fearful of some of the metal pieces missing but they were layered in with the laser cut wood. 

Today I labeled all of the laser cut wood, and cut out all the keel and bulkhead pieces. 

Next up, sanding and dry fitting the bulkheads.

Time for this portion: 1.5 hours 

Total time to date: 1.5 hours

5/6 to 5/8/23

Started work today by sanding the keel and bulkheads and I’m already seeing a number of differences from the Bluenose. 

1. Obviously they are different types of ships, but from a maker standpoint, the Buccaneer has more complex bulkheads meaning the sanding is more involved. 

2. Different manufacturers possibly meaning different philosophies on overall build. The Bluenose’s deck is planking on the tops of the bulkheads while the Buccaneer is planking on a board which then goes as one piece on the bulkheads. 

3. The Buccaneer’s instructions also have a “Q” code to a series of short videos (little to no audio) of someone building the ship. I’ve found build logs and videos of both ships, but these  short Buccaneer videos are a nice touch. 

4. The Bluenose’s hull planking was thin boards glued onto the bulkheads while the Buccaneer has wider planks which are nailed (and glued I’m assuming at this point). 

All the bulkheads are in place; next up are planking the five decks. As mentioned above, the decks are  glued onto boards which  are then glued onto the bulkheads. 

Realized a big difference in working down here… In Denver the glue dries VERY quickly. Down here (the same glue, out of the same bottle) dries not just slower, but differently. In Denver it dries to a fairly “hard” consistency.

Here in the humidity of Vallarta, it dries to a soft pliable consistency.  This was one of the things I asked about but no one would/could confirm. I might try a regular white glue over the next few days to see if there’s any difference. 

The decks are all plank on board construction. Putting the planks on the boards was very straight forward. I started by penciling the sides, but instead of one at a time I clamped several of them together and did many at the same time. Saw that on one of the OcCre videos. Nice time saving trick. 

I’ll let them dry overnight and cut/trim them in the morning. 

Time for this portion: 5 hours 

Total time to date: 6.5 hours

I'm following along with your build. I love this age of ship, the galleon style of vessel. Keep posting thank you. Are you planning on keeping it raw wood or adding some paint?

13 hours ago, Dan. said:

I'm following along with your build. I love this age of ship, the galleon style of vessel. Keep posting thank you. Are you planning on keeping it raw wood or adding some paint?

Thanks for following along. Most of it is the raw wood.

5/9/23

Woke up earlier than normal and started trimming the planked deck boards.

With 5 decks and 3 masts, this process took longer that I expected. Trimming with the grain went fairly quick but cross-grain trimming was a bit slow. I took a bit extra care whenever the trimming was extremely close to an edge of a plank. All told, the trimming took about 2 hours. 

While not 100% symmetrical, I was pleased with how they looked, even before sanding. Last night I was somewhat apprehensive of what the finished product would look like, but as soon as I started trimming the edges, I knew I’d be happy. Amazing what one step can do. Can’t wait to see what they look like after sanding. 

After a little more sanding, I “had” to see what the ship looked like with them on so I tried dry fitting them. And boy am I glad I did. I won’t blame it on my minimal experience, but somehow I did not seat 2 of the bulkheads all the way. The picture really doesn’t do it justice as there was no way the deck was going to sit properly. 

I felt I had 2 options

1. Cut/carve the tops of the bulkheads and the add/shim to the bottom of them. 

2. Cut the 2 bulkheads away from the keel and re-seat them. 

After contemplating this over a Pacifico con lemon, I decided to go with option 2. 

After 40 minutes of carefully cutting, scraping, picking, and moving the rear bulkhead back and forth, it was free and slid into it’s correct position. 

Half way home. 

Another 30 minutes on the other bulkhead had me a bit frustrated. I didn’t feel like I was progressing on it like I did with the other. 

I still had a few minutes before I was supposed to meet a friend to watch the sunset and have a few beers at the beach and told myself that maybe I should just call it a night and head to the beach BUT I didn’t listen to myself and kept cutting and picking away. 

And then SNAP - DISASTER! The keel snapped in half and my Buccaneer suddenly looked like the Titanic. All that was missing was Jack, Rose, and the Heart of the Ocean. 

If only I had listened to myself.  Beach beers were calling so I took a quick look and told myself it was going to be ok. Clean up the break, reposition the bulkheads, and the deck planks will help align everything. Or so I hope. 

Time for this portion: 5 hours 

Total time to date: 11.5 hours

Oops.

