I agree with Uwe: a nice looking deck.
About the railing: I did install it first, the the painting. The paint can fill minor slits.
Regards, Peter
Bluenose 1:64 by Model Shipways - Build log
- Thread starter HughLo
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About the railing: I did install it first, the the painting. The paint can fill minor slits.
Regards, Peter
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10/5 to 10/19
Just noticed that I didn’t post this update…
Good day everyone. I’ve been back in the states about a week and hopefully will get to work on my Bluenose soon. My time back has been packed with honey-do’s as my wife is having DBS surgery (on 10/5). She was in surgery for approximately 7.5 hours and is going to spend the night in Intensive Care (normal for recovery following brain surgery) and I’ll go home to take care of the dogs and get some sleep before coming back tomorrow morning. So I hope to work off some of my anxiety by working on my Bluenose.
I spent a lot of my time today watching build log videos and reviewing a number of build logs as I’ve decided my next task is the main rail.
A quick check of the bow and stern laser-cut rail pieces confirm my expectation that they do not fit correctly on my hull.
I decided to trace out the edges of my hull in much the way that Rich (@PT-2) did by using a pillow, but then added 1/16” since the rail is supposed to overhang a bit.
On Saturday, the Rocky Mountain Shipwrights held they workshop. I like attending but my schedule limits me. A good friend of my wife had volunteered to “watch” her if I wanted to go. My wife said she felt good enough for me to go. At the workshop, I enhanced the hull tracing to include the outline of the rail. After the meeting I headed to a hobby store for some 1/16” x 1/2” stock to create the rail.
When I went to cut the stern piece I realized that it needed to be about 1/8” wider than the board I purchased. My 1st thought was to turn the piece 90 degrees. It fit and I was able to cut and shape the piece BUT since I turned it, the grain was running the wrong way. This made it feel flimsy.
I positioned this flimsy one on the board and felt that if I made it a bit shorter, it would fit. After all, the rail is made up of a few boards to I could make this 1/2” or so up on the other boards.
This cut and carve went a lot smoother than the first UNTIL I was cutting out the inner curve on the port side… and it snapped. It was completely my fault as I was watching football at this time and my team (the Broncos) did something wrong at precisely the wrong time for me. I’ll glue the 2 pieces together and see how it goes. I’m not sanding the very end at the transom or cutting out the small square hole over the end of the deck yet. I’ll wait until it is installed to do so.
I divided each side into 3 sections and began creating them. At this point I’m leaving a bit of overlap at the ends of each section. I create scarf joints between each piece at this overhang. The widths I’m going with 7/32” for the narrow portions and 5/16” for the wider portions (where the belaying pins and lower shroud chain plates will go). I know the 5/16” is slightly wider than what the plans call for (19/64”) but am giving myself a little bit of wiggle room.
A question I’m still researching is how to make the small slits in the rails for the chain plates to go through. I’m assuming a simple cut using a knife but am thinking about putting some glue on each side of the rail to reduce the chances of splitting the rails. Thoughts?
I started on the starboard side. The 1st two sections went fairly smoothly, but on the third one (the one closest to the bow), I accidentally cut the entire rail at 7/32”, forgetting about the 2 wider portions on this section. Argh! I have plenty of stock so it just cost me time. When they were done, I felt happy with the end results.
I know my Bluenose is not perfectly symmetrical, but feel that I’ll be able to use the starboard sections as a starting point when making the rail for the port side.
The port side definitely went quicker as I assumed.
Glueing the rail down was fairly straightforward. I started at the stern by cutting the stern-most scarf joints on each side, and then glueing the rail onto the transom, making sure it was evenly lined up side to side as well as over the transom. I then started on the port side by cutting the scarf joint for the next rail section, then glueing it. I continued in this fashion until getting to the bow when I installed the rail on tip of the bow.
The starboard side went quickly as I already had the rails in place on both the stern and the bow.
After a couple of coats of filler and sanding I’m pleased with the results.
