MEDDO

For an unstinted deck I have used a pencil on the the edge and for a darker stained deck I used a black sharpie pen on the edge. Both came out pretty well.

Ships boats 2
The next boat to be built was the 24ft cutter, which was built the same as the 18ft one again it was a mini build and again towards the end I have started the next boat. I am also very pleased how the boat has turned out and looks nice with the blue painted band, and quite workman like with added oars,anchors,ropes,boat hooks,and barrels.
Frames and  keel clamped

1st plank

1st planking and filler 

2nd planking


planking done and false keel added

inside hull prepared

deck & grating

inside painted

inside fitted out

wash strake & rowlocks

painting

tiller

Completed cutter





Both 18ft and 24ft cutters


 
 
 
 
 
 

Illustrated from the Collections of the National Maritime Museum.
 
AMAZON LINK
 
I picked up this book a few months ago and I can say I am really pleased with it.  It is a very nice collection of photos and has a nice description of each model presented with a tie-in to the historical basis of each type.
 
It is a small short book only 128 pages but very nicely presented.  
 
Contents:
 
1  Prehistory 1600-1689
2  Guerre De Course 1689-1713
3  The Establishment Era 1706-1748
4  The "True Frigate" 1748-1778
5  The Heavy Frigate 1778-1815
6  The Last Generation 1815-1850
 
Inside these chapters are nice descriptions of the development of the bow and stern framings, sweep ports, number and type of armaments, ships boats etc.
 
What is really nice is every model presented has a nice little catalogue number attached to it called a SLR number and you can enter that number into the National Maritime Museums website and you can see addition photos of the model in question.
 
Overall a good addition to my library.
 
Here are a few random pictures to give you a look at the layout.
 

 
 
p.s.  There is another book in the series coming out later this year called  Ship Of The Line (A History In Ship Models) by Brian Lavery

These look wonderful Ben.  Enjoy your trip.  Looking forward to your next step.

Hi Friends.
Construction of the main-top.
Karl  
 
 
 
 
T e i l  5 6

The main and mizzen top masts are now in place, and have all their shrouds and ratlines added, phew, I am glad they are all finished and that I split it up this way, as it did make the ratlines a lot less tedious to tie,I will now most likely add as much of the standing rigging that I can before fitting the tagallants masts.
I have also included some photos of Diana with Pegasus and The lady Nelson.
 
Firstly a lower fold down table I used to bring the rigging to a better level to work at

 
Main and mizzen masts



Completed ratlines



 
 
Some photos of Diana with Pegasus And some with The Lady Nelson as well

Hello all,
 
Well I’m happy to say I’ve completed the planking on the portside too. No stealers or drop planks this
side either. All that is needed now is a good deal of sanding and then some wipe on poly. I have to say
planking this way is more time consuming but it works so much better and the run of the planks is much
easier to maintain. Definitely the way I will plank from here on out!
 

 

 
One thing I want to point out is that I handle a model a lot when I’m working on it. 
Because of this I would inadvertently rub off some of the pencil marks. To make sure
I didn’t lose the main belt line mark I used a sharpie to mark them. Then if I accidently
rubbed off any markings I could go back to the main mark and redo them.
 
After I check the hull over and make sure it’s all set I will move on to the stern.

Thanks for the likes and comments. 
 
Finally... happy dance time again.  At least a small one..
 
It took me several tries but the top transom is done and in place along with the stern timbers.   I used some pen blanks as I didn't have any stock of cherry, boxwood, or pear thick enough.  The final ended up in yellowheart.  Thankfully, it will hidden by the planking. 
 
I cut the curve (which doesn't quite match the deck camber per the plans) on the top and bottom.  Spot glued the waste back on and then the cut the curve of the stern.   A soak in alcohol and the piece emierged.   Notches were cut into the timber for the deadwood and frame timbers.  Everything was then finessed into postion per the plans.  The photos I contrast corrected helped a lot.  Then the stern timbers were cut and matched to size and finessed into position.   The further outboard the timbers go, the longer they get.     I've checked and rechecked as these two bits are critical to the stern being right. 
 
I still have a lot more work in this area, but at least I know I won't be scrapping this one out because the stern was a hopeless cause.  Just a small amount of fairing needs to be done before planking but I feel the rest of the framework should be added first to give it some strength.  Those timbers are bit fragile as they are now.
 
