MEDDO

Hello.
Continuation after little break.

Post Eleven
 
Flying Transom.
 
This is another tricky piece to hold in the correct position whilst the glue bites.

1192
I used pva and bamboo poles to secure the angle and to support the Flying Transom whilst the glue bites.
It allows me time to sight and check the Flying Transom  set-up from various angles.

1201

1208(3)

1214
With the Flying transom in place I use a template taken from the plan to mark the curve down from the underside to the Transom base.

1224
The stern area is then taped up to provide stability for the next stage.

1226
I then carefully pare down to this line using a No 11 scalpel.

1228
The plank ends are then sanded back to the Transom face.

1234

1232

1231(2)
The next stage sees her released from the base and the removal of the frame centres.
 
B.E.
21/03/21
 

Hey everyone my name is Rob and I did a lot of model cars as I was growing up. It's been 15 years since I picked up a model so I wanted to see how doing wooden models would be. I just post my first log after doing extensive research on good starting models to get my hands wet. So come and check out my HMS Beagle build and looking forward to getting to know you guys. 

Thanks to all the 'Likes'.
 
This week, I put the planking between the wales and the first layer of the molding.
For this I used the method described by Chuck and proceeded to shape the planks using a small travel iron and a hair dryer.
I have to say that this method works pretty well and makes it easier to get the planks in place.

 
I found that the second strake, the one that fills the space, was still difficult because the width of the planks must be really precise.

 

 
The next strake should be easier as it will consist of a constant 5/32" width, although here it will be the length that needs to be precise to leave a 1/64" gap around each gun port.
 

I finished all the blind mortises for the carlings using the technique I described earlier.  It really went pretty quick and doesn't look bad.  There is poly on all the deck beams, and I'm ready to start assembling the deck. Sorry for the blurry photos!

Post Nine
 
 
Fitting planks 3 and 4
 
 
This is where the clinker comes into play.
 
Port and Starboard can get a little confusing when it comes to these pre spiled planks. What initially looks like the outboard face of Plank 3 on the fret is in fact the inboard face.
 
When working with the hull inverted I have to remind my addled old brain that Port is on the right and Starboard on the left.
 
Having bevelled the inward face of plank 3, the corresponding bevel of plank 1 is carefully pared down at the bow to allow  plank 3 to fit into the stem rabbet with a feather edge.
 
I find the 2mm Swann-Morton chisel blade perfect for this.

1071
The plank is water/heat treated to form the bend around the bow, and a small amount of lateral twist is imparted to the end of the plank to allow it to sit flush against the stem rabbet.

1069
With the plank temporarily in place the aft end can be marked for trimming on Futtock 2.
 
As with the first planks I prepare both sides before any glue is applied.
 
 The Portside plank went on without trouble using ca, but I keep a small pot of acetone at hand to clean off any overspill on the face of the plank.
 
The main concern now is to ensure that the opposite side plank has a uniform meet at the bow rabbet.

1073
For this reason and to give me a little tweak time I used pva for the rabbet join and the first two Futtocks.
 
This allowed me to sight along the bow and make any minor adjustment before clamping in position. Use of ca would have precluded this.
 

1078(2)
Light pressure is used and the model is set aside for the pva to cure.

1083
Plank three successfully (I hope) attached. I continued to use pva which worked out ok.

1084(2)
It will stand a little more feathering into the bow but that can wait awhile.
 
 
Onto Plank 4
 
Very little fiddling needs to be done, I did impart a little twist towards the end to allow the plank to lie flat without tension across Futtocks 9 and 10 and the Transom.
 

1100
At the sternpost I added a balsa support piece to brace the planking for gluing the extensions beyond the transom.

1106
The final plank 4 goes on without incident.

1113

1108

1111
At this point the clinker has yet to be feathered out at the stern.
 
 
Onward and upwards to the sheer strake.
 
 
B.E.
17/03/21

I feel fortunate that I am able to be the first to show off this beautiful little kit from Chuck and the Syren Ship Model Company
I know quite a few Winchelsea builders already have this, because I had to stand in line for a couple of weeks to get mine.
 