A couple of coats of paint and the rails are done.
Short bit of after the fact panic as I accidentally deleted most of this post before posting. Luckily I noticed before it was completely lost and was able to get it back by “un-doing” about 50 times.
Work time: 18 hours
Total work time: 175.5 hours
Just noticed that I didn’t post this update…
Good day everyone. I’ve been back in the states about a week and hopefully will get to work on my Bluenose soon. My time back has been packed with honey-do’s as my wife is having DBS surgery (on 10/5). She was in surgery for approximately 7.5 hours and is going to spend the night in Intensive Care (normal for recovery following brain surgery) and I’ll go home to take care of the dogs and get some sleep before coming back tomorrow morning. So I hope to work off some of my anxiety by working on my Bluenose.
I spent a lot of my time today watching build log videos and reviewing a number of build logs as I’ve decided my next task is the main rail.
A quick check of the bow and stern laser-cut rail pieces confirm my expectation that they do not fit correctly on my hull.
I decided to trace out the edges of my hull in much the way that Rich (@PT-2) did by using a pillow, but then added 1/16” since the rail is supposed to overhang a bit.
On Saturday, the Rocky Mountain Shipwrights held they workshop. I like attending but my schedule limits me. A good friend of my wife had volunteered to “watch” her if I wanted to go. My wife said she felt good enough for me to go. At the workshop, I enhanced the hull tracing to include the outline of the rail. After the meeting I headed to a hobby store for some 1/16” x 1/2” stock to create the rail.
When I went to cut the stern piece I realized that it needed to be about 1/8” wider than the board I purchased. My 1st thought was to turn the piece 90 degrees. It fit and I was able to cut and shape the piece BUT since I turned it, the grain was running the wrong way. This made it feel flimsy.
I positioned this flimsy one on the board and felt that if I made it a bit shorter, it would fit. After all, the rail is made up of a few boards to I could make this 1/2” or so up on the other boards.
This cut and carve went a lot smoother than the first UNTIL I was cutting out the inner curve on the port side… and it snapped. It was completely my fault as I was watching football at this time and my team (the Broncos) did something wrong at precisely the wrong time for me. I’ll glue the 2 pieces together and see how it goes. I’m not sanding the very end at the transom or cutting out the small square hole over the end of the deck yet. I’ll wait until it is installed to do so.
I divided each side into 3 sections and began creating them. At this point I’m leaving a bit of overlap at the ends of each section. I create scarf joints between each piece at this overhang. The widths I’m going with 7/32” for the narrow portions and 5/16” for the wider portions (where the belaying pins and lower shroud chain plates will go). I know the 5/16” is slightly wider than what the plans call for (19/64”) but am giving myself a little bit of wiggle room.
A question I’m still researching is how to make the small slits in the rails for the chain plates to go through. I’m assuming a simple cut using a knife but am thinking about putting some glue on each side of the rail to reduce the chances of splitting the rails. Thoughts?
I started on the starboard side. The 1st two sections went fairly smoothly, but on the third one (the one closest to the bow), I accidentally cut the entire rail at 7/32”, forgetting about the 2 wider portions on this section. Argh! I have plenty of stock so it just cost me time. When they were done, I felt happy with the end results.
I know my Bluenose is not perfectly symmetrical, but feel that I’ll be able to use the starboard sections as a starting point when making the rail for the port side.
The port side definitely went quicker as I assumed.
Glueing the rail down was fairly straightforward. I started at the stern by cutting the stern-most scarf joints on each side, and then glueing the rail onto the transom, making sure it was evenly lined up side to side as well as over the transom. I then started on the port side by cutting the scarf joint for the next rail section, then glueing it. I continued in this fashion until getting to the bow when I installed the rail on tip of the bow.
The starboard side went quickly as I already had the rails in place on both the stern and the bow.
After a couple of coats of filler and sanding I’m pleased with the results.
A couple of coats of paint and the rails are done.
