Jack12477

I wonder if the builders of the original flywheels had the same issues with the castings. You certainly had a challenge keeping 16 pieces under control! However, the end result looks terrific. I hope the other three wheels are less hassle for you.

Continuing with the flywheels..
 
probably one of the most frustrating soldering jobs I've had to do.  All sixteen pieces of the flywheel rim had to be positioned to ensure the final shape.  To add to the problem, since the segments were only machined on one face, the internal stresses in the brass cause each piece to bend slightly out of flat. I had to use lots of alligator clips to hold everything together but there was still some movement when it was heated.

Wheel 1 of 4.

 
 
I've been looking forward to building the boilers.  The machining is going to take a while so I decided to jump ahead and let the mill get started while i struggle with the remaining three flywheels.

 
 
Rectangular pieces are backing for the recessed panels in the legs and sides of the boiler front.

 
 
Backing pieces in place.

Between a side project to add more store capacity to my workshop (lots of extra drawers, can't have enough of them it seems) I installed the waterway.
Using card templates to determine the shapes and home build scraper to get the typical profile of the plank (see last pic). The hook and scarf joints were extra tricky as the position of the waterway it self was fixed due to their shapes relative to the hull. So I had to get them right the first time. They all were ok, although sometimes I had to fill a minor gap with  a small sliver of wood. The small piece at the bow connecting the port an starboard  waterway was challenging. 
 

 
Remco

Druxey, such graceful lines and workmanship, you make it look so easy.
 
Michael

Time for a progress report. The planking has slowly been spiled, cut, bent and hung as far as below the sheer strake. The first picture (arrowed) demonstrates the bevel for the land of the next strake. This was formed using the sanding stick mentioned earlier. Note that the bevel alters - and disappears - as the hull form changes.
 
The second photo shows the transition of the strakes at the stern from hooding into the stern post rabbet to running out over the tiny transom. Only two strakes end on the transom. Forming the junction of these two strakes neatly was tricky.
 
The last photograph shows off the elegance of the hull form. At this stage I bevelled the stem so that the planking appears to flow out of it. After the sheer strake is added there will be clean-up and minor adjustments to make.

There is a rope laniard called an earing that is hitched to the head cringle.  When the sail is bent onto the yard the earing is passed 2 or 3 times between the cringle and the yard arm cleats to stretch the sail head taut.  Then the remaining part of the earing is passed vertically around the head cringle and the yard several times till the earing is expended.
 

Ken, I've been quietly watching your build log as I plan to build my own model as soon as I finish my present project, the Rattlesnake (in the next decade or so at the rate I build). I have never copper plated before as the Rattlesnake is my first real build and doesn't require it. I'm a little apprehensive when the time comes. I was curious as to what size ponce wheels you are using and where did you get them.
 
Looking at pictures of the plating process on the actual ship I noticed that, at least in the close-up photo below (which was taken in the rudder area), there are tight border rivets like you've duplicated and 5 rows of wider spaced rivets in the body of the plate. I think you were smart to choose 3 rows for the model because any more at that scale I believe might have ruined the effect.
 
Thanks for posting large sharp images which makes it very easy to understand and follow your progress.
 
Jonathan

Thank you for your compliments on the hull. I am extremely satisfied on how the staining process work out and that you can still see the wood details of the planking unlike paint which would just cover them up. I probably did not need to stain the entire hull because of the coppering; but I did it for the learning experience.
 
I moved on with the coppering using the Test 3 sample. The plates I calculated to be 1/4" x 7/8" to be in scale using the 1/4" as the key dimension. I may post a series on the technique I am using with the kit supplied foil tape. They are hard to photograph since they are so shiny and pickup the over head lights. Also you can see the hull detail with the Satin Clear spray overcoat on the stain.
For now I am off and running with the plating process and here are a couple of pictures of where I am at right now.

Here is a close up. I am using the smallest ponce wheel across the top and down the right side and then the medium size for the three center area rows. The overlapping plates negates the need for the small wheel on the bottom edge and left side. The cap plates for the keel and stern post will be done last. I am using a "brick" method rather than the "row" so I can mix and match the plates since I am adding them one at a time per original. 

