usedtosail

Thanks Cap'n, shipcarpenter, and Bob. I saw those modified binder clips on this forum (version 1.0) and made up a whole bunch of medium and small ones. They come in handy for planking, but only at the beginning as you run out of room for them. I do find them useful for other clamping tasks, though. The small ones are bit hard on the fingers to make, but I use them about as much as the medium size. As promised, here are some pictures of a couple of the supplied pre-spiled planks and what they look like after bending to the frames. These are the garboard plank and the next plank up from it: Here is the first plank down from the sheer strake (#9 on this model). Notice the nice curves to these: Here are these planks clamped and drying on the frames: And here are the after pictures of the garboard and #9 planks, ready for a final sanding and gluing to the frames and keel: Finally, here are the clamping arrangements I am using for gluing the #9 plank to the frames and edge of the sheer strake. I am using a binder clip on each frame and a clothes pin or hair clip between each frame to align the edges of the two planks so they are flush. This will be the repetition for a while - soaking, bending, clamping, drying, gluing, clamping, repeat. I am not sure how I am going to clamp the planks as the gap narrows. I would usually use those clamps that you screw into the bulkheads, but these frames are too narrow for them. It may come down to superglue and my fingers, but we'll see.

The planking has started. On the supplied molds, every other one has marks on them for the edges of each plank. I projected these lines onto the frames, but just on the outsides which will be behind the planks. This way I won't have to sand the marks off the sides of the frames later. In this kit all of the planks are supplied pre-spiled, that is they are all laser cut from sheets of basswood and some are quite curved. All that is needed is to soak these in water and then bend to shape laterally. I started with the garboard and sheer planks and soaked them for about an hour, then bent the bow ends to wrap around the frames using the plank bender shown earlier. Since these planks are not plywood, they bend nicely and don't fall apart. I started with the garboard strake and pushed it into the rabbet along the keel, clamping it to every frame with modified binder clips. I did the same with the two sheer planks, but in their case I put the stem ends into the rabbet in the stem, then bent them around the bow and clamped them to every frame, pushing them up against the sheer alignment tabs on the molds. I let them dry overnight and when I removed them from the frames they held their shape perfectly. I had a little sanding to do along the keel edge of the garboard plank to fit it in the rabbet, and I sanded a bevel into the other edge to match up with the next plank. On the sheer planks, I sanded the bevel on the lower edge and had a little sanding to thin the plank to fit within the plank edge marks on the frames. The stern ends of these planks needed to be bent slightly downward so the to edge aligned with the edge of the transom. I used a straight pin to hold one in place while the glue dried as the clamp was not holding it well enough. I didn't take any pictures of these planks before and after bending, but I will for the next set of planks.

Here are all the frames installed on the molds. They are just glued to the keel and spot glued above the sheer tabs. Overall I think they came out pretty well, given that the cherry is not the easiest wood to bend. I faired the frames and the transom and cleaned up the rabbet a bit around the frames. Next task will be to start the planking.

My idea was to take the first set of frames off the molds before gluing them on, then bend a second set of frames to the molds to use for the between frames, then glue the first set of frames to the molds to start planking. I actually went ahead and did this, so I'll see how it turns out when I go to add the between frames. I have a lot more broken strips in the bone pile, but I actually ended up with one long strip left for the other interior frames. I am thinking it won't be enough, but I have some spares in my wood pile that I can use. No pictures of this step, as it looks exactly like the last pictures, only a different set of resulting frames. I will be gluing the frames to the molds soon. Thanks.

Here are the pictures from the other day. This is all of the frames on the molds: And here is a view from the stern: This is the plank bending iron I am using and the "bone" pile so far:

Oh, I forgot to mention Mario that I hope my launch comes out half as well as your did. You do fantastic work. I especially liked the small details you added.

Thanks Mario, your instructions were very helpful. I was able to get a full set of frames with about half the provided cherry, but I still have the between frames to make. I have taken pictures but have not downloaded them off the camera yet. I was wondering if it would be easier to bend a second set of frames on the molds before planking and save these to use for the between frames, instead of trying to bend them to the interior of the hull after it was planked. I figure they will be close and may just require a slight tweak with the iron. Or was it just the same to bend them to the inside of the hull? Thanks.

Here are some more progress pictures. The rest of the molds have been added and the keel pinned to the false keel. The bow supports and transom supports are glued on and clamped. I also added all the support pieces between the molds:

I just received this one on Saturday: http://www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush-Performance-Multi-purpose-Compressor-The/dp/B001TO578Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367254980&sr=8-1&keywords=airbrush+compressor I haven't used it to paint yet, but I ran the compressor yesterday and blew air through the gun. It was very smooth and quiet and kept a steady pressure. I was quite happy.

Thanks Anja. I had a wonderful birthday and even got the air brush I asked for. Another new toy to learn.

Some more progress. I sanded the taper into the stem then cut out the rabbet on the stem and keel. This kit made this tricky operation easier by not only providing the rabbet and bearding lines on the stem and keel pieces, but these lines were actually scored into the wood. I then just had to deepen the scores with an X-Acto blade and cut out the material between the lines with the X-Acto chisel. I used a short Emory board to clean up the slot: BTW, that narrow chisel blade came with a knife set but I have not been able to find replacements. The standard X-Acto chisel blades are much wider. If anyone knows a source for those blades, please let me know. When I was happy with the rabbet on both sides, I fit and glued the molds to the false keel. I used magnets to hold false keel and the molds, and Lego blocks to make sure the molds were square to the false keel. The keel assembly is just resting on the false keel for now. As per the instructions, I also made sure the tops of the molds and the false keel were flush with the table: Any suggestions or other comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Here is my build log for the Bounty Launch. I have been highly inspired by the wonderful work of teleman (Mario) on his launch, and I know this will not come very close to that level of craftsmanship.This is my fifth model in about as many years and the first that has been somewhat commissioned, as my wife asked me to make something smaller to go on the fireplace mantel. I plan to paint the exterior but leave the interior natural. If I get the birthday present I asked for, I'll be experimenting with a new airbrush for the exterior painting. I am really pleased with the contents of this kit. All of the planking has been laser cut, which will help me a lot as this is only my second POB model. I am going to try to use the supplied cherry for the frames, but if this proves too difficult to work with I will switch to basswood. Here is the start of the construction of the keel and stem: And here are the molds with the sheer alignment tabs added: Thanks for your attention.