Jack12477

Thank you Carl and John.
 
The last two ship's boats are of different construction again. The hulls are made from thin (0.12mm) paper, with the inner and outer skins glued together before shaping and gluing the two halves along the keel :

 
The interiors and keels were then fitted. These two boats hang from davits. I made them from 0.6mm and 0.3mm brass wire and then painted them :

 
For ease and accuracy of fitting the davits to the boats I made a jig :

 
Two straps are used to secure the boats :


 
The boats and davits finished :


 
Continued in next post ..........

I was wrong about the amount of small boats - there aren't just 10, there are 15. There are six Motor Launches of two types. Here are the first three in construction phases, as they are totally different to the open boats. Work starts with the hulls :



 
The interior and deck are in three pieces. First the floor is glued to the sides :

Then the deck is glued to the interior and hull :

 
There are two benches inside the cabin :

All the other pieces are fitted, including two roofs :

 
The other three launches are a bit different, and also a bit easier to make. Here are the build pics :




 
The props, skegs, prop shafts and rudders :

 
I still have two more open boats left to make, which will happen tomorrow.
 
Danny
 
 

There are 10 Ship's Boats on Hood, all of varying types.
 
Below is the construction process for the first ones. This is typical of the way they are all built, so I'll only show it once unless there are any major differences in some of the others.
 
1st step is to cut out all the required pieces. Next I shape the hull skins using a rounded stick and a piece of high-density foam :

 
Then the bow edges are glued together :

 
Next the transom :

 
These boats have a reverse curve foward of the rudder, so that section gets glued and clamped with self-holding tweezers :

 
The rest of the keel can now be glued :

 
The thinner interior lining is glued in place after first shaping in similar fashion to the outer skin :


 
Next comes the keel. Once this is glued in place the hull can be finally reshaped using the rounded stick from inside. :

 
Fitting out the interior is the last step, and doesn't require a detailed description :

 
A Gunwhale finishes off the edges nicely :

 
Here is one of the next two boats, with the gunwhales still to be fitted. These are a little larger than the first, but of a similar style. They are motorized :


 
And the first of these four fitted to the deck :

 
Danny

Thanks Dirk,
 
Moving right along, the cap rail was added.  It is made of 4 laser cut pieces. They are made over sized and we will thin them down considerably later.
A few things worth noting are the cut-away for the roller at the bow.  This is on the port side only.  So I had to remember to put it on the right side. A 50-50 shot of screwing that up.
 

Anyway, you will notice that I penciled in some reference lines to show everyone what this will eventually be shaped like.  But this will happen gradually as we need to take this in steps.  There are many details to be added which are easier with an over sized cap rail.

At the stern you will notice how the cap rail goes UNDER the wings of the transom.  This is important to note as you are planking.  There will be a gap between the plank and the transom and that is normal and as designed so the cap rail will fit.  It is 1/16" thick. 

The reason why we cant just start thinning down the cap rail as usual is because this longboat has an interesting feature at the bow we must complete first.  Normally we would sand the cap rail flush with the outboard planking.  But before we can do that, we have to fabricate the bolsters at the bow.  There are two bolsters on each side of the stem.  This "beefs" up the stem and helps support the area with the roller.  In addition, it strengthens everything up there to help support the bowsprit iron and bowsprit.
 
You can kind of see the bolsters in this photo of the contemporary model.
 

Here is what ours will look like.
 

On every model that I make there are at least one or two parts that are quite a challenge to make.  On this model,  it will be these bolsters.  There are many compound angles to consider.  But if you plan it out ahead of time it will go smoothly.  You will start with a laser cut blank. Because these parts have the potential for many attempts to end up in the trash....I will provide everyone with eight blanks so you will have plenty of fun.
 

But I will explain step by step how I shaped these bolsters and hopefully it will become clear.
 
