Jim Dabrowski

Step Q is complete. 

This step was primarily about building cannons. Lots and lots of cannons. OK, 20 of them, but still. In addition to the cannons, I had to make a number of rails for belaying pins and a couple of other posts that just stick up here and there that things will get tied to. Here is a closer view of some of the cannons. 

Next up is step R where I continue with building and painting some more pieces like this. Steps S, U, and V I’ll be attaching them all to the actual ship. Tempting to just do it now, but I’ll be patient. 

Until next time. 

JIm

While various things kept getting in the way of completing Step N, I decided I can move ahead and work on some of the next steps while waiting for parts or whatever. Steps O & P involved putting what I call “greebles” on the hull of the ship. Here are some pics of the process. 

Here is what the ship looked like at the start of this process. 

This is how the captain’s cabin started. 

The ship has these cool-looking “demons”(?) decorations on the outside of the ship. These are made of cast metal and were glued on the both sides of the ship. 

Here is a close-up shot of the balusters (aka spindles) that are used to hold up the railings on the captain’s cabin. 

The standard instructions have me painting the entire hull by hand with a brush (actually, that’s part of step S, but don’t tell anyone). I didn’t want to do that, I don’t think bush painting looks all that good so I wanted to airbrush it. With the deck and other stuff already installed, I had to do a careful job of masking off all the openings so I didn’t get any paint on the inside. You can also see some of the other details added to the hull. 

I probably should have included this photo in the previous post about completing Step N. This shows my repair work re-attaching the right (starboard) wall of the captain’s cabin after I dropped and broke it. 

And here is what the ship looks like now. All painted black and some additional rails attached to the tops of the hull and ready for the next steps. 

I think today I’ll sand and maybe do some of the white highlight-painting to make it look like the finished captain’s cabin looks. All this painting is supposed to be part of Step S so I may just leave it for then.

Beginning with Step Q, I build cannons and lots of other details that will go on the deck. Hopefully those steps don’t take me 2+ months to complete. But hey, I have until Halloween 2025 to complete this so, plenty of time! (Famous last words, eh?)

See you next time! 

JIm 

Oh my god! I finally finished Step N! 

Step N was building the captain’s cabin that goes on the back of the ship. According to my build log, I started this step in September. Yikes. Ran into lots of issues. The build itself took a while, I also took a trip to Scotland you all may have read about, and I decided to do all the lighting that goes here on the back to light all this up, I also dropped it at on point and broke of one whole side of it so that had to be repaired, then my airbrush crapped out and it took a while for me to get that fixed/replaced. In short, one thing after another but it’s finally complete and I think it looks really cool! :) 

While all the above was happening I moved ahead and also finished steps O & P. Those will be shown and discussed in my next blog post. 

JIm

Yay! Step M is finally finished. I feel like I start many of these build log entries this way. Hmmm. According to my spreadsheet, I started this step on July 13, so this being September 6 that is a long time. The first part of Step M was “plank the entire starboard side” basically. Which, doesn’t sound like much perhaps but seeing as how the starboard side doesn’t have a gaping hole in it, there was a lot more planking to do. 

All that, frankly, took a while. The curves in the hull made fitting all the planks in a bit tricky, but I just had to be patient, do a little bit at a time and eventually it all got done. I also spent a lot of time traveling these past six weeks for a variety of reasons which also slowed me down some. Next up was adding some filler to the bow and some finish planking to the stern. 

Here is a view of the bow with some filler added to round out the front along with some finish planking where there will be another couple of doors. 

Here is a view of the stern of the ship showing some of the finish planking. That big unfinished area is where the captain’s cabin will go. 

Finally sanded it all down reasonably smooth, touched up several areas and I think it’s good to go. 

On to Step N wherein I build the captain’s cabin. That’s going to be fun. This is the first time I’ll get to attach a bunch of the fun greebling of bones, and skulls, and other things that will ultimately make this a really cool looking ghost ship. Can’t wait for you all to see it. 

Until then, 

JIm

Yay! It’s finally finished. I’ve been at this for almost two months. Step L involves installing lighting on the lower deck and in the hold. This needs to be done now because the next step is to plank up the entire port side and then I would no longer be able to install any lights. Here it is. 

The kit itself came with all the pieces necessary to build the lighting by myself. Here is some of what was in the kit. 

