The Finished Hull

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Well I am well pleased that the hull has come together so well.  I has really helped that I have had experience from the other sailing ships I have made.

There is still some planking to do on the outside of the cabins but that is child's play compared to the hull.

Here we see the underside with the under deck or whatever it is called, planked out and waiting cutting and sanding.  I make use of my Dremel for sanding edges to perfection as you can be so accurate.  Sanding blocks are used for larger areas and smoothing off.

Here is the underside finished and polished.  I have still not really decided on the finish yet, I may varnish when everything is together.  I will consult with the wife on that one.  They can be a real dust magnet and just feather dusting may be a lot easier than polishing.

I have done all the pencil lines on the deck.  It's quite difficult as if you use a ruler you find that the planks are not EXACTLY straight, but I would not want to be doing them by hand with my shaky old hands.

Finally, while waiting for the glue to go off I like to keep busy.  Often I get my mouse and keyboard out and play on the computer.  Sometimes however I do a few of the tables and chairs that are included with this kit. It will be like a dolls house for the wife when I have finished.  They are made of cast white metal.  For those of you who don't know white metal it has taken over from lead as an easily cast metal for figures and metal items on models.  It melts at a very low temperature and can be cast in a normal home very easily using a variety of mould types.  I use a medium cyanoacrylate glue with a 20 second setting time that has a bit of body to fill any gaps.  This, as I have said before, is nothing like the 'superglue' you would buy in a normal shop.

The next step is to start building the cabins in which some of these tables and chairs will reside.  I do with I had much finer fingers instead of the short stubbies I own.

Now we are really getting in to this blog please feel free to make comments good bad, but not indifferent.  Let me know how you think I am doing, or any advice anyone may have.  I look forward to hearing from you.