Jack12477

It has been a few weeks since I updated the log. The ship continues to take shape. I have completed the deck beams and added the waterways. I used a modified installation slightly different from Gene's practicum. I decided to notch the bottoms of the beams, but notch the waterway for the tops. I bent the wood for most of the waterway, but shaped the bow by cutting the shape out on the bandsaw. Once the waterway was fitted and notched, I shaped the sides to match the ships sides.
I also tested cutting the cannonball cuts using small ball shaped diamond bits in the rotary tool. These seemed to work well. I will plan on adding the pins to the waterway once the cups are all cut. I still have some details on the berth deck that I need to clean up including the sail bin was a bit tall so it has been cut down. I need to redo the sails in the tops of the bin and finish up the cabins. I have been waiting to complete these until I decided how much decking to install. While I would like to leave half the ship open, I also would like to have cannon on each side. Decisions decisions...

When it comes to sanding, filing, or cutting bevels into square pieces of wood, my hand/eye coordination leaves something to be desired.  Although I was looking forward to making the windlass, I felt that I would have to come up with another way of fabricating it.  My solution amounted to what might be called a poor man's milling machine.
   It involved combining my Dremel drill press with my Preac table saw.  The drill press base was clamped to my work table, and the head was rotated 180 degrees.  The Moto tool was set at a 45 degree angle, and a sanding drum was inserted in the chuck.

   The Preac rip fence would be used for making fine adjustments.  A sheet of basswood, with a strip of wood glued to it, would be kept against the fence as it was adjusted.  In the photo, you can see a piece of stock in position, and two lengths of scrap wood that will be used as stops.  The Preac saw isn't absolutely necessary for this procedure, but it really helped.

   Once you have marked off the limits on your stock, it becomes a matter of slowly adjusting the rip fence, until you have the proper depth of cut.  For this initial step, keep your stops set well within the area you will finally want to remove.  Set the stops to their final position, only after the proper depth of cut has been achieved.  On my first effort, I overlooked this detail, and ended up with a bevel that was much too long!

   After finishing my first cuts, I noticed that the sanding drum was leaving deep scratches in the surface of the piece.  I tried sanding them out, but it pretty much defeated the purpose of this whole procedure.  So, I changed over to a Dremel High Speed Cutter, which is sold two to a package.  These worked quite well.

   Once you have beveled all three areas, you can cut off the excess, and use the piece as shown in the kit plans.

   Please note that this last photo was taken before I changed over to the high speed cutter.
 
BobF

Per, I encountered the "problem" with my kit. I searched around in my stash of wood leftover from previous kits until I found some that matched Chuck's plans and ignored MS' instructions.  Worked fine for me once I found the right wood.

Thanks for the explanation of the Spanshackle Ring Danny. Wasn't quite sure how it was secured inboard.  Wow!  They say the devil's in the details and there's sure lots and lots of them on this build. 
 
Cheers

Dan that is good stuff, man. What the drawings indicate is that there are two separate magazines, one on each side.That would explain the two scuttles and two light boxes. I would dearly like to see the full size drawings because when I copied yours and blew them up, the lines become fuzzy.
However, it is obvious that the crawl space down there is very limited. The rooms are completely enclosed with ceiling panels, floors and side walls. I will try to compare the sizes to get an idea of how much headroom there is and put some plans together for my usage. As before, I will take some liberties with the way I'll show the two rooms with cutouts, etc.
I think Henry will be interested in this also. He has never been down there, but did indicate that there is a glass porthole on each side between the powder room and light box.
Thanks to you, Dan and Henry, I am getting closer and it all makes sense. Now back to those drawings and the source.
 
BTW I did a quick scaling from the drawings and found that the headroom in that dungeon is only about 24 inches. 
But at least the boys down there did not have to worry about bumping their heads against beams in the dark.

Thank you George and John, much appreciated.
 
 
George - here are a couple more pics of the Fish Davit which might make it's fitting a bit clearer :
 

 
The inner end goes through the Spanshackle Ring :
 

 
I had to shorten the fish davit considerably from the length shown in TFFM, as it would have finished way too far outboard (it's probably still a bit too long). TFFM's fish davit is on HMS Resolution and fits forward of the foremast and is a rather different setup.
 
The last thing to fit on both anchors is the rope seized to the Shankpainter Chain, which was fitted at the time the Channels went on. The rope is 0.45mm in diameter and was too large to fit through the chain link, so I made a small ring to which I seized the rope :
 

 
The port side anchor is shown as Stowed. The shankpainter chain loops around the shank of the anchor and belays to the timberhead forward of the fish davit block :
 

 

 
The stock is belayed to the cathead. I had to "be my own captain" when stowing the anchors - feel free to tell me I've got it wrong, but they don't fit any other way :
 

 
Some more pics of the port anchor :
 

 

 

 
 Danny

You are too kind!  But I'm glad to drive you further down the devil's details!
Next I'll make the hatch that covers the top of the entrance.  It slides back so that the crew don't hit their heads.

