DavidM

Ratlines done! Not that many compared to other builds but still good to get them done. Onto the stays.....
 

 

 
First mate is on board providing 'help'.......
 

Deadeye Strops are proving awkward.. the kit supplied Photo Etched ones are the devil to fit correctly, they seem designed for either thinner Channels and/or wider slots in said Channels.. so I've moved onto making my own, spent an hour today rummaging about for suitable wire, and then attempting to actually solder the beasts into loops.. not with great success it has to be said   decided I'd have more luck actually setting up a Smithy Forge and making the darn things from raw Iron Ore a hammer and an anvil  !!  Anyhoo after much puzzlement I found some articles in the Tips Techniques & Research section on MSW and I know what I've been doing wrong (the list of errors seems to begin with me actually getting out of bed in the morning and goes on from there)
So hopefully tomorrow (weather permitting.. i.e. nice & bright) will see me with some usable Deadeye Strops !!
 
I did however get some of the eye-bolts in  place, so not a total disaster   Oh and my soldering technique has improved what with all the repeats .. which was nice 
 
All the Best Folks
 
Eamonn

And An Even Better Update.. With Photo's (Plural !!) This Time, Yup!  I Really Spoil You Eh ?  
 
Well the Masts & Bowsprit are shaped and dry fitted, it all went much much easier than anticipated, admittedly I anticipated disaster at every turn !!  Those Mini Lathe things are the absolute Business, though after my 'Finger -v- Channel Pin' fiasco from a couple of days ago I half expected my body to become totally wrapped around the spinning pre Masts   
BTW the reason the Masts/Bowsprit look so dark in the photos is simply because I cleaned them off with Turps prior to putting the Clear Matt on them.
As you can see there is quiet a Rake on the Masts, so I wanted them in place (even temporarily) to help with positioning the Chains.
 
My proper camera is still away so I'm still using the old compact I'm afraid (much less control over settings as you can see from the well dodgy photo quality)
 
Remember Comments Are Always Welcome.. Unless you are pointing out a major flaw that I missed and won't be able to fix.. in that case 'Not So Welcome'     
 
Bye For Now
 
Eamonn

Hi All.. 
 
Just a wee photo of Ballahoo as she currently stands, the channels as you can see are all in place and as I mentioned in a previous post everything on board is now glued..  Next Up Deadeye metal strops & chains and complete painting of the gun-ports (as you may remember I wasn't totally happy so sanded them again, won't know for sure if they are 'right' till I put some paint on but they are better than they were )
Hopefully my new solder will arrive soon and I can complete the Deadeye metal strops, but I can at least get them ready beforehand.
 
Sure we are only flying along here..  
 
All The Best
 
Eamonn
 
BTW finger is much better today. 
 
Oh and sorry about the quality of the photo but it is my old camera !
 
E

Oh and whilst I have the Camera out, here's a pic of the piece I put around the Rudder Hole.. not strictly accurate but looks a darn sight better than a flippin great hole in the deck   ideally it would have been set into the deck though ! I still suspect that there should be some kind of covering over this area similar to the 'Collar' covering the bottom part of the Rudder Hole on some builds (I might end up with one of these on Ballahoo too)
 
Photo Time Again..
 
Eamonn

All Righty Then.. Photos of Carronades as Promised.. Cos I'm Nice Like That   
 
Fairly noticeable size difference don't you think,  they are both allegedly 12 lbr's though the Upgrade is more the correct size, as per my sources they should be circa 2 feet 2 inch long which is a little over 1 cm at scale.. The kit ones probably wouldn't be out of place on the fore-deck of Victory 
The upgrades were bright brass when they arrived and were chemically 'blackened' to this deep metallic looking bronze colour.  Looking at them in the first proper bit of sun-light I've seen since treating them it seems they may need to go a little darker!
I shall have to contemplate this over a coffee or two...   
 
later edit.. for some reason some of my posts seem to have unintentional large bold text in them.. don't know why this is happening.. it isn't in the original 'pre posting' versions.
 
Take Care Folks
 
Eamonn

Hi Again Folks.. as you can see I'm back from the Hols and have the building buzz again!!
 
Latest... 
 
I've chemically blackened the new upgraded guns.. boy are they small compared to the kit supplied ones (I'll photograph them tomorrow side by side for comparison as the difference needs to be seen to be believed   ) I forsee more curled up in a corner rocking gently back and forth after attempting to rig them..
The blackening looks more of a deep bronze than actually black but I have to say I really like it.. could probably just pop them back into the blackening solution.. after going through the prep steps first of course.. if I wanted to get them truly black, but then again I could have just painted them in that case   the deep bronze looks the business though.
 
