Hi Jim
Nice work so far, if your looking for a good cutter that most of us would reccomend try here

http://www.proopsbrother...o%21&PR=-1&TB=A

Go for the £8.11 one if you havent already ordered
Regards
Andy

Unfortunately I've already ordered, I think I should have Googled harder, I didn't come across any of those from Proopsbrother!!

This is the one I have ordered, a little bit more expensive:

http://www.ema-models.co...-tools/the-chopper.html

What I'm trying to work out is if it will be easier to stain a complete length of the Tanganyika strip then cut it to length before coating with the antique oil??

Adrie,

My plank lengths will be 135mm in a three plank shift as per Magpies build. I love the effect he managed to achieve with his deck.

Either way, I'm liking the tinkering. I quite like learning new techniques and it seems every step of this build will be a challenge.

Hi Jim, looks like you are making good steady progress... Looking good.... .. Very well done....

Regards

Alan

FYI, the wood on the real decks was not stained. It was cleaned on a fairly regular basis with holystones which sanded and cleaned the deck. The wood was just plain raw. The swelling on the deck boards from getting wet all the time also helped to stop the deck from leaking below to some extent.

I left mine raw for the accuracy plus if you have an accident it can be cleaned (sanded) off easily. Also whatever you glue to the deck will stick a lot better since the glue will penetrate the planks better.

One thng I did to give the deck a kind of dirty worn look was to rub pencil on some paper, rub that onto a towel and then buff it into the high traffic areas on the deck. I did that after the deck was finished. It looks like it's worn from all of the foot traffic.

The most difficult thing I did on my ship was adding wear to the ship. First you do this beautiful perfect job, then you get to sand and beat wear marks into everything. I went for a half years worth of wear on the ship kind of look, but personally I think it looks a lot nicer than the out of the box look.

Just food for thought.....

P.S. Goods real good so far IMO.

Well it's been a couple of weeks since my last update. I would love to report that I've made major progress, but I haven't!!

I'm still plodding along with the deck, which is now Maple strip and not Tanganyika as I originally planned.
The Maple strip was a little harder to cut than I expected, particularly when it came to trying to cut them in the Chopper. I went through a couple of blades before I switched to using a metal mitre and razor saw, which I found much easier. Typical really after I'd spent £25 on the Chopper specifically for cutting the strips!! Now I have a box full of what can best be described as coffee stirrers!!! At least they'll be good for something if this all goes wrong.

I practised laying the planks (very roughly) just to see what it would look like.

My plan now for the decks is to use diluted 'Weather It' to give a slightly aged look, then use Danish Oil on the lower and Antique Oil on the upper decks. This will be applied once the strips have been fitted and sanded smoother.

One thing I need to look into before gluing anything is simulating the caulking. I had originally planned to use a black permanent 'Sharpie' marker. Which would have been applied after the strips had been coated with Antique Oil to prevent the ink bleeding. But with my new plan, it will be bare wood, laid, sanded then weathered and oiled. I have looked at black electrical tape, but I don't imagine it would hold up to much sanding. Likewise using pencil, would probably be obliterated when it came to weathering and oiling. If anyone has a favourite method for caulking please let me know!!!

So I'm yet again having to stop and really think about what it is I want to achieve. This kit is very much one step forward and two steps back!!!

I have also started infilling between the bow formers in an attempt at adding a little more strength and surface area for when it comes to planking.

It still amazes me how solid this thing is becoming. It must be very heavy once it's finished!!!