Hi Paul,

I was looking at your pictures, and they lead me to a lot of questions!

On the shield, it looks like you haven't added the crown that goes on top of the sheild. Am I not seeing it, or maybe you haven't added it yet? Either way, I'm disappointed with how my crown went on the shield - it sits back at quite an angle, almost to the point you can't see it. One would think that crown would sit level on top of the shield.

Tim - I haven't added the crown yet - I'm waiting for some more photo etch that will add to that.

Did your bowsprit fit in between those two upright posts ok? I had to file the sides of the bowsprit to get it to fit between those posts. And I should have filed it down a little bit more, because I saw that after I glued the bowsprit in place, it's angled a little bit to the right of the centerline.

The part you are referring to - I purchased a one piece cast part that fit perfectly.

It looks like the gangplank grating might be a bit short in length, but maybe you have it overhanging that y-shaped upright that it just looks like it's short. My grating part was probably close a quarter-inch short, so a small repair job was in order.

I just set that part in place for the photo. Mine looks to fit about right tho.

I'm not sure what the name of the parts are (I call them the basket weave parts), but were they a good fit right out of the box? I had to do some re-shaping on both of mine to get them to fit.

No they didn't fit properly - one side fit better than the other, but neither was very good. The starboard side in fact cracked after I glued it in place and I had to fill the gap with putty. That's pretty typical for this kit though. Nothing really fits right.

Your cable-making machine is quite a piece of kit!! It's even motorized! Yowsa!