Mary Ann Billings Boat Kit 1/56 scale

The first thing i did was to dry fit all the frames to see how they fitted and then sanded where needed to get a good fit in the false keel before gluing them in place,having never built a wooden kit before i double checked everything and read the instructions a few times to be sure what i was doing was right.
I also made myself a jig to hold the keel in to stop it from bending or twisting.








cheers steve

Ok so heres the start of the planking of the hull the thing to remember is that the frames are chamfered to the curve of the hull so that when the planks are laid they go on smoothly fitting up against the frames without breaking them.










cheers steve

The next stage was to start building the wheelhouse which is already laser cut so its just a matter of dry fitting the parts and once happy with the fit i then glued the pieces together.I used plasticard for the window frames cut to about 2mm and the curve in the front was achieved by steaming the frame over the kettle and slowly bending it to shape.






cheers steve

Quite pleased with how the engine exhaust turned out and next was to add a few more details to the wheelhouse and then put everything together.









cheers steve

Ok so here is the start of the deck planking looks a bit messy i know but unlike naval vessels where the caulking is kept nice and neat fishing vessels are not so fussy and usually you only find the caulking really tidy is when the ship is first built and the decks have had the extra tar scrapped off leaving nice neat lines between each plank.





to imitate the tar i used i think what women call an eye liner pencil it is very soft like a chinagraph pencil maybe even a little softer, anyway this gave the desired effect that i was looking for.
cheers steve