Mark Pearse

I started the outer stem & keel piece, that goes from the deck at the bow around to the keel. I decided to glue laminate it in one piece, partly because - as with the glued planks replicating strip planking - this is more akin to the way the actual yacht was constructed, as a timber / epoxy composite construction.

I had some sheets of Sapele from something & even the 1.75mm (maybe 1/16th) thick wasn't happy doing the curve, with heating. I had some 2.5 thick strips of Huon Pine, & they were happy to do it, with a bit of heat from the hot air gun. I'd rather a harder timber, but oil based enamel paint is quite tough.

I came across some tiny fine brass nails that I had bought & didn't use on a model, & decided to try using them to ensure the laminating is a close fit to the hull shape. Partly because the timber needs a finished thickness of 5mm, & with 2 @ 2.5mm there wasn't much adjustment possible. Anyway, it looks to have worked well, & hopefully hasn't been glued to the hull... I left about 1mm of nail sticking out, so I can pull them out.

It worked nicely:

Except for 2 (where a little more oomf was need to hold the timber in), the nail heads are left projecting a little to aid removal:

Here's where you can see how well this worked - no gaps! Helped by the general pliability of Huon.

thanks

I've started on the keel. The shape is not complex, so it can be modelled pretty easily. For stability & strength I decided to make it from horizontal strips of timber, dowelled with brass. The timber is a nice straight-grained piece of Huon Pine. The keel is not a difficult shape: it fairs with the hull, but essentially it appears to be even from there down to the bottom of the keel.

This is the keel side on. The yellow bands will be done in strips of timber.

The strips, in plan:

The timber pieces cut to shape, plus the 1/8th brass rod:

Stacked & trimmed, & sitting on the hull. It doesn't look quite right, but it will. The hull has more sanding to get it down to the right size, I have left that to assist get the fairing with the keel right.

thanks all

12 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

the mistake will just have to remain

Hi Steven,

I hope you don't mind my adding to the discussion, but I don't agree that this is an error - if the shrouds were on the leeward side then they won't have a lot of load on them. A helmsman could intentionally sail an angle to de-load a shroud so it can be worked on. 

Hi Steven

The weathering you did with the timber decking & elsewhere really looks great, it's very credible.

Hi John,

She looks very good in the photos, but they don't do this model justice... I was at the museum Friday - the Walter Reeks book launch - & dropped over to see if you were in. Saw the model Meteor though, it's exquisite. 

thank you all

one more shot of the boat being copied, from the stern, crossing behind Ranger, the 1933 original boat

Yes, a lot of fun & what a nice boat. Sort of a large verandah with a paddlewheel. And it floats.

Hi Steve

Good to hear from you. Yes, I think Cliff had a good eye. I hope your new home is working out well. (south coast..?)

Hi Micha,

Thank you, & thanks for reading the log. Re your oped-for next build: have you asked the people building them if they will send you lines drawings? They might do it. 

One more photo, it's the James Craig & the Ranger Cherub, bowsprit to bowsprit....Sydney Harbour a couple of years ago.

The planking is finished & I've spent a few hours sanding. This planking method (strip planking at scale) was visually messy, so it's very nice to see the hull lines start to become more visible. Although the nature of strip planks (being parallel sided), the planking lines throw the optics of the shape off a bit, as the line of the planks towards the keel don't bear much relation to the hull shape....the planking just follows the ones above with no tapering.

The stern photos show the excess hull near the transom - that planking needs to be cut away - as the hull has the sweep down from the upper deck to the height of the transom. Photo below shows that gently curved line of that transition.

I'll do a bit more sanding & then start on the keel & outer stem pieces. Also the infill piece that will turn the square cutaway at the stern into the curved propeller cutaway. 

They are a fat boat.....

plus this for comparison:

thanks

On 4/9/2024 at 2:19 AM, vaddoc said:

Especially the red and Turquoise are really nice.

They certainly are. Looking excellent Vaddoc.

Is it possible the ladder was integrated with the stays?

Hi Vaddoc

Perhaps matt finish below the waterline? Antifoul paint is usually matt, & if the hull is still moving it shows inconsistencies less. I used a matt acrylic below the waterline (one model only) & the results were good.

Hi Vaddoc, good progress. And your daughter's boat is lovely, she will remember the experience of making something with her dad.

I know it's painful subject, but is Beech timber more inclined to change size with changing humidity? I think Phil's advice to seal the timber is good, it should significantly slow down humidity changes of the timber.

Hi Steven,

I went to a talk on the sailing of the Duyfken late 15C ship, they noted that the person on the steerage can get thrown across the boat. My thoughts are that your stance looks good, but perhaps a stance more braced...wider stance perhaps? Just a thought

What an interesting vessel! The previous post with the roof on looks so nice.

Hi Dick,

The amount of timber in the ships of this type & era is an extraordinary thing to contemplate. With the deck timbers on this vessel, what actual size were they? (also, were they usually Oak?)

Hi Steven,  I hope you aren't in danger with the current bushfires in your area. Best wishes on that.

Hi Craig

I hadn't seen this log before, I clearly need to browse the forum a bit more.

She's very nice. Is that a heavyweight sharpie?

19 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

archaeologist Kroum Batchvarov, who's been working on the Black Sea finds

 fascinating stuff, thanks for posting it

Thank you Håkan, that's a lovely yacht, & thee S & S dna is evident. I have been lucky enough to do a motor boat cruise through the Finnish SW archipelago, & we went as far as Åland (Avenamaa), so have some experience of the rocky aspect. It was slightly shocking that some rocks 1m or less deep can be unmarked.....but I suppose you get used to it. Avenamaa of course has historical ties to Australia, being the home of the last sailing trading ships between Europe & Australia, as late as the late 1940s, I think.

all the best & thank you for the minor detour

1 hour ago, Wintergreen said:

able to go sailing, which I love...

it would be nice to hear what sort of vessels you can & like to sail on, your part of the world has a rich maritime history

The model has been progressing, but the planking is pretty slow, but it is getting there. The simpler nature of a 'strip plank' style hull does reduce the technical difficulties a lot, but balanced by the relatively narrow planks. And the previous planked model was using Huan Pine, which is very supple, this is Basswood / Limewood & it's much stiffer.

The lovely lines are appearing, although it's not so visible in the model yet - the scallops from the gunwale line around the cockpit hasn't been cut yet .... & it's probably normal anyway.

This one shows the technique: bulldog clip clamps to hold the planks to the moulds & rubber bands to assist pull the planks down to the previous plank. The gunwale scallop at the stern is marked approximately in pencil & will be cut after the model is fully planked & removed from the building frame.

I'm starting to use the heat gun to put some pre-twist into the planks.

The epoxy is messy, but all will be forgotten once the sanding starts, but for now another few weeks of a plank or two per day.

thanks

12 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

or try gluing two layers together to see if that will work

Hi Steven,

I can confirm it works, I used acrylic paint (tinted to suit the colour I was after) plus 10-15% PVA, then rolled on with a 100mm roller. There's some more details starting from about post 344, linked below. I used a 6H pencil for seams & finished with clear matt spray finish. 5 years later & there is no sign of any delimitation or discolouring. 

That's wonderful Håkan

It's a very nice hull shape, the water exit lines are sweet.

That's worth a post. It's a striking looking model already.