Next order of work is to permanently attach the Hatches and the Dog-house, get the Rudder fittings sorted.. on that note I'm going to try to knock up some half way decent Gudgeons & Pintels as the kit recommendations are basic to say the least  more of those famous last words right there!! Then it's onto the Channels & Chains.  And if I have time after lunch I'll address the Masts, I mean how hard can all that other lot be.............               
 
Stay Tuned Folks
 
All The Best
 
Eamonn
 
Venice was a hoot by the way, highly recommend the place 

All Righty Then Folks Some Photos as promised...
Jeeez 'bout time eh?
 
I didn't get the opportunity to clean things up as I would have liked, but sure ye get the idea anyhoo !
 
You can just make out the hinges in one of the shots, yup they are Smaaaaallll .. can't really get any closer but I might give some different photo techniques a go later in the week (camera is away again this weekend taking more wedding photos... flippin thing has more of a life than I do    )
Remember none of the deck fittings are fixed in place as yet, and the little hand rail rope (visible inside the Dog-House) is not fixed at its lower end yet either as the whole dog-house needs to be tidied up first.
 
 Oh by the way I left the Handles on the house natural (bronze coloured) not sure whether I'll paint them black or not.. and I might add a sort of inside mechanism to the doors (Latches etc) these will be pieces of black card and perhaps thin wire, as the door handles look weird without something like that on the inner side if you follow!!
 
Stay Well Folks
 
Eamonn
 

Hi Again Folks... It's Photo Time Again.
 
The wee doghouse is almost finished, just a little tidying up to be done, oh and attach the doors of course (not forgetting the various handles too)
The rope hand rail ring (where it attaches to the sides of the doghouse will be painted black.. they were painted black to begin with but it seems to have rubbed off in the fitting process !!
The steps are glued in place but no other deck fitting is permanently in place as yet (I threw in a close up photo of the 'L' shaped Anchor Rope reinforcing brackets on the forward hatch coaming)
 
By The Way I had one of those slow motion 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO' moments earlier as I was gluing the roof arrangement onto the Doghouse.. Clamps were being used to secure the whole affair when suddenly a clamp slipped causing the near total collapse of the doghouse.. there were doghouse sides, sliding roofs, rope hand rails & coamings flying through the air just like Cirque du Soleil !! How I kept my cool I'll never know ^_^ I just calmly reassembled the whole thing.. very Zen moment
 
Stay Well Folks
 
Eamonn a.k.a. Mr. Keep Calm & Carry On..

After experimentation and actually using this technique on my Mordaunt build,I decided I would post a small tutorial of this system I developed due to the interest it caused.
Whilst I am not reinventing the wheel,this is a variation I adopted on the common method of using black paper.There are disadvantages with using black paper,firstly,that it reduces the glue penetration in a joint and secondly,it can appear too thick at the smaller scales.Some may say,the strength is not an issue for planking on a false deck,fair point,but I wanted a system that could be used for all joints where some caulking or similar would be used.This would include scarph joints in the keel where strength is important.
There are many similarities in techniques between using paper and tissue,but there are small differences caused by the delicate nature of the tissue.
This is a pic of the lower gun deck on Mordaunt using this technique.The timber is Pear and the planks are 6mm wide max(the planking is tapered)

To demonstrate the technique,I will be planking a small deck section that goes under the main deck hatches on Norske Love.This piece doubles up as part of the structure and is made from 6mm birch ply.No camber is incorporated as this will be unnoticeable as the only real view is through a companionway.It does have some shear and this is conveniently catered for by the bow the ply has attained,being stood in the corner of the workshop for several months.
The planks are cut from 3mm boxwood sheet.Cutting from the edge of the sheet,using the thickness as the plank width,helps maintain consistency.I cut the planks @1.5mm thick.To me this is less important as the deck will be scraped/sanded smooth.All gluing is done using Deluxe Materials Aliphatic Resin.The black tissue paper is acid free and bleed resistant.I obtained mine from WHSmith in the UK and can be found in the present wrapping section.

