themadchemist

....amazed as always.... the figures give a nice idea of her scale.... as does your finger.

Excellent camera work. how do you get those at gun deck level shots? Amazing as always. Thanks for sharing.

those small gratings can be a real test of ones patience. Nice job, they look great. As much fun as planking is, fitting them out is nearly as much fun.

The last time I had to use boiling water was with bending the ebony wales on the longboat, of course I didn't have to worry about glue softening. It always amazes me what you can get wood to do with water and heat. Looking good Jesse.

I don't know if the #10 blades come in differing sizes as I have a in house supplier , Its nice having a wife working in the OR.... but the one I used was a small blade. I found the rounded tip made a bit wider pseudo-rabbet that was wider then using an #11 blade. I 2nd planked with 0.5mm cherry and basically scraped and fitted the size of the pseudo-rabbet with a scrap piece of planking. Having the blunt side riding the keel, helps keeps it straight and doesn't mare the keel. The ones she brings from the OR have a widen back for bracing the blade, which makes a nice frictionless edge, I don't know if the store bought one are that way. I've always loved the stern hulls where the planking wraps up into the counter. Its such an attractive feature on a hull. BTW have you considered whether to treenail the hull or not?

She's looking good Brian. Typically the plank is narrower at points where it goes through a maximum in curvature. That wrap under the transom is a tricky area, what you've done looks good, it will be interesting to see as it progresses around to the stern post. The use of stealers may be a good way to fill in that area. You could incorporate a half stealer and full stealer, just for the practice of it. I like the way you use the tape line as a pseudo-batten, that's a great idea. However you plank her, side to side symmetry for me is one of the more important aspects, especially at the stem and stern line. Of course the Stern will be broken up somewhat with the rudder, which doesn't standout as much as the stem line, but honestly I don't see that as an issue, as your doing a beautiful job.. I think she will look awesome natural. ...and on the pseudo-rabbet. Use a #10 blade. The one that is flat on the back (unsharpened) and has a curved front edge. Putting the flat edge up against the keel, angle the curved edge into the hull and scrap in your rabbet. I did this on the DSotM and the plank to keel rabbet line turned out nice and tight and gives the impression of the plank fitting into the keel rabbet, which is what I think your wanting. You can do this at the stem also if needed. That walnut is really going to POP with finish. Have you considered what you may use, many use the wipe on polys but I am still am stuck on the old school tung oiling.

Thank you for the hand drawn illustration Nils. I figured it was accomplished with beveling of some kind. If it was just sanded flush one would tend to sand through the overlaying plank and show the space (gap) beneath. Especially on such thin stock. The geralds, to my understanding are to get the planks to overlay and interlock with the opposing gerald or rabbet of the underlying and overlying planks. Building such a small feature at that scale would be near impossible but your technique simulates it very nicely. The plank narrowing adds much further detail. I've watched the videos of the clinker build dinghy by Traditional Maritime Skills on youtube many times and it is a project that I very much would like to attempt, maybe even at a much larger scale, even possibly to 1:8. It may be best to start with a smaller scale for practice though. After finishing my first longboat, I still wish to continue with another, as I find them a very relaxing project and not near as easy as one might expect it to be, which is part of my intrigue. One of my recent studies has been the building of a clinker vessel and I always appreciate those that build them and show details which help me in understanding the best way to simulate the smaller details in such small scale. Thank you for your expertise, it is appreciated.

Relooking at your work, (I love relooking at good work and thinking my way through your process) I'm now beginning to question how you achieved that correct look. Did you bevel or “brow” the Lands (lap) and were gerald's cut adjacent to stem or was this achieved with beveling alone or just sanding them back even? Your plank widths, wide mid-ship and narrowing at the stem and transom, with narrowing happening at maximum curvature points makes your little walnut shell quite real looking, to the form in which I understand them to be build. I wondered if one could make a razor blade scrapper to scrap in the geralds and was just wondering how you achieved your excellent realistic results. I also just realized that the stem and keel were not fit until after removal from the jig. Was fitting the keel/stem more difficult post planking or did it aid in creating the rabbet line

Nils, you have done a beautiful job simulating the geralds at the stem. The flow from clinker to the smooth lay of the geralds as the clinker transitions into the stem and transom is nearly as difficult a part to simulate at that size as the correct overlapping of the clinkered part of the plank. At least I would assume so.... Beautiful work, and fast also. Your work only makes me want to tackle a clinker build vessel all the more.

