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ChadB

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Everything posted by ChadB

  1. I started this build waaaay back in 2013 after I finished my Triton cross section, but really didn't want to start a build log until I had some substantial progress done (I'm a really slow builder). I was also lofting my own frames and lived in perpetual fear up until recently that I made some mistake that would only become apparent when I started fairing the hull and would end in the ruin of my build. I figured having a multipage build log when that happened would make it that much harder to recover my confidence. Well, I got past that point and it turns out my drawings worked, so a slow day at work seemed like a good time as any to start a log. So- the Eagle... built on Lake Champlain in 1814 in 19 days (the irony of spending nearly six years making a model of a ship built in 19 days is not lost on me) to help Thomas Macdonough's fleet stop the British from taking control of the lake and essentially cut New England off from the rest of the country. He succeeded at the battle of Plattsburgh, helping keep the British from having any claims for territory in the Treaty of Ghent. After her long, illustrious career of a few months she was laid up in ordinary where she lasted about as long as you would expect a ship of such quality as that of one built in 19 days would last. The wreck sat on the bottom of the Poultney River until 1981 when it was rediscovered and the archaeological study started by the great people of the Texas A&M Nautical Archaeology program (a career choice I found out about 20 years too late in life). I started the model using the book done on the study (and one worth every penny if the subject interests you), The Eagle: An American Brig on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812, and Gen Bodnar's practicum for the Eagle found on modelshipbuilder.com. The practicum was invaluable for lofting frames and giving some direction on order of building but I have pretty much moved away from it at this point. I've probably used roughly a billion other references at this point but here's a couple that have been in heavy rotation.. Robnbill's build log of the Eagle- Bill did a great job of documenting things. When I don't feel like reinventing the wheel I like to check in with his log Coffins of the Brave: lake Shipwrecks of the War of 1812- some updated info on the eagle and have gleaned some building practices of the time from it. Excellent read. The Texas A&M ship model laboratory model of the Jefferson- not the same builder but helped me wrap my head around drawing up a stern. Also, just a really nice model. So anyway, that's some backstory. I don't want to make a "how-to" log like I did with my cross section and plan to just keep it picture heavy. If there's any questions feel free to ask and I'll happily answer. A few photos to cover the first five and a half years... Starting with the plans. Frames, deadwood, etc... I tried to work off my primary source, The Eagle: An American Brig on Lake Champlain (from here on out "The Eagle book") as much as possible and make this model as accurate as possible. Drawing everything was a job and learning experience in itself. Keel laid. Model to be made from pear, ebony, and maple Frames started going up. The pear will be finished in Danish oil, so I had done the keel, deadwood and the sides of the frames as i went along to save having to go in between every frame later on. ..and this is the point where life outside of modeling took over for a few years. I have two little ones that I spend tons of time doing stuff with, and also moved to a house that required some attention to drag it out of the 70's. Framing moved along slowly and I wanted to put a nice stern together, which took some research (the stem and stern of the wreck were pretty much gone). Fast forward to a few months ago and inside and out are faired. The Eagle's frames were all over the place and I used those locations for the model, which is why a keen observer may think I was drunk while lofting frames. Work has progressed a bit farther, but it's about high time to break out the real camera and retire the iphone for this build log. Chad
  2. Just a reminder then that the wood list I made is for 1:48, so if you go bigger you will need to remeasure and make a new list..... which would probably be a nice addition to to forum and give you something to work on until wood is available! 😉 Chad
  3. Good luck! That's a bummer that Crown Timberyard is closed. In the meantime get your plans printed out and ready to go! Chad
  4. I think the list I put together above when I did it will suit you well if you are ok with extra wood. I am overly cautious on these things and definitely ordered more than needed, but there were definitely screw-ups aplenty, so I was happy I had it handy. I would highly suggest skipping the thickness sander and ordering everything to size initially. Put that money towards a scrollsaw and a cheap disc sander if it's burning a hole in your pocket as those two tools will help you the most throughout the build, IMO. Chad
  5. Ironclads! Amazing work as always Jim! I haven't checked in for a while so it was very enjoyable going back and seeing all the paintings I hadn't seen yet. This is definitely one of my favorite MSW posts. Thanks for sharing!!! Chad
  6. Thank you for the honest review! I love the few Ancre monographs I have and was interested in that one... I think I will steer away for the time being. Chad