That’s why I always use standard white wood glue. If you make a mistake, you can treat it with isopropyl alcohol. The glue softens, and the pieces come "apart".

11 hours ago, Backer64 said:

Oops.

That’s why I always use standard white wood glue. If you make a mistake, you can treat it with isopropyl alcohol. The glue softens, and the pieces come "apart".

Yup, I learned that after the accident. When this happened, I was such a newbie.

32 minutes ago, VallartaHugh said:

I learned that after the accident

Sounds familiar... 😉

That is why I love working with wood. A little more glue, some added pieces to each side of the break for bracing, a few slight modifications, some sanding, and stronger than original. It all turns out in the end. Also gives you something to toast when drinking your next beach beer.

I use gorilla wood glue by my self and when i did something wrong or i need to separate the two parts for what reason ,i always drop water on the joint and after a few minutes with a sharp knife you can lose the two parts.

No damage….

Good luck with it.

Sjors

5/10/23 (Mother’s Day in Mexico)

Today was dedicated to making the ship whole again. 

First up was cleaning up the various parts. The stern and bow of the ship, the 2 bulkheads, and the 2 small support pieces. Easy - just carving and sanding. 

Since I plan on using the deck (I believe it’s the quarter deck) to align the stern and bow of the ship, I need to finish it. 

Not much left to do other than mark off the planks into 6mm sections along with penciling in the tree nails.

When planning out the decks, I thought about cutting the planks into 6mm sections but had decided not to since this was my first time building a deck like this. I also contemplated drilling and using toothpicks for the tree nails. Given what happened, I’m really glad I took the easy way this time. 

I dry fitted the rear bulkhead and the quarter deck above it and once I felt comfortable with the bulkhead’s placement, I added glue to the keel and bulkhead and wrapped a rubber band around them to hold them in place while the glue dries. 

The next step is putting the 2nd bulkhead in place and aligning the keel, the quarter deck, and the bulkhead. Three parts, all with the opportunity to move around. I’m not sure if I’ll need to glue the quarter deck in place to complete this or if I’ll be able to keep it dry fitted in place with rubber bands and/clips. I’ll wait until the glue on the 1st bulkhead dries. 

Didn’t turn out as difficult as I thought it might be. I was able to hold the keel together using only the quarter deck and a couple of clips for alignment. Quite happy that I didn’t need to glue the deck in place to help. It’s starting to look like a ship again. 

While working on the deck I noticed another error of mine. This one I’m going to put on the instructions and videos… when building out the decks, there are a number of small cut-outs in the board that the planks are glued on to. These cut-outs are for where the bulkheads line up. I cut all of them out after glueing the planks and now realize that I should have only cut a few of them out. The picture below is my deck next to the video playing on my phone. Not a big mistake and I can add a small piece of the planking over the bulkhead if I think it will look better. Ahh, the joys of the instructions and silent videos. Just means I need to slow down a bit more and not assume even small things. 

Next up on the repair are to carefully remove the rubber bands and clips  and re-install the bulkhead. Then put the quarterdeck on and reposition the rubber bands and add glue. Putting the rubber bands back on was a bit stressful since I knew the keel had a major weak spot, but I got them on and am currently waiting for the basketball game to start and tomorrow I’m back to building (instead of fixing). 

Looking back at my goals for the build for this trip down here… I probably won’t need to put on a temporary batten on the bulkheads, or if I do, I’ll only need to put one in the lower bottom half of them. Since I’ll be leaving the ship for a couple of months (in whatever state I get to before leaving), I had thought battens would be needed to help reduce any potential warping. Now after seeing how the  decks holds the bulkheads in place, I’m not sure this will be necessary. 

So a day (5 hours actual build time) lost, but I’m in Mexico and have plenty of time. 

 

Time for this portion:  5 hours - not counting drying time 

Total time to date: 16.5 hours

5/12/23

Very pleased with the repairs and now on to planking the walls between the various decks of the ship. This is done in the same manner as the deck; glueing thin boards onto a board. In this case, the “wall” boards. 

I am skipping a step due to availability of supplies. The deck is supposed to be varnished (satin) but I did not bring any down. I’ve done some searching around town and given how little I need, it just does make sense to buy a quart, even if I could find it. 

After the planked deck walls dried, I trimmed the excess off. Gotta say I’m glad I learned about using a set of toenail clippers. Made this step really easy. 

After clipping as much of the excess planks as possible off, I held a piece of scrap wood against the wall and then simply used a knife. The board held the planks in place while letting me cut the boards flush with the top of the wall. 

