Pretty excited to get started on this!

So, this is my first ever build, aside from some cheap plastic car models I built as a kid 35-40 years ago. My plan (at this point) is to stick primarily with the official build. With a couple of small exceptions. For one, I personally like the look of some of the natural wood hulls I've seen, as opposed to the white hull. And I think I might give furled sails a shot, once I get to that point.

I liked the index that Gandale did on his build diary, so I'm going to reserve the rest of this post for that.

Well, wish me luck... Time to open the first packet.

INDEX

Page.....Content
1 .......... Forward bulkhead, first cannon, laying the false keel, and fixing a mistake on rib 13.
2 .......... Bow infill, finishing 2 cannons, working on the ships launch.

Nice start and looking great

Hi Tim, great to see you up and running with a build diary... Looks like you're off to a great start so well done.... On gluing the parts together, just lightly sand the black ash off all joining edges, apply a good layer of wood glue, preferably alphatic and wipe off any excess when placing parts together with a damp cloth. I will be following your progress all the way and am ready to assist should you need it... .. Good luck and enjoy the build....

Regards

Alan

The nice thing (?) about the 12 month subscription is that you get the first 11 issues right off the bat. It let me look ahead a bit, and even work ahead a little too (more pics to come). But now I find myself at my first dilemma rather quickly.

Namely, I'm wondering if I should do the balsa fill thing on the bow and stern? I'm not sure if, on this particular model, it's especially helpful. Or would I be better served by first learning to plank the hull without filling (assuming my long term goal is to become proficient at building wooden ships).

I'm interested in other's thoughts on this.

Hi Tim, when I started I found I had difficulty in actually picturing the complete shape of the hull especially around the bow and stern. Using balsa infills made the process a lot clearer. Infills for the bow and the stern will help you get the correct shape a lot easier and give the planks more surface to get a hold, there is no need to fill the rest of the hull. For a first build I would recommend using infills on these two areas....

Hope this helps.

Regards

Alan

Welcone Tim, it looks like you have got off to a great start.

I am also doing my first ship build, Santisima Trinidad for me, if you take your time and follow the instructions as well as referring to others builds and the official build you cant really go wrong. Remember to measure multiple times too

Look forward to following

Thanks for the input and kind words everybody. It looks like there is a consensus on using the balsa infills, so I'll be heading down to the craft store today at some point, hoping that they carry balsa wood.

In the meantime, here are a couple more pics. I stayed up until 1am last night, essentially waiting for glue to dry. But I was able to read ahead a little and finish assembling the fake keel, a dry-dock, and a few rib frames.





I'm getting a lot of mileage out of these little bar clamps and the squares already.



The plan for the rest of the day (after I cut the grass) is to work on the bow infills and maybe prep and glue a few more rib frames.

Thanks folks. Happy building!

Hi Broven
Looking good so far, i have just used balsa in-fills on my Victory this weekend, not something i have done before either, what i have discovered is it is easier to trim back, before sanding starts, with an ordinary craft knife if the grain is running horizontally, hope this helps you in some way.
Regards
Paul

Great to see you underway Tim, jig looks spot on and one thing you will find is you cannot have enough clamps of various shapes and sizes, you'll be surprised how often you will use them and how many you will use..... .. Will be following....

Regards

Alan

Disaster Avoided!

While installing rib 20, I noticed that it wasn't seating all of the way down. The problem was the keel bracing piece being ever so slightly off. An easy fix. But, having noticed that, I looked more closely at the ribs on either side of the previous keel brace. That's when I noticed rib 13 also hadn't seated fully - and the glue has been drying on that joint for 3 days!

Well, a little bit of white vinegar and a prayer or two to Poseidon and all is well. I was able to un-join the two parts without any real damage. Whew.

Lesson Learned! I think I'm going to have a drink and continue the build tomorrow...