The details at the bow are not terribly difficult since the laser cut pieces do fit quite nicely and only need a small amount of shaping. Kudos to the manufacturer!

The first step in the instructions calls for widening the hole in the stem to a height of 3mm. However, I found that on my stem the laser cut hole was already 3mm so I figured the manufacturer had corrected the error in production. What I did not do was consider why the hole needed to be widened. I soon found out.

First were the lower pieces that dress the bow to the stem. The piece against the bow only needed a slight bit of shaping to ensure it sat flush and proper. The smaller piece glued right into place. As always, I carefully removed the char on all edges. Once I had the two pieces glued into place I then sanded them slowly until I had one uniform piece.

Thank you Derek for the compliment and visiting this log.

The next piece at the bow is where the anchor ropes rub against. These pieces take quite of bit of careful shaping to ensure the rest tightly against the bow. I did not choose to bend these as they are too small and would likely result in my burning my fingers rather than succeeding at bending the piece. Instead, I carefully sanded and dry fit the piece over and over and over again until it fit wonderfully. I tried to take images that capture the complex curvature needed for these pieces.

After attaching the piece to the bow and letting the glue dry completely it was time to drill the holes for the anchor ropes. In the instructions these holes are drilled into the bow much earlier in the process. However, as I have mentioned previously, I prefer to read way ahead in the instructions for any build I am on in order to fully understand what pieces go where and the resulting dependencies on other steps and pieces. Because of previous builds I was aware that there was likely some sort of piece that went at the bow when I reached the step in the instructions that called for drilling the anchor holes. I also knew that it was very unlikely that I would get the hole in the exact spot it needed to be to line up with this piece. So I opted instead to wait until I had this piece in place and then drill the hole.

To drill the hole I first made a pilot hole with a smaller bit to ensure accurate placement. This also gave me a bit of wiggle room on where the drill bit exited the interior of the hole. Because I used a small bit for the pilot hole, if I did, for some reason, manage to be off on the angle the smaller hole would be much easier to cover up and/or correct. Once I had the pilot hole drilled I then followed up with the proper sized bit and finished the job. You can see in the images below the angle needed on my guild for the anchor hole to exit at the proper location on the interior of the hull.

Finally, I painted these pieces black because I wanted to. I think it works with my overall color scheme.

I then repeated this process on the opposing side, ensuring things lined up symmetrically.

The support beams for those delicate pieces were next up. Simply remove these from the template and clean the char on all edges. Then glue into place.

I wasn't quite sure where these should get positioned exactly and instead deduced the best I could from the instructions. It would have been super helpful to have at least one full sized printout of the model for reference for these types of situations. Regardless, in the end it was a balance of what I thought it should be and what I thought just looked pleasant. The final result looked good to me so I am happy with it.

In a nutshell, I basically installed these at roughly 90 degrees to the delicate pieces and spaced them evenly along the length of the smaller pieces. If anyone know the proper placement, please share. I am happy with it as is and won't change it, but it would be good info for others and for future reference.

I mentioned a few posts back that the hole in the stem appeared, after measuring, to be the width that the instructions called for. However, it turns out I was either mistaken or the kit has changed slightly since the instructions were written. Because the hole in my stem was to the dimension in the instructions I think it may honestly be the kit has been updated; however, as anyone who has been reading this log knows...I am prone to mistakes.

Either way, it turns out I need to open up the hole in the stem wider than what it is. In the images below I roughly indicate where the top trim piece lays against the stem and it illustrates how this piece covers the hole. I also include an image that shows how the hole needs to extend below the top trim piece. This is necessary so you can run some roping through the hole when you attach the bowsprit in a later step. Now that I have all the trim pieces in place I need to figure out how I want to approach this. I do not want to remove any pieces as they are extremely delicate and I want to instead figure out how to safely widen the hole or, another possibility, to carve away just enough of the top trim piece to allow the bowsprit ropes to go through.

It isn't urgent that I figure this out now, just need to do so before I run the ropes so I will ponder on this for a while.

Thank you Derek for the kind words. It is kinda nice to see a new medal under my name

With the rudder in place it was now time to attach the tiller. I cleaned up the char from the edges and gave everything a nice sanding prior to applying some wipe-on poly. Once the poly had dried I predrilled the four holes for the eyebolts and then glued the eyebolts into place. The entire assembly then nicely fit into place, glue into the notch in the rudder. Pay careful attention to keep the rudder straight and aligned with the keel and stern while positioning the tiller. This will help ensure that once you center the tiller the rudder will be centered as well.

One quick post here to point out a very small modification for the canons. Each side/cheek of the canon had very small laser engraving that simulated the hardware holding the wood together. Because these are so small I did not think the laser marking would show up much, if at all once on the deck of the ship. So I decided to exaggerate them just a bit and drilled them out with a small drill bit.

You may notice in the photo that I drilled all the way through is a few cases, but now worries. After a bit of sanding these spots will not be visible to anyone once the canon is actually in place.

Next, I went back and cleaned everything up a bit more with some fine grit sandpaper. Then I applied a coat of wipe-on poly to the entire base assembly and let it dry. Once it was dry I drilled two holes towards the rear for the eyebolts and let those dry thoroughly.

While everything was drying I went ahead and painted the barrels black. Once the black dried I went back and picked out some highlights with gun metal. I then glued the barrel into place.

Finally! Time for some rigging!

The instructions call for brass wire to create the loop and hook for the blocks. However, since I am going with black throughout this build and not showing any brass I decided to use annealed black wire instead. This is available at most hardware stores in the picture hanging section. The best part is the wire is already annealed so you can go straight to cutting and bending. However, be sure the package you grab states it is annealed. If it doesn't state it, then it isn't annealed.

I first cut a proper length of wire and added a full twist to it at the center. I did this by simply wrapping the wire around a 1mm drill bit. I then added a couple partial bends just outside the loop. This creates a little nest for the block to rest in.

It is then a matter of holding your block in place and bending the legs of the wire around the rest of the block. Once you reach the opposing side you should cross the two legs and then, with a pair of small needle nose pliers, twist the legs around each other for a half turn. I prefer a half turn (each leg ends up point in the opposite direction than when I started) as opposed to a full turn (the legs end up point in the same direction from whence they started). A full turn tends to be too bulky at this scale whereas a half turn seems, visually, just about right.

Once the half turn is complete I snipped off one leg and then wrapped the remaining leg around a 1.5mm drill bit to create a loop. I then cut the loop to create the hook. Be certain you cut the correct part of the loop. I can't tell you how many times I have cursed because I cut the wrong end, the entire hook falls off, and I am starting over on that block.

You will need to create a total of 8 single blocks in this manner. Then you will need to create a total of 8 double blocks in basically the same way except you do not need to create the initial loop at one end. The double blocks only have a hook.

Also note, I did not use the block provided with the kit. This was simply a personal preference and the block provided would have been fine. However, I have a large assortment of really nice quality blocks that I prefer to use on my builds and so I went with those. For me, the block become a fine detail that draws viewers attention so I always like to use the best blocks I can get my hands on for any build I am working on.