Some light sanding along the tops of each wall and this step is done. 

I’m supposed to stain the inner sides of the bulkwards, but just like not having varnish, I don’t have any stain. I did find both stain and varnish on Amazon - Mexico,  but it’s very unlikely for them to arrive before we leave so I may “have” to wait until my next trip after buying it in the states. 

To get as much done as possible, I might plank these inner walls instead of staining them. I’m sure I saw/read it in a Buccaneer build log somewhere, but I can’t find it. I believe I should have enough of the planks, so it’s really up to me to decide if I want to plank the walls now or wait until my next trip to stain them. I’ll sleep on it and make my decision in the morning. 

So I’ll throw it out for comments… Do I wait and stain it (November-ish) or plank them now? I’m leaning towards planking them, but would be interested in anyone’s thoughts, especially if in do some would cause issues later in the build that my newbie-ism doesn’t realize. 

 

Time for this portion:  2 hours 

Total time to date: 18.5 hours

5/13 to 5/16/23

Small disclaimer… I’m still learning the parts of a ship so PLEASE let me know if I’m referring to something incorrectly. 

I’ve decided to plank the inner walls of the sides of the ship instead of staining them. The boards will be horizontal with vertical supports as I saw in a build log for the Golden Hind. And since the Buccaneer is a fictional ship, I’m not doing the actual ship any dis-service. I’m also renaming her “Molino” or Mill. Not the most glamorous name, but it’s the name of our condominium complex in Vallarta. I’ll research how and where to post it on the ship. 

The vertical supports won’t go in until later for a variety of reasons, one of them being I want to varnish them to match the deck and I don’t have the varnish here in Mexico. I glued the planking on the bulkwards in much the same fashion as the deck was made. 

In all there are 7 pieces that make up the bulkward walls, 3 along each side plus the piece on the stern. To make sure I don’t cut too much of the planks off (like I did on the decks), I’ll be taking extra time to dry fit each planked bulkward.

I then trimmed off the excess and sanded the edges smooth. 

All the time dry fitting the pieces not just against the top of the hull/bulkheads, but also against any adjoining pieces. This step took a lot more time than I expected as each piece has small slots and tabs to align the bulkwards and tops of the bulkheads on the ship - and while they were fairly close to matches, they weren’t exact. Without being “exact”, the tops of the 7 bulkward walls would not match. 

The 2 on the bow and thr 2 at midship needed just a little tweaking to get them where I wanted them. The ones on the stern were a different story. Each needed multiple slots opened up and even “deepened” a little bit for them to sit correctly. 

That left the last piece at the bow across the transom/poop deck. First, I had to make the slots a little deeper since I added to the thickness of the tabs by planking the bulkwards. That was the easy part. 

The next part was the transom/poop deck itself. Once I dry fitted these bulkwards, it became apparent that the poop deck was:

1. Not level in relation to the quarter deck

2. The upper front corners were too wide

 

To fix the level issue meant widening one of the slots that aligns the poop deck with the bulkhead and adding glue to a number of places and clamping it in place to pull down one side.

The wideness issue required some trimming and sanding to allow the bulkwards to lay down flat against the poop deck. 

With all of them ready, I dry fitted all of them again and began glueing, starting with the 3 sections at the stern. In addition to glue, I used rubber bands (I don’t have any clamps big enough here in Mexico) and pins to hold the bulkwards to the bulkheads and frame while the glue set. I haven’t used CA glue on either ship yet, so I was a bit hesitant to start now. I’ll practice at some point in the near future. 

Even with all of the cutting and sanding, there is a small gap between the deck and the bulkward at the stern of the poop deck that I will need to add some boards to fill as well as one side will need a shim added to get it to align with the starboard side.

I wanted to add some scuppers to the main deck, so I marked where I wanted them and drilled them.  Not many (4 on each side) and not too big. 

So, the 3 sections towards the stern are complete with the 4 from bow to the midship still to be completed. My time in Mexico is waning, so I need to use it efficiently to get to a point that I feel comfortable leaving the Molino alone in a closet for around 6 months.

 

Time for this portion: 7.5 hours 

Total time to date: 26 hours

5/17 to 5/19/23

Small disclaimer… I’m still learning the parts of a ship so PLEASE let me know if I’m referring to something incorrectly. 

The final push before the Molino hits the dry dock until my next time down here…

The front 4 bulkwards all went in fairly easy with only a bit of glue, a few rubber bands, and a few pins. 

