HMS Atalanta by tlevine - FINISHED - 1775 - 1:48 scale - from TFFM plans

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

G'day Toni 

Amazing work. My jaw is still open with your incredible work.

Happymodelling 

Greg 

[BANYAN]

Good to see you back at the shipyard Toni

 

cheers

 

Pat

[tlevine]

Thanks everyone for your comments and likes.  Elijah, the notches for the gratings are started with a razor blade saw.  Ask Kurt to show it to you at the meeting next week.  Then I used a combination of #11 blade scalpel and 2 mm chisels to deepen them and square them up.

 

Maury, you are looking at this waaay to closely if you are checking out the number of holes for seats of ease. 

 

Knowing you had the same problem Danny makes me feel more comfortable.  I also noticed you had the same situation with the second head timber that I am experiencing with the notch directed down instead of outboard.  So far, those head timbers have taken 15 hours to get right and I would expect another 10+ to mate them to the middle rail.  I will post pictures when they are finished up.

[Tigersteve]

Looks fantastic!

Steve

[tlevine]

I have finally had some time to devote to the workshop.  Last weekend was spent chasing the eclipse in Kentucky and testing (tasting) the Bourbon Trail.  Time very well spent.  After all...it was educational!

 

Next up were the head timbers.  Atalanta had three; some of the Swan class ships had four.  These were a royal pain-in-the-you-know-where to fabricate.  They have to fit the stem assembly as well as meet the main rail.  They also have the same camber as the grating.  The notches at the base of the timbers are because the various components of the stem assembly did not mate perfectly way back when.  I decided I would to more damage than it was worth to make it better and so modified the head timbers to fit instead.  In the second picture, one can see how the third head timber (the largest) fits under the head beam.  Each beam is a different thickness, with the fore beam being the thinnest.  This is most readily seen in the third picture.  These photos are all taken while the timbers were being shaped and so do not fit correctly at this stage.

 

 

 

 

 

The next step is to cut an opening in the head timbers to accommodate the middle rail.  This was simply a matter of trial and error, many hours and even many more expletive deleted's.  As I mentioned in a previous post, in the first timber the slot for the middle rail needed to be cut from the bottom rather than from the outer edge.  The next  item was the head saddle which extends from the fore ends of the main rail to the tip of the stem.  I started with an oversize piece of wood and carved the underside to fit first.  Then I cut the upper face and finally finished it on the model.  Now everything is ready for assembly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The covering boards are 1" thick and cover the outer edge of the head timbers.  They have two panels carved into them.  Looking at the next photo I now see that the third timber needs to be unglued and re-positioned to make it perpendicular to the water line.  Hopefully I can accomplish that without damaging anything else.  The holes from the brass pins also need filling.

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Well done Toni . You did better than me - I actually had to cut two of my head timbers in half to fit them in. Once glued back together the join became invisible .

 

  Danny

[druxey]

Tricky little beasts, aren't they? If you've never made a set of these before, you did well, Toni. There's an Admiralty Models workshop on making head timbers at the end of October. You got to the finish line a little too soon for that!

[tlevine]

The next things to tackle are the cathead supporter and eking rail.  Unfortunately, I left my camera at work so all I have are completed photos, not work in progress.  I will try and describe the process as well as I can.  The cathead supporter is just that, a knee under the cathead which then curves and blends in the lower rail via an intermediary eking rail.  My first step was to lightly draw the curve of the supporter/rail assembly onto the starboard (unplanked) side of the hull.  I made a template of this shape to duplicate the curve on the port side.  Next was to make a template of the angle between the hull and the inferior surface of the cathead.  Both templates were transferred onto an over-sized block of wood and the excess wood was sanded away with a Dremel and sanding sticks.  This is a lot harder than it sounds since the supporter must snug up against the hull as it curves inward anteriorly and outwards inferiorly.  I used the same scraper that was used on the lower rail to carve the decoration into the face of the supporter and, eventually, the eking rail.  Once this had been done, a scarf was cut into the lower aspect of the supporter.  

 

The eking rail was also cut overly thick and offered up to the hull for final shaping.  On Atalanta, the eking rail does not extend above the top of the hawse hole and so is actually one longer piece and two short ones.  I presume this is just for visual effect as there is no structural advantage to these short segments.  The other end of the scarf was cut into the eking rail before the final shaping to ensure a tight fit.  The port side was done in similar fashion, using the curve template from the starboard side to get the curve correct.  I removed the decorative rails to facilitate fabrication of the pieces and then replaced them after the supporter/rail were secured.  Like I did with the the cheeks, I offset the cathead  supporter and rail a plank's thickness from the hull on the starboard side.  The gap between the false rail and the main rail will be filled in with sawdust.  Visually, I thought it more important to have the panel edging the same thickness all around.

 

 

 

 

Now on to something a little less complicated.  I have decided that Atalanta had four seats of ease.  One is out on the carlings and the other is tucked in behind the false rail.  I did not make the ones for the starboard side so that the joinery at the base of the seat could be seen.  As one can see in the first photo, there is a straight shot down through the hole without (theoretically) soiling the rails and cheeks.

 

 

 

 

 

[MEDDO]

It really looks like it's coming along nicely.  Amazing how complicated this area is.  