The instructions said to build a couple of strands of lights by soldering the capacitors(?) resistors(?) (not sure what those are), to the LEDs, then solder all the LEDs together with short strands of wire, put shrink wrap tubing on most of the connections where possible and tape where it wasn't, and then sandwich all that between a couple of planks of wood and shove it in the ship and glue it in place. 

I’ll admit, I’m not the best at soldering having only done it a few times in my life, so I was a bit intimidated, but I figured I could handle that with some practice. More importantly, when seeing what I had to build out, it just seemed sooooo bulky. I really didn’t like what it was going to look like especially given the wealth of LED strip lighting available today. 

That led me down lots and lots of searches to find LED lights I would be happy with. I even bought a few things to try out to see how they’d work. I eventually ended up at Evan Designs. They sell a variety of LED strips, kits, pieces, etc. in a whole bunch of sizes. I purchased a couple of strands of micro-LEDs and a few other things I’ll be using in other steps, mounted them on a couple of strips of wood, soldered them all together and voila! I have lighting in my ship. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. 

When all is said and done and all the cannons and cargo are in place, the ship will have a nice back-lighting in the lower decks to show up at night. At least that’s the plan. It’s good to be done with this step. It’s taken me way too long. 

That’s all for now. Next up Step M: planking the entire port side. 

JIm

Step K is complete!

Yes, that big hole in the side is supposed to be there. By the end, the bottom part will have barrels, packages, etc. piled up down there and the upper part will have cannons and what-not. There are also going to be lights on the inside so you’ll be able to see it all too. That will be fun. So the starboard side here is mostly complete. Still a few places to fill in, that’s all part of Step L coming up next; along with trimming down the top portion - it won’t always look all jaggy like that. 

Til nex time! 

JIm

Step J is complete! 

Yes, it’s supposed to be missing a bunch of planks. That’s actually the point of this model is that this entire side has a big old hole in it showing you the interior where you’ll see cannons, and supplies and stuff and it will even have LIGHTING! That’s going to be fun. Coming along. In Step K, I’ll be finishing up just about all the planking on the starboard side here. 

JIm

Starting planking! #flyingdutchman #modelship #modelshipbuilding

Step I is complete. 

Part of Step I was finishing and putting the doors on the ship. I showed you that before. The rest of this step was to sand down the bulkheads in preparation for planking the hull. 

The idea here is you want the planks to be able to lie flush on the bulkheads so the glue has better purchase and the hull has a smooth, curvy shape. So I spent some time with a sanding block sanding and shaping. Looks alright. May need to fill in some parts later as well. That’s really it for Step I. Next step, Step J, I start planking!! That, and the next few steps will take a while.

I finally decided to start using hashtags (I’m such a social media noob) #flyingdutchman #modelship #modelshipbuilding so maybe I’ll find and meet some folks. If you stumbled across this post on social media, head off to my blog at jimdab.com and go to the archives to see all my posts related to this build and my previous build of the Bluenose. 

Take care all,

JIm

And I was able to finish Step H as well! 

After getting the mahogany from Australia, I was able to finish outlining the grates that go on the deck. Step H, you may recall involved building that deck house and attaching the grates to the ship. 

Here is the grating on the fore upper deck (oh, and my toes in the distance)

Next is the grating in the mid-ships. Those large holes in the corners are where ladders/stairs will go later. Those y-shaped pieces will hold a small row-boat. You can kind of make out the eye-bolts on the corners. That’s where the boat will be tied down. This part isn’t glued down yet, it just has some flanges on the bottom to hold it in place. This will let me remove it later to add stuff like cannons to the lower deck. 

And finally, the aft-upper deck where the final grate went right up by the deck house installed earlier. 

And that’s it. I’m now on to finishing up Step I which primarily involves me sanding and shaping the hull in preparation for planking. 

Stay tuned!

JIm

Step G is complete—Finally! 

I got my wood! It arrived last week and I’ve been able to get going again, catching up on my steps. 

To finish up Step G I outlined each of my grates in the mahogany. I liked making that big one up top. It turned out real nice. Then I varnished them and that completed Step G. 

Next up, Step H.

JIm

I’m in a bit of a weird state right now with the Flying Dutchman build. 

In Step G, I needed to build some grates like this: 

I’m supposed to outline each one in mahogany like the one in the bottom-right. But, the kit didn’t include enough to do that so I had to order some. Despite the company I ordered from saying they were in the US, my wood is coming from Australia. 

