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A few months ago a received a commission to build the above mentioned yacht which was to be based on the customers real yacht. Once I had as much info as required the build could begin, as this was going to be completely scratch built the first task was to make up and assemble the keel and frames. With the keel and frames assembled the stringers could be added to strengthen the frames constantly checking the keels alignment making sure everything was as it should be, then I could fit into place the bow and stern balsa wood which was then shaped to allow the planks to have a much stronger point of contact, then the planking could start using Lime wood. This process took a couple of weeks taking great care that everything was aligned; this was then followed by sealing the insides prior to painting the hulls outside. I decided that before I painted the hull I would fit the deck once the mast and tiller positions had been marked on as well as the sunken cockpit area.
The hull prep could now begin this as you can imagine takes some time applying several coats of primer each layer being smoothed down and the followed by several layers of the final colours once this had been achieved the red line could be painted on prior to sealing the finished paint job. The next task was to fit the rudder assembly and the prop thus completing all of the work on the hull itself.
I could now start work on the deck area and the cockpit area; firstly I carefully marked on the position of the superstructure and the mast base before starting the deck planking which although pretty fiddly turned out very nicely in the end. Now with the deck planking finished I could work on the cockpit area and all of its details eg storage boxes and hatches etc , this was then painted to finish whilst access was still easy. With things moving on nicely I then moved onto making all of the various deck fittings and other details from scratch thus completing the first part of the build. With all the deck fittings now made some could be fitted into their final positions whilst leaving the remainder until the superstructure was in position, this was indeed the next stage of the build. The main thing with the superstructure was to make sure all the deck curves were taken into account thus achieving a perfect fit up to the edge of the curved deck planking as well as port to starboard on the deck. Once the superstructure had been completed it was fixed into place and all of the fittings were put into place as well as the mast base.
Now that the hull was 90% complete the next task would be to make up the masts and booms and fit the mast into place through the forward part of the superstructure this was straight forward enough. Once the main mast had set in place the next task would be to rig the model and add all of the remaining details eg stanchions, boat hooks plus various types of rope detail thus completing the model. One final task was to very carefully check the model all over before being shipped back to its owners to be enjoyed for years to come.
Overall this commission proved very enjoyable although quite challenging at times.