Here is a fun little side project. I am making a number of these cartridge pouches. You see them hanging from the knees above the cannons on the gun deck. They are used to carry the cloth bags filled with gun powder from the fill room to the gun and spar deck.
I used some 0.08 inch dowel, grooved it and cut it to 1/4 inch length. Then I glued on some thread and painted it brown to simulate the leather. The plastic cannon balls are 0.060 inch in diameter.

My plan is to have some of these hanging on the gun deck as well as on the wall next to the hatch on the orlop deck. Perhaps it would draw attention to the fill room below.

Just to come back to my favorite mystery ship. 
When I saw the pictures taken by Google of the various places, I was intrigued about this funny 'porthole' in the orlop deck. It is between the entrance to the magazine and the hold. No reason!!!???

Henry has told me that there are two similar ones towards the bow inside the brass boxes you can see in the floor that are used for the 'light boxes' (aka 'light rooms').

Then the following scenario occurred to me:
This whole area would be totally dark unless you bring a lantern with you. But you are not allowed to open the hatch to the magazine with an open flame (big bang problem). So, before the hatch is opened to allow the boys to go down, you place the lantern on a special shelf around the corner in the hold. The light goes through the porthole and leads the way for those poor souls (hoping that someone puts lights inside the brass boxes up front).
 
Ignore the light switched and other modern stuff shown, but I will have portholes in this wall.
 
You know, this whole thing would make a great movie for Halloween. Can you imagine little boys going down those stairs with 'the master' carrying a lantern while he is telling them that the whole ship might blow up if they did not do this right and that they have to open the hole to hell after he goes around the corner with that light, and . . . . 
Where are those pictures of the gun powder kegs?

I'm like you Jay. I miss the days when the average guy could fix a car themselves, if you just had some basic tools. Now you'd have to have a degree in electrical engineering, and $40,000 in diagnostic equipment. Guess they figured they didn't like us making their cars last for 20 or 30 years when they could be selling us another one. 

So that's how a "Fish Davit" works.  What a great detail to add to an already impressive build. 

Thanks George .
 
I've rigged the port side anchor. The pics are fairly self-explanatory :
 

 

 
Note the Fish Back, a small line seized to the hook to enable it to be manoeuvred over the arm of the anchor :
 

 

 

 
The fish tackle is hooked through a ring and eye in the main channel, and belays to the timberhead above it :
 

 

 

 

 
 Danny

Your skills and knowledge continue to impress Danny. Very nice!!     

Thanks for the comments Grant, Greg, George, Dave, Keelhauled and Laman .
 
 
I have a model of Norske Lowe to finish off for a guy who's dad was building her before he passed away, and then it will be a Ship in a Bottle.
 
Anchor Rigging
 
I am going to rig the two Bower Anchors in different ways. The starboard one will be stowed, and the port one (shown here) is "About to be Stowed". This will make use of the Fish Davit and all it's associated rigging.
 
First I made all the various blocks needed. The two Cat Blocks are interesting - they are iron-bound and double-sheaved.
 
I made the "iron" straps from thin brass sheet. After working out the length required (by trial and error) I drilled and filed a strip in the vise :
 

 

 
The three parts of the block, which is recessed to accept the strap. The hook is drilled into the block, and the strap is Epoxied on. The join in the strap fits against the hook and is invisible :
 

 

 

 
The Fish Tackle Hook is very large, as it needs to pass around the anchor arm. Note the Thimble in the eye of the hook :
 

 
The Fish Tackle block and a violin block for the fish tackle :
 

 

 
 
 
 Danny

Thanks guys...its nice to be back working on her.   The deck planking is the last major project on the model.  I have to start with making the coamings and gratings first.
 
Chuck

After planking the bulwarks I painted it red.  The finished bulwarks were 5/32" thick.  Maybe slightly thinner.  Then it was time to add the caprail.  It will be added in two pieces.  First the main rail which is 1/16" thick.  This was sanded flush both inboard and outboard.   Another strip will eventually be placed outboard as a fancy molding.  It is scraped like the others and is 1/6" x 1/32".  But it wasnt added yet.
 
First I had to create the hawse hole plates....which are essentially 1/32" thick pieces with the holes ut for the hawse holes and the bowsprit.  This sits flush with the top of the caprail so I had to add it first before I could add the fancy molding strip along the caprail outboard.  I didnt drill the hawse holes yet.  This will be done next.  But the hawse plates in position makes it easy to find their locations.  So that will be done in a day or two.
 
