Jack12477

Augie - thanks!  The little one (Cricket) is a doll. 
 
Craig & Yves - have been studying your logs getting ready to start this one.
 
Tim & Bob - I utilized the most effective set of logical points and reasoning in a detailed conversation with the overseer.  Even tried having Cricket do her "sad puppy dog eyes".  Finally got special dispensation to begin work on the EC Berry, HOWEVER - at a cost.  You wouldn't think that a person with over 300 skeins of yarn waiting to be knit into something would need more...oh, well, it is a reasonable sacrifice!
 
Started work on the building board today.  Look for some poictures tomorrow (probably).  Now I need to find some more space at the shipyard for the in-progress builds.  This little corner is getting crowded!!!
 
 

George...this is Arizona....I have to air condition it not heat it. Summer makes a garage like a furnace.

Build Log 35 - t'gallant sails, boat, swivel guns
 
Hi again, and welcome to spring - 
 
Back from vacation and back in harness.  This installment finishes the square sails, the two topgallant sails; fits out the ship's boat and installs the swivel guns. 
 
The t'gallant sails were made using the same techniques as those for the larger sails.  The sail was measured to fit the spar and reach the sheet blocks on the topsail spars.  This was laid out on stiffened fabric.
 
1
 
The edges were glued, including the overlaps for the tabling.  The openings for the cringles were cut out and the sail was cut along the outer edges of the tabling.
 
2
 
The bolt rope was installed and the tabling ironed down over it to secure it.
 
3
 
And here is the finished sail with reinforcements added to each corner.
 
4
 
The sails were laced to their spars and mounted to the model with ties and halyards, parrells, lifts, braces, and sheets, all according to Anderson.  Clew blocks and lines were rigged and run, although these sails did not have buntlines or leach lines.  Finally the bowlines and their bridles were rigged and run. 
 
4a
 
These last lines were pretty hard to run.  Not only is it getting pretty crowded at the bases of the masts, but it usually took several attempts before I could make the lines run without fouling any previous lines.  Here is what the foot of the foremast looks like at this stage.
 
4b
 
And here is the model with all square sails set.
 
5
 
6
 
Next the ship's boat was fitted out.  First came the oars.  I made 12 of them to match the number of oarlocks on the sheer. In the photo you can see the four steps in their construction.  The first three on the left are cut out roughly on the table saw.  The next three have been roughly shaped using a sanding drum in the Dremel.  The next three have been smoothed and refined, with a groove which sets off the handle.  The final three have been final sanded, finished, and have had a rope sleeve added which would protect the oar from chafing on the rowlock.  
 
7
 
Once the photo was taken the full set of oars was finished, then tied into bundles of six and lashed to a thwart.
 
8
 
A simple mast was made up to fit in the mast step.  A spar was estimated and a sail made up to fit, then laced to the spar.  The mast and spar were lashed together and to a thwart.  Several belaying points were set into the sheer for stays and sail handling lines.  Here is the finished boat on its cradles, although not permanently secured yet.
 
9
 
The final fittings in this segment are the swivel guns.  It is known that Blackbeard added a number of these useful weapons to the armament of the QAR, and one has been recovered in the excavation of the site.  Taking its measurements, a set of bronze colored barrels were located in the aftermarket that closely matched the size and shape of the artifact.
 
To mount them, a set of simple forked stanchions were made up from brass.  Here are the various pieces and how they go together.  
 
10
 
Once the prototype was acceptable, the pieces were soldered together, the brass blackened, and the barrels mounted.  
 
11
 
There are four on each side on the caprails, and one each in the main and fore tops.
 
12
 
So here is the current status.  
 
13
 
Next, the staysails and maybe the anchors.
 
Be well
 
Dan 

After a little procrastination I started plating the hull. For me, plating is a little like taking a bath when you’re a kid, you hate to get in but once you are you hate to get out.  To start I cut 30” long strips of copper tape to put through the jig.  I then cut that strip into smaller more manageable segments.  I have to say that the chisel blade on the stamp worked out very well.  Before I started the coppering I attached a temporary piece of wood to the deck so I could hold the ship in my keel vise.  This made it much easier to work on the inverted hull.  The screws holding the wood are positioned where the hatches will go and the deck will be repaired after the wood piece is removed.
 
 
 
The actual plating went well with no major boo boos.  In fact I found this ship to be easier than when I did the Phantom’s plates.  Not as much cutting of the plates and the larger size plates are easier to handle.  To keep finger prints off the copper I wore latex gloves and to fix the plates in place I went over them with a wallpaper seam roller.  Please excuse the photos, it's hard taking good pictures of the plates
 
Started with the keel

 
Continuing on

 
Finished the port side

 
No dressing belt yet

 
When I got to the dressing belts I thought to myself, self, the only real difference between the hull plates and the dressing belt are four additional holes along the top of the plate.  So instead of making two new stamps for the dressing belt plates, even though I had all the material ready to make them, I just used a burnishing tool to place the four additional holes in the plates I already had.  One thing I found that helped a lot with placing the dressing belt that I really didn't plan but worked out well was that when I painted the waterline I had taped off it's exact location.  Afterwards I thought it would be a good idea if I painted a little below the waterline to give me some room for errors. What happened was I got a nice tape line marking the position of the waterline between the two applications of the black paint.
 
