usedtosail

I finished cutting the four openings in the deck and sanded everything down one more time. I then marked the locations of the bulwark extensions and scuppers on the deck template. I lined three of them up with the three frames I used for the deck plank ends and equally spaced the rest based on the number on the isometric views of the "plans". I then started to add the scuppers. These are shown as half circles on the plans. I searched for half round drill bits all over the Internet but no one seems to sell them so I had to come up with a different approach. I first thought I could just drill a round hole and cover up half of it on the outside with the trim piece that goes just under the scuppers, but that wouldn't look right from the inside. So I drilled a smaller hole and used a half round file to flatten the bottom of the hole and a small round file to clean up the top half. This is working pretty well so far. About half on the port side done. Each one takes about 10 minutes to do and I will go back and make them a little more consistent when I have them all in.

I know what you mean David about getting the tensions right. It sounds like your system worked well for you. The results certainly show that.

I finished scraping and sanding the deck planks, then starting cutting holes into it. I first marked the four deck openings using the template I made, adjusting them as necessary so they were straight with the planks. I then used a razor saw to open up two of the larger openings. I cut well away from the line and removed the planks that were sawn all the way through. I then used the razor saw to cut away the frames that were in the openings. For the forward opening I used an X-Acto knife and X-Acto saw to cut along the edges of the opening, and again used the razor saw to remove the remaining pieces of frame. I also used a Dremel with a sanding drum to sand back to the line where the ends of the planks to cut were very short. I started to do this for the aft opening, but once I removed the frame under the forward plank ends I needed to glue a pice of planking under the plank ends to stabilize them, as they were now a long distance from the closest frame. Here you can see the forward opening is ready to go but more work is needed on the aft opening after the support piece is dry, and I still have the other two openings to cut out. I also decided not to add treenails to the deck for a couple of reasons. I don't know these boats very well so I am not sure they used them and also none of the pictures I have of the real boats or models show them, so I would rather leave them off.

Thanks Geoff and REG. Here is what I have in my notes regarding the cannons on the Constitution: Gun Deck - 30 24lb cannons Spar Deck - 24 32lb carronades and an 18lb chase gun

Deck planking is complete. I started scraping and sanding the deck and margin planks to even them all out. Next step is to cut the openings in the deck for the hatches, then I'll add tree nails and do a final sanding of the deck planks.

Thanks Popeye and the likes. Deck is almost complete - just a few more planks to add along the edges. I decided I didn't like the center plank going all the way to the stem and stern posts, so I cut out the small rectangles at the ends and replaced them with the same material I used for the margin planks. I will sand all of these level and stain them as part of the deck finishing process.

Deck planking continues. I apologize if this stage isn't too interesting, but I like how the shape of the boat is coming together as these planks are added. Those decks are very rounded in these boats and it is really starting to show that.

Started the deck planking last night. First note the high tech hull cradle I am now using - two tube socks filled with rice. I have used these before and they work surprisingly well. I have a Keel Clamper but the hull did not feel secure enough in it, so I went old school. I started with the plank down the middle of the deck. I ended up not adding filler pieces between the margin planks and just trimmed these planks to fill the gap. I then cut the two planks next to these, to help align them straight. I am using a 3-butt shift on the plank ends with black sharpie along one edge of each plank for the filler between planks. I glued and clamped these planks in place. And here is how they look after the glue dried. I have the next two planks on each side of these installed and drying now.

We had a nice warm long weekend here so I spent most of it outdoors. I did get a little time in the shop last night and this morning. I added supports for the ends of the deck planks around where the mast will come out of the deck. The mast is very raked so this took a little time to get right. I am in the process of adding the supports along the margin planks. Once they are all in I can start planking the deck.

I just found this log Doc and this is another beautiful model of yours taking shape. It has also gotten me thinking of doing a scratch cross section. I am about to fully retire so I will have the time. I don't have the skills yet, so I don't want to tackle a full hull yet. This looks like a good way to start, though. Thanks for the inspiration.

Thanks Popeye. I tried using the same template for the other side but it was off enough that it was worth while to make a new one for that side. It turned out useful for another reason too. Here are the four outer plank pieces after some oak stain, gluing them in place. I used a dab of wood glue on each frame to hold these in, which I was not sure would be secure enough. But pre-bending the planks to the frames meant that there was very little pressure needed to hold these in place so the seem pretty solid. I also painted the inside bulwarks white before gluing these in place. I taped both templates together to make an accurate plan for the deck openings. In this picture the top drawing was copied from the plans, which I blew up to the scale size of the model, which is the middle drawing. The deck shape was way off and the drawn openings were too and not by a consistent amount. So I used the bottom drawing to lay out the openings, which I will use when I cut them out after planking. There is no deck platform for this model, so I will be putting the deck planking directly on the frames. I will need to add some supports along the outer planks to hold the ends of the deck planks that don't end on a frame, which is probably almost all of them. I did the same thing on the Constitution build and it worked really well. I do need to add a couple of small filler pieces between the outer planks at the stem and stern post. I should have cut them out with these areas in place but I didn't and I didn't want to remake these pieces just for that. For all you in the states, have a great Memorial Day weekend and remember the fallen.

After more sanding of the outer planks I felt I had a good fit, so I heated them wrapped in wet paper towels in the microwave, then clamped them to the frames. After they dried I marked the locations of the ends of the scarf joints on each one, then trimmed them to length. I cut a scarf joint on one of them then used it to transfer the outline to the other and cut it. After some sanding thee joint fit pretty well. Here are the planks laid in place with the scarf joint. I set those two planks aside for staining, then made the template for the other side and cut out the rough outline on the scroll saw. I will be repeating the process I used for the first two for these.

Like the others have said, Ed, congratulations on a fantastic model. It has been a great pleasure following all your builds. Now I have to buy the books, even if I never try building it.

Here is the hull after another round of wood filler and another light coat of gesso. I think this is good for now. Before painting the inside planks white, I thought I should work on the outer deck planks since these will take some fitting to get right. I first made a pattern of the port side edge on a large piece of paper. I used the template to trace the edge profile to a sheet of basswood as two pieces that overlap at the frame with the mast cutout. I then cut the outer edge line on the scroll saw, leaving a 1/16" or so so I had wood to sand down. The other edge I just cut roughly so that I had more than 6mm width. The pieces were then fit into place by sanding down to the line. Once the pieces fit well, I used a compass to trace the outer edge to make a line 6mm from it. I then cut close to this line and sanded the inside edge to shape. The next step will be to add more bevel to the outside edge and then cut a scarf joint where the two pieces meet in the middle. To me that will be the hardest part of this process. However it turns out, I'll post it here.

Getting further along on the hull. I took advantage of some nice warm days and sanded down the planks and wood filler outside (Back to winter temps since then, Arg!). I started with rough sandpaper to mostly get the planks to be level with each other. I then added more diluted wood filler then sanded the planks and filler with medium and fine sandpaper, until I was pleased with the smoothness of the hull. I cleaned the dust off the hull and out of the workshop as best I could, then added a coat of diluted gesso to the inside and outside planks as a primer. I was thinking of using my airbrush for this but it is just not suitable for painting large areas. I then thought about buying a can of spray primer but I eventually went with a large soft brush to apply it. I will sand it down after it dries and then do one more round of diluted wood filler, sanding and primer. I am doing this now before I plank the deck because I want to stain the deck planks and this way I can paint the inside planks at the deck before I add the deck planks, so I can get a good paint line there. If I was going to paint the deck planks I would have put them in then primed everything.