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

[Chuck Seiler]

Huzzah!!!  The hanger bolts have arrived!!!!   Let's go back a step.

 

 

Pedestal and hanger bolt.  I am using a 1" 8-32.

 

 

Hanger bolts installed into pedestals.  One has bolt for fit.

 

 

HB-P assemblies test fitted into floorboard with keel aligned.

 

 

Close up.  I will level the pedestals so the topis even with the floor.  I will then mark the keel so that I can slot it for the screw, then widen one part to accommodate the nut.  More to follow.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Chuck Seiler

[Chuck Seiler]

Bart,

 

How over-thick is it? If it is reasonable, it can always be sanded down. You will be sanding alot of the bottom anyway. A little dremel action to get the meat and then sanding bvlock for the whole surface.

[Guest Tim I.]

Chuck,

 

Will you be staining or painting the pedestals?

 

Thanks,

 

Tim

[bebopsteve]

Bart, I used a sanding block. I also needed to take off more surface than you will need to because I could not find 3/64" thick stock. I used a long piece of shelving, glued sandpaper and back and forth, it did the trick.

[bebopsteve]

The upside I found sanding the heck out of the planks is the caulking looks really even and cool..I even salvaged some of the sawdust to use as wood filler.  

[druxey]

Thanks for alerting us to the measuring tool on the Smithsonian 3D site. Cool!

[jburchfield1@wowway.com]

Glad to see those hanger bolts are gonna work for ya!  Don't know about you but I could NOT have drilled through those pedestals in a straight line to save my a..

[Chuck Seiler]

Tim,

 

I will be staining the pedestals. I am looking at using FRUITWOOD (which I just bought and want to try out).

 

Pops,

 

I think the hanger bolts will work out well. I will probably go with a woodscrew into the bottom of the pedestal.

[Chuck Seiler]

Keel Assembly

 

The basic keel assembly is also a three piece.  It is long and bendy, so I need to be careful with it.  I will be happy when it is safely glued to the floorboard.  As you know, I will be cutting MORE slots in it to accommodate the screws.  Any wagers as to how many times it will break before I glue it to the floor?

 

 

I placed the keel piece on a flat board...glass would be better, but I didn't have any this size.  I first attached the stem piece.  I placed a heavy, flat object on top to keep it flat.  Notice that most of the keel is intended.  That is where the floorboard will go.

 

 

Next comes the stern piece.  Same-o, same-o.  It doesn't matter if you do the stem first or the stern.  You have to be careful not to be brandishing the assembly like an Arabian cymatar lest that first slot from the rear cracks off (or so I have heard).

 

 

Before I get too far, I will want to stain the keel between slots 5-6 and 11-12. IIRC, some of this will stick up from the fore and aft cockpits.  Its easier to stain and sand it now than later.

 

 

Next, I will be placing some pieces in the stem and stern that will help form the rabbet.  These pieces will be inside the planking and not visible, so I can leave them basswood.  Note the bevel.

 

 

Another piece will be added to form the other side of the rabbet.  These will be visible and I will make these out of boxwood rather than use the basswood piece provided in the kit.  The pieces on the stem are 18a and 18b, while the ones in the stern are 25 and 26.  Yeah, I don't know either.  I think the kit was designed by army guys too.*

 

 

Here is how the stem piece will fit.  I am using one of the cross supports to square the piece and ensure it fits in the correct location.

 

* PHILADELPHIA has alot of things you don't normally find on a ship, or is rigged/built different than you would normally find.  I attribute that to the fact it was designed by army guys.  For a discussion of those, you can browse my PHILLY 1 log.   ...or wait around, I am sure I will mention them again.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Chuck Seiler

[bebopsteve]

Looks great Chuck! I have glued bulkhead 16 on. Now I am working on 15, which is a 2 piece. Good call on staining between slots. What flavor stain you using? Pecan?

[Chuck Seiler]

I would use whatever you are using on your interior planking. I will be using Golden Pecan for interior.

[bebopsteve]

I have the same... Thanks Chuck!

[Chuck Seiler]

   PUBLISH OR DIE

 

Sadly, I am drawn back to modeling rather than being at the beach.  Oh well.  Next week when the crowds leave.