A section of tissue was placed on a small piece of clean glass.Glue was added to one side and one end of the plank.The plank is placed edge down on the tissue,ensuring the tissue develops no creases and the plank is firmly down on the glass.I then slice the tissue with a new scalpel blade to form a 'finger' that can be curled up on the plank end.The process is repeated until you have a good quantity of planks 'edged'.
]
When the glue goes clear,but not fully set,slice through the paper between the planks.The individual planks will simply break off the glass with a little twisting pressure.The tissue should remain intact on the plank.Whilst the glue is still in the 'green' stage (a bit like cheese as it hasn't fully hardened),carefully trim the tissue flush with the plank faces.Keep the scalpel blade cutting toward the plank,not away as this can drag pieces of tissue off the edge.You can wait until the glue has hardened overnight,but I found this much harder and more time consuming.

Lay the planks in a conventional manner,ensuring to keep the tissue covered faces going the same way.I brush over the surface with a small wetted paintbrush.This consolidated any glue that has oozed out and is added insurance against the tissue dragging with the sanding and scraping.

 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hi all I am still trying to work out my next major project I still want to build a POF model rather than the usual POB kits that I buy. I was browsing through E bay and found a part built Swift kit and thought it would make a good quick filer I put a £50 bid in it and won it for £45 !! bargain
 
The kit arrived safely but the previous builder had made a bit of a mess the main bulkhead was bent the mast supports were in the wrong place but nothing ventured nothing gained so I broke the backbone in two added more supports and glued back together  
 
Next job was the deck this has quite a camber to it so loads of string and clamping methods were needed to get it to sit on the bulkheads correctly
 
The 1st planking was so poor in quality I think it was just pine that it broke at the slightest bend  so that made some nice paint stirrers ! and I used some pieces of walnut I had in stock I know it seems a shame to use it and then cover it up but when needs must
 

1st planking and 2nd planking both finished but I didn't read the instructions correctly so planked all of the hull in walnut the top 4 planks should have been in the lighter colour
 
Deck and inner bulwarks have all been planked in the lighter timber I am not sure what it is but it seems impossible to sand it clean so I decided to leave it slightly dirty and say it adds character to the deck
 

Hi Gang, I have another wee update to Ballier !
 
The Timber Heads are in place and painted (photo below)
 
Thanks B.E. , Ollie , Jason , Bob & Dee_Dee for the kind words and all the Likes too !
Yea I have a pretty wide smile on the ol' face over here in Ireland, as much relief as anything to have gotten past the major construction phase relatively unscathed.. it is sooo true what I have read here on MSW that problems on wooden boat builds can be fixed fairly easily! thankfully
Still a bit of Clean-Up work required on the paintwork, but not too much.. the Rudder will be set free from it's wooden surround shortly and installed.. but that will be a few days away yet as work gets in the way again.
 
Question Time.. Tree Nailing ! it is almost time to give the Deck & Bulwarks some freckles .. any suggestions folks (I see a lot of methods on here, but if anyone has a sure fire way of doing them I would be only too happy to try!!  )
 
Stay Well Folks
 
Eamonn

Okey Dokey.. Photos as promised ('cos I'm nice like that you see    )
 
Cap Rails in place (bit of a faf there as they didn't fit so I had to lengthen them slightly.. about 5mm .. Oh and did I mention the weird asymmetry! well it reared it's head again, so a bit of cap rail nudging was required to make it conform to the bulwark shape !! am beginning to think it was there from the very beginning. Oh Well, 'tisn't so bad really  )
Painted all the new stuff and inside the gun ports (needs to have a 2nd coat at least, and I may end up cracking open some of my mighty filler stock to smoothen them off.
 
That's us up to date folks, thanks for looking in on Little 'ol Ballahoo.
 
Stay Well
 
Eamonn

All Righty Then.. Big News Update.. Brace Yourselves !!!!
 
Margin Planking is Done  (well just about)
 
All that is left is to fair them a little add the Caulking and sand to a nice finish.. after that go lie down for a week or so till the nerves recover  
Broke the point off of 3 #11 Xacto Blades doing them ! they aren't perfect, but are about at the level of my current ability I think (I could spend another day doing them and not improve them significantly if you follow me!  ) there is Spirketting to go in place too so don't be too concerned about the Margin Planks not quiet being snug to the Bulwarks  so I had to allow for it in doing the scarf joints !
 
Photo Time.. WooHoo !
 
All The Best Folks
 
Eamonn
 
PS the dark lines at the scarf joins are just 'construction' pencil marks,, and are not the Caulking Lines !

Quick Photo Update..
 
Hull is painted to about 99% complete, just touch-up's required now.
 
Next up for Ballier is to put those 'triangular' pieces between the Bulwarks & the Port/Stbd. Transom Frames, then get on with the Margin Doodah     Oh Joy..
 