 
Here is the no frills packaging ( I ordered one each of the cherry and Alaskan yellow cedar versions ) next to the comprehensive assembly instructions, available for download at Syren.  Winnie Capstan Instructions
 

 
Here is the cherry version spread out.  The wood is as high quality as I have ever seen.  It reminds me of pear, in that there is very little noticeable grain.  However, having worked with a lot of cherry lately, I look forward to the color I know will pop out with a very light finish.
Chuck has provided five different thicknesses of material, from 1/32" to 1/4".    The attention to detail is what you have come to expect from Chuck and Syren, with the included black monofilament to simulate bolts and the black laser board ring detail.  
 
There is just nothing else out there, kit or molded, to compare to the realistic look of this kit.  Sure, we might see a 3D printed one any day now, if they are not already out there, but they will not be wood, and we will know it..
 
I can't imagine how Chuck found the time to design this and bring it to production.  He never sleeps.
 
At $23.00 it is a steal..   It will be a great addition to any 1:48 project, and in an historically accurate way.  The design and look of these things did not change much over a 100+ year period.
 
I don't have any plans to build the Winchelsea, but I have a couple of projects in mind where  this kit will fit right in.
 
The quality and completeness of the kit is fairly self explanatory, so I don't know what else I can say at this time.
Please hit me with any questions you have.
 
I plan on putting it together in the next few days and will create a build log to document the experience.
 

 
I hope I can get close to the bar Chuck has raised.
 

Post 54: the Main Boom
 
This was trickier than it looks as the outboard end tapers to a diameter of only 2.5 mm.
I first make the boom octagonal using the 7:10 :7 rule and then plane of the corners with my Veritas block plane.
 

 
Then  I turned the inboard end first down to a diameter of 5.3 mm.  On my home made lathe the central board is usually a moveable support but this time I clamped it in place at the widest point and then tapered to the outboard end.  I use decreasing grades of sand paper from 130 down to 400 but like any rotational method it does leave slight radial grooves so I finish of with  400 and 600 grade paper in the longitudinal direction
 
 

 
The bearings on this device are roller blade bearings and I have a number with wooden inserts to reduce the diameter:
 

 
These ensure that the mast (or boom) in this case fits firmly so that there is no scoring since it is the bearing which rotates.  Here is the completed boom after turning to the shape indicated in the plans:
 

 
The next task is flatten the inboard end to take the crutches which connect the boom to the mast. I used the mill for this with the head set to an angle of 2 degrees :
 

 
Next the boom crutches themselves.  I used my Knew Concepts Jeweler's saw for this, and then  finally shaped with files and sand paper.
 

 
On the subject of Jeweler’s saws:  I originally owned one like this
 
 

 
I  had a problem finding the correct tension and kept breaking blades. This was probably down to my poor technique and perhaps I should have persisted.  However,  recently I have acquired a Knew Concepts saw and for me this is a much superior tool.  The lever system ensures the blade is always at the correct tension.  It is beautifully balanced so I can cut really close to the line and I have not broken a blade in nearly 12 months.

I would recommend these to anybody about to purchase a jewelers saw. They are not cheap but like most things quality cost money.
 
Some would use a scroll saw for this task.  I did own one of these but it was a cheap model – I paid A$80.  I was disappointed. Even though I bolted it to the bench over a rubber pad it still exhibited lots of vibration.  The foot designed to hold the work down constantly came loose and for thin timber, say 1/16 inch, I could not install fine enough blades to meet the “three teeth rule” so there was lots of tearing.  So, in the end I sold it and made more space in my workshop..  I have written about this elsewhere on this site.   My local woodwork shop does weekend workshops and demonstration and I have trialed out there a parallel arm scroll saw.  These are a very different story.  Virtually vibration free and they will take finer blades so quite fine work is possible .   A fine tool.  They do however cost about A$1000 and are out of the question for me.  A nice tool though.
 
