First Floor Almost Completed!

Hi All,

I'm back!!!

After some time off the 'construction site' due to some various reasons (nicer weather, other projects, a small vacation and plenty of procrastination) I have started to work a bit more on the Black Pearl.

This is how it currently looks:

More Shrouds and Deadeyes

Hi,

I worked a bit last week on the Black Pearl rigging. There is some progress on the fore mast standing rigging! The starboard side is now completed. You can admire it in the next pictures.

This is how the lower part looks on the model. The shroud's deadeyes are now connected to the channel's deadeyes using the laniards.

Shrouds and Deadeyes

Hi All,

I am back again with more updates about the Black Pearl model construction. Be aware, I might get technical this time :-P.

Today I am going to tell you about Shrouds. What are they, what are they used for, how one can model them.

Let's start. Shrouds are ropes that go from the top of the masts to the ship body. Their role is to support the masts and keep them in position. Since a picture always says more than words, I present you my first pair of shrouds.

The Crew

Hi All,

There is no point in having a ship if there is no one to use it, right? At least a famous fantasy pirate ship, as Black (Brown) Pearl is, must have some pirates around to talk and sing pirate English (http://www.wikihow.com/Talk-Like-a-Pirate), yell 'Arrr!' and 'Aye' all over the place.

So, the captain decided to gather the crew and visit the crew. There was immediately a problem. The crew, being quite new, was not adequately dressed (no, they were not drunk). You can see one of them in the next picture.

Bobstay and Blocks

Hi All,

Yesterday I have finished to rig all the guns and also installed them on the deck. You can see the results in the next picture. The work on them is not completely finished. I have to varnish them, but for now they are glued and painted and look pretty good.

Rigging The Guns

Hi All,

My rigging research continues, but in the mean time I am also finishing the deck details. Everyone says do this first because you do not want to do it when you have all the ropes there.

So, I have started to put together the guns from the main deck. Because they are in the open and seen by everybody, I decided to fit them with some minimal rigging. This is how the end result looks like.

More Deck and Masts Work

Hello,

Last time I said I am starting to do some research about the next steps. This turned out to be (as I knew it will) boring and tedious and long. There is no 'model ship rigging for dummies' of course. Fortunately, the people in the forums that did this already are really helpful and nice.

Anyway, while researching I have started to gather a list with the things that have to be completed before starting to fill the model with ropes.

In the next pictures you will see that I started to tackle this list already. First, the pins (more than 60) that will be used to secure all the running rigging are glued in place.

Standing Rigging Started

Hi All,

It has been a long week for me. I have finally started the thing I was most afraid of: the standing rigging. And it is a bit more complicated than I thought. As you can see in the first picture, a lot of research is needed.

The Show Goes On!

Hi All,

It has been a long time since last time. I was a bit busy, but this does not mean nothing happened with the Black Pearl in the mean while.

Stay wit me for the next couple of images and I will tell you everything!

More details were added to the deck. These were not in the plans, but since they were available, I found a place were the fit just fine.

The Masts Are On!

Yes, you are seeing well, the Pearl's masts are finished and a first view with them on is available! 

The Actors Behind The Scenes

Hello,

And welcome! In the last days I did some repetitive work on small things that will be needed to move to the next step. Mostly I have attached the deadeyes to the hull, preparing them for the masts. You can see the results in the next images.

Guns And Deadeyes

Hello,

I managed to work a bit tonight on finishing the guns for the lower deck. You can see them in the next pictures. Because the kit producer forgot to add in the box everything needed to build the guns I ended up looking around the house for things that might be useful. The toothpicks looked liked perfect candidates for the gun support. They were however a bit thick, so I had to sand them. Fortunately, the drill machine was around and helped making the job easier and faster. After some painting, this how the guns look like.

The weight is a bit unbalanced, but this is nothing that some glue and well placed spacers won't fix. So the next step was to measure the angles they will have on the model and then glue them in the right position. See for yourselves the result.

 This is how it might look on the model itself. For the lower deck guns, I will not add any rigging. But I am considering (and researching) this for the upper deck guns.

The captain considered that the gun inspection will better be left on the main gunner shoulders, so there we are. The client seems delighted with the results. The sword is there just to make the seagulls go away, don't let yourselves fooled.

Next I had a try on the deadeyes. They will support the masts. I decided to document a step by step approach, so there we go. First step was of course document myself a bit. There are quite a few ways to attach them on the real ships depending on the period type of the ship and who built it. Then there are even more ways that modelers can use to represent this on a smaller scale.

The kit contained chains to attach them on the hull. And the research confirmed that the chains will fit for the Black Pearl. Having the raw materials and the right tools available, I started the work.

And the final result, after some measuring, cutting and fitting. I still have to solder the loose ends and find a way to paint them (most probably the gold brass color will not really fit with the brown hull, but who knows...).

And this is how it looks attached to the hull. Seems nice, maybe I will not need to paint them after all, but I will decide this after soldering.

Good news, one is almost done, only 39 more to go.

That's it for tonight, see you the next days with more details.

The Pearl Has A Nose Now

Hello,

And welcome back! Yes, the title is right, the Black (or Brown) Pearl has now a nose. I have started to work on the masts and the bowsprit was the first. You can admire the Pearl with her new nose in the next pictures.

Painted but not yet Varnished

Hi All,

It has been some time since the last post. I was not exactly lazy, but I did not had so much time as I would have liked it for the Pearl.

Anyway, the Pearl visited the beauty saloon in the mean while. Almost the complete deck is populated now and all the small details that have to be attached to the body are glued now. So, it was time to do some painting.

As you can see in the pictures it got a brownish tint. I am still considering using a very washed black on it. It should just darken it a bit more and get bigger contrast on the body.

More Details Added

Hi All,

As a famous celebrity used to say: I'm back!
The pearl was sanded and more details were glued on it. It starts to look really beautiful (as you will see in the next pictures).

The stairs are now completed. I could have done a better job here, but I am content with the first try. I have learned what to do and what not to do when building them.

Preparing For Staining

Hi All,

In the last days I have prepared the Pearl's body for the last decorations and attachments that have to be fitted on before staining and varnishing. You can see in the below pictures how it looks like.

Here you can see some of the places where the running rigging will be fitted. In case you do not know, rigging consists on mostly two parts: the standing rigging (used mostly to keep the parts in place) and the running rigging (used for the sails and other moving parts).

More Work On Deck And Painting

Hello and Welcome!

Here are some updates with what happened with the Pearl in the last two days. Check the pictures below and let me know what you think.

The back tower roof got painted with dark brown (mixed with 2 parts water). It looks pretty good, so i think it will stay like this. Might be that the Black Pearl will end up as a Brown Pearl (as my girlfriend noticed :-) ).

The Pearl is now dressed!

Hi All,

Today it happened! The Pearl is now fully planked (or dressed as in the title).

Check it out in the next pictures!

Planking Finish Closing In!

Hi All,

Good news, I'm back! The ski resort was great and i had a great time playing in the snow. Then the new year started and the weather was not very skiing  friendly, so I had some time to work a bit more on the Pearl.