Incidentally the 'White Stuff' isn't near as severe as it looks in the photos, it is a very off white, but the Studio Flash brightens it.. honestly it does  
 
Thanks For Checking In
 
Eamonn
 
 

More progress this morning.
 
Managed to plank the inside of the transom ready for the gunports to be cut. Used a piece of decking to get the correct height of the lower planks and then planked up to the top of the transom.
 

 
Gave the planks a coat of 50/50 PVA and water mix and allowed to dry. I then drew a guide mark for both of the rear gunports, drilled out the four corners and used my dremel to bore out the majority the ports. Finished off with a sharp blade and file.
 

 
Also repeated for all of the port and starboard gunports.
 

 
 

ITS FINISHED
sorry I haven't been posting I bet you all thought another half built model gathering dust
I much prefer to build rather than photograph
Hope you like any comments good or bad would be great
Andy

Quick additional!
 
After the conversations on Eamonns build I have decided to fill the gaps between the outermost stern counter frames and the bulwarks.

Second planking complete!
 
Spent this morning finishing off the main strakes and then went back over and added all the stealers that were required. Next step after this was a coat of 50/50 PVA and water to soak into the walnut planking and help reduce any splintering.
 
Once fully dry, gave a full sanding with 120 grit over the entire planking and get rid of any major lumps and bumps. Then gave the second planking a layer of walnut filler, smeared into the cracks with the mark I thumb. Again allowed to fully dry and a major sanding back down to the wood with 120 grit, followed by 180 grit and finally 240 grit.
 
Finally gave another coat of 50/50 PVA and water, allowed to dry and a final sanding with 240 grit.
 
I am hoping that the two soaks of PVA mix will prevent any potential splintering when I come to cut out the gunports, which was something that was a tedious and frustrating task with the Snake build.

Margin Plank Photos
 
Only the edge abutting the Bulwarks has been shaped, and even that is somewhat roughly done.. will proper fit all at later stage, there will be a Spirketting or whatever that Skirting Board looking Plank thing is called, so to have an absolutely perfect bulwark fit won't be a high priority though I do want it neat as my 'deck planking' side measurement (in my case 6 mm width)  will be taken off it as per Nigel's tip above.
 
The Plan photo shows my calculations for creating the Water Line, with the final line drawn on the hull in such a way that Heath Robinson would have been proud !  btw Tamiya tape arrived on scene today !
 
Thanks for Looking in Folks.
 
Slán,
 
Eamonn
 
 

Little Update.. (had a wee system glitch which put this update into Ollie's Log, I was over there a few mins earlier and Internet Explorer seems to have had a wobbly..  Weird Happenings eh .. so if you see a deleted post in your log Ollie it was this !)
 
Got the Waterline drawn and what a total Faf that was, made me want to get on with Joggling it was that bad ! brought the Black down to it, just to get a feel for things and I'm happy with the result.. though less happy with my Masking Tape, as despite much rubbing and pressing the paint insists on going under it to give a feathery edge ! I have even put a light coat of Clear matt (lightly sanded) over the whole lower hull of the boat in anticipation to give a smoother surface for the tape.. no avail, I have heard it mentioned that some folks run a blade along the waterline to 'cut' a barrier that will stop paint bleed ! else I'll pick up some better tape, Tamiya Tape seems to be used a lot on MSW)
 
BTW You can just make out the Patented Deck Planking Template in place, looks snazzy, I wonder if I can just give it a wood colour.. hmmmmm
 
Bye For Now
 
Eamonn
 
 
 

Lovely colours Eamonn and quality craftsmanship.  One day, hopefully, I will be at that standard!  And, you are furthering my nautical language with every post ("....joggling with deck planks into a margin..."???).
Regards,
David

Hi All..
 
Just a quick Photo Update to catch things up ..
 
Gun Ports are filed out properly (almost that is) bit more to go there as 2 on each side have to be cut to meet the Capping Rail, the Transom decoration is in place, and I.ve got the 1st coat on the bulwarks.
More work required on the black paintwork (another coat) and remember it isn't finished at the lower part, I need to get the waterline in first !
 
Just about Deck Time Folks.. I've decided to give myself a load of work and go with Joggling the Deck planks into a Margin and all the fun that that involves (have to say I do like the effect !.. lets see if I'm still saying this later!!    ) 
 
Ok Photo Time..
 
All The Best Folks
 
Eamonn
 

Hi Eamonn,
 Your Ballahoo is looking good - gives me inspiration and hope that one day my build will look like that!  I've had a good balsa day and hope to dry fit the blocks tomorrow; I'll send you a photo if it all works out.
Kind Regards,
David