Holiday Harbor Fleet – 1:20 scale – {part 60}

The hardest part was figuring how to best assemble the stairs.    The upper and lower landings were made and cemented in place.   One of them broke during the process,  but it was an easy fix.   The treads were cut and cemented in place,  after the two side were joined together……turned out,  it was easier than I thought it would be.   A couple of the treads are slightly off,  due to the rough cut strip stock.   To fix them would prove to be too hard to do,  so I’ll leave them as they are.  I didn’t bother to put  ‘kicks’ in there…..I’ll simply line the back with netting.   Sadly,  there are no assembly pictures…….it went together much too quick for taking pictures.   There are two pieces of strip stock at the tops of both ends…. ..there merely to keep the top and bottom apart equally as the glue dried.

The underside of the top and bottom landings were framed in to give the platforms added strength.

It’s hard to tell actually,  that there are a couple of treads off……..I guess that’s a good thing.   More sanding will need to be done……but in the meantime,  another dry fit.

I’m seeing so many ways to dress it up……I’m actually giddy.   I’ll need to ponder over this further………..       As I was making the stairs,  I was also working on the Tree Boat’s hull planking.  I would be further along,  but I had made a error on one side of the bow.   The keel,  as I remembered,  is uneven and has a few chiggers in it.  I was going to set up the belt sander and clean up the keel and the curve at the bow.   I had it riding up along the edge,  instead of the bulkhead line.   After that was repaired,  the planking was continued to the point you see here.

More has been done since………..even closer to closure.   When finished,  it will be sanded to the point where it can be primed.   I was chatting to a fellow that has been following the build…….I had done a group shot of all four hulls a while ago.  I told him that I would do another……I’ll also find the earlier pictures.  I think the progress among them all will be interesting.

AHOY!!!