The last remaining things to clean up appear to be pretty straightforward and easy:

1. All the bulkward joints need sanding

2. The very rear of the poop deck needs some fillers

3. The rear 3 or 4 bulkwards need to be pushed out slightly to align with the bulkheads 

4. Add a little filler to where 2 of the forward bulkheads meet the bulkwards 

The items above were straight forward with the only item #3 being troubling, and it was only because where I needed to insert the small braces was too small for my fat fingers. Got all of them done but ended up covering my fingers in glue too. 

Sanding, followed by sanding, followed by even more sanding. The nice part is I’m at a good spot to call it quits for any more building for this trip, so I can sand for as little or as much as I want. The pictures showing the sanded bulkheads and bulkwards are a bit deceiving as they are flat/smooth. The different colors of the layers of the plywood, the burnt edges of the laser cut wood, and the glue filler all give it the look of uneven wood, but it’s not. 

I know all of this will be covered in planking, but I gave it a bit extra attention since I didn’t want to start planking and then stop a day later. I’m hoping the smoothness of the transitions will make the planking both easier and better looking. 

 

Time for this portion: 6.5 hours 

Total time to date: 32.5 hours

5/20/23

Here’s the last picture of the Molino for this trip. Yes, someone put Baby in the corner. I know I’ll miss working on her while back in Denver, but I have the Bluenose just waiting to be pulled out. Feel free to watch that build log.

I’ll be taking the instructions and plans home with me to help me plan and prepare for my next time down here. I’ll make sure to have any and all paint, stain, and varnish that I need. This ship has a more radical hull than the Bluenose sitting at home, so hopefully I’ll be able to improve upon my first planking. The Molino is also a double planking, so I get to have double the fun/practice. 

While getting ready for the trip home, my wife asked what I would work on next. I told her I’ve started down that mental path a couple of times and each time I tell myself to relax and focus on the reality that I have 2 unfinished ships that each still have a long way to go.

The Bluenose at home needs the decking while the Molino needs the hull double planked. Both still everything on their decks along with their masts and rigging. So, I have s bunch of new adventures ahead.

I have not yet done any rigging. Well, that’s not 100% true. Back in the late 80s I made a 36” plastic model of the Cutty Sark.

I followed every tip they offered or could find (gotta remember the internet was a baby back in those days - no online build logs). I was very proud of her and carried her around for probably 20 years. I know she made the trip from Denver to Philly and pretty sure she made the trip a year later back to Denver, but that’s where my memory gets cloudy. I wish I could remember what happened to her, but it’s gone - both the ship and my memory of its demise. 

 

Time for this portion:   0 hours 

Total time to date: 32.5 hours

8/6 to 8/11/23

I’m back in Vallarta for a week. Not much time for the Molino as we have a LOT to do to our condo because we had a number of renovations completed while we were gone. 

The one thing that I expected to have time to do was putting a coat of satin varnish on the decks. I couldn’t do it when I was “supposed” to since I didn’t bring any paint, varnish, or stain with me when I brought the kit down here in May. Included in the handful of tools and supplies I brought down this trip were hopefully all the various paints I need for completing the ship. I’m sure I’ll decide to do something that will require some color I don’t have but I’ll cross that bridge when/if I get there.

Varnishing the deck was very straightforward except that since the gunwales (I think that’s what to call them) were already in place (because i didn’t want to not work on the Molino until i came back with varnish), I decided to varnish them as well. 

Now a bunch of sanding to fair out the bulkheads. And what better place to sand than on the sands of Banderas Bay, my workshop this week.

 

Fairing on the Molino is quite a bit different from what I did on my Bluenose as it has a very sleek profile compared to that of a galleon. 

That’s it for this trip. 

We might try to come down for another short “work” trip in September. Worst case, we’ll be back for a nice 2 month stay starting in early December. 

Took the Molino to my workshop again this morning along with a plank. Sanded on and off for about an hour while enjoying coffee and conversations and believe the fairing is complete.

 

Time for this portion: 5 hours 

Total time to date: 37.5 hours

10/17/23

No actual work being done, more just what I’m going to do (when I return to Vallarta in December).

After reading through @Alan56 (Ships of Scale) post titled Bulkhead filler block, I decided to add filler blocks to the bow of the Molino to aid in the shape. 

I’ve purchased the basswood blocks, so I’m all set.

Can’t wait until December. 

 

Time for this portion: 0 hours 

Total time to date: 37.5 hours 

12/7 to 12/11/23

Back in Vallarta for an extended stay and after a few days of getting unpacked, completing PV honey-dos for the Admiral (who is doing wonderful after her recent DBS surgery), the condo is in enough order for me to pull out the Molino. 

