MEDDO

Bug, very nicely done. You have paid honor to a fine gentleman. Thank you for all your work.

I second Ken's, Per's and Sjors' remarks.  Great job, Bug, you did Augie proud.  Thanks!

Hello Sean,
 
I know Augie is smiling.  You did an excellent job, she is just beautiful.  
The finished build also brings a tear to my eyes, because now it is time to let go.
 
Thank you for this.
 
Regards,
Anja
 

Thanks again, very very much every one.  Got the other images loaded into the Completed Build Gallery (Thanks Chuck and Dubz for your help!) here:
 
 

A wonderful gesture on your part and a great result. Bravo!
 
Bob

A job well done Sean, and a great result, you should be very proud of your achievement.
A beautiful model and I think Augie will be nodding in complete agreement.
 
B.E.
 
 

Sean,
 
You have done something that is almost impossible.
Augie was a master of modelling and you are at the same level as he was.
I know he will look from above and agree with me that no one could finish his work as you did!
I take my hat of for both of you.
With tears in my eyes i admire the confed.
Thanks for all that you have done for Augie and all of us here on MSW.
It's  a beauty and give her a nice place at your home.
 
Sjors
 

Bug, I think Augie is smiling now and am very greatful letting you do the final job.
My hat off to both of you.

Obviously it was extraordinarily humbling and intimidating to have been asked to complete Augie's Confederacy.  Aside from his excellent work, Augie was an extremely popular gentleman on the forum, and for all the right reasons.  Quite simply, he was just a great guy.
 
    I can honestly say, I did my best for him, and I hope he's happy with the end result. Thank you all SO much for following along and providing such great support.
 
  Here are a couple of shots of the finished ship. More images will soon be up in the Gallery of Completed Builds, and once that is done I'll update this log accordingly.
 

The plans do not show a binnacle but the contemporary model does.  I decided to build one.  The binnacle was made out of pear and is glazed with mica.  I toyed with the idea of putting a compass and lantern inside but for the time being I have left it empty.  The "sliding" door on the back is tack-glued so I can remove it later if I decide to make them.  The binnacle will eventually be attached to the deck with ropes via two eyebolts in the deck.  I have shown it in the correct position just abaft the mizzen mast.  The chimney is turned brass and will be kept bright.  The tiller has also been reinstalled...correctly.
 

 

 

 

In order to get the shrouds equally I used the deadeye claw while tying the opposite side.
Think it worked out fairly nice.
I am intending to work the shroud tying just like when doing tighten up nuts/bolts on the wheels of the car, crosswise.
This way they will be equally taught.

So... not a whole lot of mystery here with the construction of the pinnace.
 

 
 I had the same issues with the cap rail using the Swiss Pear, but when through fewer iterations because I need I needed the patiences to just use a sharp blade.
 

 
I notched out the thwarts, and carved out the knees. The rails are pretty straightforward, glued together from the laser cut.
 

 
I ended up using small bits of boxwood for the oar locks. I couldn't manage to carve the basswood that small and still keep it in tact, so I went with the denser boxwood and just had them two "steps" carved.
 

 
Finally, I tethered the small boats to the waist beams.  I know that this isn't a tradition knot of any kind - however this is the first type of "slip" knot my father taught me how to use.  We moved a lot when I was young, and this is how he tied down all the stuff we'd load up on our open top, built ourselves trailer. It's a clever little knot that's easy to manipulate quickly when we'd stop at a rest stop and need something out of the back.
So this is a little homage to my late father.  :-)
 

 
Coming up - the finale...  
 
 
 

Well folks - it's all wrapped up except the photo shoot...
 

 
...more to come.

I just finished the tiller. This is my first experience with boxwood and I really like how it carves. I think I'll be doing a lot of carving in the future.

I really like this idea for a stand/presentation. 

This looks like a great find.  I grew up on The Bay and remember seeing the Skipjacks when I was younger out working.  I might have to add this to my library.

This looks like a great find.  I grew up on The Bay and remember seeing the Skipjacks when I was younger out working.  I might have to add this to my library.

Trying to spread my efforts across all my projects - so it's time for Arrow. I decided it was safe to begin hull planking. The kit has wood for 2 plankings. As Niagara was a single planking this is my first build with 2. Honestly, I still don't see the need - just do it right the first time . To each his own. I will do the 2 layers just for the experience this time.
 
So hull planking - time to break out the proportional dividers! There's an ongoing thread about these in one of the forums. Some like them. Some don't. I wouldn't plank without them. I decided to do another how-to so this post will be rather long. Hope it helps (or converts) someone. Arrow is a very easy hull, almost flat bottomed with a simple bow & stern.
 
