HMS Druid by kruginmi - 1:48 - cross-section - Hahn

[gjdale]

Very clever Mark - well done!

[kruginmi]

Thanks all.

 

This hits the definition of what is the 'right' way.  In my sense, that could be different from person to person.  Brilliant?  I don't know about that, some would probably say a lost opportunity.  However, the old saying "I am the captain" rules all.  I don't think the over all effect would have been any better.  Again, lots of details to accomplish like softening the hard edges as well as battens and such.

 

I think I have become more comfortable in this hobby, particularly after finishing the full Druid.  With the Druid-X I am having a lot of fun and not 'hanging on' too tight.  Should I say I am even considering ordering the blocks for the rigging?  The understanding of the rigging was the big mountain for me.

 

Mark

[kruginmi]

Moving up the mast I now tackled the junction between the topmast and topgallant mast:

 

 

For a different method (stronger) I decided to turn the topmast portion in the cap circular for an integrated tenon.  As before I glued a faux cap over this for the mirage to work.  This is probably my preferred way for strength over using a dowel, but the flip side is there is no adjustment - you have to get it right the first time.  With a dowel you get an alignment step possible.

 

The trestle trees and cap were of boxwood since the size is getting pretty small.

 

 

I also have cut out the initial template for the main top.  Putting it all together:

 

 

Put some more details on those tops (along with some sheaves) and this will actually look like a mast!

 

Mark

[Omega1234]

 

Coming along nicely, Mark!

[dvm27]

Lovely work, Mark. That's going to be one crazy looking case when finished.

[kruginmi]

Thanks everyone.

 

Greg - I think crazy cases come to me naturally.....   The wife also had some thoughts but not necessarily case related (hah hah).

 

Not too much concrete ideas on the case, but it will not be a solid plexiglass case.  I am thinking wood corners with the sides having a reinforcing wood horizontal piece half way up.  The back would be a thin sheet of wood with some sort of motif on it.  Solid wood top and bottom (bottom obviously weighted).  I am hoping to keep the weight at a minimum.  Hopefully come spring I will be working earnestly on it.

 

I really enjoy having the core assembly roughed in.  Now as the details are built in the piece will really start to come to life.

 

Mark

Edited November 3, 2015 by kruginmi

[dgbot]

Coming along nicely Mark.  I can sympathize about rigging.  To many lines and blocks and where they go is a brain buster.

David B

[kruginmi]

Dave,  

 

Rigging was a brain buster.  Armed with my spreadsheet I am totally at ease with what is needed where and that everything is totally accounted for.  Wonder why this method wasn't used before for clarity....

 

Mark

[dvm27]

Turn it into a Grandfather's clock case and your wife will be mollified!

[kruginmi]

A little work today to transform the main mast rough in into a more finished look:

 

 

Added bolsters, metal hoops and then the wood strips to give ventilation to the shroud lines.  I still need the fid for the the topmast and to smooth over some right angles off of the cap (not to mention some eyebolts), but it didn't take a whole lot to polish it up.

 

I used walnut for the bolsters because I found a piece in the scrap bin that was the right dimensions.  Everything will be painted black.

 

The metal hoops was a piece of black scrap booking paper cut to size and glued on - single layer.

 

I had originally cut the top to fit tightly to the back of the mast (and cover the underneath support).  Putting the bolster in (length defined on the plans) however did not allow the top to be added.  The forward part of the bolster had to allow the fid to be affixed.  So.....I cut away a portion of the top inner hole for it to clear the bolsters.  

 

 

THE QUESTION: Is this correct?  I need to pull some books and scratch my head some more.

 

Mark

[kruginmi]

After dropping my son off this morning at 5:30 (AM!) at High School for sports stuff I decided to take the time I had and do some research on the trestle trees - I surely hoped I didn't need to rebuild these!  The norm for British design during this time was to have the mast centered between the trestle trees supports (but not touching).  French design was much closer to what I was seeing but....this was originally a continental ship so all bets are off, who knows how the person was trained who originally built this ship.  The issue was having sufficient clearance for the shrouds through the lubbers hole.