I digress! So, here is the boom with crutches installed
 

And finally with the blocks added and ready for installation

 
John

When I built a Polacre, I made some research on the subject, since was a scratch build model.
Below there is a scheme that explain better than many words how where managed the latin sails.
Hope it clarified all of your doubts! 😀

The Byrnes saw, is a professional quality machine.  If you decide to buy one, I suggest that you discuss spindle sizes with him.  Mine came fitted to use a blade with a 1/2in arbor hole.  Living in Europe, you will want to be able to buy replacement blades locally that will have metric sized arbor holes.  If he does not automatically fit his saws sent to Europe to accept metric sized blades you should ask him to make you an adaptor.  This is easy and inexpensive for him to do.

Post Eight
 
 
Progressing the planking strakes.
 
I begin with the Starboard aft first strake which is a simpler arrangement than the bow section.

1024(2)
Dry fitting the aft plank.
 
I imparted a shallow bend to assist the plank to lie flat across Futtocks 8 and 9, followed by a shallow outward bend between Futtocks 10 and the transom. This is to create a concave sweep running into the Flying Transom.
 

1025
This photo shows the concave curve that will run to connect with the Flying Transom.

1027
As with the stem, a support block is temporarily fixed to the board to support the Transom and counter any lateral pressure when gluing.
At this point I haven’t glued the aft plank to the transom, I will do that once the second (Portside) plank is fixed, and I can tweak the set up with both in place.
 

1030
Aft piece shape.
 

1051
The Transom is held steady for the gluing.

1050(2)

1036

1048(2)

1063(2)
A small block of balsa is used to support and protect the transom.
 
 
B.E.
13/03/21

hi all
cant believe its been so long since i posted anything!
unfortunately two family bereavements, both parents, and being recently made redundant after 27 years with the same company has kept me otherwise engaged.
I have not forgotten about everybody and the site and hopefully will soon be back in the thick of it.
 
cheers....mick

Post Five
 
Fairing.
 
I approach this job with a degree of trepidation, being aware of the damage that can be done by a simple lapse of concentration in holding or manoeuvring, or a degree too much pressure put on the frames.
 
Chuck re-iterates this point more than once.
 
Using the fret from the Futtock sheets, I practised sanding the edges with a variety of different grade papers to gauge the removal effect and effort required to achieve it.

0929
I am using a finger sander with P150 and P240 papers, and Sheet P240 papers were also used.
 
 
Using a fine touch was uppermost in my mind but even so a couple of frames dislodged from the keel at the stern, but it was easy work to re glue them.
 
The process mainly seems to consist of cleaning off the char with actual bevelling only being applicable to the forward four and aft five Futtocks/frames plus the Transom board.
 

0935
I use a 0.7 x 6mm Boxwood strip to check the lie of the strake across the Frames.
 
 
I am taking this very slowly, a lot of the fairing I do is along the vertical line to clean the char to avoid putting lateral pressure on the frames.
 
This also has the effect of easing the friction when applying the necessary lateral strokes to fair the forward and aft frames.
 
I didn’t do too much fairing at one time lest my natural inclination to complete the job got too much and the speed of working picked up.

0930
With the test strake fully sitting across all frames at various points I decided it was time to move on.
 
 
A coat of wipe-on-poly is applied.
 

0942

0943(2)

0939

0953(2)
The planking phase beckons.
 
 
 
B.E.
09/03/21
 
 

Post 52: Serving the Ropes
 
I am using Chuck’s serving machine and his rope (a historical item now)
 

 
To my eye many examples, which I see here and elsewhere are too heavy.   I like a lighter look.  My preference is to choose a different thread thickness depending on the original  size of the rope. 
 So, I use three different threads:
Veevus 16/0 fly tying thread            diameter -.            0.04 mm
Veevus 8/0 fly tying thread              diameter -.             0.06 mm
Gutterman  50 wt cotton thread    diameter              0.128 mm
Mara 120                                            diameter              0.15
 
 
It is pretty difficult to measure these small diameters but they can be calculated from the Denier measurement and there are also some literature measurements which agree fairly well with the calculation.  Of course, the main thing is what the result looks like when served on the rope and if it appear s correct to you but, for comparison, I have made some measurements on the final served lineI also made some measurement on the final thickness of the rope
 
The first thing I should say is that Chuck’s rope is pretty close in diameter to what he says it is.
 
