Next, we need to add in some hardware on the deck. There are six eyebolts that need a ring added. To do this you need to take a 4mm brass ring that was supplied in the details pack, pry it open just enough to slip through the eye of the eye bolt, and then carefully close the ring back up. I then painted the rings black just as I have with all the other brass on the ship.

You will need to drill a hole approximately 1mm in diameter to insert each eye bolt. Pay careful attention to the instructions and place as indicated. You can see in the image below where I have circled the location of each in green. Because these are metal onto wood I use CA glue to attach in place, but am very careful to not apply too much as it tends to spread quite easily.

The next hatch cover isn't much different from the first except in size. This is one thing you need to take into consideration and that is to ensure that the framing will fit into place between the two posts on the deck. In my case I needed to remove just a very slight bit from both sides of the frame to achieve a nice tight fit.

When gluing into place be very aware of the alignment with the decking and underlying joists. View it from various angles before the glue dries and adjust as needed. I like to view the entire center line of the deck from the bow and the stern to ensure that the items that go along the center line have a nice smooth flow to them.

The next hatch opening is actually a companion way. Assemble the frames per the instructions. Once again, I have chosen to paint mine black. One the paint had dried I glued the piece into place over the companion way opening in the deck.

Next up is creating the stairs down to the lower deck. For some reason I do not enjoy making the stairs. Every time I come to this part on a ship build I try to do something else. I honestly do not know why but I find making the stairs a tedious and unrewarding exercise. It is strange, I know. But I am sure others have their quirks on a build, or at least I hope they do so that I don't feel so alone in this.

The main hatch is quite different from the others. Unlike the grated hatches, this hatch has planks with loops to allow them to be removed for loading/unloading cargo through the hatch. The frame is assembling by following the instructions. Next, I needed to glue up the planks. The instructions called for cutting these to a specific length prior to glueing them together. I added a couple MM to the lengths so that I would have a bit of room for sanding for a perfect fit.

Once you have the planks glued and dried to can shape them to fit snuggly into the frame. I actually chose to place the frame over the planks and then use a very sharp knife to score the wood to the exact fit. I then removed the frame and carefully cut the rest of the way through the planks. Then it was just a matter of a little bit of sanding to clean up the edges and everything fit nicely together. However, I did not glue it into place yet.

Next, it was time to prepare a bunch more rings and install those. I was real careful to align the holes for the rings carefully. To do this I first marked the position of each with a fine pencil. Then I used a very small drill bit to pre-drill the holes. The smaller bit allows for a much more accurate location of the hole. The pre-drill hole then serves as a guide for the larger drill bit. After going over the holes the second time with the larger bit I did a small amount of light sanding with fine sandpaper and then I glued the rings into place.

Next, I painted the frame black as I have done with all the other hatchways. Once the black had dried I glued the planks to the frame. Finally, all that was needed was to glue the launch support into place using the notch in the frame as a guide. When all was dry, I glued the hatch onto the deck.

Thank you Kev! Your kinds words mean a lot. I have perused a few of your builds in the past and if anyone sets a standard it is clearly you. Your skills and resulting builds are truly an inspiration. For anyone else reading this build, if you haven't done so already you definitely need to take some time and visit Kev's builds. There is lots to learn there and I am sure you will be amazed.

Time for the next set of eyebolts and rings. Same process as before on the ring assembly. You will need a total of 6 ring assemblies and 5 eyebolts. Once again I predrilled each hole with a very small bit (.5mm) as it it much easier to get the hole as precisely placed as possible with a smaller bit than a larger one...at least that is the case for me. I then went back at the holes with a 1mm bit. I carefully used a sharp blade to clean up any splinters or shavings that from the holes and then glued the pieces into place as circled in green in the image below>

You will need to add four nails to the winch legs as indicated in the instructions. You can see two of the nails, each of which is on the fore portion of the leg. The other two nails each go on the aft portion of the leg and are not shown in my photo below. However, the instruction do clearly show where each nail should be positioned.

Next is the positioning and attaching of the davits. I took my time to do this and once I had it in place, and prior to the glue setting completely, I would move the ship around and view from multiple angles to ensure a nice balanced look and positioning. I was able to use the seams between the decking for alignment on the weather deck and I also simply butted the davits up against the appropriate posts on the top rail. After viewing it more times than I probably needed too I was satisfied with the results and let the glue dry completely.

Finally, you will need to add two nails to the lower portion of the davit where it meets the weather deck as shown in the image below.

Its been a little while since I last looked in on your build and have to say I think you are doing a magnificent job with her. Everything is looking so neat and precise, it is very obvious you take a lot of care, pride and attention to the work you do... .. Keep posting those updates, they are a joy to see....

Regards

Alan

Next up...the galley stove chimney!

As with any brass bits that require some bending and shaping you need to first anneal these pieces. Once annealed I carefully bent each into a tube. This was a bit difficult as it was necessary to be sure each piece came together precisely at the seam. I don't have a very good set of pliers for this sort of thing so that made it even more difficult. One day I will get a nice micro plier set.

I wanted to be sure the finished product was practically seamless, so I went ahead and welded the seams with some CA glue and a drop of water. Once that had dried I filed things down to a nice clean finish.

I used some more CA glue to attach the two brass pieces together and again used a drop of water on the still wet glue to create a weld. You can see in the photo below what this looked like prior to any filing with a needle file. Once it was filed I applied several coats of thinned black paint. I thinned the paint to ensure a nice smooth finish...didn't want to see any nasty brush strokes.

The ships bell is a delicate little thing, especially the support arm. You must be very, very careful when freeing the arm from the brass template. Once freed I carefully cleaned up the edges.

For the bell it was necessary to clean up the mold lines just a bit. In my case there were not very many...a sign of a quality mold.

One more item to note, I annealed the brass arm. However, this time I annealed it to ensure it removed any oils on the surface. This would help ensure a better adhesion for the paint. For the bell I actually soaked it in a small bit of white vinegar to clean the surface. Again, helps to ensure better adhesion for the paint.

I painted both pieces and let them dry prior to assemble and the final install on the winch post.

Yes, the bell does rock back and forth if I tap the little handle. However, it does not ring