Here's the pics.   Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the process.  As always, you click on them for enlargement.  
 

 

 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 99 – Rails and bulwark continued
 
Most of the work since the Thanksgiving holiday has consisted of fitting the rails and planking around the upper stern.  This has been challenging and there has been some rework along the way.  I will forgo a full tutorial and summarize.
 
The planksheer rail was fitting around the stern in an earlier post.  To fit the members above this and to refine its exact curve better, I decided to start at the top where the heights are easiest to measure as shown in the first picture - and to adjust if necessary.
 

 
The top of the planking around the poop corresponds with the top of the poop decking at the side.  This is also the top of the frames and the underside of the fancy rail that caps the bulwarks around the hull.  These heights are critical.
 
In the next picture the first strake of planking below the main rail has been boiled and clamped to dry.
 

 
The main rail was shaped to fit and is only pinned in place.  It will be painted white and the surrounding hull - and the lower rail -black, so it will not be permanently installed until much later.  The dark, saturated plank being fit is held tightly against it.  These planks not only curve around the stern but twist to fit the slant of the underlying timbers.  Lots of new clamps here made for this awkward work.
 
The next picture shows the third and lowest planking strake being fit.
 

 
The height gauge is being used here to check heights at points around the stern.  The lower rail has been removed for this.  The next picture showing the finished work is the acid test.  I’m not sure which was a bigger problem in judging this, my glasses or the camera lens, but this is the final version.
 

 
Both rails have now been replaced with newly formed, clean versions.  The originals suffered from all the fitting, clamping and refitting.  The next picture shows a different angle.  All this work was done in hard maple because it will be painted and it was easier to bend.
 

 
The main rail is still only fitted temporarily.  The planking is now ready for Treenailing.  There will be a carved, gilded America eagle placed between the rails.  I can’t wait to plank below the lower rail around the stern – more twisted planks and more clamping issues.  A job for the new year.
 
With the stern work completed the top members around the rest of the hull will be easy to fit.  In the next picture the mizzen channels are being installed.
 

 
The top channels are set at the height of the main rail and the lower channels just below the planksheer.  Notches for the chains will be cut later in situ.  The channels will be capped with moldings much later.  In the next picture the starboard main channel is being installed.
 

 
There is still much work to be done on the port side.  In the next picture a section of main rail is pinned in place and one of the topside planks held against it.
 

 
There are two of these 6” x 3” planking strakes above the rail.  They must fit tightly down on the rail and the channels.  The channels were most likely bolted to the outside of the planking to keep them outside the main watertight skin, but I am installed them against the frames to improve their strength on the model.  The appearance will be the same.  In the last picture the uppermost planking strake is being held in place to check its height against the tops of the frames.
 

 
A white capping rail – the fancy rail – will fit over this, but much later.  There is no inside planking above the main rail, so the fit on the frames will be visible.
  
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 97 – Planksheer / Main Rail
 
In the first picture the a portion of the port outer planksheer rail is being fitted.
 

  The height gauge is being used here to check the height along the rail before inserting pins to hold the correct line.  This part of the rail needs to be beveled to fit against the flare of the bow.  In the next picture the rail is being glued with the pins holding the line.
 

 
I spent a lot of time checking heights this week.  In the next picture the height of the lower edge of the main rail is being marked out to set the top of the band of planking between the rails.
 

 
The distance between the height of the planksheer and the main rail varies over the length of the hull.  This became apparent when setting these points.  It seemed wrong, but the drawings verified this.  This made me suspect my drawings but the original table of offsets confirmed the variation.  The planking of this band between the two rails is further complicated by the flare out at the bow.   This makes the true projection of the band wider than shown on the vertical section.  These differences are small, but critical if the planking is going to converge at the top of the frames.  I was doing a lot of height checking this week.
 
A part of the inside of the main rail and fillers between frames have been installed in the next picture.
 

 
The “look” of the inside of the bulwarks is starting to emerge.  An outside view of this work at the bow is shown in the next picture.
 

 
The bottom of the inside of the main rail must match the height of the top of the outer band of planking.  The next picture shows why.
 

 
In this picture the outer main rail is being fitted. Its top is flush with the tops of the filling pieces between frames.  All these rails are horizontal.  The last picture shows the inside of the bow at this stage before fitting the main rail in this area.  I say "fitting" because the outer main rail will not be installed until later - for painting reasons.
 

