Checked operation of the rudder by piggybacking off Faun. Enlarged the hole through the stern a bit to give more clearance and happy with the amount of rudder movement.

Back onto the cockpit area now.

Having dealt with the rudder and it's servo I was then able to return to working on the cockpit by fitting the coaming and making the seating and boxing in the servo. Everything comes out to allow for access.

This just leaves the door and console to make and fit.

It's been awhile since I posted any updates - I've been involved in doing other things non-model related, as you do. I have managed to do some painting of my other Faireys in recent days (still in progress) but now it's the turn of this build. Before that I had to do some rectification of the holes for the port holes. I'd drilled them out before fitting the cabin sides but once the deck was skinned I could see that the forwardmost ones were too low and looked odd. So first job to was cut pieces of ply with the hole raised up and glued them to the inside of the cabin sides. I then filed out the top of the original holes until they were correct and partly filled the bottom. Once the filler had set I ran the stepped drill into the hole and checked that the portholes fitted and looked right. Extra work but it had to be done.

Painting the deck was the first to be done , as it's in white, and will be followed by the cabin sides and coamings in dark blue. I'd like to say in my usual colour-scheme of classic/traditional Fairey colours, but I was taken to task by someone once in a Facebook group, so refrain from saying that again!

First job and fiddly was masking between the deck and cabin sides and coaming and around the rubbing strips. That done the first coat of thinned primer-undercoat was applied.

Chris

Back on the Fisherman now to continue the painting. First coat of primer-undercoat highlighted some areas of grain that needed to be filled, so this was done with Polyfilla quick drying filler. Once dry this was sanded back and the whole deck given a light sanding followed by a further two coats of primer-undercoat. This was given another light sanding and followed by the first coat of white gloss and it will be followed by at least another two.

On the full-sized boats the keel and bilge-keels are painted but I pondered over whether to do this as I've made them out of mahogany. So I've decided to varnish them and to make them stand out paint the hull white. Once the boat is on the water and seeing how it sits I shall probably paint the upper part of the hull in blue.

Chris

Finished painting the deck. 4 coats of gloss in the end after a fine sanding between the second and third and third and fourth coats. Not entirely happy as usual but it's the best I can do! Looks OK from a few feet away. 🙂

I shall leave that for a couple of weeks for it to harden before I can mask over it for the superstructure in blue. Will do a bit on the other builds now and again depending on the weather.

Chris

Painting is progressing well on my other Fairey builds so I've returned to this build to paint the hull. I could have taken the easy option and painted the keel and bilge keels but thought it a shame to cover up the mahogany so they will be varnished. Trouble is there was quite a bit to mask off but that's done now ready for applying the primer-undercoat. I'll paint the whole hull in white for now but once I've tried it on the water I'll return to it in the future and add some colour.

Chris

When you've sanded the hull ready for painting you always think it is nice and smooth and blemish free. But once you put that first coat of primer on you soon find out that's not the case! Not too bad but a few bumps and indentations were evident. The indentations were filled with surface filler and once dry they and the whole hull was sanded, vacuumed and tack clothed ready for a further coat.

As soon as I started I could see some bumps (which I thought I'd sanded flat) and the odd very minor indent. So tomorrow it it will be a repeat of today. I'm not looking for perfection (though that would be nice) as even though I try my best I just don't have the skills or technique required. But it will be pretty good and I shall be happy with the result knowing I have spent the time on preparation and not rushed it. It is very easy to do this and I'm guilty of that sometimes.

In the photo you can see the lines of the planking. I don't know why that is - I had the same with my Faun build after I started painting it but managed to sand them out - as the hull has had lightweight cloth and multiple layers of Eze-Kote resin and was sanded smooth and being waterproof shouldn't be affected by the wet paint but it does appear that it has been? I don't want to be applying filler to the whole hull at this stage! Perhaps it's just the way the paint is drying? Will find out tomorrow!