So I moved ahead to Step H. In that step, I needed to build a small deck housing and install the grates on the deck. Well, OK, I can build the deck house. It looks like this: 

Cute, isn’t it? 

So that was about as far as I could go on Step H, so let’s look at Step I. In that one, I have to build some doors! 

Here they are in progress. And then I glued them all on. 

Here they are in the fore of the ship. 

And a couple in the aft. And you can see I installed the deck house as well. Those big holes in the deck are where the grates will go. 

Now it’s pretty much down to sanding and shaping the hull in preparation for planking. That’ll be Steps J, K, L, and M. So I’m stalled a bit right now. Once my mahogany arrives I can finish the grates, install them and that’ll pretty much complete Steps G, H, and I. The good news is, the wood arrived in the country and is just awaiting clearance through customs. Hopefully I’ll have them by the end of the week and can continue forward. 

Until then, take care, 

JIm

I made these five grates for step G. Now I’m supposed to frame each one in mahogany like that one there but I didn’t get enough in the kit to do that. 🫤 So I ordered some more. I’ll probably move on to Step H in the meanwhile.

Step F is complete! 

Wow, some of these steps go by quickly. 

Next up, in Step G, I get to build lots and lots of grates. Should be interesting. 

Here is a sneak preview of all the little bits I get to put on this model. This is fun. 

Those barrels will go in the bottom of the ship. That big old Flying Dutchman figurehead on the front and lots of bones that go on all over the place. 

JIm

Step D is complete! 

I added several upper-deck-like things and a few walls. 

Not entirely sure what’s up with the staining of the decks. I’m using the same stain and the same wood planking as the other decks but these turned out significantly lighter than the others. I’m OK with this since this is supposed to be a ghost ship so overall it’s supposed to look worn out, beat up and spooky. Hopefully the mis-matched deck staining will just add to the charm. 

Next up, Step F where I start to put on some walls! 

Stay tuned. 

JIm

All trimmed and sanded and dots poked in them. Now to varnish and stain and put them on the boat.

Planked up several sections of deck. Here is what they look like front and back. Next step, clean and shape them up.

Putting my copy of LOTR to good use weighing down some planking while the glue dries.

Step D is complete. 

For this step I had to attach cross-pieces to the bulkheads (you can see them through that big rectangle hole in the deck), then cut out and install the upper deck. Before doing that, the center portion had to be planked just like I planked the lower deck. Lots of 65mm long pieces of wood all glued down. The portions in the front and back of the ship aren’t planked because those will be rooms and you won’t see inside them when it’s all finished. Finally, I stained the deck with Judea Bitumen just like the lower deck. Actually, staining the deck is part of Step F, but I learned from doing the lower deck that it’s better to do that while it’s not attached to the boat. I think this staining job went much better than the lower deck. 

Here’s another view, more from the side. 

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for Step E where I attach some of the upper-upper-decks and even some walls! 

JIm

Wow, step C completed. I’m moving along quickly here. 

Got the entire lower deck glued in place and added a few small details. A couple of stairs/ladders, and a capstan. 

This is a bit better view of the details (forgive the crappy lighting, you’d think I’d have better lighting here where I work on building this). 

Next up, a little bit more work on the lower deck and then the upper deck. 

Stay tuned! 

Jim

Step B is complete. 

This is going to be the lower deck of the ship. Those five pieces are of plywood and I had to cut each one out, then cut a whole bunch of 65mm long strips of wood and glue them on. The lines between the planks and the dots are all made from pencil drawing along the sides or poking holes in the corners after they’ve been glued on. Then some sanding and finally a coat of clear, satin varnish. 

The next step, step C, I get to put those on the bulkheads and add some details. Stay tuned! 

JIm

The instruction book for the Flying Dutchman model has steps labeled A through X. Here is a picture of my completed Step A. 

I had to cut out and stain the keel and all 15 bulkheads, then glue them in place making sure they’re square to the keel. (They mostly are.) 

So that’s it. My plan is to keep posing pictures of each step as it’s completed so stay tuned! Currently working on step B, planking the lower deck. 

Take care, 

JIm

And so it begins...

Toward the end of my Bluenose build, I was swearing I was done building model ships. Then my wife saw this and convinced me to buy it. So now I’ve started another…The Flying Dutchman! 

JIm