usedtosail

Finally some outside planking going on. I am starting with the easy part, the outer plank sheer and planks to the main rail. I installed the plank sheer in a couple of pieces, with a single piece wrapped around the bow. I first soaked and bent it around the bow and then glued it after it had dried in place. In these pictures the plank sheer is being glued on except the bow, which is being bent and drying. At this point I realized that I had not added the back pieces for the quarter galleries, so I dug the laser cut top pieces out and made the two bottom pieces. I bevelled the edges of these to fit together at the angle of the knuckle in the transom. As I was dry fitting them, I came to the conclusion that the bulwarks were too high at the transom. I used a steel ruler to extend the tops of the solid pieces along the sides to the transom and and marked this as the top. The backs fit perfectly then, but I had to trim off some of the last bulwark pieces at the transom, which I was able to do with a razor saw and some sanding. I then just had to extend the slot for the stern bumpkins. The rear sieves are now much closer to the top rail, but looking back on the plans and pictures of the actual ship, they are just under the rail, so it is all good. I needed a way to secure the gallery backs so they would be flush with the transom and stay at the right height while the glue dried, so I clamped a couple of planks to the transom that I could clamp the backs to. Here are the backs being glued in place: The bottom pieces I just held in place while the glue tacked up. Here are more planks being applied between the spar deck gun ports. This shot has almost all of the clothes pin clamps I have being utilized: For the pieces that I need to curve around the bow, using the model itself was not satisfactory as there is no solid piece across the bow curve at this level, so the next piece I bent came out too flat in the front. I was going to make a solid block the same shape as the bow, but just happened to see a set up yesterday in Hipexec's build log (thanks Rich) that was much easier, using push pins to define the shape and hold the planks. I had some balsa sheet that I used as the base and traced the bow from the plans to it, then added push pins to hold a soaked plank: We will see tonight how well this matches the actual bow, but it should be close.

That is a great turntable. Just be careful after you add the bowsprit being that close to the wall. I also like your bending method with the push pins. I happened to borrow that technique just last night on my Conny build, and it worked great. Thanks for the tip. And you Constitution is looking really good. Nice work.

I am interested to follow the work of a real craftsman here.

For what its worth, the Model Shipways plans have them coming in on the spar deck.

Thanks Guys. Patrick - the reason I went with black was aesthetics, I guess. Since the spar deck inner planking will be green, and the gun deck inner planking is off white, having red inside the gun ports just didn't seem right. So, I went with black as on the current ship.

OK, now the frame is really all set to start planking, which will have to wait a few days as I will be away this weekend. I painted the insides of all the gun ports and around the outsides of them too, although only the gun deck ports really needed this for the recessed planking that will go around them. Despite the great research and discussion that is going on in some of the other Conny build logs regarding lack of lids in 1812, I want to add the gun port lids so that I can close off the ports with the dummy cannons. So, I will be leaving a recess around the ports for the lids to fit in. I was most concerned about the paint around the inside edges of the gun deck ports, since I had already painted the inner planks. I was quite pleased with the results, with not too much touching up of the off white paint needed. Finally, I was finally able to trim the bulwark extensions to almost the real height. I left them a little long to sand down to the planking later. I also trimmed the transom extensions at the same time, although I left them a little taller. Hopefully, the next update will show some planks on her.

Sorry to hear of your injury Patrick. Hope it heals quickly.

Hum, I think I was using the term white glue as a generic term. I meant wood glue, which is yellowish but dries clear.

I am currently building the Constitution but still a long way from rigging. For previous models, I did use CA for knots, except for the ratlines, which is where I used the Dullcore lacquer. I had a few of the end knots on the ratlines come undone, so I may try the white glue for them on this build.

Thanks Rick. This is great information, as I have an allergy to CA glue too. I have been using Dullcote lacquer on knots but have not been too happy with the holding power.

Hi Rick. Do you use the white glue full strength on the knots and lines or do you dilute it? Thanks.

Thanks Nils and Patrick. Patrick, I have a feeling you will pass me soon enough and yours will look much nicer at this stage. I feel that, although most of what I have done will be covered with planking, it should look better than it does. It is nothing like the great POF models that have been / are being built.

That is a nice jig, Popeye. I am glad it worked so well.