 
Now back to plating which will become good therapy for the next few days.

Hi Jack,these loops are called head cringles and would have been lashed to the spar to stretch the head of the sail out not put round it. Hope this is of help to you.
 
Dave 

I'll give that some thought, Druxey. But as I see it, the extra work cutting the grooves might pay off in avoiding extra fiddling around trying to put the intermediate frames exactly in place.
 
The barge is certainly very lightly built. (In comparison, the keels of the Yenikapi galeai are 6" square  and the frames vary between 50 and 60mm square (2'-2.4"). But they have a fairly comprehensive system of wales and stringers to prevent hogging).
 
I'm going to have to be careful to cut the planks exactly to prevent internal stresses as you mention above - this goes against my normal, rather slapdash approach to things (near enough is good enough). I think it's going to be quite an education in patience and precision for me.
 
But as mtaylor says - the shipwright is slow but the wood is patient . . .
 
Steven 

Hi sjors, my name is Terry, just used the Telp one as it is easier to remember. I have opened a build thread which I will now start to work with on Sunday, need to do a few photos as the longboat is three quarters finished, I just tried to do as much as possible to test my limits, I am going to give the pickle a go for my next build and I will start a build log proper for that one. I think the beauty of this hobby is seeing how people get through difficult phases, best wishes.

Looks good to me Piet.  I agree with Remco about the shark's nose.

I'd say keep on going it looks very promising. I like it that the sharks tail is free from the transom and adds depth to the overall picture. If you can pull this off with the tip of the sharks nose that would increase the depth as well.
 
Remco

Thistle, thanks for the comment and for visiting my build. I have not had a chance to visit the boat yards in the area, however back in 1986 I did visit the east coast.
 
I purchased a small dingy kit from Laughing whale in Bath, we went us as far as Booth Bay Harbour, to visit a friend Christopher Williams who wrote "Craftsmen of Necessity" his family owned a small island and there was a single house on it that was built by a shipwright in the 20's The house was wonderful and was tight as a drum. His father or grandfather was one of the first recipients of the Pulitzer prize and the house had a writing station at one side of the great room looking out over the sea.
 
I have visited the online Herreshoff Museum and spent a great deal of time looking at drawings and images of the Herreshoff heritage.
 
Gill Smith who designed and built Cat boats is one of my other favourite builders and was a contemporary of Nathaniel.
 
Michael   

Michael:
Your model of this vessel is outstanding! It brings back memories as i lived in Portsmouth R.I. in the 1960's just across Narragansett Bay from Bristol R.I. where the Herreshoff boat yard used to be. I could look out our windows at all the boats sailing out of Bristol. I would image many were this craft. It is a beautiful subject.
Today there stands a terrific boat museum, just outside of the main thoroughfare in Bristol, featuring many of thier craft. It is a tribute to the brothers. I wonder if you have ever had the chance to visit being so far away.

Druxey ,Pete, Thanks, also to those who added likes.
 
Not really wanting to make another cutter because the way I made the first one would be a little tricky replicate another exactly the same. I managed a salvage operation and made a small handle for the broken piece I glued it into a small piece of Costello and have now decided that this will be a good way to make these little tools in the future.
 

 

 

 
Back to the scraping.
 
Michael

The remaining stern frames were glued into position and the sills and lintels
added for the stern ports. Then the start of the square was made with the
placement of a piece cut from some 1/32" sheet.
 

 

 
You also can see the preliminary fairing of the outboard edge of the stern frames.
 
Next up will be the start of the hull planking. I'm off to start cutting the strips of boxwood.  

That's a great looking planking job Ken! 

Finally finished up the sanding to a 220 grit finish. I used the round sanding sticks, nail finger files and 60 grit, 150 sandpaper and 220 grit flexible pad. Just a slow careful process to get all surfaces to match with the different characteristics of the basswood.


This shows the variances within the wood stock supplied.

 
I applied the pre-stain conditioner as suggested and I is like painting water, however you can feel the difference once it is dry. 
 
This is the first time I have used a water based black stain and I broke down the process into sections to stain since the excess stain must be wipe off while wet. I used a 1" foam brush which worked perfectly.