 
The next step is to install the thin planking above the main rail up to the tops of the frames leaving a tight space for the outer main rail.  This will be installed after the surrounding planking and the rail itself are painted - black and white respectively.  It is also time to fit the rails and planking around the elliptical stern.  Can’t wait.
 
Time for a holiday break.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone – well at least everyone in America.  My British friends used to tell me they celebrated thanksgiving on July 4th.
 
Cheers,
 
Ed

So it seems August has been a wash.  However, when I was over in Baltimore visiting my father I was able to get on down to the Naval Academy Museum.  I took lots of good pictures.  Here are just a few.  I didn't use a flash and am going to clean up the pictures a bit but I thought I would show some.  I love this museum.  Such a great place and the new renovation (since I had been there before) is really nice.
 
The museum staff was very helpful as well.
 

 

 

 
And on the first floor I came across this.
 

 
Which leads me to...
 
 
I just got home from a boy scout camporee this weekend with my son.  I wasn't really paying too much attention to where we were going as I had so much to do otherwise.  I looked up the trip info and I googled Put In Bay, Ohio.  Well, well, well. Lots of events commemorating the war 1812 going on all weekend.  Was a great time (other than a bit of rain friday night).
 
Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial.
 

 
Cannon demonstrations etc.
 

 
The visitors center/gift shop has a pretty nice model completed by Harry Tabb in 1963
 

 
Overall a great 2 weeks in ship modeling hobby.

Thanks Carl. I am not sure I really like the planking on this ship.  Here is a picture form the kits picture disk. (This is not mine)  This is how the instructions have you plank it.
 

 
And I just don't like that look too much.  Personal preference I guess.  For the last month I have been thinking of this problem.  Bob's (username rafine) Essex looks awesome and also has a partially planked deck over frames.  I have considered planking entire port side, just center strip, leaving as is, etc.  Haha just don't know.  Eventually I will have to make a decision. 

Here are some full pictures with the deck furniture in place (dry fitted only).
 

 

 

 

 

 
edit: oops I think the pump handles need to angle forward 

Hello friends,
new pictures of the BHR.
Karl
 
 
T e i l    5 5

Hello all, many thanks for warm words and comments!
 
not a big update,I have produced stanchions for the ladderway rails. The images are mostly self explanable, I hope
They are turned on Unimat from 1,5mm brass road. Then finished with steel whool on Dremel Tool. The rings are from 0,3mm brass, the rails from 0,4mm.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Finally installing around ladderway after blackening
 

 

 

 
Continue to work at Q-Deck beams, and how she look now.
 

 

 
Next step will be Capstan.
 
Regards
Alex

Thanks for all the likes and generous comments.
 
Slow going at my dockyard but another four frame pairs have been installed along with another gunport and then rough internal fairing, then the admiral decreed that the workshop needed cleaning.
 
Ben

Fore Tack Step Blocks
 
These are relatively large Blocks which attach to the Boomkins - 14" in real life. I made them from English Box, the pics tell the story :
 

 

 

 

 
Their Strops are served :
 

 
  Danny

Gammoning
 
The Gammoning consists of 9 turns crossing over each other vertically, followed by the same number horizontally to pull it all tight. A couple of half-hitches complete it :
 

 

 
Boomkins
 
The Boomkins were made in similar fashion to the other masts/yards, with the exception that they are curved. I cut them from rectangular stock and "octagonelled" them before sanding them round. They have a step at their outboard ends for the shrouds and Fore Tack Block :
 

 

 
A Capsquare fastens them to the head :
 

 

 
  Danny

Thanks very much for looking in again Brian, Allan, Arch, Nils, Grant, and a welcome to George .
 
Work has been continuing on the Bowsprit Rigging.
 
Bobstays
 
These are the equivalent of the Forestays on the other masts. Like all the Bowsprit rigging they are served all over. The inboard ends pass through the foremost holes in the Knee of the Head, and are spliced together :
 

 
Bowsprit Shrouds
 
The equivalent of the Shrouds on the other masts. These are hooked through eyebolts at their inner ends :
 

 

 

 
The outer ends of both the Bobstays and Shrouds finish in a heart block, and are lashed to their respective Collars :
 

 
  Danny

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 92 – Main Deck Framing 3
 
Framing of the main deck continues from forward and aft.  Additional operational features are also being installed.  In the first picture the topsail sheet bits  and two round openings for the anchor chain chutes  are installed.  The samson post is being glued in place toward the bow.
 

