ChrisLBren

An update !  Ive committed to setting aside an hour a night 5 days a week - and Ive added the fenders and ships ladder. The fenders were tricky to get right - I used an old planking iron to get the correct bend to fit flush with the hull.  
 
After i add the channels, I suppose i need to start thinking about some sort of stand - open to suggestions - Im bummed i didn't predrill the keel to accept rods so i can use brass pedestals. 
 
 

An update !  Ive committed to setting aside an hour a night 5 days a week - and Ive added the fenders and ships ladder. The fenders were tricky to get right - I used an old planking iron to get the correct bend to fit flush with the hull.  
 
After i add the channels, I suppose i need to start thinking about some sort of stand - open to suggestions - Im bummed i didn't predrill the keel to accept rods so i can use brass pedestals. 
 
 

Hi Group,
 
I've been playing around with my typical finish -3 Coats Pure Tung Oil (first one cut 50 percent by mineral spirits) and I've added Bitumen to the top coat and here are the results - thanks to Dimitry on the Russian forums for giving me this tip to age wood.  No simulated caulking added here - just wood sanded to 600 and then finish applied
 
This is the finish I will apply to my next build - La Jacinthe in 1/36th.  Ive added some photos to compare this new technique to my usual on Confederacy.  
 
Your thoughts as always are appreciated,
Chris
 
 

Wednesday, September 17, 2014
 
After a few days of inactivity due to a dental intervention that I cannot define as "simple routine", today I felt able to resume works without taking risks and so I started to cut out the bulkheads of the brig.
Usual method: printing of the bulkheads using my computer with AutoCAD, gluing the paper over the plywood and cutout of the piece with the scrollsaw . . except ending the day using the coping saw which I found to need less time overall.
Let me better explain: using the scroll saw, which as I already had occasion to write is not a simple tame horse, I'm forced to go rather slowly in order to avoid to do damages, and, always for the same reason, I cut a little generous. As a result I have a lot of work with a file and sanding blocks, making a lot of fine powder very annoying. However at the end the bulkhead is near perfect.
But then I realized that, having to work on rather soft poplar plywood, if I use the coping saw, it takes me more or less the same time to cut but the result is 99.5% accurate, and consequently the finishing stage is minimal and I save a lot of time. Moral: I save time with the same result.
Now, I do not mean that manually is better than with the powertool, but in this case, thanks to favorable circumstances, it proved to me the best method. So I guess for the remaining bulkheads to proceed manually. 
Finally here below shown the frames ready, the first six from the bow. They are dry mounted on the keel to make sure everything is well in place. 
 
01 Brick%20de%2024%20Plans/CAM00322_zpsded718c4.jpg

 
02 Brick%20de%2024%20Plans/CAM00323_zps321a2cd8.jpg

 
03 Brick%20de%2024%20Plans/CAM00324_zps6edb10ed.jpg

 
Even the longitudinal reinforcement seem to fit perfectly. . I think I'm on the right way.
 
04 Brick%20de%2024%20Plans/CAM00326_zpse004032f.jpg

A touch of color and personalization. .
 
05 Brick%20de%2024%20Plans/CAM00325_zps6918e259.jpg

 
To the next message . . Jack.

Ha! - yes I will use Bitumen - but not on this build - I just want to finally finish Confederacy after almost 5 years in !

Thanks for the advice Gaetan - I used an Exacto #11 for all of these carvings on the quarter galleries - you are a master - ill give your blades a try on the next build which will have much less carving than this one.  

Hi Group,
 
I've been playing around with my typical finish -3 Coats Pure Tung Oil (first one cut 50 percent by mineral spirits) and I've added Bitumen to the top coat and here are the results - thanks to Dimitry on the Russian forums for giving me this tip to age wood.  No simulated caulking added here - just wood sanded to 600 and then finish applied
 
This is the finish I will apply to my next build - La Jacinthe in 1/36th.  Ive added some photos to compare this new technique to my usual on Confederacy.  
 
Your thoughts as always are appreciated,
Chris
 
 

foremast mast step and deck beams to hold
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the advice Gaetan - I used an Exacto #11 for all of these carvings on the quarter galleries - you are a master - ill give your blades a try on the next build which will have much less carving than this one.  

Thanks for the advice Gaetan - I used an Exacto #11 for all of these carvings on the quarter galleries - you are a master - ill give your blades a try on the next build which will have much less carving than this one.  

