Hi Roy and Spud,
Thank you for replying to my post. I enjoyed building Bella, there were, apart from the keel, one or two inaccuracies in the build, but nothing that could not be rectified easily. I made a couple of alterations to the rigging though. I did not like the idea of the forestay coming down to the jib boom and then being relatively slack through the connection between jib boom and deck. I therefore fitted a forestay going down to the stem, then fastened the luff of the jib to a light spar then to the jib boom which gives the sail a good straight luff rather than sagging off to leeward. I too liked the plain wood, varnished finish and have only painted below the waterline
I have sailed her several times and am quite pleased with her performance, though I must admit I have found the transition between sailing a full size boat and a model far more difficult than I expected. I have some pictures but cannot work out how to resize them for this website.
My next project, a scratchbuilt Newhaven Sharpie rigged as a cat schooner with spritsails is approaching completion and I hope to have her sailing in the next week or two. Watch this space.
Best regards,
Gwylan