Finishing Touches

To make coils of rope, I wrap a few turns of thin rigging thread around the length of piece of 5/16" brass tubing. Then place a drop of white glue on each one to hold it in place. When the glue dries, cut the thread

between each coil and gently slide them off the tube one at a time. After trimming away the excess thread drape them over cleats and belaying pins, etc. Apply a drop of super glue to hold them in place. Finally, I look over the model and touch up the paint where needed and brush clear flat where the shine from super glue is visible.

Flags and Stand

After cutting out the flags and gluing them around the flag halyards, I used colored pencils to touch up the red and blue along the edges. Using my fingers to put some gentile folds in the flags gives them a billowing look. The stand, surprisingly, turned out to be a bit of a pain. It took some filing and trimming to get the model to sit correctly on it. I sprayed it glossy black and painted the letters with testors gold paint. For a base, a basswood plaque from a local craft store, was stained and varnished and the stand attached with 5 minute epoxy. The model was finally mounted to the stand with 5 minute epoxy also.

Anchors and Chain

Instead of actually trying to tie the anchors onto the catheads, I used a drop of super glue to cement them in place and then tied them. I blackened the anchor chain using metal toner but most of the black scraped off when I was running the chain through the haws hole. Maybee I didn't follow the instructions correctly. Next time I'll read them first. A piece of thin wire, run through the first chain link, makes it easier to thread the chain through the haws holes.

Foresail and Jibsail Rigging

Once again the instructions are very clear and pretty easy to follow. One side of the rigging is to remain slack but I couldn't get it to lye flat and it looked very messy. In the interest of a better looking model I decided to tighten up this rigging.

Rigging Jib Boom and Gaffs

The rigging of the jib boom and gaffs went very smooth, compared to some models. The instructions spell it all out pretty clearly.

Installing the Masts

With the sails and rigging blocks in place, the masts are ready to be installed. A few drops of liquid cement in the hole is enough for a secure attachment. Black thread, not included in the kit, was used for the stays. Instead of tying the stays to the deadeyes with a knot, I seized them as shown here. This makes it easier to adjust the alignment of the masts and removes the slack from the stays without over tightening.

Sails

Since a yacht is a prestige vessel, I felt the sails should have a clean, unweathered look. Light gull gray, sprayed from a can, got the look I wanted. A little darker then the white already on the masts but not too dark. A heated a needle (not red hot) easily punches holes in the sails where they will lace to the masts and booms. I poked a few holes in the extra plastic to get the feel of it before using it on the sails. Alligator clips held the jib boom in place on the jib while I laced it. When I laced this sail to the forestay, alligator clips were used again. For attaching the Fore, Main and Maintopsail to the masts, rigging thread was looped through the holes and a lot of extra left to make the knot tying a little easier. A needle threader works great for lacing the sails to the booms and gaffs.

Fitting the Masts

I found it necessary to cut about half of the bottom peg from both masts. They were too long and the masts would not go all the way down in the holes in the deck for a nice flush fit.

Booms and Gaffs

The booms and gaffs were painted white and assembled. at this point, before the sails are on, I like to attach the rigging blocks. It's much easier to do this now.

Main Mast

This just wouldn't be one of my models if I didn't loose or break something along the way. In this case, I somehow misplaced the main topmast. I fished around in my junk box and found a piece of spru that was the right diameter to fit through the mat top. I tapered it with sandpaper, cemented it in place and painted it white.

Bow Sprit and Mast Assembly

The bowsprit was glued together, the seam cleaned up and painted white. After test fitting it to the bits, I had to whittle down the square end, that fits into the bits, to get it to fit correctly. the mast halves were clamped together and cemented with liquid cement. After this dried, I cleaned up the seam first with a file and then medium and fine sanding sticks. The sail hoops were painted Testors Wood and the masts were painted Testors Flat Brown.