 

I decided to go back and re-verify I had not messed up in my construction, starting with the masting plans for the top:

 

 

Now these were drawn up for the cargo ship, not the as converted British sloop of war. The hole for the mast was just that, it could only fit the mast.  No more offset possible for the shrouds to clear the rear support.  Next up was looking closer at the one rigging picture supplied by Mr. Hahn (for the British conversion):

 

 

Again, the trestle support is seen to push up against the rear of the mast.  Also the 5 shroud lines are drawn to go in front of this support.  So...I didn't mess up.  The question is whether or not the shrouds will clear the lubbers hole cleanly in a neat and orderly way, without applying undue stress on this support.

 

My conclusion:  Keep going as I have built.  I would also keep the lubbers hold sized in the top itself as previously shown, exposing the trestle support.  This was reinforced with looking at 'Historic Ship Models' by Mr. Mondfeld which shows a pic of such an example.  

[captainbob]

"My conclusion:  Keep going as I have built."  Yes, and you're doing a fine job.

 

Bob

[kruginmi]

Spent some more time working away at the topmast.  Not a huge leap forward in the build but visually it is really making a difference.

 

The sheaves (3) were added to the topmast itself.  Two on the bottom section for the top ropes and one in the top section.  Probably still some more shaping to come.  The fid was attached, the bottom section of the topmast shaped and then two 'fillers' added to insure the topmast is centered in the trestletree hole.

 

 

For the sheaves I needed to figure out what size hole needed to be drilled for the rigging.  I have currently selected a crochet thread for the rigging.  

 

 

Next up is similar treatment of the topgallant mast then focus on the platform.

 

 

Plugging away, learning a ton and most importantly having a lot of fun.

 

Stay Building My Friends,

Mark

[Omega1234]

Looking great, Mark. Won't be long now and the rigging will start; particularly given all the prep work and research you've been doing.

[mtaylor]

Sweet work on the masting, Mark.

[kruginmi]

Thanks everyone.  I never knew I would be spending this much time on the masts.  Lots of learning.

 

Going through my notes and looking forward I realized I had not accounted for the jeer slings yet.  I had already put on the drying strakes so I had to do some modifications to the as completed mast head.  I came up with a solution that I believe is workable:

 

 

The last (I think) requirement for the main mast itself was the iron hoops for the woolings.  I used pretty much the same method as I did for the mast head.  I did notice that as you wrap them around the mast sometimes they would not follow an even course, opting for climbing or descending the mast.  To avoid this I first wrapped painters tape around the mast at the point the hoops are required.  Once triple checked, the paper mast band was added pushed up against the tape.

 

 

It didn't take too long to get the rest of the hoops into place:

 

 

Stay Building my Friends,

Mark

[kruginmi]

Alright, looks like the end of the Druid-X mast photo series (I think).  With the completion of the topgallant mast I believe this section is done.  I do not count the eventual sealing and painting.  I do not think

 

 

Now for a close-up of the topmast - topgallant junction.  Thought this was done awhile ago, but then I remembered the bolster.  Then I remembered the eye bolts, etc etc.  This is actually pretty small, this close up really brings out the details (ugly warts and all....).  Also a  retrospective of the topmast.

 

 

 

This has been a great learning adventure.   Oh, the fighting top is still in the raw - back to the workbench and at least one more set of pics......

 

Mark

[Omega1234]

Very nice and very clean work, Mark!  Nicely done.

[kruginmi]

Well of course I woke up at 3 in the morning with the realization I had skipped over the cheek blocks on the top mast.

 

Hanging on too tight?  (completed at 7:30 this morning).

[gjdale]

Well of course I woke up at 3 in the morning with the realization I had skipped over the cheek blocks on the top mast.

 

Hanging on too tight?  (completed at 7:30 this morning).

Definitely! But that's half the fun!!!

[mtaylor]

That does seem to be the way it works.   3am and the brain fires off a broadside that can't be ignored.... 

[kruginmi]

Thanks Grant and Mark, here is to a better sleep tonight.....(as I get older, that broadside is usually something entirely different!)

 

So what are cheek blocks?

 

 

Only item left (beside the fighting top) are cleats around 4 feet above the deck around the mast.  I will wait until the mast fits into the deck to insure I do this right.

 

mark

Edited November 18, 2015 by kruginmi

[kruginmi]

On to another mini-project all in itself, the fighting top.  Lots of techniques here but I was leery of warping so I opted for using a 1/32" piece of basswood for my basic form, then glued the surrounding thicker rim before applying the second layer of planking. - again 1/32".

