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DocBlake

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  1. I glued up two stacks of frames: Frame 25 - Frame 30A and Frame 31 - Frame 36. I stacked these on each other. The two stacks are not glued together yet, just pinned, and I haven't started fairing the hull either.
  2. Frames 25 through 30A are glued into place, but there has been no fairing of the hull yet. Frame 31 is sitting on top of the stack, not glued. It will start the second stack of frames. Once the second stack is glued up, the two stacks will be glued together. I'm considering adding a couple of removable brass pins to join Frame 30A and Frame 31 and "register " a perfect fit once the stacks are complete. They would keep the frames oriented to each other and prevent any slippage as the glue dries. I guess I'll sleep on it!
  3. Thanks, guys! Progress so far: The first 6 frames are installed (25 - 27A). The most important measurement is how high above the keel the futtock frames sit. Each is different, increasing in distance as we move aft. To make checking this easier, I drew to proper dimension on thin pieces of stock; each measurement having it's own little "ruler". Eliminates the difficulty of trying to read the tiny gradations on a metric rule! After frame 25, each frame moving aft has it's top timber about 1.5 mm higher than the frame in front of it. You can see the "saw-tooth" pattern developing along the top timbers
  4. I finally got around to starting the glue up. I used double sided tape to tape the fore side of frame 25 to the template sheet and glued part 25A to it. This was followed by 26 and 26A. The floor frames (25A, 26A, 27A etc.) rest directly on the keel up until frame 32. The futtock frames sort of "float" above the keel, sandwiched in by the floor frames in front and behind them. The "offset" of these frames is important in establishing the shape and esthetics of the hull. Jodie's build log explains this well. The distance between the bottom of frames 26 and 27 and the keel is supposed to be 7.4mm and 11.0 mm respectively. Mine were very close to those numbers. So far, so good!
  5. I finished beveling all the frame parts from 25 through 36. I will probably have to wait until the aft section is glued up to fit frame 36A because of the changes made when the prototype was being build. Here are some shots of frames 31 through 36, stacked up but not glued. You can see the lines of the hull taking shape,
  6. Thanks for looking in, guys! I began the actual construction of the model by assembling frame 25. This is the fore-most of the frames and the only one whose cross section is visible. Originally designed with butt joints, these were changed to scarf joints which more accurately reflect shipbuilding conventions of the time. I enhanced the scarfs with a little flat black acrylic paint. The bevels on frame 25 are infinitesimal. I didn't pre-bevel the parts. That can easily be done after the hull is glued together. Next came frame 25A. The bevels on the top timbers especially are very subtle. Oddly, these small adjustments are harder than the big angles we'll encounter further aft. I used a Dremel with a 1/2" drum and coarse sand paper. The problem here is that in forming the bevel. it's easy to take too much off near and up to the the non-beveled edge, making a rounded surface. To prevent that I put some painters tape on the final 3/16" of the surface I was sanding which warned me to be careful not to "round over" the surface. It worked well. As you can see, the bevel came right up to the unbeveled edge without actually crossing it. Laser char can work the same way.
  7. Royal Yacht HMY Fubbs (1682-1781) – 1:24 Scale Stern Section by DocBlake This will be my build log for a 1:24 scale stern section of the HMY Fubbs. Fubbs was one of many Royal Yachts commissioned by King Charles II of England during the Stuart Restoration. The name derives from a nickname Charles had for his mistress, the Duchess of Portsmouth. Details of her history and drawings of the kit plans and contents can be found elsewhere. The reader is directed to build logs by Mike41 (https://modelshipworld.com/topic/34926-hmy-fubbs-1682-by-mike-41-weasel-works-%E2%80%93-stern-section-%E2%80%93-124/#comment-996763 The model will be built as a limited edition kit produced by Weasel Works. In all there were 10 kits and Mike Shanks' prototype produced. There are over 900 parts in each kit, with some options for personalizing the builds (such as choice of timber for framing, etc.) Even with all the frame parts removed from their billets to save shipping costs, my kit weighed in at 13 pounds! Weasel Works a group of modelers with different interests and skills We are not a business at all. We are exploring what modern technology can bring to the table in model ship building. There are ten kits produced, as well as Mike Shank's prototype. We have no plans to sell or produce any more. Our goal is to produce an attractive model that's fun to build. We are not historians nor naval architects, and accordingly, have allowed ourselves some artistic license. Although based on the 1682 version of Fubbs, details from other points in her history have been incorporated into the model, and her framing is not historically accurate, but does reflect well her hull's shape. Although the Great Cabin's floor cover was most probably painted canvas, we felt the parquet floor was a nice addition to the model, so we kept it in. The transom/taffrail design is from later in her career. My frames are hard maple, cut out by CNC. Advantage: No laser char. Disadvantage: bevel lines not etched for the bevel, so each piece requires a template to be carefully cut out and rubber cemented to the frame piece, then bevelled then cleaned of residual paper and cement. Mind numbing. There are over 100 frame parts.
