Okay, so I decided to re-sand the hull as best as I could. After one coat of lacquer, it does look significantly better. It's still not perfect, but it's going to have to do. And as I said before, its not very noticeable to the naked eye, and now, even less so.


Before:






After:

Okay, it's been a few days since I've posted any new progress, and I've got quite a bit done. I've completed all of the masts (including drilling holes in the metal crow's nests for the upper shrouds...I can't believe those weren't pre-drilled)in the pictures below you can see me working on the fore-stay, and then a shot with all three stays installed.

The, once I've secured the wrapped thread around the bottom of the shroud at the dead-eye, I thread the other end of the shroud up through the crow's nest and around the mast.



Then I attach the dead-eye at the bottom of the shroud to the dead-eye previously attached to the hull using a jig to ensure conformity of length in the thread that will connect the two dead-eyes (not sure what that is called). I pull on the trailing end of the shroud thread at the top until the shroud is nice and tight, and i'll put a drop of glue between the shroud and the mast above the crow's nest to keep it in place while I secure the trailing end of the shroud thread to the body of the shroud using the same wrapping technique I used at the dead-eye end.



Next I wax the thread with bee's wax to help get rid of the fuzzies. I do this after the glue is all set, because I assume that the glue will not adhere as well to the waxed thread.

Hi GoofyFoot.
Looking Very Neat and Tidy. Look forward to seeing your progress. Ian

Doing an amazing job Goofyfoot. Shes magnificent.
Chris

At this moment, I have 18 of the 30 lower shrouds done. Once those are all done, then it will be time to try my hand at the rat lines.

Okay folks...I need some help. I've finished all of the lower shrouds and have started working on the ratlines. However, I've not even got half way done with one set of ratlines and I'm realizing I have nowhere near enough thread. I've check with the local fabric shops and hobby stores, and no one around here carries the right thickness of thread. Its either too thin, or too thick. Google hasn't been much help either, as I've found the right thickness of thread, but the absolute wrong color.

Can anyone tell me where I can get my hands on some .15 mm chocolate brown thread?

Thanks!

Thanks LMDAVE! I'll probably order a spool of each to see which is closest to the thread I have. Our kits must be slightly different, as the thread called for in my instructions was the brown thread that was labeled .15 mm, though the illustrations in the instructions show "raw" thread used for the ratlines.

I appreciate the heads up!

I've got some spools to wind it about.

Nicely done. Looking top notch.
Well done
Chris