 
This very large timber extends up above the forecastle deck.  It will support the lever arms for the anchor chain winch located on the main deck just below the forecastle break.  The levers were operated from the forecastle.
 
Working just one step behind the drafting sometimes causes problems.  The next picture shows the step for the main capstan, which I neglected to install when framing the middle deck.
 

 
The decking between the two hatches and the middle bay of framing had to be removed and reworked to include support carlings and the square step itself.
 
The next picture shows the extent of the main deck framing at that time – a few days ago.
 

 
The next picture is a different view.  The three rows of carling under the deck cabin can be clearly seen in this picture.  The cabin will extend some distance further aft than the beams installed here.
 
 

 
The next picture shows some additional progress on the aft part of the main deck.
 

 
The members that will support the capstan on the main deck have been installed including two large support carlings.  The design of these supports and the step is speculative.  It will soon be time to make the smaller forward water tank and install both iron tanks while there is still access.  The bilge suction pipes will also need to be installed soon.
 
The next picture was taken while I could still place a smaller camera on the middle deck.  The view is forward along the middle deck
 

 
In the foreground is the main hatch and the bilge pipe openings.  The dark areas along the waterways are shadows of the deck beams. 
 
The last picture is one of those scary close-ups taken through one of the view ports.
 

 
This was taken at F8 – the smallest aperture on the smaller camera - so the foreground is out of focus, but the detail of the knees on the middle deck framing can be clearly seen – also a scarph jint in the deck clamp.
 
Ed

Work on the lower masts is now basically complete. The mizzen lower mast and it's top have been made and mounted. This was a simpler job than the fore and main because the mizzen does not have extended cheeks or a front fish. There are also no metal bands except at the head and only one woolding just below the bibbs. The only additional item is the rest for the driver boom which was cut from boxwood sheet with boxwood strip supports. There are some blocks which will be added to the mast head when they arrive ( i stupidly forgot to order all of the sizes I needed when I placed my first order for blocks).
 
With the completion of this work, I am starting work on the lower deadeyes and chains and then the hammock cranes and netting. It's very possible that the tedium of doing all those deadeyes and chains will cause me to go back and forth between the two .
 
Bob

Making around 5 frames in two weeks, can't spend more then 20-30min every evening But it is a pretty good relaxation.
However, the result is frustrating. Yep, the wood colour difference again.

It looks like a frame built with three different kinds of wood, where only one of them is pear, and others are only technically pear, not something you consider as pear for a modelling.
 
Got really tired of that. But then I found a promising build log - La Belle by Hans Christian, where pear looks like pear! And colour is not varying, and finish is already nice. Thanks Hans for providing a better photos
His wood is from ArkoWood - www.arkowood-shop.de
Ordered new frame blanks there, all 60 meters of a cute pear. They do custom milling, and the order processing time is just 1-2 weeks.
The price is ok, just 150 EUR / 190 USD, plus cheap shipping, plus no import taxes or customs (because it is inside EU).
 
Will report when I will receive it, looking forward. It would be great to have a high quality supplier nearby, at least 4 out of 5 stars on a HobbyMill grade Truly hope it is my last whining about the wood quality.

Installed 7 frames around midship to see how the all look together.
 

 

 
Now it is starting to look ship-alike!
 
Very curious how the edge of a frame will look like when faired and sanded...
A shot inside the hull promises that there would be a lot of fairing to make it smooth
 

The little details really are great

A little further progress. I've completed the fore top (with one exception).I assembled the trestletrees and crosstrees and the mast block and glued them in place under the top. I then drilled all the holes for the deadeyes, the crowsfeet, the spritsail brace blocks, some eyebolts and to mount the railing. I also cut the hole for the lower yard slings and made and added the sling bolster. The assembly was painted black. The railing was made from a boxwood rail and brass stanchions, painted black and glued into the previously drilled holes. The eyebolts were glued in place. Lastly, I stropped the deadeyes and mounted them. The only item remaining was the spritsail brace blocks, which I had forgotten to order from Chuck, and am now awaiting.
 
I'm now working on the lower fore mast, and will complete that before moving back to the main top and lower main mast.
 
Bob