0.88 mm rope served withwith16.0 fly tyiing thread             diameter           0.936
0.88 mm rope served with 50 wt Gutterman Cotton            diameter            1.11
1.12 mm  rope served with 16/0 fly tyiing thread                  diameter            1.26
1.12 mm rope served with 50 wt Gutterman Cotton            diameter            1.47
1.37 mm  rope served with 50 wt Gutterman Cotton            diameter            1.60
(with the lay)
1.37 mm  rope served with 50 wt Gutterman Cotton            diameter            1.71
            (against the lay)
I prefer the appearance of the final line when it is served with the lay (as recommended by Druxey incidentally). It gives a slightly  "bumpy” look as the thread partly fills the gap between the strands.  However, this is a personal preference and others may prefer the more regular look obtained by serving against the lay.  I generally find that this method produces a slightly lager diameter.
 
I hope these data are of interest
 
John
 

Finished with the ship's boat - decided to make a cover for it and not try the interior detail.  The cover is made from a piece of fine-woven cloth glued to the blank side of a white index card cut to size with a piece of string embedded to model tie-down ropes.  This worked pretty well when I made hanging hammocks for the berth deck of my Constitution cross-section and I think came out pretty well on this boat.
The cleats on the side of the cradle were home-made - from this angle at least they look serviceable.  

 

 

 
Now onto rigging the spares, which is usually fun, although I think things will get a bit crowded.  Given the placement of some of the blocks hooked into the eyebolts on the deck - especially the fore running backstays, I probably shoulda rigged those before tying down the ship's boat...
 

 

1:123 La Couronne
Ship Model Okumoto
Catalogue # LC-SMO-K80
Available from Ship Model Okumotofor ¥ 51,840
 
 

 
 
Couronne (French for "crown") was an emblematic ship of the French Navy built by order of Richelieu. The Couronne was the first major warship to be designed and built by the French themselves in accordance with Richelieu's plans to renew the French Navy, after a series of warships had been built by the Dutch. The construction was supervised by Isaac de Launay Razilly (died in Arcadia 1635), and overseen by the famous carpenter Charles Morieu, from Dieppe. She was being constructed at La Roche-Bernard and was one of the most advanced units of her time. After launch in 1632 or 1633, she was moved to Brouage in September 1634 where she was completed around 1635 by Mathieu Casteau. She carried up to heavy guns, most on her two-deck broadside but also 8 firing forwards from the bow and 8 firing aft, an unusual feature until Dupuy de Lôme redesigned naval artillery. 
 
 
Couronne took part in the Battle of Guetaria on 22 August 1638, and another expedition to Spain in 1639 under Henri de Sourdis. The ship was disarmed in 1641 and scrapped between 1643-1645.
Extract courtesy of Wikipedia
 
The kit
 

Ship Model Okumoto isn’t a name that you’re likely to have encountered much, if at all, during your exploration of this hobby. They are one of an extremely minor number of Japanese companies who are producing wooden ship kits. In fact, the only other company that I can think of is WoodyJoe, and they don’t sell these frame-style models that Okumoto are now selling. At the moment, Okumoto only produce three of these kits, with a fourth being released in the next weeks. Model Ship World has been sent all three current releases for review, so I thought we’d first take a look at this most famous of French ships.
 

If you expect your model ship to be packaged into the typical cardboard box with glossy box art and other such niceties, then this might just surprise you. Okumoto has chosen a lockable, clear plastic case to package their kits into, and there is no box art. This simple approach has its identity defined by the set of instruction sheets that has a photo of the finished model sat on top of the timber parts. It’s as simple as that. Whilst unconventional, this approach is actually quite charming and certainly engaging. Opening the box reveals three stacks of laser-cut wood (Agathis), a small bundle of thin strip wood, short dowel sections and a packet with five bundles of toothpicks. The latter have quite ornate turning on their blunt end and have obviously been chosen for this purpose. I remember using the same thing when I built my Panart San Felipe. There are 26 sheets of accompanying plans and drawings, plus the colour laser-printed image of the finished vessel.
 