Dressing belt
 
 
Started the starboard side                                            Finished the starboard
 
 
Done, time to get out of the tub , on to the rudder

I have used both a 60o and 90o V-gouge to cut rabbets. Set the V-gouge so that one side is perpendicular to the wood and lay the other leg against the inboard side of the keel piece and gently take small cuts in the wood.  With a little practice you can get the hang of it and cut a pretty decent rabbet.  As everyone has said make sure the gouge is SHARP and go slow

Michael, there's a full sized original across the river from me in the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome - flys most weekends every summer in their air shows. It's only one of many WW I aircraft.
 
   Bleriot XI (Original)
Country: France
Year: 1909
Engine: Anzani
Horsepower: 35
Wingspan: 25′ 7″
Top Speed: 47 mph (75 km/hr)
Gr. Weight: 661 lbs (300kg)
Current Status: Active
 
Bleriot XI “Cross Country” (Original)
Country: France
Year: 1911
Engine: Gnome Rotary
Horsepower: 70
Wingspan: 25′ 7″
Top Speed: 47 mph (75 km/hr)
Gr. Weight: 661 lbs (300kg)
Current Status: Static Exhibit

Michael, there's a full sized original across the river from me in the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome - flys most weekends every summer in their air shows. It's only one of many WW I aircraft.
 
   Bleriot XI (Original)
Country: France
Year: 1909
Engine: Anzani
Horsepower: 35
Wingspan: 25′ 7″
Top Speed: 47 mph (75 km/hr)
Gr. Weight: 661 lbs (300kg)
Current Status: Active
 
Bleriot XI “Cross Country” (Original)
Country: France
Year: 1911
Engine: Gnome Rotary
Horsepower: 70
Wingspan: 25′ 7″
Top Speed: 47 mph (75 km/hr)
Gr. Weight: 661 lbs (300kg)
Current Status: Static Exhibit

Thanks for all the kind comments. It was neat to go back down memory lane on the Bleriot.
 
My tool for the Dremel seemed to work OK The shaft is a really tight fit into the 23/32" hole, I will add a locking screw for security for future work. it did work well shaping the cutting faces on the valve seat cutter.
 

 
I have done the first seat, and then I needed to make a new split holder for the valves so that I could machine them to length, I decided to make the holder the exact length of the valve stem so that it would be easy to slip the valve in then trim off the excess, it worked fine for the first one, the second valve would not slide through the same as the first.
 
Now I understand the Go- No-go gauges and what such a small difference at a couple of tenths of a thou make.  I ended up fiddling with it for a couple of hours, and working on the valve polishing off the offending .0002" which was not easy, I probably could have made a new valve in the same time, but did not want to reset the tooling.
 
the valve seat cutter worked well but slower that I thought it would. cutting the bevel from .093" to .120" diameters
 

 
The new springs are better.
 

 
I will take some pics today of the cutter and of the slit holder to the valves
 
Michael
 
 
 
 

I have used both a 60o and 90o V-gouge to cut rabbets. Set the V-gouge so that one side is perpendicular to the wood and lay the other leg against the inboard side of the keel piece and gently take small cuts in the wood.  With a little practice you can get the hang of it and cut a pretty decent rabbet.  As everyone has said make sure the gouge is SHARP and go slow

Michael, there's a full sized original across the river from me in the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome - flys most weekends every summer in their air shows. It's only one of many WW I aircraft.
 
   Bleriot XI (Original)
Country: France
Year: 1909
Engine: Anzani
Horsepower: 35
Wingspan: 25′ 7″
Top Speed: 47 mph (75 km/hr)
Gr. Weight: 661 lbs (300kg)
Current Status: Active
 
Bleriot XI “Cross Country” (Original)
Country: France
Year: 1911
Engine: Gnome Rotary
Horsepower: 70
Wingspan: 25′ 7″
Top Speed: 47 mph (75 km/hr)
Gr. Weight: 661 lbs (300kg)
Current Status: Static Exhibit

Jack, no I have not been there it was all by correspondence.  I have and old book on aeronautical engineering with an introduction in it by Orville Wright.
 
It is "Practical Aeronautics" by Charles Hayward published by the American Technical Society in 1917 first published in 1912, it has the complete plans for building the Bleriot, along with lots of photographs as well. I used it as my main source.
 
Row, I am already on it. I made all new springs and new keepers that were just .002" smaller in diameter on the small diameter which allowed the springs to slip over them more easily. I am just in the process of jigging up my Dremel shaft into a fitting that I can hold in the lathe tool post so that I can accurately cut the facets for the valve seat cutter.
 
On the week end I saw a micro drill like one of these there was absolutely no vibration and it had a fabulous chuck. something like this is now on my wish list.
 
Michael

Hi Jack, I studied, that aircraft along with the one from Old Warden in England. my model had wing warping as well.
 
I never finished it and gave it to the local air museum, along with all the drawings and research photographs, the drawings were from Old Rhinebeck.
 
here are a few shot which is all i have.
 

