Continental Gunboat PHILADELPHIA by Chuck Seiler - Model Shipways - 1:24 Scale - Enhanced

[Chuck Seiler]

Pops,

 

   The ones pictured are a bit large, but it gives me some ideas to work with.

[Chuck Seiler]

Two alternatives to mounting.

 

1.  Use the pedestals I have and wood screw them directly into the keel.  If that is done, both sides of the keel adjacent to the screw hole should be beefed up for support.

 

2.  Use an existing brass pedestal.  I had a spare Model Shipways 1 3/8" brass pedestal with 5/32" slot that worked okay.  It is a little short for my tastes, but that is a personal preference.  Perhaps ME has larger ones.

 

......or, hanger bolts.

[jburchfield1@wowway.com]

Might look around, I think I remember (age, you know) seeing those hanger bolts at least as small as 1/8" at Lowes or Home Depot.

 

Here's some #6's.  That's something like .13inch.  http://www.boltdepot.com/Hanger_bolts_Steel_plain_finish_6-32.aspx

Edited August 17, 2014 by Pops

[Chuck Seiler]

Pops,

 

    I found they have 6's, 8's and 10's at bolt depot.  You can order them individually or by the box.  I will look into that option.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Chuck Seiler

[jwvolz]

Great start, and nice advice on the mounting method Chuck. 

[Chuck Seiler]

Thanks Joe.  You can kind of get away with waiting until the last minute when you have a ship with traditional keel.  This flat bottom makes that alot harder.

[bebopsteve]

Great Stuff Chuck.. Finished planking Philly bottom.. I will post some pix though pre sanding..

[Chuck Seiler]

I am about at that point as well.  I will be dribbling that out later this week.  I look forward to your post.

[Chuck Seiler]

    There are a couple things I want to do with this model that are not in the instructions (as far as I can see).  First, I want to plank the bottom of the bailing well, second I want to plank to bottom (underside) of the hull.  There are other things that I will discuss as I get to them, but these are on the agenda before anything else happens.

 

    The bailing well is a depression in the deck where water can be removed-all wooden vessels leak; scoop water from well into a bucket, toss water over the side.  An elaborate man-powered bilge pump, as it were.

 

    PHILADELPHIA's bailing well is in the aft cockpit (the lower deck area between the aft and middle platforms).  The floor of the bailing well is actually the bottom planking.  This planking is not represented in the model.  It is now.

 

    I could have planked the false floor itself, but decided to insert a 'section' of planking.  We shall see.

 

    A piece of the false floor is cut out.  I made the cut before gluing the two sides together.

 

    False planking section inserted and sanded (somewhat).   More sanding required.

 

    We shall visit this area at a later time.

[Guest Tim I.]

Looks good!

 

-Tim

[Chuck Seiler]

    The second thing I want to do that is not in the instruction is to plank the underside of the model.   I am surprised that it is NOT planked, per the instruction.  Even though virtually nobody will see the underside, I think it is important to make it complete.   Invariably SOMEBODY will take a peek.  It should be planked.  It also makes it very clear that this is NOT a waterline model.  That is REALLY the bottom of the boat.

 

    Once the floorboard has been assembled (to be covered in future step) I ran a strip up the center representing the keel.  In real life the keel was a few scale inches, but putting that in now would make the model tippy when sitting on the flat.  I may add it later.  I had to be very careful to ensure he strip stayed straight, since all the other planking will guide on it.

 

    Prior to this, I had marked the frame locations based on the center keel-piece.  I will use these marks to locate my plank joints.

 

    Planking in progress using a 5 plank shift.  1-3-5-2-4  Number 2 pencil used for caulking.

 

    Planking complete with some light sanding.  I am hoping the caulking will be a little more visible once I finish the wood.

 

    I will do some more sanding and possibly experiment with 'nails' while I figure out how to mount the model.

[Chuck Seiler]

Good question.  I want to say 1/2" x 10 to 12 inches (depending on frame spacing).  I will check when I get home. 

 

That would equate to 1 foot x 20 to 24 feet.  It seems a bit on the long side, but I set my legnth based on the length of the longest hull plank.  As far as I know, the underside planks are not documented...at least for this model.  I can check with somebody who has the Smithsonian plans.  The side planking, however, is historically correct, so if Y x Z is the size of a known plank, that dimension could be used elsewhere.  They had plenty of timber.