Short bit of after the fact panic as I accidentally deleted most of this post before posting. Luckily I noticed before it was completely lost and was able to get it back by “un-doing” about 50 times.
Work time: 18 hours
Total work time: 175.5 hours
Hoping for all the best for your wife (and you!). As to cutting the slits, do you own a rotary tool/Dremel? There are some small, tiny even, cutters that you might rout the slits. You can use a scalpel/x-acto to pre-cut a line to follow.
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We’re both doing well (with Denver beating over her Chiefs, I might be doing better). Thanks. And thanks for the idea on the slits. I’ll give my Dremel a try
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Hugh,
I have been admiring your work over all and this latest post especially. I hope your modeling is successful at giving you respite from your current (and what would be to my mind, overwhelming) concern.
I take encouragement from your example, as my wife and I are faced with a much slower moving, but inexorably deteriorating challenge. But we don't know what tomorrow will bring. So, your example of "keeping calm and carrying on" is very instructive for me. Thanks.
I have the highest hopes for your wife's recovery and will keep you in mind regularly.
Pete
I have been admiring your work over all and this latest post especially. I hope your modeling is successful at giving you respite from your current (and what would be to my mind, overwhelming) concern.
I take encouragement from your example, as my wife and I are faced with a much slower moving, but inexorably deteriorating challenge. But we don't know what tomorrow will bring. So, your example of "keeping calm and carrying on" is very instructive for me. Thanks.
I have the highest hopes for your wife's recovery and will keep you in mind regularly.
Pete
Good morning Hugh. Best of wishes for your wife’s recovery and..
this is good news- sound like the surgery went well.
Watching a game and building a ship simultaneously…you have some skills
My ship would be destroyed by now..symmetry is always one of those challenges of this hobby which we don’t see with the eye but when we fit a another precut part it like …..how? You got to be kidding? Well in my experience. Great modelling and and interesting post as always. Cheers Grant
A nice outcome of the railing, Hugh. I hope your Admiral will recover soon.
Denver is still in my mind as starting point for a cycle tour many many years ago. Second day directly into the Rocky’s.
Regards, Peter
Nice work on the rails. I consider myself extremely lucky that most of the laser cut rails fit on my Bluenose.
I cut the slots for the chain plates by drilling 2-3 holes side-by-side with an appropriately sized bit and then cleaned up the slot with a thin sawblade (#15?). I worried about this step a lot, but it went pretty well. I split the rail in one place, but it was easily fixed.
Kurt Konrath
Kurt Konrath
Best wishes to the Admiral and you. Good that you were allowed to attend the local workshop.
Work on the handrails look great, and look forward to seeing how you deal with the hole cutting.
Work on the handrails look great, and look forward to seeing how you deal with the hole cutting.
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10/26 to 11/2
Thanks for all the well wishes. The Admiral is doing about as well as can be expected. We still have 2 weeks until she gets the stitches and staples out (of her head). She has problems sleeping as it doesn’t matter how she tries to sleep, there is pressure and movement against the staples - meaning pain or discomfort.
Even with so much going on, but I’ve been able to chisel out some time for my Bluenose. Next up is drilling out the hawse holes at the bow and cutting/drilling the small slots in the rail for the chain plates. I’m think that by drilling/cutting the slots on the quarterdeck now I’ll be able to more easily cut/drill the matching slots on the monkey rail.
As I was marking hawse holes I thought it would be a good idea to use the metal hawse hole lips to help with the marking. When I looked in the kit box, they were nowhere to be found. I made sure to look under everything but they weren’t there. I then began to question if they were actually metal.
I looked at the parts list, and then realized that all of the medal parts were missing. Given the kit had sat in my basement for over 20 years and was included in multiple moves (including a cross country move from Denver to Philly and then again back to Denver), who knows, maybe they were lost at some point.