I'm not knocking the kit supplied anything, Alistair. I'm just saying it is nice to upgrade If one wishes. One could say that filing the flashing seams on the white metal castings and adding photo-etched insignia and flint locks could be just as big an upgrade as new guns. Or one could simply paint the guns as they are, the originals probably has cast flashing and a much rougher finish then we simulate. Al I was saying is that its nice for a builder to have options and MSW teaches many differing ways to upgrade a kit, from modification to kit pieces, to completely replacing them. The white metal castings of figureheads, quarter badges and stern pieces are another place where modifying or replacing a piece can make HUGE differences and whether modifying the kit pieces, or by buying a new piece, or making a piece completely from scratch, it is just a way for a builder to exhibit their personality. I personally enjoy seeing scratch built pieces, but as with anything, that requires skills, which we slowly accumulate over time and each build becomes better as we learn how best to modify the kit to our liking. That's a part of building I personally enjoy. On a painted ship, one might question changing woods, but differing woods are easier to work with and give a better fit....or like in the case of the Holly decking, it just plain looks more striking then the kit decking. It is really not about what one uses, so much as how one uses what they have. One who spends the most on extra parts doesn't have the superior model, but the builder that creates a more enjoyable and satisfying build for themselves has, as FUN is the measure of this hobby...and only the builder themselves can judge that in the end.

I agree, I wouldn't touch the original....and I'm thinking down the road after several other builds... then revisiting the first for a side by side. My DSotM wandered far from a pilot and at some point I'd like to rebuild a historic pilot, possibly even POF. You also have that Hannah to consider....

What? No pictures in the AVS to show how they fit? Painting teaches patience, slowly.... The nice thing with the AVS is that it gives a small primer on rigging guns. With only 8, it gives you practice without rigging huge numbers. I've yet to tackle that task and see it as a huge challenge. The San Francisco at 1:90 has me worried, and it is the odd 2 wheeled carriages supposedly. The upgrades look great, it's always nice to go beyond the kit and make your build personalized. Chucks ropes and blocks... well all I can say is I can't imagine using AL rope or blocks after seeing and using Syren, Were the MS cannon cast? You should show a side by side for comparison, that sometimes really justifies the upgrade. There are some great up grades that MSW builders are producing that help take this hobby several notches towards a better place. Upgrading woods, lines, blocks, carriages, cannon and all other manner of bits and pieces (photo-etch) plus tools, make the original kit price pale in comparison, but I see it as investing in me. People don't blink twice at spending $75 or more every month for TV and they see that as a hobby, I'd rather invest it in a real hobby where I use my creative ability in an established historic hobby. Stamp and music collecting satisfied my taxonomy and artistic side , but ship building satisfies my tactile and academic sides. Both historic studies and the study of applied physics of how the rig/ hull create a working vessel. Plus its art in 3D. Building and other physically active hobbies, I find so much more involving personally, don't get me wrong I like movies and some TV programing, but can not stand the commercial media invasion. I think this hobby draws people with that type of personality. The ability to spend hours on a task only you and a select few will ever notice, just because it brings you pleasure. It's also nice that each person can chose the limit of how far to go with a build. As the Carmen was an "out of box" build has the thought crossed you mind of ever revisiting her again? The good old "why we build?" ...because its FUN

To me it doesn't look strange, with just the stay sails she kind of reminds me of the Xebec rigged with her Lateen Sails, if one doesn't focus on the tall Masts. ... But then I love fore and aft rigs and Lateen setups. To me I couldn't tell you if they are wrong, but I can say they look GOOD. Your Pegasus just keeps expanding and becoming more detailed. With the more distant pictures, one almost forgets that she's cut away for internal viewing. The layers of detail, that draws one in and as you get closer more detail appears, with the added cut away makes your Pegasus SO unique. It is the work of a real Master.

I used a sealing iron on the thin stuff and it shaped so well that the glue was about all the clamping needed. I would narrow it, then glue it into the stem rabbet I'd scrapped in between the stem/keel and the hull, This help simulate that interface. I'd glue about a 1/4" to a 1/2" down. Once it was dry, I'd wet it with a brush and shape it with the sealing iron, so that it lay against the adjacent plank. The heat really done a number on that thin stuff and you can make it lay so tight that you have to pry it off to apply the glue.

Congrats on the promotion. don't you just hate all that studying She's coming along really well. I like that steel rule/rubber band rap job to get the pull-down force on the stem end while shaping. Having those lower decks comes in handy. I couldn't have done that on the older kit. Nice innovation. I wish more people showed the shaping and clamping process, as for me it was always a fun and interesting challenge to figure out just how to restrain the plank while drying... and the method changes as you work around the curvature of the hull. I used some pretty crazy methods. The pins are a good idea, I couldn't bring myself to put holes in the planking, but as she's 2nd planked and now knowing how well dilute glue and sawdust filled those holes, it would have made life a lot easier Its nice to have some build time, kind of like a desert at the end of the day... that is if you don't get lost in it and look at the clock and it is way later then you expected. I feel many focus too much on the pace of a build and not enough on the FUN aspect. Forcing your self to build in order to make a deadline turns building from play time to work time. Never let it stop being FUN. Hopefully once your settled into the new position, your life will get back to normalcy.... if such a thing exists in todays world.