I know that there are a number of modellers who aren’t fans of laser cut wood due to the scorched edges, but the heat from this laser seems to have been very localised and not caused as much as is seen on contemporary kits. Look at this photo to see what I mean. On the reverse of each sheet are a few lengths of sticky tape. This is designed to hold the parts in their respective places because with this kit, there is no reason to cut the parts from the sheets! Yes. They are completely cut out and ready to use! Removing the parts also shows that no sticky residues are left from the tape, so this isn’t a concern. As this model is going to be POF, it’s pretty important that there aren’t any unwanted nasties to overcome, such as numbering of the components. This is also correct as the part numbers for each sheet are supplied on the accompanying plans. Another feature of each laser-cut sheet is the thickness of the timber and sheet number, laser-engraved onto the end of each one, making identifying even easier. Most of the strip material is cut from the same timber and in the same fashion with the tape holding the strips in place. 

Dowel and separate strip wood is high quality too, but I’m unsure as the material used for the latter. Those bundles of toothpicks are very good too, with no low-quality material that splits and splinters. 

Underneath the colour print of the finished La Couronne, lurks a 6-page photo driven instruction manual. Now, here’s the rub…it’s all in Japanese! The various sizes etc. are understandable, so you will need to the aid of a mobile app, such as Google Translate, so scan and change the language into your own native brand. That app actually works pretty well on this sort of thing. Check out this screenshot comparison.



 
Next up is an A2 sized plan, printed at actual scale to the model. All text and dimension on this is printed in English, and the drawings include an above elevation and a starboard side profile. 


 
A further six sheets show the parts plan for the laser-cut timber, simply for referencing purposes.

 
Each frame is now shown on the next series of drawings, indicating joints and positions for the deck beams. There will be course need to be some tracing of positions from these to the timber parts.

 
The remainder of the plans contain drawings which pertain to the fitting of rails, lodging knees and just about every other aspect of the model, in more precise detail that the previous plans. Whilst Japanese text is present, so is English text, so there shouldn’t be any confusion in what you are studying. All plans also show the specific part numbers for just about everything, whether you need to know them or not. 


 
Conclusion
La Couronne is, according to Ken at Okumoto, one of the most popular model ship designs in Japan because the shape is very appealing to wooden ship builders. This kit, at time of writing, is their latest release, and Okumoto misjudged how popular it would be with customers and as a result, they quickly ran out of the first production batch. Whilst the model itself is superbly designed and produced with high quality, there are perhaps a couple of areas where artistic licence/vs simplicity might have crept in, but that really doesn’t detract from what is otherwise a highly attractive and authentic-looking POF build of this historical vessel. You could, if you wished, go even further with the model and add internal deck planking etc. For me, the model is perfect without any added embellishment and will provide the modeller with a challenge and a great introduction into the world of POF ships, and without any real compromise in the standard of the finished build. These aren’t cheap models by any stretch of the imagination, so I would ensure that you’ve a number of completions under your belt before diving into an Okumoto kit. I would say these are an excellent transition kit between POB and POF, if POF was what you really wanted to tackle, but didn’t have the tooling to do so. I think the only thing I would’ve liked to have seen included are the gratings. I don’t know how easy they would be to replicate in this scale, but may try to add them myself.
 
There are two previous releases to this. These are Santa Maria and Endeavour, and I will be looking at these too over the next weeks. 
 
My sincere thanks to Ship Model Okumoto for kindly sending this sample out for review on Model Ship World. To purchase directly, click the link at the top of this article.
 
 

 
 
 

Just to show you a different look with the barge here is a friend of mine building it right now.  Early paintings show the planking painting white.......it looks nice.
 