My first task was to add filler blocks to both sides the bow to aid in the shape of the planking. This is an extra step I decided to do after reading through @Alan56 post titled Bulkhead filler block. I haven’t planked a ship with the drastic curve of the hull like the Molino has so I thought filler blocks would give me the support to keep the curve plus give me some additional carving practice.

I picked out two of the smaller blocks (2”x1”x.75”) I brought down as they fit nicely into the area between the prow and the front most frame, being only about 1/2” too long (top to bottom). The angle of the picture makes it seem like a lot more.

I carved and sanded the 1st one inside the condo

 

and then moved to my outdoor workshop on the malecón to work on the second one. 

While I unfortunately can’t do all my work on the malecón,  it’s a marvelous place to work when I can. This morning I was interrupted by a pod of whales swimming by (couldn’t get my camera out in time) and an inquisitive pigeon who couldn’t understand why my wood chips weren’t tasty. 

My goal is to get the filler blocks fairly close to what they need to be, glue them in place, and then do a final sanding to get them faired in with the front most frame and the prow. The port side is close, but the starboard side still needs a bit of work.

Even though my friends from yesterday (the whales and pigeon) were no shows, I wrapped up the rough carving and sanding on the filler blocks and glued them in place. 

The final sanding of the filler blocks was quick and easy, after all, they are going to be planked over.

I almost missed two small items; I needed to glue the false gunport walls to the four aft-most cannons and open up the bowsprit hole at the bow. I had forgotten to cut out the hole when I planked over it on the forepeak wall.

(UPDATE - I recommend waiting to glue the false gunport walls until the upper part of the hull has been planked as it would have been easier to cut and sand them without the walls in place. Just glue them before starting the bottom half of the hull planking.)

Additionally, the foremast support partially blocks the hole so it needed some sanding. Easy fixes, but I’m glad I caught them now.

In looking over build logs, I saw one on Model Ship World by Baltic_submariner where he added chase guns on the transom. Since this is a mythical ship, I can add them if I want to. If I decide to add them, it will give me the opportunity to hand-make the cannons.

Next up, the first layer of hull planking.

 

Time for this portion: 6.5 hours 

Total time to date: 44 hours

12/12/2023 to 12/20/2023

The first layer of hull planking starts by placing a mark on each frame 20mm below the bottom of the bulwarks. The top of the first plank will align with the 20mm marks, allowing an additional 4 planks to be installed between the bottom of the bulwark and the 1st plank.

I do not have a lot of practice bending planks (this is only my second attempt) and these planks are a lot thicker than my previous venture (look at the entry from 12/2/23 of my Bluenose build log showing the bending of the monkey board). I took over a portion of our kitchen counter as my bending station.

I soaked a plank in hot water for about 5 minutes while my plank bender was heating up and then placed the soaked plank on top of the bending board and applied gentle pressure while rotating the head. Several soaks and bends later, I had a decent looking bend.

In addition to the radical bend, the planks are not just glued to the frames but are also nailed. I do not have a “real” pin pusher, but I made one using an old screwdriver that I cut the tip off and drilled a hole. I made this a while back in the States without having access to the kit supplied pins, so I really had no idea if or how well it would work. The hole is a bit wider and deeper than I would prefer, but it holds the pin and allows the pin to be pushed far enough into the plank to hold the pin in place. I then use an existing slot in the handle to gently push the pin further and then wrap up by using a hammer. 

Not ideal, but it works. After an hour or so I had the first port side plank on.

At this point I realized that I had better make up my mind about adding chase guns as accessing between the frames will quickly become difficult - so I decided to go for it. I drew them out and then drilled a few holes and cut and filed them into shape. I then added false gunport walls to the backside of the aft-most frame. The chase gunports are ready. If I decide later that I do not want them, it will be quite easy to plank over them.

As with most things, the more you do something, the better you become. The 2nd plank (the 1st on the starboard side) went on smoothly. And while I had tried to use a clamp on the bow on the 1st plank on the port side, the curve would not let me, but this time I placed a plastic puddy knife over the tips of the boards and voila, the clamps held.

I tapered the front 1.5” of the next planks (one on each side) from 5mm to 2.5mm, bent them, glued, and then nailed them in place. This one taper should be the only one needed on the top half of the planking. 

At this point I switched to putting the nails in with a pair of small needle nose pliers, as it gave me more control over where the nail went, and was just faster. 

