After the portholes were finished, it was time to move the furniture in and close up the pilot house. my usual routine when I get back into a build, is to mess around with something small, working myself back into what I was doing before I stopped. I touched up the buoys, leaving the eyelets for the last thing to do to them.
One minor thing led to another, I still had to create a bracket for the mizzen mast. in a previous build log, I mentioned that I had made a miscalculation with the pilot house and the base on which it sits. I had to root the mizzen mast into the deck. this meant that I needed to create a bracket for it, one that would reach it from it's new position. simply put......it's just a piece of wood, concaved on it's outer edge. I may also fit it with a brass "U" fitting as well.....I'll see how it goes.
The lantern you see on the mizzen mast had a gap in it with no "glass" to fill it. I filled it in with the Testor's clear window maker, and it dried to a clear glass. this worked so well, I did the same thing with the lantern that sit up on the main mast too.....worked like a charm! now.........let's move in, shall we!
I made sure that the yellow and white buoy was visible on the top shelf. I had another thought about a picture on the wall, but the timer ran out on that idea......sorry Tom.
As you can see here, I created the booms next. I had {without thinking}used on of the booms to make the gaff for the mizzen. so, it was off to the hobby store. they didn't have 11/64ths, which was the diameter of the booms in the kit, but they did have 3/16ths, which is the next size up on my chart. I found that I still need to cut them down a little.....I had cut them to the dowel length, rather than the length in the plan. just a small formality.....time to put the roof on the pilot house.
It took a bit of doing to get the roof to line up.....the house was a little out of square. I installed a brace from the starboard side rear to the port side front and was able to tweak the box almost perfect. after the roof was dry, I added the edge molding along the roof line and installed the life rings. after a little touch up, it was complete! thar she be!
It was time to cement the pilot house into place. I had also made a really cool discovery concerning the way I was attaching the blocks to the eye bolts. I was looking at the Gothenborg the other day. I noticed that the plywood sheets were warping, so I popped the parts out and numbered them. I was looking at the hardware kit and I saw flat, round eye bolts, with a location tab on them. these are my idea of eye bolts, I thought to myself. we were going to take a trip to the mall that afternoon, and I remembered that there was a craft store in there. we went in there, and looking around, I happened to find the jewelry department. I found the beads that I had used to make the buoys, but I also found other things that made me flip my lid! I found the flat, round eye bolts, with tabs on them! I also found round and oval links that could be used to attach the blocks to the eye bolts. there were a few other things I saw that could be useful, but I saw an empty peg...a peg that was reserved for blackened chain......they were out! I'll keep an eye on this place......I'll tell you!
I went home and changed all the things I had done with the craft's wire, over to the new stuff. blocks move about more freely and dangle.....which will mean a lot more flexibility when it comes time to rig her!
This will be happening VERY soon, now! AHOY!