  8. Thanks for the kind words and the "likes"! Here are a few more shots of the model as a "whole", rather than a series of closeups!
  9. Thanks, guys! I'm essentially done with the model. I added the channels, deadeyes and chainplates to the outboard bulwarks, rigged the long gun and added various casks and buckets to the main deck. I puzzled a while about how the mortar on the rotating "Lazy Susan" was rigged. There are eight attachment points for block and tackle on the mortar pit walls, and four on the mortar itself. It would require only two sets of block and tackle to maneuver the mortar to any point in the 360 degrees around it (except directly forward or directly aft: "You'll shoot your mast out, kid!" LOL!). I added the mortar tackle and then addressed another question about the mortar. Why no shell rack for the mortar shells near the mortar pits on the main deck? Surely the bombs weren't left to roll around the deck, unrestrained! The shells would need to be brought up before a siege began, so I designed a small shell rack that would fill the bill. It's not glued down, so if you all think it's too "busy" let me know!
  10. Thanks, guys! Progress report: I installed the boarding stairs, sweep port lids and the swivel gun pedestals. All that is left on the outside are the channels, deadeyes and chain plates!
  11. Thanks guys! I fashioned and fitted 2 swivel gun pedestals, one on each side to the model. These are located over the main mast channels and pass through them. Granado carried 12 - 1/2 pounder swivel guns, each 3 feet in length. The problem is that there is no commercial source available for a half-pounder swivel in 1/32 scale! I'd have to make my own. I was able to find some brass cannons at Model Expo that were 1-1/4" in length. If I cut off the cascabel they were 1-1/8" - exactly three scale feet. Perfect. The only problem was that the Model Expo cannons had no holes for the trunnions drilled into the barrels. I build a simple jig to drill out the trunnion holes and then turned to fitting the handles. The first step was to remove the cascabel with a sharp pair of Xuron cutters. I then used the disk sander to smooth and flatten the breech. I drilled a straight perpendicular hole in a piece of hardwood, just a bit slammer in diameter than the cannon barrel. Using a "force fit" I was able to wedge the barrel in the wood so it wouldn't spin when I drilled the hole for the handle. The handles themselves were 3/64" diameter brass rod cut to length with a 90 degree bend at the end. I put a few drops of CA glue, allowing each to dry before adding another, to form the "knob" at the end of the handle. This was painted flat red. The mounting brackets were made of sheet brass cut to shape and then silver soldered to a length of 1/16" brass rod. Holes were drilled for the trunnion to pass trough the brackets and the barrels. The gun was held together with gel CA glue.
  12. I carefully laid out the location for the inboard and outboard scupper ports. The scupper tubes, made of lead on the real ship, were made of blackened brass tubing and glued into place.
  13. Here are the finished mast, boom gaff and bowsprit. Made of mahogany with 3 coats of poly and the tips painted white.
  14. I wiped a couple coats of poly on all the mahogany parts and painted the hull below the rub rail. The color is "Marine Blue", just a bit lighter in color than the "Flag Blue" Interlux Brightside Polyurethane paint I used on the real boat. The short mahogany "spacers" along the outboard port side of the cockpit are stanchions for toerails on both sides of the boat. They are just sitting in place, not glued yet.
  15. Home made blocks for the rigging. The blocks are cherry, the stropping is copper wire epoxied in place after being bent to shape and fitted to two holes drilled into the top of the block.
  16. Hey Pat! I think it's obvious that block and tackle was used to move the mortar. But there are eight walls to the pit and 4 ring on the mortar bed. I doubt they were all fitted with tackle. That would be a snakepit of rope in the mortar pit! A pair of block and tackle rigs with hooks on each block to attach to the rings could move the mortar. They could be removed and attached to any pair of rings chosen! Makes sense! Some of you have noticed the odd relationship between the center gun port and the mortar pit. I puzzled over that myself. First of all, the guns, barrels, mortar etc. in my post above are just sitting there...not glued in place, so I may change the final arrangement. The way the center port sits relative to the pit doesn't allow room to use the inhaul tackle to load the cannon. Nonetheless, there is a gun there, based on Lightly's model which has been on permanent display at the NMM in Greenwich. Below are three photos. The first clearly shows a cannon in the right lower corner without enough room to be hauled in for loading due to the mortar pit. The second photo (hard to see) shows a cannon in that position AT AN ANGLE! Could the gun have been turned and run in for loading at an angle to clear the pit? If so, why was this arrangement used in the first place? A design flaw? The third photo is my model with the gun at the center gun port placed at an angle, as discussed above. This odd placement may have had something to do with the fact that, although built as a bomb vessel, Granado was initially fitted as a sloop of war! She was converted back to a bomb vessel later in her career. Perhaps the odd center gunport was a vestige of her sloop days? Who knows!
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