Mitchel - this thread is about finishes not shows.  JerseyCity - i bought this Bitumen thru Ebay UK -not sure if its avail in the US. Gaetan your expert advice/input is always appreciated !
 
And Nigel - yes you are spot on -  Dimitry's  74 model and his advice are my influence on this finish. The Bitumen works as a wash.   Just a few kinks to work out - but I'm close.....

Thanks Nigel - to get on my soap box - I feel that finish and carvings make a ship model.  The one thing i learned very well on Confederacy - is to thin your first coat of oil 50/50 with spirits which will set you up for a uniform finish (as oil does not penetrate a hard wood like Pear uniformly).  I learned this thru trial and error.   There are many things I'd love to do over with Confederacy (one being not relying on Chucks resin carvings for the human figures on my stern !) - but thats another story - (a #11 Exacto and some courage - anyone can carve with enough persistence.) 
 
I'm formulating a very distinct approach on the next model - thats why I've picked a simple but beautiful schooner as a test bed for my ideas.  As a novice oil painter - a Sepia wash actually might do the same thing as Bitumen - its worth a test to compare the results.
 
Stay tuned,
Chris

Hi Group,
 
I've been playing around with my typical finish -3 Coats Pure Tung Oil (first one cut 50 percent by mineral spirits) and I've added Bitumen to the top coat and here are the results - thanks to Dimitry on the Russian forums for giving me this tip to age wood.  No simulated caulking added here - just wood sanded to 600 and then finish applied
 
This is the finish I will apply to my next build - La Jacinthe in 1/36th.  Ive added some photos to compare this new technique to my usual on Confederacy.  
 
Your thoughts as always are appreciated,
Chris
 
 

Hi Group,
 
I've been playing around with my typical finish -3 Coats Pure Tung Oil (first one cut 50 percent by mineral spirits) and I've added Bitumen to the top coat and here are the results - thanks to Dimitry on the Russian forums for giving me this tip to age wood.  No simulated caulking added here - just wood sanded to 600 and then finish applied
 
This is the finish I will apply to my next build - La Jacinthe in 1/36th.  Ive added some photos to compare this new technique to my usual on Confederacy.  
 
Your thoughts as always are appreciated,
Chris
 
 

Yeah for me...after 11 days and 3 tries, the hawse timbers are cut, assembled, shaped, and installed.  They still need lots of sanding but it's best (from my point of view) to blend into the framing plus there's an inside curve down down low that becomes the outside curve as it rises.  I'm thinking it's best to try it this way.
 
There's also still a ton of fairing to do and I want that done and out of the way before attacking the stern.   So the next update my be awhile. 
 
I'm debating whether to drill out the hawse ports or put in the plugs and leave the anchors unrigged.  My reasoning is that I'm considering full rigging and sails for this one.
 

.........

Thanks Dziadek.
 
cont...
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

"Hello ... from a distance model looks interesting and promises to be a good work, but as a man close look at more closely is doing everything with great haste, which leads to many failures. Internal formwork is too big cracks in the scale, except that it is not aligned (no ground on) and you can see sometimes protruding pieces of pieces of wood. I wonder how you will make the frames on top because each goes his own way and is a different length ... overall okay but a lot of work ahead of you to lead the perfect look.

Waiting for amendments that would eyes attracted

 

greet: ramol"
 
 
 
ad.ramol
widest gaps are about 0.2 mm.s result of a very dry room.Width of the strips is 14-16 mm. This is normal operation when the width of the timber strips.On 1.1 scale to width of the cracks was about 5-6 mm.The length of the frames is the same as in the plans.Will be cut off when laying plating.
 
 
Regards, tadheus

An update !  Ive committed to setting aside an hour a night 5 days a week - and Ive added the fenders and ships ladder. The fenders were tricky to get right - I used an old planking iron to get the correct bend to fit flush with the hull.  
 
After i add the channels, I suppose i need to start thinking about some sort of stand - open to suggestions - Im bummed i didn't predrill the keel to accept rods so i can use brass pedestals. 
 
 

Saturday, August 30, 2014  
Yesterday afternoon I decided to start to cut out the keel and the bulkheads. For the bulkheads I went, during the morning, in a timber warehouse where I had cut about thirty tablets of poplar plywood (5mm thick and measuring 15 x 20cm). 
Considering the amount of cuts to perform I setup the power Proxxon jigsaw that I show here below
 
Brick%20de%2024%20Plans/IMG_2280_zps740fa05b.jpg

 
Before working seriously I printed a couple of bulkheads and pasted them on a 5mm plywood that I already had in the workshop. Why this ? Just to avoid to waste the precious tablets bought in the morning. I had the need to become familiar with the power jigsaw which is a tool that, like as some wild horses, cannot be guided too easily and you need to know him better, otherwise it goes where he wants. . 
 