[fnkershner]

Chuck - Have you been to the Smithsonian and seen the real thing? It was quite a thrill for me a couple years ago. She is a very dilapidated state. but still it was fun to see. I was also very surprised about the relative small size.

[Chuck Seiler]

Floyd,

    Never been.  Some day.  I did see the virtual 3D Philly...which I can repost the link to.

 

Bart,

    It will not be wood from the kit...the kit does not tell you to plank the underside.  Mine are definitely more than 1/4.  I am thinking 1/2 because I think I made them a foot wide.  If you are using basswood, check with Steve.  I think he got some from a hobby store or Micheal's.  Definitely use th ewood conditioner.  (and be careful of that curling.

[Chuck Seiler]

Bart,

 

    Looking back at some old IMs to Steve, I recommended 1/2 planking.  I don't recall what he eventually went with, but both he and I have 7+ planks on either side of center.  I would say our dimensions are the same.  Bottom line, unless you have something to cut with, use what is available. 

[bebopsteve]

I am sure the planks are 3/8" wide. Basswood. They came in 24" strips.

[Chuck Seiler]

I just measured.  3/8" wide.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Chuck Seiler

[bebopsteve]

Mine was 3/8" x 1/16...the 1/16 was all they had, so it takes a lot of sanding. But I do like the bottom planking effect!

[Chuck Seiler]

Micheals only has balsa?  I am pretty certain the Mike's here in Santee has basswood as well.

 

Steve-where did you get yours? 

[dgbot]

Have you looked in the area for doll houses etc?

David B

[bebopsteve]

I bought mine at galaxy hobby in lynnwood wash. Hobby lobby had them..but to high priced...

[Chuck Seiler]

_{How long are the pieces?}

[rtropp]

The Hobby Lobby near me has a large selection of basswood strips and reasonably priced. I did not have much luck at the Michaels in my area.

 

Richard

[Chuck Seiler]

In honor of our being part of the Nautical research Guild...here is a little nautical research.

 

Here is a virtual 3D representation of PHILADELPHIA.  Bookmark this page because I may be referring back to it.  I had problems with it using older versions of Explorer, but with the current one and Firefox, I have no problems.

http://3d.si.edu/explorer?modelid=47

Pan, zoom, top, bottom, P&S views of Philadelphia as she sits in the Smithsonian. There's a measuring tape you can use to find dimensions and spacing of chosen features, like beam and frame spacing.

For those of you planking the underside, it shows the underside...I think.  It's hard to tell if it is accurate because I done see the center keel.

[dgbot]

Works great with Chrome.

David B

[Guest Tim I.]

I am going to add this kit to my list of those to build in the future. Greatly enjoying your build Chuck!

 

- Tim

[Chuck Seiler]

Thanks Tim.  I can't say that there is much progress yet.  I'm waiting for my hanger bolts to arrive and enjoying what is left of the summer.  Meanwhile, I am preparing floorboard, keelpiece and frames.  I may post some of that tonight or tomorrow.

[Chuck Seiler]

    I guess it's time to start in earnest.  We first start by assembling the bottom piece (or as I call it, the floor board) and the keel assembly.  I believe the instructions actually start with the keel, but I will start with the floorboard because I think it flows better.

 

    This is pretty straight forward.  Three pieces.  I was careful to place on a flat surface and weight down the pieces while the glue dried.  This thing is a surfboard.

 

    As you already know, I inserted the planking for the bailing well and have planked the underside.

 

    The next thing I did was prepare the floorboard for the keel piece.  The keel piece is long and thin and prone to bending.  As such, I wanted to provide a reference line to ensure the keel was true.  Using a caliper, I measured exact width of keel.  1/2 of that was marked one side of center line. 

 

    Using compass/dividers I took that that measurement and ran a line down both sides of the center line.  The keel fits snugly betwixt the two lines.

[bebopsteve]

Looks great Chuck. I decided to sand the underside planking as much as I can. I will simply re-stain when some frames are on. Anyway, I am a little concerned about the sternpost and keel piece. Because of the added planking, it seems it is throwing off the hull planking. Where the planks fit into the rabbets. Thoughts on this?

[Chuck Seiler]

I have not gone as far as you, so I am not sure what the issue is.  My thought is that all we need to do is have the bottom plank 1/32" wider that originally planned and we may have to notch the floorboard to extend the rabbet.

 

Could you IM me with a picture of what you are concerned about?