After another plank on each side, I decided to plank the underside of the forepeak using the same strips that I used for the bulwarks and that will be used for the 2nd layer of the hull. A quick trim, sanding, and satin varnish and I am ready to continue planking the hull. 

Next 2 planks up go smoothly, but at the this point two planks are needed to run the entire length. 

Next up, cleaning up the last 2 planks, cutting out the gunports, and continuing the planking. 

 

Time for this portion: 9 hours 

Total time to date: 53 hours

12/21/23 to 12/31/23 - Feliz Año Nuevo!

Before moving to the next plank up, I need to clean up the openings of the gunports as the next plank will completely cover them.

The front 3 are easy since they are open, but the back 2 are a bit more difficult since I had already glued the false walls behind the openings. 

While these false walls need to be installed before the hull planking is complete, it would have been easier to wait until there were 8 or 9 planks up installed. You would still need to clean up the bottom half of the openings after completing the 7th plank and then clean up the top half of the openings after the 8th or 9th plank up was installed, but it would have been easier.

At that point there is still plenty of room to install them from opening in the hull beneath the 1st plank that had been installed. Not a huge deal, but cutting the planks around the gunports, and more importantly, sanding these openings would be easier if I had not already installed them.

After installing the 9th plank up (which extends above the bulwark of the main deck), I tackled the additional planks needed on the front 1/3rd of the ship. The very tip of the forepeak needed a section of plank around 1/2” in length, while the section above the forecastle (fo’c’sle?) deck needed 1 full (height-wise) plank about 3” and then another one of about the same length that had been cut in half (height-wise). The remaining 1/2 height plank will be used on the other side. 

After everything had dried overnight, I took to cleaning up the planks by carving them down to the bulwarks. These areas still need to be sanded, but I will wait until the hull planks on the bulwarks of the quarterdeck and poop deck are completed. 

A total of 7 additional planks “up” were needed to finish the rear half of the upper planking. A little carving and they are ready to be sanded. In my head I thought I would sand at this point, but I think it would be better if I waited until the bottom half of the hull was planked. 

Before moving onto the bottom half of the hull planking, I begin to carefully cut a 4mm “gap” between the ends of the planks where they meet at the bow. The stem, keel, and stempost will be installed later in this gap.

The instruction video shows the 1st plank down stopping at the 2nd frame from the bow, but instead I tapered the front 2” of the plank (one on each side) from 5mm to 2.5mm, bent, glued, and then nailed them in place.

The next plank down is simply bent, glued, and nailed in place. Much like I did on the planks above these 2, I used a combination of clamps, rubber bands, and a piece of wood (moved on from the plastic puddy knife) to hold the very tips of these planks tight against the bow as the glue dried. 

Next up are the very bottom planks, which in addition to a bend at the front end, need to be twisted almost 90% at the stern. The bend should be easy. To create the twist, I soaked two planks and then used a clip to hold them together at one end, while flattening/separating them at the other end. The 4 bottom-most planks (on both sides) will need a twist.

Did I say the bend would be easy?! Of course I broke the plank on the very first one, making me rethink my process. Even though the bend is not much, it will be better if I use the plank bender. So, my process is soak the stern- end of 2 planks, then use clips to create the twist, then after the twist has dried a bit, cut some of the plank at the bow-end off, soak the bow-end of the plank, and then finally bend the plank. 

Once the twist and bend are complete, I placed the planks into our pot/pan holder and let gravity help with the bend.

After they have dried, the 2 planks can be installed. Basically, means I can do one, maybe 2 sets (of 2) of planks a day - not ideal but given my normal day-to-day activities, it works. 

The 5th plank up does not need to be twisted, but it needs to be bent at both ends.

I alternate between installing a plank on the bottom (of the opening) to one on the top for the next 4 planks. The remaining opening is not even, and I will need to tweak the next plank quite a bit from the quarterdeck back. I taper the plank down to 1.9mm then it widens to about 2.5mm.

The middle of the remaining opening is just slightly wider than a full sized (5mm) plank, but each end requires tapering to a “point”. The middle 2” need a small 1mm sliver of plank to close the port side of the hull.

I was able to complete the starboard side while watching my Broncos beat the Chargers but still be eliminated from the playoffs (Playoffs?! Did you say playoffs?) for the 9th year in a row when the Chiefs (my wife’s team) beat the Bengals. 

With the hull planking complete, I will be able to start the new year sitting on the malecón sanding away. 

Time for this portion: 13.5 hours 

Total time to date: 66.5 hours