[TomShipModel]

Toni,

 

It looks great.  Frankly, you have provided, at least in my opinion, one of the only times that I've actually seen a step by step discussion of how the head structures fit together and how you would tackle making them.  I've done (and struggled) with making these several times.  Your discussion and progression fully explains how to make this very complex structure.  Thanks.

 

Tom Ruggiero

[albert]

Great beautiful work Toni.

[tlevine]

Thanks everybody for the nice comments and the Likes.  I have run into a bit of a quandary.  I have been working on the fore timber heads (more on that in a later posting).  While looking at the plans I noticed a structure on the rail at the level of the fore shrouds.  In the picture it is circled.  I looked at the plans for Fly and it shows a similar object, although a bit more decorative than on Atalanta.  If anyone knows what this is I would appreciate your input.

 

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Toni, that looks to be the right position for the Fish Davit Cleats (scroll down to the bottom of the post).

 

  Danny

[wrkempson]

To wit: below is the forecastle of a 70 gun ship c. 1715 

[tlevine]

Danny and Wayne, thanks for you input.  Danny, the same item on the Fly looks just like yours.  On Atalanta's plan it is solid across the top, instead of having "horns", thus my confusion.  Time to do a little more research.

[Dan Vadas]

4 minutes ago, tlevine said:

On Atalanta's plan it is solid across the top, instead of having "horns"

My guess is that the plan is a bit simplified. The "horns" are actually a rebate for the Fish Davit which sits on top of the cleat.

 

  Danny

[druxey]

I would concur with Dan. However, it is possible that the score for the fish davit to sit in is angled and is deepest inboard, tapering to nothing outboard. If so, the outboard aspect would be exactly as drafted.

[Dan Vadas]

58 minutes ago, druxey said:

it is possible that the score for the fish davit to sit in is angled and is deepest inboard, tapering to nothing outboard

David, I must have missed that bit when I built Vulture - no wonder I had a few problems fitting my Fish Davit .

 

  Danny

[druxey]

I usually love those 'aha!' moments, Dan. This isn't one of them, I take it!

[tlevine]

Thanks Druxey.  Like I said...time for a little more research.

[tlevine]

Although a little out of sequence, I decided to do something "simple" today and make the timberheads.  I cut off the timberheads at the level of the plankshear on the port side because I knew I would never do an adequate job of shaping them in situ.  The false timberheads will have a stem to pass through a slot in the plankshear.  Here is how I made them.  First thing was to dimension the appropriate size lumber.  On my table saw I set the fence and the blade to delineate throat of the timberhead.  I made this a little shallow to allow for final shaping with the chisel.

 

 

 

I drew a pencil line a little below the top of the timberhead.  This marks the top of the chisel cut.  Next I cut down from that line into the notch formed by the saw.  The top of the timberhead was beveled as was the area below the throat. 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally I made a tenon and cut the piece to final length.  There are six timberheads on Atalanta.

 

 

 

[tlevine]

In the meantime I have made the plankshear.  This is made of three pieces of plank, scarfed together.  There are mortises for the three gun supports and the edge has a decorative molding on the inside and outside faces.  In order to get the molding to flow across the joints, I make and temporarily installed the planksheer.  Next I popped it off the timbers, leaving the joints intact.  I was now able to cut the molding in one sweep with the scraper.  The photo shows the three pieces glued together and removed from the model.  This actually is a discarded piece as I forgot to extend it to the midline and I did not like the shape of the hance.

 

 

Once this was glued into place, I cut mortises for the timberheads and installed them.  

 

 

 

[TomShipModel]

Good morning Toni,

 

Good job with the timber heads.  There are descriptions of the fish davit cleats in David's Swan class books.  

 

Tom

[tlevine]

Thanks Tom.  That's the problem when you do not know the correct name for things...you can't look it up in the index!  Druxey, I am leaning to your interpretation and will score the cleat inboard.

[Seahawk1313]

Beautiful work, very well done.  I love seeing how different people do things and solve problems that come up.  Keep up the excellent job.-Hal 

[tlevine]

The cat block for the falls has been fabricated and installed.  This is a snatch block, meaning that one end of the slot is left open.  The aft end of the block is mortised around a timberhead.  I have also installed the fish davit cleat with a slot inboard and a straight appearance when viewed from the side.  This is also mortised around timberheads.

 

The boomkin capsquare is located on top of the false rail.  It is secured to the rail with a hinge aft and an eyebolt and key fore.  It looks better in person than the photos suggest!

 

 

 

 

I have now reached a milestone: the woodwork has been completed on the front half of the ship.  For both protection and appearance I applied the initial coat of finish (Watco's Danish Wood Oil).  What a difference the finish makes.  Now one can see all those treenails that were installed a long, long time ago.  Unfortunately, it also shows up the flaws.  the last photo shows the difference the finish gives.  The aft half of the ship does not have finish applied.

 

 

 

[druxey]

That finish looks really nice, Toni! Do you brush it on?

[tlevine]

Thanks, Druxey.  I start by brushing it on and then wipe off the excess after five minutes.

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Really nice, Tony

[Dan Vadas]

It's always a great moment when you apply the clear finish and see all that beautiful timber come to "life" .

 

A word of caution regarding the aft Timberheads, if you're not already aware of it. Most of them aren't simply a straight cut like those on the forecastle, nearly every one of them has an increasing angle that follows the sheer as you travel aft and you'll need to adjust your saw to suit. They are also cut on an angle athwartships due to the greater tumblehome.

 

  Danny