 

 

I did keep the curved front piece free to make shaping the inner planks much easier.  This whole assembly will be painted black but I still added some pencil caulking to give it the look prior to that painting.  next up was figuring out where all the radiating outward supports should go.  I copied the top to a piece of paper and figured out where I think they should be.  My proportional divider was used a LOT.  Once figured out I transferred to the top itself.

 

 

Then a lot of cutting.  I used a piece of walnut because I found a strip already cut that was perfect.  I ended up mortising the pieces that intersect the front curved piece into the curved piece to make the fit snug with no visible gaps.

 

I thought at first the strip I used was way more than enough, a third of the way through I wasn't so sure, sweating it until the last three pieces showed I was good.  Still have the rear railing and quite a few holes to cut but visually I am happy with it:

 

 

Stay building my friends,

Mark

Edited November 20, 2015 by kruginmi

[mtaylor]

Lovely work.. and so clean.  Keep it up, Mark.  You're doing great.

[kruginmi]

Thanks everyone, with the snow falling outside I had a bit of time in the workshop to add the railing:

 

 

I used bamboo skewers for the upright posts and a piece of boxwood available for the railing itself.  The belaying pins were from my spares box.  Just need to drill some holes for the shrouds and necessary blocks (also for the stay - crows feet - that will remain empty).

 

As a side note, the cheek blocks didn't quite look right to me so I removed them, put them higher and thinned them out.

 

Mark

Edited November 21, 2015 by kruginmi

[kruginmi]

And the saga continues....

 

Next up is to cut the 'square' holes for the top mast shrouds to come through the top.  Cutting a square hole in basswood is not straight forward.  The wood is softer so keeping crisp edges is harder.  It is possible though with a little 'trickery.'  

 

Instead of drilling out and then hacking away praying for a good result, I outline where the squares need to be and use my sled on the table saw to cut out three sides of the square.  I then cut out a replacement piece for the missing side and slide into place.  I have the wire that will be used for the shrouds so used this as a spacer.  

 

 

Then with a little sanding everything ends up ship shape and perfect.  Square internal holes in basswood.

 

 

You might also noticed I added some trunnels through the top into the trestle trees to accurately locate the top each time I put it on.  It is also important before drilling the holes for the blocks under the top that you make sure you know where the supports are!  A little progress when possible.

 

Mark

[Omega1234]

Hi Mark

 

That's a really clever workaround you've got there. Nice!

 

I'll lock that one away in my memory banks for later.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[kruginmi]

Actually pulled the hull out of mouthballs for the next step, main section of the mast step.  A thicker piece of wood with several distinct angles and cuts.  I first templated it out with an index card before cutting.  Truth be told, it took three attempts to get everything right.  I didn't waste too much wood since I had only cut the mating edge, so resetting was simply cutting a new mating edge slightly above the failed attempt.

 

 

The square cut was achieved as shown above for the mast top shroud cut outs.  At the end it was very satisfying to almost click this piece into place - no glue necessary at least for now.  I also cut the tenon into the mast bottom and likewise a nice tight fit, allowing it to stand without other assistance.

 

 

This weekend I will add the positional wedges and the fixed bar.  This is different from what I used on the the full Druid but I consider it much more realistic.  I need to figure out the well and if I am going to keep anything open to view.  It would be a shame to keep all of this hidden.

 

Mark

[Omega1234]

Looking good, Mark!

[kruginmi]

I like roughing in as much as possible to make sure everything lines up and is accounted for - avoid the uh-oh moments when you can't do anything about it.

 

So before continuing on with the planking I wanted to verify the run of the mast and pumps foremost.  The plans show the rake of the mast and the pump locations at the gundeck level, so first is to figure that out.  The pumps foremost, and mast are on an angle so just duplicating the gundeck position would not work.

 

 

This is not 'true' build practice, but is very worthwhile.  I get model 1:1 templates and insure everything is good to go.  My inclination is to replicate the look of true practice on top of the templates made and I would be the only one wise.  The pumps are not the final ones, but are smaller diameter ones just for this exercise.  The final ones will be octagonal.  

 

Next up is defining all the carlings to lock in deck beam spacings so the knees can be started.  The hope is to build the decks removable until I decide to lock them in.  I also might be 'forced' to rough in the main yard.....

 

I beg forgiveness on yet another status overview:

 

 

Mark