ST. ROCH GETS 1st COAT OF PAINT

I masked off the bottom of the hull today and took the boat into the garage to be sprayed with Tamiya's XF23 Light Blue - it's a pretty good colour match for the St. Roch. I've been putting off this job for ages, because I was sure I was gonna make a pig's ear of it.

Well, I needn't have worried, because nothing bad happened :-) It was pretty straight forward applying the first coat. My biggest problem now, is that the paint shows up every imperfection in the hull, so I've got some work ahead of me.

GOT SOMETHING IN MY EYE!

Can't believe the luck I'm having recently! First of all, someone gives me a Billing Boats Half Moon No.450 kit, then after lusting over a Billing Boats Nordkap No.476, I find one on ebay and the seller lives on my doorstep.Unbelievably, this guy bought the kit 25 years ago and after putting the very basic skeleton together, he put it all away in the attic and it stayed there for two and a half decades!

When I saw it on Ebay, I looked up the cost of a new one from CORNWALL MODEL BOATS and they're £270 ($370), so I rang the guy and asked if I could pop over to examine it. He said yes.When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to see how good the condition of the kit was because his own photo on ebay portrayed it in a very poor light. Anyway, after looking through the boxes and determining that there were a couple of bits and bats missing, I asked him what he'd take for it. To my utter amazement, he said £60. WOW!!!

Needless to say, I threw £60 at him and while he was bending down picking up the notes from the kitchen floor, I legged it to my car and screeched away with a smug grin on my face.The timber seems to be in pretty good condition, but maybe not as stiff as brand new wood. Maybe it'll harden up in my hobby room. A couple of the bulkhead pieces at the stern were loose, so I carefully removed them. I guess the 25yr old glue has lost some of its stickiness.

When I start the build I'll check the others thoroughly.The seller explained to me that he bought the boat-kit and the fittings-kit separately, claiming that's how they were sold back in the 80's. The fitting-kit has a Box Number of 477, so it sounds right enough. I've not yet carried out a full inventory of the parts to determine which bits are missing, but I'll get around to it soon enough.I will not be starting this build until I finish the St.Roch project. I had previously planned to start my Vaporetto next, but I'm too excited about the Nordkap.

Billing Boats Nordkap No.476

ANOTHER NEW TOOL

You know, I just can't help myself!! I was in a hobby store tonight picking up some (more) paint, when I came across a rather handy looking tool. I'll probably never use it, but that's not why I buy tools, lol.

It's a special vice which can clamp things in the normal way, or by using a set of pins strategically located to grip virtually anything including round objects. It can even grip tubes - from the inside!  It also has a tripod-mount on the underside or you can hand hold it by attaching the supplied wooden handle.

I'm sure the wife will join me in celebrating its purchase :-)

NEARLY READY FOR SPRAYING

Had a few chores to do tonight, so I didn't get too much done. Planked the front of the cabin section down the main deck, then painted it. Also put on the rail-strips on the starboard side of the hull (had completely forgotten to do them and hadn't noticed until now).

All I need to do now is mask the water-line and get spraying the rest of the hull with Tamiya's XF23 blue acrylic. Before I do that though, I need to get some practise in with that Aztec Airbrush. I'll probably make a right pig's ear of it, lol.

XMAS WISH LIST

I've been admiring some other boats from the Billing range and in particular, quite fancy the following models if I should come across any money this Christmas....

BB476 NORDKAP

BB472 MARY ANN

BB474 CUX 87

BB603 NORDEN CUTTER

BB534 BOLOGNE ETAPLES

LIFE BOATS

Painted the lifeboats tonight. Did the interior the same colour as the decking, but I might change it - hmmm - not sure.

I OFFICIALLY HATE ROPE!

Tonight I worked on the tiny snow-sledge and for the first time in my life I worked with "rope". Boy, I hate that stuff!! To feed it through the tiny holes I had to wet the end and then drag it through some superglue to harden it. Even after that, I found that I needed to open up the holes slightly with one of my tiny Dremel Drill Bits.

I also applied a second coat of the Brown Red to the bottom of the hull (after sanding the first coat). It looks pretty good now and when it has completely dried, I'll be applying masking tape to it so that I can start painting the rest of the hull in light blue.

NEW AIRBRUSH KIT

Just got this nice bit of kit for an absolute BARGAIN PRICE on eBay. Nicked it with just a few seconds to go.

PAINTING HAS BEGUN

Over the last few days I've been experimenting with various paints and colours. It's been a devil of a job finding the correct shade of blue/grey, so I've had to just choose the best of what's available to me. In the end, I went for Tamiya's XF-23 Light Blue, which is an acrylic. For the bottom of the hull, I chose Humbrol's 100 Red Brown which I applied using a brush.

This morning I went over to Machine-Mart and bought a quick-release coupler and adapter to allow me to attach my airbrush to the new compressor. I've never airbrushed before, but I'll be using it to paint the rest of the hull.

Wish me luck! LOL

NEW HOBBY-ROOM

Well after waving goodbye to my 25yr old son (he's moved in with his girlfriend), I set about claiming his bedroom as my hobby-room. That's right, I don't let the dust settle!

I use this room for model-making, painting and combat-flight-sim (DCS A-10 Warthog).

TO PAINT OR NOT TO PAINT

That is the question! I change my mind constantly on this subject. On the one hand, I could keep it all unpainted and use the kit as a "first exercise" in boat-building, or I could paint it and have it end up looking like a toy from the £-SHOP!  If I do paint it, I would at least, gain from the mistakes I make there. Hmmmm, I'll sleep on it.

Anyway, I've also fitted the masts......

TED HAMILTON's PHOTOS

Ted Hamilton very kindly called into the Vancouver Maritime Museum and took some photos for me. Many thanks Ted!! For the benefit of anyone else who's interested in the St. Roch, here they are...