  7. The Harbor freight bench drill press is one of the best bang-for-the-buck tools I've ever bought. The keyless chuck is surprisingly good for a HF tool and it's still kicking 8 (or so) years later. Matter of fact, when I bought my Taig lathe and needed a motor I found it was cheaper to buy another HF drill press when it was on sale and take off the motor than buy one online. I had the dremel drill press stand beforehand and it was so sloppy. I guess you could get away with it but for the price difference it's better to an actual drill press. Chad
  8. Holy smokes Michael- you could probably sell that ebony now and get a better return than if you had invested that $70 in the stock market! 😂 I can't argue with the messiness of ebony dust but i think the whole toxicity thing gets blown a little out of proportion. I'm all for substitutes, but I agree with Mike that IMO nothing really comes close to the beauty of finished ebony. i look forward to seeing the Lee Valley substitute in action, though! Chad
  9. I just picked up a Dremel Stylo+ the other day and so far I love it. I have been using a Dremel 300 with the flex shaft for quite a while but there has been something wrong with the speed control so i decided to break down and get a new one. The regular dremel tool always feels too bulky so the flex shaft is a nice addition, but even then I felt like I was always repositioning it so it didn't knock something off the workbench. I decided since I mainly use it for drilling angled holes and light sanding I wouldn't need a ton of torque. So far it has fit the bill perfectly. My favorite part it it feels even more nimble than the flex shaft handle and it weighs nothing so it's really easy to move around with it. It has variable speeds and juuust enough torque for sanding. I'm pretty sure if I pushed hard enough I could bog it down easily, but it has forced me to sand a little bit less agressively which is a good thing. I don't think it would be useful for anything outside hobby work, but then again that's exactly what it's designed for! Chad
  10. Thanks for entering it for me Keith- I really wish I could've been there! In hind site, I wish I had you mention that plans were from MSW to maybe rope some prospective ship builders in! Your Cheerful is an amazing build and rightfully took first place! Congrats!!
  11. Woohoo! Great work and congrats on the completion!!! Now the obligatory question... whats next? 😉 Chad
  12. Awesome- thanks for the quick response! So then for modeling purposes the newer version is the better way to go?
  13. Sorry to revive a two year old topic, but I'm wondering if there is any difference in information between the hardcover AOS book and the older softvover one?
  14. Just went back and saw your log for the Naiad... pretty excited to get in on the ground floor on this one! Can you point me in the direction of the plans or model for the Anson? Chad
  15. I definitely understand how hard it is to try to hold off on doing things because of excitement! Building your first frames and starting to see actual parts take shape is a great feeling! If you can find the room in your budget and think you may end up building more in the future, then a disc sander is definitely a good investment. Like many of the power tools you can acquire, they are by no means necessary but will make life much easier. In my personal opinion, I would skip the Proxxon and the $200+ pricetag and go with something cheaper (for instance the link below). I had a cheap disc sander for my Triton cross section build and it did everything I needed seeing as we're not really pushing them very hard with the amount of material we are sanding. I have since upgraded to the Byrnes disc sander and while it is beautiful tool, in hindsight I wish I had saved the money and put it towards something else that would make a bigger difference. I found the exact opposite to be true with drawplates- I had a cheap one from an online hobby store that I thought was ok, but then i bought the Jim Byrnes drawplate and it made everything incredibly easier. https://www.amazon.com/WEN-6515-Belt-Sander-Sanding/dp/B01M68YKST/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1534608436&sr=8-4&keywords=wen+sander&dpID=41lg-BrSjAL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch Chad
  16. Welcome Marcus! Looks like you are off to a pretty good start! I agree with Mark in that I think it is worth keeping the pattern on your frames until after they are rough sanded and maybe even longer (I kept mine on until I had them dry fitted to the keel). I also remember having a tough time sanding the ends of the frame pieces flat and ended up buying a disc sander. Since you are on a budget, it might be worth forgetting sanding the edges and go with a hobby saw and miter box- something like the link below. I think that will give you a cleaner edge, especially if you are working with (what looks like) swiss pear. https://www.micromark.com/Easy-Miter-Box-Deluxe?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxJSVgOj03AIVBLvsCh0NEgdzEAQYBSABEgJWXfD_BwE Chad
  17. Awesome The Amphion is such a beautiful ship! I'll have to keep a lookout for your eventual build log! I'm about 90% done framing out a model of the US Brig Eagle from the War of 1812. In typical me fashion it's been about 5 years since I started drawing the plans and it's been a slooow, researched to death process since then. I figure I'll start a build log once I'm doing something beside building a few frames every couple months.
  18. Finished this book recently and can also highly recommend it. I found it to be a bit Euro-centric in that it dealt mostly with England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands but I was OK with that. The book takes a more broad look at the war and concentrates more on fleet actions and naval strategy by countries and how it affected the tide of the war, vs looking at individual ship actions. Definitely recommended and I'll be searching out more of Sam Willis' books in the future!
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