Assembling Masts

Flat Black was used to paint the woldings and rings around the masts. Mast tops, crosstrees and doublings were painted flat black also. Assembling the upper masts through the tops and crosstrees was difficult on all the masts. A lot of trimming with an exacto knife and cleaning up with a file and sanding stick was required to get all the parts to fit. The rat lines would not go through the holes in the tops, so I cut off the extensions below the deadeyes and at the top of the ratlines. Lots of super glue was used to attach them but after touching up the paint they look ok.

Bowsprit

The Bowsprit went together pretty easy. I painted the hoops and woldings flat black and the rest flat brown. The Gammoning did not fit very good and took some fooling around with to get it into an acceptable position. Super glue was used to cement it since plastic cement would never have held. After drilling 2 holes in the hull behind the head timbers, I made eye bolts from steel wire and Superglue them into the holes. These will be the anchors for the bowsprit standing rigging. The bobstays were first installed using the holes in the stem. The jib boom guys were tied to the ends of the jib boom and bow sprit and wrapped over the spritsail yards and finishing at the eye bolts in the hull. Black thread was used for this.

Small Boats

The large boat has no detail inside and the smaller boat sits inside. I'm not a real nut about authenticity but this is just wrong. After cementing the large boat halves together, I glued three strips of styrene to the inside to support the seats, made from sheet styrene. I next used the same square styrene strips to make a cradle for the small boat. This cradle was cemented to the thwarts of the large boat and the small boat cemented to the cradle. The whole assembly was then cemented to the boat cradle on the gun deck. The color scheme of the ship was carried onto the boats : white on the bottom, blue at the wales, black on the thwarts and red inside with brown seats.

Mounting the Hull

The pintels and grudgens that attached the rudder were usually bronze during this period. After painting the rudder white I masked off these items and painted them Tamya Dark Brown. Followed by dry brushing with Testors Copper to make them look bronze. The hinge pins had to be cut off before the rudder was cemented in place. A basswood plaque from a craft store makes a very good display stand after staining and a few coats of varnish. The kit mounting stand was centred and attached with wood screws after it was painted Testors Glossy Black, To make sure the hull was mounted securely to the stand, I drilled a small hole through each of the front upright legs and into the hull. Thin brass rod was inserted through the legs and hull while super glue was used to glue the hull to the stand. The Quarter gallery and stern windows were glazed using Testors Clear parts cement and Window maker.

Head Timbers and Figurehead

The head timbers were very problematic to install. The instruction sheet is not clear as to their exact placement and they are required to curve more then they are already curved. I started by super gluing the aft part to the hull where it looks like it is supposed to go. After the glue cured overnight I carefully worked the part around the beak head until it fit and glued the fronts together. During this procedure some damage was done but just a little so I left it. I'm not sure what the figurehead represents. It looks like someone topless wearing a turban and holding an unidentified object. I just painted white and tan and the balls(?) yellow to match the overall trim color. This also required some trimming to fit in the space provided. Finally I drilled a hole in each side of the beak head for the anchor cables.

Deck Furnishings

After the decks are installed, the deck furnishings such as capstan, cleats, helm, etc. can be installed.I used a lot of super glue here, so after all the assembly was finished a good coat of dullcoat was sprayed on. When spraying dullcoat, I mask off the white painted areas, such as the hull bottom. I've learned to not spray dullcoat over white because it will turn yellow after about a year. This might seem desirable to some as it might give an aged, antique appearance. This is not the case since the yellow discoloration is not even and just looks bad.