Hull and Deck Painting and Assembly Pt.8

The remaining deck details were painted and assembled. Per the instruction sheet, I painted most items white. The glass parts of the skylights were painted black and filled with clear parts cement which looks like glazing. To simulate brass, I painted the frames of the rear skylights gold and super glued small lengths of brass wire across them. I didn't want to tie the block to the iron horse (#18). So I bent a piece of small brass rod into a u shape and slid it through the eye of the block. Super glue was then used to attach it to the hull. The rudder halves were glued together and to the post on the stern with the top of the rudder sticking through the hole in the deck. The tiller was painted dark brown and installed. The cockpit seating was also painted dark brown and the raised relief highlighted with a black wash and tan dry brush. since the rudder is glued in place it will not move. That's OK because movable parts on a model invite handling which leads, eventually,to damage.

Hull and Deck Painting and Assembly Pt.7

Time to install the deck. I applied a bead of Testors liquid cement onto each support in the hull and worked the deck into place. When it was located correctly, I brushed liquid cement along the seam of the deck and waterway. Rubber bands clamped the whole thing together.

Hull and Deck Painting and Assembly Pt.6

The instruction sheet says to glue eyebolts into the holes in the deck for the blocks to tie onto. I use a different method. Instead of eyebolts into the holes, I place a piece of thin wire through the eye of the block, twist it into a pigtail and trim it to a little over 1/4 inch. The pigtail is inserted through the hole in the deck, bent back and secured with super glue. I think this is a much neater and stronger installation. The same method was used to attach the bullseyes on the bow of the model before the deck was installed.

Hull and Deck Painting and Assembly Pt.5

I've found that lightly rubbing the side of a sharp, Dark Umber, Prisma color pencil over the painted deck brings out the deck detail very nicely. I do this very lightly or the result will look more like scribble then deck details. Soap and water will remove the pencil marking if I'm not satisfied with the look.

Hull and Deck Painting and Assembly Pt.4

I started the deck assembly by drilling out the holes for the eyebolts and rigging blocks with a small drill and a pin vise. The parts of the deck not being painted the deck color, were masked off. Testors Model Master Flat dark Tan was sprayed on from a spray can. I applied two coats for full coverage. According to the instruction sheet, I painted the hatch coamings and skylight base flat white. Dark brown was painted onto the floor of the cockpit and flat tan was drybrushed onto the grating.

Attaching the Transom

After the paint was completely dry the transom was clamped onto the stern and glued with liquid cement. After the cement dried I used some white glue, applied with a toothpick, to fill gaps between the transom and the stern. Flat black was painted on to match the rest of the hull.

Transom Painting

The transom is a separate piece and can be painted by itself. the eagle was painted first with Testors Gold, followed by the shield and olive branch, painted red, white, blue and green respectively. I found a photograph of the stern decorations in a book and to my surprise the flags are white. So that's how I painted them. After the paint dried Flat black was painted around the decorations. The gold tends to bury the details of the eagle so I mixed up a wash of brown watercolor and applied it to all the gold on the stern. This adds depth to the eagle. A small amount of silver paint was added to gold paint to lighten it and then dry brushed on to highlight the raised details. I used a purple prismacolor pencil very lightly to darken the low areas of the flags for depth. Finally, green lightened with a little flat white was dry brushed onto the olive branch for detail enhancement.

Hull and Deck Painting and Assembly Pt.3

Since I enjoy painting with a brush, I decided that's how I'd paint the hull. Starting with the top rail which I painted Tamyia Nato Brown. Then Testors Flat Black for the freeboard and Testors Copper for the sheathing below the waterline. Tamyia masking tape was used to mask off the copper.

Hull and Deck Painting and Assembly Pt. 2

For reinforcing the seam a batch of 5 minute epoxy was mixed up and applied to the inside seam after the cement had dried. Gaps and imperfections in the outside seam were filled with Squadron Green filler putty and wet sanded with 400 and then 600 sandpaper.