I tried to convince myself that there’s no way that I would have NOT noticed that they were missing when I pulled the kit out a few months ago, but who knows. Then I realized that in addition to the medal parts missing, the rigging and sail material were also missing. I started feeling better that I had them, but where…
After checking unsuccessfully in a few more places, I remembered about a box that might be tucked away in my comic book room (I’ve collected comics since the early 80s and have around 13,000 so yes, they have their own room). And voila, there everything was. In all the short panic attack lasted less than 30 minutes, but boy was I glad when I found them.
Once I had everything, I pulled out the “lips” and put them where they will be installed and used a pencil to mark the location. My thought is to drill from the inside out with a very fine bit, and then widen the hole to appropriate size. My hope is that by drilling inside out, I can line up directly on top of the chafe block and aim for where I drew the hawse holes on the bow. At least that’s my plan.
Drilling from the inside worked as expected but as I was widening the hole on the outside, I ended up opening the hull under the level of the deck.
I used a few drops of glue to close the holes. Once dried, I sanded and then painted the inside of the holes black.
To create the slots in the rails for the chain plates, I used a small drill bit and then used a #11 blade to widen the slot. I finished up by wiggling the 1/64” x 1/16” brass stock through each hole. I had been apprehensive about this step, but it went fairly smoothly. I split the rail at one slot, but a drop of glue and it’s good as new.
Before I do much more I need to create the main boom sheet buffer. Since I made my own main rail for the transom, the laser cut pieces included in the kit will not work. Additionally since the inside of my transom is a bit more slopped, I’ll need to modify the overall creation. In looking at a number of build logs, this appears to look a bit different in each one, so I’m not worried that mine will look a bit different.
Given how small and tight the opening is under the mail rail, I’m also going to install the metal boom sheet buffer at this point too.
I file and clean up the boom sheet buffer and paint it. The ring is painted “gold” while the ends are painted black. The ring may need to get repainted later as the “gold” ain’t that I have is more of a yellow. I’ll decide on the repainting as I add more details to the deck. After painting, the boom sheet buffer is attached/glued to the small shelf under the rail through 2 very small drilled holes. The completed shelf assembly is given a light sanding and then glued together and then glued under the rail.
Next up is the buffalo rail. It’s made from a laser cut piece plus 2 sections of 3/32”x1/16” stock, each about 6” in length. The front of each needed to be cut/sanded to match the rear edge of the laser cut piece while the back end need to be rounded off. All 3 pieces were glued and clamped in place until dried. A small amount of filler is added and sanded.
I give the main and buffalo rails another coat of white paint.
Next up, the Monkey Rail.
Work time: 8 hours
Total work time: 183.5 hours
Thanks for all the well wishes. The Admiral is doing about as well as can be expected. We still have 2 weeks until she gets the stitches and staples out (of her head). She has problems sleeping as it doesn’t matter how she tries to sleep, there is pressure and movement against the staples - meaning pain or discomfort.
Even with so much going on, but I’ve been able to chisel out some time for my Bluenose. Next up is drilling out the hawse holes at the bow and cutting/drilling the small slots in the rail for the chain plates. I’m think that by drilling/cutting the slots on the quarterdeck now I’ll be able to more easily cut/drill the matching slots on the monkey rail.
As I was marking hawse holes I thought it would be a good idea to use the metal hawse hole lips to help with the marking. When I looked in the kit box, they were nowhere to be found. I made sure to look under everything but they weren’t there. I then began to question if they were actually metal.
I looked at the parts list, and then realized that all of the medal parts were missing. Given the kit had sat in my basement for over 20 years and was included in multiple moves (including a cross country move from Denver to Philly and then again back to Denver), who knows, maybe they were lost at some point.
I tried to convince myself that there’s no way that I would have NOT noticed that they were missing when I pulled the kit out a few months ago, but who knows. Then I realized that in addition to the medal parts missing, the rigging and sail material were also missing. I started feeling better that I had them, but where…
After checking unsuccessfully in a few more places, I remembered about a box that might be tucked away in my comic book room (I’ve collected comics since the early 80s and have around 13,000 so yes, they have their own room). And voila, there everything was. In all the short panic attack lasted less than 30 minutes, but boy was I glad when I found them.