First, I recommend starting with the starboard side which has no roller.  The blanks are all the same so it doesnt matter which ones you choose.  Below you can see that if you hold the blanks against the stem tightly that the aft edge will need to be beveled quite a bit so it sits flush against the hull planking.  This is the first thing that you should do and dont worry about any gaps at the top too where the bolster sits under the cap rail.  Just concentrate on the getting a snug tight fit against the planking first.
 

I have guestimated the amount of bevel required below by marking it in pencil for you guys.  Note how there is more of a bevel towards the bottom of the bolster.

I used sand paper and files to create the bevel.  I stopped and tested its fit dozens of times as I tweaked it.   The photo below shows that its almost there. There is plenty of meat on these blanks so you can sand and reshape quite a bit.  So just keep going until it fits good against the planking.
 

Once you are satisfied,  You can do the same thing with the top edge and how it fits under the cap rail.  It should also be a tight fit here.  In the previous photo you can see it fits pretty good without any tweaking.  But I will give it a few passes anyway.
 
Next you want to draw in the line that represents the concave shape of the bolster on its outside face.  It will taper down to just 1/32" thick at the bottom.  This line should follow the run of the sheer and planks.  You should place the line even with the bottom of the first plank.  I placed mine a bit low in the photo below...so adjust yours to be even with the plank line.

Once completed the two bolsters will look like this. And after you create the concave shape you can trim the bottom so it lines up with the bottom of the third plank.  Its over-sized and will need to be trimmed.  In addition,  the front edge will eventually be sanded flush with the stem.  But right now it hangs over quite a bit.  That is OK.  Just deal with shaping them and trimming the bottom edge right now.
 
Note how you will need to make a matching pair of these. The only difference is that a small notch needs to be carved out of the top of the one for the roller.  You can see that below.  It adds more room for the roller itself.  Its shown on the left.

Glue them into position and then sand the front face of both flush with the stem.   Thats all there is to it......easy-peasy right???
 
Dont worry its not too bad.  JUst go slow and take your time.  You will be able to adjust the shape a bit after its glued into position as well.  This will make it easier to get a matching pair port and starboard.   Dont sand the side of the cap rail yet!!!!  Other than the front edge, leave it as is near the bolsters.  We will be sanding other parts of the cap rail first.
 


 
 
 
 
 
 

More railings and steps leading into accommodation area.
 





Cheers
 
Chris
 
 
 

thanks all, 
 
having the spars made I wasn't really confident that they looked right, I had difficulty seeing if the sizes looked about right or not, so I made some paper sails. It was a lot of fun & it also confirmed that the sail & spar sizes are quite good. To my eye the sails look just slightly conservative in area, but I would prefer that than if they looked a little oversized - this boats look chunky but I believe it would be lightly built & lightly ballasted. The headsail is intended to be a #2 & is still a little too large, probably move the clew forwards by 15 or 20mm & up about 10mm.
 
I'm starting to think whether it's better for the sails to be set to appear as if they have wind, or just hang.....
 
I'll post some photos of the rigging details shortly, 
 
Mark

 

 

 

Awesome!

Without seeing these launchers built here, would have never guessed they contained so much detail. Infini goes above and beyond.

I agree with Dirk. With the exception that the one is open I would have never guessed that they were not from the  same source. Fantastic modeling.

No worries guys!
 
Well here they are and in comparison! Judge for yourself, I myself am pretty satisfied with the end results.
I did add some mix and smash to the Infini set. The launcher base isn't provided so I added one from sheet styrene.
Also the front door face got some details cut out from the Veteran ones. I think they look a like now a bit more and should work out ok!
 
So here's the finished Infini one!
 




 
Veteran closed one!
 

 
Next to each other!
 

 
And in context!
 

Thank you so much guys.   It was time for the fun part.....to remove the buildboard and break away the frame centers.
 
The first step was to remove the braces for the stem and stern post.  At the stern post I just pushed them free from the bottom.  Then I shook them out.
 