Thanks Pete and Patrick, and all the Likes. Moving to the port side, I added the plank sheer and the solid pieces between the gun ports on the spar deck, and sanded everything flush to the bulkheads. I tried to make sure the profiles on each side of the gun ports are the same so they will look symmetrical. I am going to install the through bulwark sieves and paint the insides of the gun ports, then it will be ready for planking.

Looks great Patrick. Now you have me worried that I didn't spend enough time getting my bulkheads right. You are doing a fantastic job.

I had planned to add the four through the bulwark sieves, but again had to think about how to frame them and hold them in place before planking the bulwarks. The solid pieces solved this problem by giving me a solid surface to mill out to hold them. I milled the port and starboard pieces at the same time so i had a better chance that would come out the same. I first marked the pieces: Then put them in the drill press vise, which I angled so that the slot corresponded to the X direction of the XY table. I have both pieces in the vice back to back so I could cut them at the same time. I drilled a series of holes along the slot: Then used a small end mill bit to square up the slot: And finished with a small square file: To make the sieve, I sliced the end of a dowel into very thin slices that I glued between two thin pieces of wood. The wood is wide enough to be oversized, even when these pieces are planked on both sides, so I can sand them flush to the planking later. I blackened the edges of the dowel pieces with a black Sharpie. I then sanded the short edges and the top and bottoms of the sieves to fit into the slots: I'll add these later after I have glued these solid pieces in and sanded them flush with the bulwarks. So, I glued the two starboard side pieces in, as seen here: But, I had forgotten to add the notch for the stern bumpkins, and I did not leave enough room for it on the first pieces. I remade those two rear pieces with the sieve slot a little more forward and the notch for the bumpkin, which I made by just drilling out a hole and squaring it up with the square file. Now I just need to repeat adding the plank sheer and solid pieces to the port side.

Some progress from over the weekend. I have been dealing with family issues since then. So, I needed to frame the spar deck gun ports, which I could have done the same as the gun deck gun ports except that the tops of these will be framed by the rail. One way I could have gone was to add vertical frames at the sides and horizontal frames between the bulwark extensions and these vertical frames, but only on the parts of the bulwarks that will be planked over. This seems too complicated and fragile, so I went with a simpiler (at least to me) solution - solid pieces that will be planked over in the parts of the bulwarks that are not gun ports. These are sanded to have the same shape as the bulwark extensions so each side of the gun port will look the same. They are glued to the plank sheer on the bottom and the bulwark extension on one side, so they are pretty solidly attached. I let these dry overnight, then sanded them flush with the bulkheads on the outside. When I installed them, I made sure that they were flush with the inside, so I did not have to sand them (much) on the inside. As you will see in the next post, this method also helped out with the next step.

Thanks Pete and Patrick. Before I can start planking, I need to finish the spar deck gun ports, Then I am going to try to add the through hull shieves, then paint the insides of the gun ports, then the planking can start. I will probably plank the outside hull down from the bulwarks to the wales, around all the gun ports., then the transom, then up from the keel. We will see how that plan holds up.

Now some updates to show. I finished the dummy gun ports on both sides and have sanded them flush to the bulkheads. Now I could turn my attention to the spar deck gun port framing, which will get me very close to start planking. Since I am showing the open waist, I needed to add new bulkhead extensions at the ends of the forward and rear bulwarks, which do not line up with existing bulkheads. I marked these out on the tops of the gun port framing, as these will be the bases for these extensions, which will also be glued to the back of the spar deck waterway. I then needed to make the extensions, but they are not shown on the plans directly, but they are indirectly in the shapes of the bulkheads. I found the sheet that contained the bulkheads closest to these new locations and used them to trace the shape of these extension pieces onto some basswood strips, then cut/sanded them to shape. I used the cut out to test the shape. I glued these in place, using a batten to hold at the right position to the rest of the extensions. I then did some fairing of these and the neighboring extensions. I made all four of these but so far have only added them to the starboard side. These will be used for ends of the bulwark planking and will also support the trail boards. I then added the plank sheer pieces between the bulkhead extensions which will be the bottoms of the spar deck gun ports. These have not been sanded flush with the bulkheads yet. I did not have to add these between bulkheads that will not have gun ports. I am glad there were not any gun ports at the bow because there the plank sheer needs to curve. It would have been very difficult to match the curves in these between pieces and the inner plank sheer pieces. Once these bottom frames are ready, I will add the sides of the gun ports. The tops will be the main rail when that is put on. I will have to add horizontal support pieces next to the gun ports to support the vertical gun port sides, but these will be planked over when I plank the bulwarks.