Thank you Glenn and B.E. for your kind words and thank you to all the 'Likes'.
Glenn, indeed I chose cherry wood for the hull. The deck will be made of boxwood.
Blue Ensign, I do not claim authorship of my modification because it is indeed while browsing through your superb build log that I came up with the idea of this addition. I really liked the idea of seeing the space under the skylight.
 
I continue in parallel to finalize the two rooms that we will see from the openings of the deck.
I just finished the 2 side walls of the room that is under the companionway.
 

 


I am now going to make the wall that will separate the 2 rooms.

In order to be able to securely fasten the model to the stand, two recesses for nuts were milled into the keel board and two holes were drilled for M3 threaded rods.


Today I glued the ribs into the prepared keel board. For the right-angled alignment I built small auxiliary constructions out of Lego bricks.

 

I came across a fascinating video made at the U. S. Naval Academy museum on design and history of ships during the era leading up to the War of 1812. Many gorgeous ship models are featured.
 
Sorry if this video has already been mentioned on this site.

Keep going...
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

One more thing for the newer members I have said before.  This is a world wide forum with people of all skill levels.  We literally have some of the best modelers in the world post regularly here.  People who literally wrote the books on our subjects.  Sort of a basketball forum with Lebron posting daily or a swimming forum where Phelps is all over the place.  Sometimes this is pretty intimidating.  Us mere mortals must always remember everyone starts somewhere and we all want to improve.  Some of those "pros" are the nicest and most helpful people here.  The tone and encouragement from everyone here on the forum makes this the best place to be

Hello, this afternoon my book arrived, 65 days late. It is worth every penny and day to wait for it. It is a beautiful frigate and in the 1/48 plans it looks huge.

Post One
 
This involves the keel assembly and I was happy to follow the leads of JpR62 (Jean-Paul) and Chuck Seiler, by using scrap 1/32” sheet to assist the alignment of the inner keel pieces.
 

0681(2)

0697(2)
I utilised the fret cut out to hold the bow section during keel gluing and the inner keel sections.
 

0690(2)
The stern section is likewise fitted in a jig for gluing.
 
I also agree with Chuck Seiler’s approach of assembling the keel pieces as two separate sections and bringing them together only after tapering and the addition of the inner bow and stern keel pieces.
 

0703(2)
This is a long keel secured initially only by the central scarph and I share his concerns about the risk of breakage.
 

0709
Gluing the bow inner keel piece.

0713
…and the inner stern keel piece.
 
 
The stem, keel, and Sternpost require tapering.
The pieces are 4mm thick and will initially be reduced to 2.5mm. Final finish 2.38mm or thereabouts.
 
The taper runs down the stem, starting 18mm down from the head, and from inboard to outboard. The taper continues along the keel from top to bottom and is also applied to the lower sternpost.
 
To this end I have pva’d a styrene strip 0.25mm x 2.5mm along the parts to be tapered to give me a guide to the thin end point.
 
With the two sections joined the centre inner keel piece can be fitted which adds security to the structure.

0721
Initially I used pieces of scrap 1/32” sheet to centre the piece along the keel, but this didn’t give a good result; something must have been off, probably me, so I resorted to placement by eye which worked better.
 
 
Chuck mentions that the piece was made long on purpose and that sanding the after end may be required. In my case it did, reducing the keel slot size, the implications of which I have yet to find out.
 
 
The final tweaking of the tapering is now done making sure the inboard edges of the keel remain untouched so as not to affect the rabbet.
 
 
The final task of this part is to attach the transom piece.
Chuck makes the point about ensuring the transom is perpendicular to the keel.
 

0735
There are etched lines to assist centring the transom, but I then used my eye and diverse methods to try and check that the piece was vertical to the sternpost.

0746
One of the diverse methods I used to check the transom was level.

0741
Not quite as simple as may seem given the inbuilt flexibility  due to the length and relative thinness of the structure.
 

0756
A coat of w-o-p and I can move onto the next part.
 
 
B.E.
01/03/21