I had already glued the wider wale plank at deck level and done 2 strakes below that when I realized (or woke up) I would need to thin down the ends of the strakes.
 

 
There is no real planking plan with this kit, so I had to calculate the bands on my own. At the frame piece with the longest distance between the keel and the last hull strake, I laid a strip of paper to determine that distance.
 

 

 
As luck would have it, that distance was 36mm and the planking sticks are 3mm wide - perfect! That's 12 planks to complete the side. I decided to break up the distance into 3 bands. Here's where it gets cool. Not sure what the part on the dividers is called but I set it to 3 (for 3 bands).
 

 
Then with the long end of the dividers span the distance between the keel edge and the strake edge.
 

 
The short end of the dividers is 1/3 of that span.
 

 
Using the short end, you walk the dividers over that same span and make a mark at each step.
 

 


 
Yes there is a slight space after the last step. Nothing done wrong, it's just the fact that I am doing a linear measurement on a curved surface. This is not a big enough discrepancy to worry about. You'll see why in a minute.
 
So here are the band marks for this frame.
 

 
From here it's just repetition. Move to next frame, measure the full distance, then make the marks for the bands. Lather, rinse, repeat. Usually you will find that the frames in the middle have the same span. As you move to the bow or stern the measurement will get smaller. Don't skip any frames - do them all.
 

 
Now get your plank, lay it where you will be gluing it and mark where it contacts each frame.

 
Now it's time to focus on a band. I'll do the one next to the existing strakes. If you remember the original calculation was 12 strakes / 3 bands = 4 strakes per band. So set the dividers to 4.
 

 
With the long end, measure the span between the band mark and the edge of the last strake. This is the total width of the band.
 

 
The short end of the dividers is that span divided by 4 (4 strakes in the band). I started on one of the middle frame pieces - the widest overall span. On this frame the strake should be full width (3mm) and by golly that's what the dividers tell me.
 

 
So there is no width adjustment needed on the strake where it crosses this frame. Continue this pattern, measure the band width on the frame, put the short end of the dividers across the plank and eventually you will hit  the  point where the distance on the short end is less than the width of the plank.
 

 

 
I just stab the divider pin into the plank to make a mark. NOTE: some of the cheaper dividers don't have pins on the ends. I would recommend getting some with pins if you can. Here's the plank afterwards. From the holes upwards will need to be removed.
 

 
You can cut with a knife or just file/sand. I'm almost done here. I've sanded the plank edge down to the holes. I left the holes just for demonstration. The trick is to sand the edge until the holes just disappear. Your plank will be the correct width at that point.

 
The finished strake. At this point if you were doing short planks to make up a strake you could cut them now. Since this is a first planking I will not.

 
I glue the strake 2 or more frames at a time. PVA along the long edge of the plank with CA at the frames. Be careful not to get them mixed - they don't play well together. Of course you can glue them any way you want.
 

 

 

 

 
So much for that strake. 3 strakes left in the band. For the next strake you go thru the same process except this time (and subsequent times) the span to measure will be the from the edge of the strake you just laid to the band mark AND before you start set the dividers to 3 since you have 3 strakes left. When done with this strake repeat again after setting the dividers to 2.
 

 
The beauty of this is that it doesn't matter if you screw up a strake - maybe a little too wide or narrow. Since you remeasure the remaining span after laying a strake the dividers will correct any errors.
 
 
I hope this makes sense. Once you do a few repetitions, hopefully you will see the pattern and understand the process. Essentially you are measuring some distance and letting the dividers divide that measurement into however many portions they are set to. The nice thing is you don't really care what that span measurement is. You just let the dividers do their thing.
 
 
Whew - good night all.....
 
 
 
 

Ratlines are anything but perfect on many working ships, as seen by this photo:
 

This looks like a great find.  I grew up on The Bay and remember seeing the Skipjacks when I was younger out working.  I might have to add this to my library.

This looks like a great find.  I grew up on The Bay and remember seeing the Skipjacks when I was younger out working.  I might have to add this to my library.

I sold 2 kits to Model Expo and received what I thought was a great price for them.  I probably could of gotten more for them if I had put in a bunch more effort but it was the easy option.  Very satisfied customer. 

I sold 2 kits to Model Expo and received what I thought was a great price for them.  I probably could of gotten more for them if I had put in a bunch more effort but it was the easy option.  Very satisfied customer. 

So I have been away for a while.  My practice went through a massive expansion/contraction/expansion etc etc.  Ended up working way too much.  I also got somewhat distracted for the last few months building a kayak.  I am finishing that up and am cleaning up the shipyard so I can start working again.  Here is a picture of where I am now.  
 
I like the new site design and wanted to see if I remembered how to get pictures uploaded etc.

I really like this idea for a stand/presentation.