How intriguing. I can't wait to see what you have in mind.

I went pretty close to the line on the template, then finished it up after it was glued to the hull. I thought I had taken too much off, but it turned out the transom piece was a little too big, so I sanded that down to match. You just want to make sure you have a smooth transition between pieces, as if they are one piece.

Thanks Patrick. No progress to show here. Just got back from New Orleans to visit my daughter for our birthdays. Got to the NO Jazz Fest this weekend. What a great show. I would recommend to anyone to check it out if you are in the area around this time of year. I did have a lot of time to read while flying, so I got through most of A Most Fortunate Ship book and found out a bunch of things that will affect my build. First off, all that fussing with the anchor port/gun port on the gun deck will be for naught, as these were not cut in until September of 1812. I am going to just plank over those openings. The three gun ports in the transom were cut in in June 1813, so I don't think I will have any gun ports on the transom now. Finally the white strip did not go all the way around to the bow in 1812. I am still working on the starboard gun ports for the dummy cannons. Should have them done soon then on to the spar deck gun ports.

Nice job on those channels, Rich.

Thanks Al and Patrick. Yes, I have so many pictures already, more than any previous whole build. These will make a nice record of what's been done and what may be hidden. Still thinking about the gun carriage color, but I have lots of time to decide. In between framing I have put together 5 of the 16 gun carriages that I need for the gun deck, although these are still pretty rough. There are a lot of steps for creating each carriage and more later when they are rigged. I have been working on the dummy gun ports. These will have the dummy barrels in them with the gun port lids closed. The main concern here is to have the barrels exactly in the center of the ports and at the same angle as the real cannon barrels. I first made up the tops, bottom and sides of the ports, using different widths of 1/8" strips. I glued these in so that the rear edges of the tops and bottoms held the backs at the correct angles. Each gun port was just a bit different. I then sanded the front edges flush to the bulkheads, making sure that there was a slight curve between bulkheads to match the fairness of the hull. This is especially important near the bow, where there is a sharp curve between bulkheads. Here are the sanded frames with the backs being glued in place: And here is a simple tool I made up to center the backs. It is just a thin piece of wood that is the same shape as the gun ports glued to a piece of dowel that is the same diameter as the dummy gun barrels. The dowel fits snugly in the hole in the backs, so I inserted the tool into the gun port and slid the back piece on from inside the hull and pushed it tight to the frames, after applying some glue around the edges of the back pieces. I held it in place while I removed the tool and placed the two clothes pin clamps in place. Here are the three ports at the bow. The one in the middle was the tricky one that needed thick tops and bottom frames to get the curve of the bow into them. The first ones I put on were too thin so it made the frame too flat. I also had to trim the back piece at an angle to fit close to the bulkhead. The front gun port needed some work too. This was actually added weeks ago when I framed the bow area. Unfortunately, the plans either were not right or I misinterpreted them. First off, in the current configuration this is not a gun port but an anchor port, but in 1812 this was a gun port from what I have read. On the plans it says that this opening is the same shape as the other gun ports, which is how I should have built it, but from the shape shown in the detailed plans, this opening comes out square. Also, the top and bottom of this port were too low in the detailed plans, so it did not line up with the other ports. So, I removed the top and bottom pieces and glued them in at the right heights, then used a file to widen the sides to the correct width. I am thinking that I will have the gun port lids on this front port but no cannon barrel sticking out, mainly because there is no room behind it to get a back piece in and to hedge my bets on what type of port this is. I did add a thin piece of wood as a backing just to block any light from coming in from behind. Speaking of light, I got to looking closer at the ends of the gun deck and realized that some of the other bulkheads may be seen through the openings. I first thought to just paint them all black, but then came up with a simpler solution, which was to just close up the ends with some black construction paper. I think this will look better in the long run. These are all pictures of the port side gun port frames. I am still working on the starboard side frames.

I have a Dremel and I bought a foot control that is just an on/off switch, so I use the speed control on the tool and the foot switch to start and stop. I don't think this set up will burn out the rheostat.