Back in November I finished coppering one side of the hull.  Then the project sat idle for 2 months, right there in my office, taunting me daily.  This weekend I was finally able to dive back in.

On Saturday I was able to completely copper the other side of hull, which finished up the hull coppering.  It took several hours, but once I got into a groove, it was pretty painless.  Once coppering was complete, I painted the inside of the bulwarks, giving them a few coats of white.

Sunday’s focus was on the deck.  I made a paper cut out to fit the upper and lower parts of the deck, which took an hour or so to get just right.  I used these as templates to cut the deck planking.  While I love the look of the individual planks I’ve seen in some other build logs, I went with the sheet of planking included with the kit.  (First ship, and I don’t want to go too crazy.)

In the practicum it is recommended to use a manilla folder for the waterways.  I didn’t have one, but I had some very thin wood sheets, so I added a waterway made of wood.  This was probably not the best choice – even with a lot of sanding they are still too thick.  Oh well, first ship…

I built the rudder and got it coppered.  I followed the general shape, but I had to make some alterations to get the fit just right.  I still need to do the pintles and gudgeons – I need to swing by a hobby store to get some materials for those.

As I transitioned to working on the deck, my new cradle came in very handy.  This is the second one I’ve built.  This one has rails on the bottom so I can mount the cradle in my PanaVise (which is mounted on a small platform).  This has made tilting the ship effortless.

Things I’ve noticed during this busy weekend…

• My waterline is a little off.  The coppering is a little to high around the middle of the ship.
• When a trusted source tells you to use a manilla folder, trust him.
• I didn’t get the waterways lined up well enough with the step in the deck.  Hopefully when I get the stanchions and the cap rail on it won’t be as noticable.
• It is tough to get things perfect at this scale.

Feels good to make some progress after a couple idle months.  Knowing that I’ve got a Bluenose kit sitting in the closet is providing some motivation.