Lastly I added that fancy molding strip outboard for the cap rail which stands proud of the hull planking and finishes it off.   This is where I am to date and after drilling the hawse holes and hole for the bowsprit I will make preparations to start planking the deck.   Its getting there...
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I am contemplating painting the hawse plates and the stem above the ear molding black.....along with the fashion pieces at the stern.  But I have time to decide that.  So I will live with it as it is shown for a while before I commit to it.  Maybe after I drill and file the holes for the bowsprit and such...we shall see.
 
 
 
 

Like George said. On this ship they are on each side of the Jib Boom.

Nice job on the chain-plates Robb!  That part #145 looks like it would be made from 2 pieces and be glued to each side of the Jib Boom from what I can see on the plan.

Well folks I'm back from my holidays - had a wonderful time up at Lake George, the only misfortune is that I missed Hermione coming into Boston. My sister made it though and took lots of pictures which she has yet to share. Stay tuned.
 
I got back to work on the ship. Was able to finish one side (portside) deadeyes and I think they look ok. the mainmast deadeyes aren't equally spaced on the channel, so I'll have to live with that.
 
 
I've gotten the manufacturing of chain plates down pretty good. I pulled together the four new ones in about an hour, and cursing is down 60% so that's a good sign.
 
Also had a little motivation so I rough shaped the bowsprit. I tapered with sanding block by hand which was a little bit of a challenge but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Just took some time. I don't have any power tools other than a drill and dremel, and I didn't want teeth marks on the base so I just rolled on the workbench and sanded. the harder part was sanding out the holes for the piece that connects the two bowsprit masts together. That took at least a half hour.
 
Anyways a few pictures to show some progress.
 
One question I have. The piece that looks like it goes between the bowsprit masts (#145 in my picture). Is this supposed to go in between the two masts, or attached to one? I've seen it done both ways on the SM. And I'm going to have to make 145 because that is another piece that is missing. I seem to have lost a large pre-cut sheet over the years...
 

You're doing a really fine job on her  Grant!  A pure pleasure to watch! 

Lovely Grant.  Your wood choices and building technique are great.

I've been away all week with work, but in my absence the Admiral very kindly cleaned up the hard disk so that I could upload my photos. So here is a slightly overdue update.
 
Upper Deck Planking and Bulwark Lining
 
The upper deck was next to be installed.  Once again 3/16” x 1/16” Holly was used for the deck planks, with one edge darkened with a 2B pencil to simulate the caulking. I prefer the more subtle effect the pencil caulking gives.  Treenails were fitted using the drill and fill method.  The only issue here was that having done lots of testing for treenail filler earlier in the build I was a bit tired and was therefore too lazy to check back through the log to ensure I was using the right one, trusting to memory instead – big mistake! I subsequently used the wrong compound, and then had to re-drill before checking and then using the correct compound.  I gave the deck a coat of Wipe-on-Poly to protect it from the inevitable “pink dust” that was about to be created with the Bulwark liner installation.
 
Redheart was used for the Spirkiting and the Bulwark liner.  The two strakes of spirkiting are 1/16” thick and the lower strake needs to be shaped to fit against the angled waterway.  This was achieved in the same way as the waterway angle, by using a small hand plane. The upper strake was also angled to provide a smooth transition to the 1/32” thick bulwark lining.  This upper strake also had to be cut to fit around the lower edges of gunports and sweep ports.
 
After some consideration and discussion with my build buddy (Mobbsie), I decided to install “iron bolts/nails” in the Spirkiting/Lining using the same method of copper nails, blackened with Liver of Sulphur, as shown previously.
 
Here is a picture showing the completed deck and the spirkiting/lining drilled and ready to accept the iron bolts.
 

 
Once the bolts were installed and blackened, the sprikiting/lining was given two coats of Wipe-on-Poly. The following photos were taken after the first coat had been applied.  The lighting conditions don’t really do it justice – it does look a little more red to the naked eye.
 

 

 

It should be, Carl, and it probably will be a fun job. What I hate, though, is to have to do repair work.
Just like now I don't work on my cars any more. Too complicated.
I remember the cars when there were two buttons on the floor. One was the starter and the other to dim the head lights.

Here are two photos of the turntable set up I use to make rope coils.  The turntable is by Tamiya for the spray booth - where I use it a lot.  I have several pieces of the glass so I can use one for each rope coil as they dry.  The blue painters tape is doubled over and the end of the line is stuck down and the turntable is rotated while pushing down onto the line to make the coil.  Once the coil is made to size I apply dilute white glue and set aside till dry.  It lifts off the tape easily and can then be glued down in place.  The turntable is about 6" in diameter - just FYI.
Kurt

I made my own Turntable from an old Record Player. I stripped out the excess parts and added a flat top made from MDF to cover the various holes in the disc. Cost - $0.00 as the record player no longer worked anyway .
 
 Danny