After I removed the tape holding both halves of the buildboard together, I carefully and gently coaxed one half of the buildboard free.  Dont rush this and slowly pry it off a little at a time working one side then the other.  It will be tricky to get it started especially on a humid day.  But once it starts wiggling free it will come off readily.
 

Then using your special tool of choice (everyone has their favorite) you can carefully and slowly cut through the tabs on each side of the frame centers.  Then bend them back and forth to snap them out.  Do this one at a time.  Dont worry about breaking any frames because that will not happen if you have glued the top of your frames securely to the sheer plank.  If when you start cutting the tab you see that the entire frame is loose and not secured to the sheer plank, stop and apply some CA.  Let it "wick" down to glue the frame to the plank.  Then resume cutting that tab.
 
I used the thin saw on the left this time but often use a simple file as well.  Whatever you are comfortable with.
 

Here is a shot of a frame center on the barge being removed as I didnt take any of the longboat.  Same principle.  So I didnt want to duplicate in order save some time.
 


 
And finally some pictures of the model after removing all of the frame centers.
 

The next step will be fine tuning the sheer.  I will sand the tops of the frames flat to the sheer and also sand the sheer so it has a good smooth run.  I dont want any dips or high spots.  These can be seen by viewing the hull head-on and stern -on at various angles.  Once satisfied I will add the caprail which is laser cut.  Hopefully over the next day or so. 😊
 
 

So I decided on what I want to build. Just not on a start date. I want to build the USS Kidd DDG 100. Does anyone have a lead on a quality kit. I know I will have to outfit it specifically for the Kidd. I got stranded in Chennai India and got to sleep on the deck of the galley. Super cool ship. Thanks in advance you guys have been great.

See what you think about Trumpeter 1/350 Scale USS Lassen. I've had good luck with Trumpeter, and you may be able to make it into the USS Kidd.

Chuck's comments on planking (post #131) are right on. We have so many older books that have brainwashed us into wrestling straight planks into shapes they can't assume, using so many clamps, pins and hold-downs of every variety. Most of this received wisdom needs to be challenged. 
 
If you planks are properly spiled and shaped, of a suitable specie of wood to the correct thickness, bent using moisture, heat or a combination thereof, you should never need to clamp them!

Chuck that shot of the stern with the planks fitted to the curves needs to be pinned so that we are all reminded of what beautiful planking looks like.
 
Michael

Set the main mast. The distinct aft rake is matched to the plan. 

Just re-opened my shipyard.
 
I fabricated and dry fitted both topgallant masts. The bottom of the masts are square. I don't know why they had to do that since they could have easily lasercut both holes round in the caps.

Glued the new crosstrees and topmast. I looked ahead and the topgallant mast looks like a very long toothpick. I don't think there's enough meat to  even taper it a little bit

I've added bottom supports and glued the top mast crosstrees in place.

Here's all the fixin's for the top masts. They have to be assembled, glued and stained. 

Top cross trees all set to be cleaned up and assembled. Making new ones was less than 30 minutes with no trouble drilling holes.

I'm making my own crosstrees out of good stock. It took me a little more than a minute to rough shape one and 30 seconds to drill the holes. I'll clean them up with some fine sanding and I'll be ready to proceed.

"Did someone mentions treats"  I like those icecream desearts   - "yummy.........."
 
OC.

So some mail arrived!
 
Like I mentioned, this image made me order some infini launchers!
 

 
And some madness did I get!
 
The infini set is just unbelievable! Though it's not for the faintest of heart! One launcher is about 100 pieces of PE and the smallest ones are tiny. More like new level of tiny I ever encountered! This will put your dexterity and mental toughness to the test. I spent about 4 hour getting everything as best as I could, there's a few bits I'm not too happy about it but the set comes with 2 launchers so if I feel too unhappy about it I can always make a another one.
 

London presumably (not tower bridge ha)