 

    I have attached the keel piece.  The 'rabbet pieces' (18a and 18b) have bee added to the stem.  Frames 16 and 15 are dry fitted.  The inside of the frame uprights remain unsanded.  They will eventually be sanded on a bevel parallel to the exterior bevels.

 

    Exterior bevels have been partially cut with about 75% of the material removed.  These will be finalized once all frames are in place.

 

 

    I used boxwood for parts 18a and 18b.  I also added a boxwood piece in front of the stem.  It appears that a need to do a little more sanding to blend in the joint.  

Edited September 1, 2014 by Chuck Seiler

[SawdustDave]

Hi Chuck....Happy Labor Day weekend. We too, decided to stay away from the beach this weekend....just too many people.

Enjoying your build....but....your thin blue script font is tough on these old eyes. Looks nice....tough to read.

Cheers

[Chuck Seiler]

Dave,

 

    How's that?

 

 

    For those of you not familiar with the kit, the frames/bulkheads are pre-scribed with limit lines for beveling and tick mark for planking.  These are in lieu of tick strips and lining off the hull.

[SawdustDave]

Chuck....The bolder and bigger works much nicer. Don't need to change for me, but some of the other old farts out there may have been having the same difficulty.

Carry on Mate.

[Chuck Seiler]

With the keel installed, I ran lines perpendicular to the keel in order to ensure the frames remained square to the keel when installed.

[bebopsteve]

Chuck, do you install frames in any particular order? I have been installing mine the same way you are.It's working well!

[Chuck Seiler]

    I wanted to get 1-2 and 15-16 in to anchor the ends, then 9-10 for the middle.  After that it is based on room available for my squares to fit.  I want to avid the areas adjacent to the pedestals until the nuts are glued in place.

[Chuck Seiler]

Progress!!!  At this rate, I will be done by Halloween.  (not likely).

 

 

    Progress continues on installing frames.

 

 

    At this point, before it gets too cluttered, I want to install the pedestal assemblies.  Basically these are the nuts that the hanger bolts will screw into.  Here is the forward assembly.

 

 

    Aft assembly.  I need to be careful here to ensure (1) all is straight and (2) I don't glue the bolt to the nut.

[bebopsteve]

Bart, I am gluing them together first and making sure they are aligned as best as I can get them. I have a large piece of glass I use as a surface, glue, then put weight on top. i let em dry, then install. So far its been working great. 

[bebopsteve]

I drew lines like Chuck did and using a few triangles everything lined up great.

[Chuck Seiler]

I am installing one side at a time.  With the way these are set up, it pretty much doesn't matter, as long as you ensure they are square.

[bebopsteve]

I installed frame #9 and by sheer luck, the first dry fit and it was square without any maneuvering. Then I checked it and sure enough, it was perfect. Weird.

[Chuck Seiler]

Bart,

 

That's good to hear. Another Philly for all to see. Hopefully Steve wil post some more pics soon. :-)

[bebopsteve]

I posted pics today!

[Chuck Seiler]

Over on Steve's log we were talking about nails. Based on observations of the actual hull and pieces-parts/artifacts outlined in John Bratten's book, the nails were no more than 1/2 wide. By my calculations that would be .02". At that scale, I don't think that the fact they are square makes any diff.

We are discussing this now, with the plan that at some point we may or may not "nail" the hull.

Out to the peanut gallery for thoughts/comments.

Hey!! I made LCDR. It only took 28 years.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Chuck Seiler

[bebopsteve]

Congrats Chuck! oh I mean Sir!

[Chuck Seiler]

I was thinking of taking a stab at Ed Tosti's method of using mono-filiment...probably grey, if available. However, given the number of nails, this would be overwhelming. I figured the number at one point. I don't remember what that was but it falls into the category of "butt-load".

To answer Steve's question on his log...Each plank is nailed at each frame-1 nail for every 4 or 6 inches of width(I would have to recalculate). Remember, the kit only uses half the number of frames the real boat had, so plan accordingly.


This gives you a rough idea what kind of measles infested beast it will look like.

 

PS...All those little dimples are the nails.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Chuck Seiler

[SawdustDave]

Know the feeling Chuck. I can only do tree nailing for an hour or two at a time. Many more yet to do on my build.