So I cut out a couple of bulkheads, with results not so much satisfactory. Then I repeated a few more tests to improve the result coming to the conclusion that I would have used the power tool for straight and slightly curved cuts but not when it was necessary to cut tight curves or corners. In this latter two cases I prefer to use the manual jigsaw. 
 
So I started to cut the three elements that make up the keel, work that I managed quite well and I used, during the refining phases, the bulkheads I cut previously just to evaluate all the joints: some were right since the beginning, others I had to adjust them with a flat file. So happily, I planned to close this first day on this new model at the pub with a nice beer . . when, at the last moment I said, "let's try one of the tablets 15 x 20".
And I've had a nice surprise: instead of being 5mm thick the tablets were 6mm !!!!! GOOD START. . HOPE A LUCKY PROJECT . .
 
Briefly all the joints on the keel would be widened, but being the keel made with a 7 layers birch plywood, rather hard, it is not so easy to remove 0.5mm on both sides of each joint, so I cursed the timber warehouse and I went to get my beer, as you can presumably imagine, a little nervous . . 
In the evening, however, I decided to redo from scratch the keel with the joints of the right width and, since I had already got to realize that all the frames included in the first project version are probably too many for a POB hull, I decided to reduce them in number, while maintaining the same number only fore and aft. 
 
This morning I already changed the AutoCAD design and when I'll resume the will to breathe sawdust I'll just make them again. For now, I propose the new version of the keel:
 
Brick%20de%2024%20Plans/V015Brick24Keel_zpsa04a44c3.jpg 

 
See you again soon, Jack.Aubrey.
 

And now let's work to design the keel. . 
 
To do this I obviously started from the basic design obtained in the first steps of this topic, by tracing out the table scanned; I focused my work on the sheer view with the aim to obtain the profile of the keel in order to then proceed to the detail drawings of the pieces to cut. 
 
First I placed on the new design the correct position of the mortise for the bulkheads, the mortise is 5mm, right to receive the bulkhead that has a thickness of 5 mm. The line that runs through the center hull design indicates the point where the mortises for the bulkheads will be terminated. 
 
The upper part of the keel will follow the side profile of the upper deck, which has a slight sheer. .
 
Brick%20de%2024%20Plans/V014Brick24ImageBodyPlanBase_zpsdea2c68d.jpg

 
A further step to remove parts of the design not really necessary and begin to glimpse the outline of the keel. .
 
Brick%20de%2024%20Plans/V013Brick24ImageBodyPlanBase_zps87a09dad.jpg

 
Finally, the final design of the keel with the slots for the two masts and the voluntary choice not to use the bulkheads #Va too close to the foremast and #IV practically overlapping the mainmast. I also sketched out a couple of joints to trim the keel into three pieces in order to print on A4 paper sheets.
 
Brick%20de%2024%20Plans/V014Brick24Keel_zps28a854bf.jpg

 
To be continued . . Regards, Jack.

Hi Brian,
 
The Proxxon milling machine does a great job on boxwood. I tried it on basswood and it just made a big fuzzy mess. LOL I use files, knifes and some small palm handle gouges for finishing details. It looks like I will get a lot of practice carving on the Fubbs.
 
Mike

Thanks for the feedback everyone - my first preference is to do brass pedestals on an ebony stained display board.  I think it can be done - Ill just need an assistant to hold the ship steady on the work table while its partially off its building board.  Ill have to duck under the table and drill each hole in the keel from the underside with a pin vise.  
 
I've ripped out the fenders and am re working them - i wasn't happy with the angle on the hull and one of them got a bit blotched by some Fiebings dye at the rail on a touch up.  I'm going on 5 years now on this build - might as well not compromise now. i have built a jig on my vise to make bending these parts easy and hope to have both sides wrapped up and on to gunport lids after Labor Day.

Delimitation of the different areas in the front of the rear galery

An update !  Ive committed to setting aside an hour a night 5 days a week - and Ive added the fenders and ships ladder. The fenders were tricky to get right - I used an old planking iron to get the correct bend to fit flush with the hull.  
 
After i add the channels, I suppose i need to start thinking about some sort of stand - open to suggestions - Im bummed i didn't predrill the keel to accept rods so i can use brass pedestals.