Once I had everything, I pulled out the “lips” and put them where they will be installed and used a pencil to mark the location. My thought is to drill from the inside out with a very fine bit, and then widen the hole to appropriate size. My hope is that by drilling inside out, I can line up directly on top of the chafe block and aim for where I drew the hawse holes on the bow. At least that’s my plan.
Drilling from the inside worked as expected but as I was widening the hole on the outside, I ended up opening the hull under the level of the deck.
I used a few drops of glue to close the holes. Once dried, I sanded and then painted the inside of the holes black.
To create the slots in the rails for the chain plates, I used a small drill bit and then used a #11 blade to widen the slot. I finished up by wiggling the 1/64” x 1/16” brass stock through each hole. I had been apprehensive about this step, but it went fairly smoothly. I split the rail at one slot, but a drop of glue and it’s good as new.
Before I do much more I need to create the main boom sheet buffer. Since I made my own main rail for the transom, the laser cut pieces included in the kit will not work. Additionally since the inside of my transom is a bit more slopped, I’ll need to modify the overall creation. In looking at a number of build logs, this appears to look a bit different in each one, so I’m not worried that mine will look a bit different.
Given how small and tight the opening is under the mail rail, I’m also going to install the metal boom sheet buffer at this point too.
I file and clean up the boom sheet buffer and paint it. The ring is painted “gold” while the ends are painted black. The ring may need to get repainted later as the “gold” ain’t that I have is more of a yellow. I’ll decide on the repainting as I add more details to the deck. After painting, the boom sheet buffer is attached/glued to the small shelf under the rail through 2 very small drilled holes. The completed shelf assembly is given a light sanding and then glued together and then glued under the rail.
Next up is the buffalo rail. It’s made from a laser cut piece plus 2 sections of 3/32”x1/16” stock, each about 6” in length. The front of each needed to be cut/sanded to match the rear edge of the laser cut piece while the back end need to be rounded off. All 3 pieces were glued and clamped in place until dried. A small amount of filler is added and sanded.
I give the main and buffalo rails another coat of white paint.
Next up, the Monkey Rail.
Work time: 8 hours
Total work time: 183.5 hours
Good job on the chain plate openings.
You must have read my log where I had to split open the rail above the main boom sheet buffer to install it later in the build. It always pays to look ahead.
Looking really good!
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Wish I could say I had seen it in your log but it was more due to where the opening for the buffer ended up on my main rail. To have the buffer near the flat part of the deck I had to extend the main rail - putting that all together told me I had better check out how/when I should install the buffer.Good job on the chain plate openings.
You must have read my log where I had to split open the rail above the main boom sheet buffer to install it later in the build. It always pays to look ahead.
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Neat scarf joints for the Buffalo Rail. Looks great!
I wish your Admiral a speedy recovery and respite from the pain of the staples and stiches. Most of all a good nights' sleep!
Pete
I wish your Admiral a speedy recovery and respite from the pain of the staples and stiches. Most of all a good nights' sleep!
Pete
Last edited:
Good morning Hugh. Lovely progress. Boy you had plenty of hole drilling to do in this phase. Cheers Grant
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11/4 to 12/2
The Monkey Rail…
Think I probably had the least productive work day at the Rocky Mountain Shipwrights workshop today. Since I had remade the main rail at the transom, I knew I wouldn’t be able to use the laser cut pieces so I had to find the 3/63” x 3/32” strips in my remaining stock. I had not brought tools to bend the boards for the monkey board so going in, I knew I was limited in what I could do.
So, no physical work completed, but I did find the boards that are to be used on the monkey board.
The rest of the time was spent talking to other members including talking about the blocks that were included in my kit. I’ve heard others talk about the quality of those included in the kit, but today I got to actually see what quality blocks look like, and I’ll be ordering what I need from Syren Ship Model Company
Creating the monkey board will require me to bend aboard - which will be a first for me. I’ve done little bends and twists before, but the monkey board needs a 90 degree bend.