 
The hull definitely needed to be stained twice, this shows the first coat.

 
Here are views of the stained hull.


 
I made a support based to be used while working while waiting for the stain to dry. Here are a couple of views of the stain dried and satin clear coating will be next.


 
While waiting for the clear coat to dry I tried a couple of tests of coppering using foil tape. My wife uses 3/16" in her work so I tried it out using the small ponce wheel on the perimeter and the larger wheel for the center area.
I think I will go with Test 3 using the 1/4" tape. Also after looking at the real ship photos I decided that only the lower edge and left end need to be marked since the next plate will overlap with it's marks. I also tested the center area using the larger wheel. The center area on the real ship has three rows.

 
Now back to working on the hull.
 

I cut out the forward gun ports for the bow chaser cannons.  Before I did this, I thinned the wood material to about 3/16" using a rough sanding drum on a Dremel.  This made cutting and filing the ports to shape easier since there was less material to cut through.  I used a fine tooth solid Zona saw blade and some different shaped diamond files to get the gun ports cut and shaped correctly.
 

 

 

 
Erik

Hello Telp ( is that your name ? ) 
 
Thanks for the nice words....
I'm almost   
Why should it take a few years to build such model ?
Some are doing it as the first model.....
But ok, I don't know your skills but I think every one can handle it.
Just take the time and read the manuel and drawing carefully !
( that's something I still have to learn )
Do you have a build log where I can look ???
 
Sjors

Dragons roughed out in Sculpy....
Think I will try something new with this one because of the delicate nature around the necks and heads of the dragons.
Taking this to the oven on the glass used to sculpt it. 
After baking it to a cure, I'll build a mold box onto the glass around the figure and pour the rubber mold compound.
I'm afraid to try to transfer this particular piece from the glass to another mold box.
 

New carvings finished and placed.....
 
The clean-up of the two new carvings went pretty well.... actually a little more detail than I expected, considering the scale.
 

 
And here's the image of the carving I'm choosing to fit into that last panel.
Unfortunately, I expect to lose a lot of these amazing details once I scale it down to fit in the 1/2" x 1-1/4" panel.
 

 
I may have to go back to Sculpy for this one.... we shall see.

Okay; What AL calls the 'knightheads' (actually: reinforcements of the bow for the planking) are glued on and are drying; so I thought, let's look at those real knightheads; MAN! Are they ugly; cast iron and painted (?) to look like oxidized bronze?? Also, they seem too big (5x5mm); I had a go at them in 4x4 mm wallnut wood; think I'll use these instead..
Funny thing is, in the illustrated booklet, they seem to use wooden knightheads themselves...
Here the originals, and what I made instead
 

 
While busy, I also took the anchor posts along for the same ride; I'll post these too when they are finished; I'll probably run some brass wire through them to simulate the bars.
 

 
(Does this mean I'm already won over by the scratchbuild-side ? )
 
More to follow soon (first ever attempt at planking.... *shiver*)
 

Elijah, thanks for the link. Some useful things there, though not exactly what I was looking for; however, thanks to one of the topics there, I learned that the proper term is "stropping" which led me to this : http://www.modelboatyard.com/stropping.html
Anyhow, on with the build as I had a nice long weekend to indulge myself.
Maybe one remark (for those who think I can work at the speed of light...):
All this has been done over a span of two weeks, butI only started the build log last Friday...
 
Next was the companion:
After a couple of hours:

 
Halfway:

 
And finished; made a little measuring (and therefor cutting )mistake but have been able to camouflage it

 
I then noticed that my straightening false keel was FINALLY almost dry, so I choose a very small ad interim project: carving the rudder into shape:
Cut out of the frame

 
Nicely shaped, notches made, and all sanded up;

 
Almost didn't believe it to be that same lump of wood, so puzzle-check for fun

 
Finally I could get my hands dirty with the bulkheads and the false keel; fitted everything, nailed some pins along te centerline of the false deck to align the false keel, and then started -very carefully - to nail down the bulkheads one by one..
 


 
Done! Now I could start glueing those bulkheadds in place! Things are looking great!

 
Tomorrow evening after work, I'll get the knightheads into place, so I can start fairing the hull day after tomorrow.