My electric plank bender is in Mexico, and I don’t feel like spend $30-$40 so I’ll try using an old soldering iron instead. I created a bending board by using a couple of hole saws on a scrap board from the garage.
I traced out the main rail from great beam to great beam and then drew another line approximately 1/8” inside of my original line. I cut this out and pinned it to a board. I began soaking the board and then plugged in the iron. After the board had soaked about 5 minutes I wiped it off with a paper towel and began trying bend it on the form. After a few minutes, and after breaking the board once, I felt I had a bend that was close enough to pin to the tracing. Yeah, it was burnt a bit, but for my first one, it seemed to be ok.
I repeated the process for the starboard side, but in addition to soaking the board, I also dipped it back into the water every few seconds. I was also more careful about not burning the board. Like the 1st one, I pinned it to the tracing to let it dry.
So only about 4 hours of work during the entire month of November, mostly because of my wife’s DBS surgery (she’s doing wonderful, especially after her first programming session) plus we’re heading to Puerto Vallarta today for 2 months and there was a LOT of stuff to do to get ready. It will be a great trip, but in our haste to get to the airport this morning, we both forgot our phones at home. Our daughter will bring them down when she joins us in 2 weeks, but for now, we have our iPads, but no phones.
I’ll be working on my Molino in PV, but the Bluenose is in short term storage.
Work time: 4 hours
Total work time: 187.5 hours
The Monkey Rail…
Think I probably had the least productive work day at the Rocky Mountain Shipwrights workshop today. Since I had remade the main rail at the transom, I knew I wouldn’t be able to use the laser cut pieces so I had to find the 3/63” x 3/32” strips in my remaining stock. I had not brought tools to bend the boards for the monkey board so going in, I knew I was limited in what I could do.
So, no physical work completed, but I did find the boards that are to be used on the monkey board.
The rest of the time was spent talking to other members including talking about the blocks that were included in my kit. I’ve heard others talk about the quality of those included in the kit, but today I got to actually see what quality blocks look like, and I’ll be ordering what I need from Syren Ship Model Company
Creating the monkey board will require me to bend aboard - which will be a first for me. I’ve done little bends and twists before, but the monkey board needs a 90 degree bend.
My electric plank bender is in Mexico, and I don’t feel like spend $30-$40 so I’ll try using an old soldering iron instead. I created a bending board by using a couple of hole saws on a scrap board from the garage.
I traced out the main rail from great beam to great beam and then drew another line approximately 1/8” inside of my original line. I cut this out and pinned it to a board. I began soaking the board and then plugged in the iron. After the board had soaked about 5 minutes I wiped it off with a paper towel and began trying bend it on the form. After a few minutes, and after breaking the board once, I felt I had a bend that was close enough to pin to the tracing. Yeah, it was burnt a bit, but for my first one, it seemed to be ok.
I repeated the process for the starboard side, but in addition to soaking the board, I also dipped it back into the water every few seconds. I was also more careful about not burning the board. Like the 1st one, I pinned it to the tracing to let it dry.
So only about 4 hours of work during the entire month of November, mostly because of my wife’s DBS surgery (she’s doing wonderful, especially after her first programming session) plus we’re heading to Puerto Vallarta today for 2 months and there was a LOT of stuff to do to get ready. It will be a great trip, but in our haste to get to the airport this morning, we both forgot our phones at home. Our daughter will bring them down when she joins us in 2 weeks, but for now, we have our iPads, but no phones. I’ll be working on my Molino in PV, but the Bluenose is in short term storage.
Work time: 4 hours
Total work time: 187.5 hours
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I am glad your wife is doing well. Same for the Bluenose. Nice work on the Monkey Rail. 
Pete
Pete
Nice work on the Monkey Rail, Hugh. And wishing a well recovery of your Admiral.
Regards, Peter
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2/3/24 to 2/11
Back in Colorado and the first thing I needed to do was figure out exactly where I was since it’s been a little more than two months since I’ve worked on my Bluenose. I used most of the February workshop of the Rocky Mountain Shipwrights to determine my next steps.
First up installing the monkey board that I had previously bent. Given how much time I had spent bending the board, it installed fairly easy with a couple of rubber bands.
After the board dried, it was time to trim the boards at the transom and glue them together.
My focus then turned to the front edge of the board at the great beam. The board needed a simple rounding.
Instead of trying to bend the 3/64” x 7/64” monkey rail, I fashioned the curve of the monkey rail at the great beam out of a 1/8” x 3/16” board, carving it to wrap around the end of the monkey board. These 1/2” pieces were then glued in place.
I then went after the rail at the stern. I wasn’t able to use the supplied laser cut piece since I had previously manufactured the main rail. I was able to cut the piece in half and glue them in place.
I then used some stock to fill in the gap created by cutting the piece in half. At this point I felt the symmetry of the main rail (or lack there of) needed to be addressed. I glued a small and thin board onto the main rail. Once dry, it was sanded and filled with filler to even out the rail.
The remaining sections of the monkey rail will each be created with a single board. I placed the front end of each under the curved piece at the great beam and glued the front 3 or 4 inches. The rail has a slight bend so my thought was once the front portions were dry, I could then gently bend and glue them in place.
I will need as little bit of filler but I’m happy with the results.
Right after I finished painting the monkey board & rail white, I realized that the board was supposed to be black. So repainting is my next task.
Black paint on the monkey board followed by white touch up on the rails (main and monkey). And then because of my shaky hands 3 more rounds of black touch up followed by white touch up. Definitely not happy that it took so many corrections, but at the end I was happy with the results.
And speaking of happy results… for my wife… How ‘bout the Chiefs!
Work time: 10 hours
Total work time: 197.5 hours
Back in Colorado and the first thing I needed to do was figure out exactly where I was since it’s been a little more than two months since I’ve worked on my Bluenose. I used most of the February workshop of the Rocky Mountain Shipwrights to determine my next steps.
First up installing the monkey board that I had previously bent. Given how much time I had spent bending the board, it installed fairly easy with a couple of rubber bands.
After the board dried, it was time to trim the boards at the transom and glue them together.
My focus then turned to the front edge of the board at the great beam. The board needed a simple rounding.
Instead of trying to bend the 3/64” x 7/64” monkey rail, I fashioned the curve of the monkey rail at the great beam out of a 1/8” x 3/16” board, carving it to wrap around the end of the monkey board. These 1/2” pieces were then glued in place.
I then went after the rail at the stern. I wasn’t able to use the supplied laser cut piece since I had previously manufactured the main rail. I was able to cut the piece in half and glue them in place.
I then used some stock to fill in the gap created by cutting the piece in half. At this point I felt the symmetry of the main rail (or lack there of) needed to be addressed. I glued a small and thin board onto the main rail. Once dry, it was sanded and filled with filler to even out the rail.
The remaining sections of the monkey rail will each be created with a single board. I placed the front end of each under the curved piece at the great beam and glued the front 3 or 4 inches. The rail has a slight bend so my thought was once the front portions were dry, I could then gently bend and glue them in place.
I will need as little bit of filler but I’m happy with the results.
Right after I finished painting the monkey board & rail white, I realized that the board was supposed to be black. So repainting is my next task.
Black paint on the monkey board followed by white touch up on the rails (main and monkey). And then because of my shaky hands 3 more rounds of black touch up followed by white touch up. Definitely not happy that it took so many corrections, but at the end I was happy with the results.
And speaking of happy results… for my wife… How ‘bout the Chiefs!
Work time: 10 hours
Total work time: 197.5 hours
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Nicely lined and painted railing, Hugh.
Now she showed her lines very well.
Regards, Peter