 

 

 
I was particularly pleased with the "canework" on the seat. the bentwood was formed from layers of birch veneer formed over a bent piece of stainless steel. After the layers had cured for about a week i filed and sanded the laminate to shape.
 

 
The canework was woven from some plastic bag material from a local shoe shop, it had just the right tan colour. I cut strips of the plastic about 1/16th wide then stretched it out until it reached it limit of elasticity, it was then reduced in width to about 1/32 and had a slight convex cross section. it took two tries to get the weaving right, and the toughest part was keeping the strands all the same way up with the curve of the "Cane" on the top side.
 
This would be a great way to make one of those cane seats in one of the Adirondack Guide boats
 

 
Michael
 
 

I assume you have the Artesia Latina kit which depicts the 1854 sloop of war being restored as a 1797 frigate.  In that case, you might want to finish her as she appeared in Baltimore in those days...
 
  The gun strip was a sort-of cream color, not white.
 

 

 

Hi Guys,
 
Been a bit backward in coming forward with my latest update I'm afraid, all I can say is that it's been an eventful couple of weeks and this old geezer doesn't usually do eventful.
 
Things have moved on a step or two since my last post and I can be accused of getting carried away, I promised to show the making up of the Shellroom but unfortunately this is now not possible. So I'm afraid we have from component parts to completed item in two pictures, If anybody wants to see how the Shellroom is constructed then may I suggest you pay a visit to Grants log in this section and he will most likely show how it's done, he's very good at that sort of thing.
 
So, we now have our Shellroom completed and all polyied up it's on to the next stage.


 
First up is the make up of the Mortar Pit Beams and Planking, it strikes me that with the dimensions of the Planking they should be referred to as Boards, they are quite substantial pieces of wood when taken in scale.

 
Here are the component parts for the Mortar Pit Beams and Planking

 
The Beams are not difficult to make up and are pretty straight up unless your me that is, the cut outs for the Shellroom supports were not quite lined up and so each had to measured up to fit, not difficult but a lot of too-ing and fro-ing. This shot is of the Beams being glued into place.

 
All Beams are now firmly glued into position

 
Next up we have the Mortar Pit Planks, These are made up of two different size Holly Planks, the Primary Planks are made from 1/4 x 3/16 and the Secondary Planks are 3/16 x 1/8 with the outer Planks being 1/4 x 1/8. I also used black paper for the caulking.The centre of the Secondary Planking was cut out using a hole cutter, the Treenails were drilled and made up from dust gained from sanding down the planks and using the slightly darker material, I think it works.

 
The two planking's offered up to each other

 
The Mortar Pit Boundary Timbers  were made up from 5/16 x 1/4 Pear and routed on my trusty Proxxon Router.

 
The Primary and Secondary Planking have now been fitted into the cut outs on the Boundary Timbers and the Upper and Lower Deck Clamps have been glued into position.

 
So there we are guys, your right up to date now. It seems a pretty good place to stop for the time being as I have now been given the job of restoring a Harwich Bawley which is a Shrimp Fishing Smack. I was looking for a secondary build and now I have it.
I also have to repair my Thames Barge which was damaged by the decorators during pre season work at the museum.
I will be starting a new log for the Bawley and hopefully restarting my old log for the barge, if it still exists, the damage to the barge is quite extensive and will require a full breakdown of all masts and rigging. Oh deep joy.
 
Hope you enjoy the update guys.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie

Hi Guys,
 
Time for a quick update.
 
Work has continued on the Shellroom.  The deck support beams were cut from Swiss Pear and placed in their location, you got it, they didn't fit, so a little adjustment was required to the Floor Riders, not with a little trepidation I took a razor saw to the Riders and trimmed off the excess, this time all was well and with a bit of gentle persuasion they fitted.
 
Next up was the Bomb Racks, very simple and gave no trouble, these were made from Swiss Pear, I made a very simple vice to hold them so that I could grind out the dip for the Bombs to sit in, this worked a treat and they were turned out in no time.
 
The Pillars gave me a little more trouble because I had to mill them in three's because my vice wouldn't open wide enough, some irregularity seeped in and a few cuts didn't line up, these had to be recut, they took me the best part of a day to complete.
 
Next up, the Shellroom deck, I made this from six pieces of Holly, I used black card for the corking, each deck has three pieces and once glued together they were sanded down to size. On refection the card is not the correct size, it's too big, but I quite like the effect and so it's going to stay.
 
The Support Beams, Deck beams and Deck were glued in position and given two coats of Poly. The racks were made up and also given two coats of poly.
 
The Bombs were made from a child's bracelet ( not my Granddaughters ), my Admiral bought them but they were silver, dilemma, what was I to do, the remit for the build was for no paint to be used, sorry guys I failed in this area, the Admiral bought some spray paint and so the bombs were duly painted ( GOLD ). Didn't check the tin did I, so this time I got it and duly sprayed the bombs.
 
The Bomb racks have been made up but I don't have any pics of them just yet, but another update will be following shortly.
 
The Upper Support Beams were cut so all that needs to be done is the actual construction.
 
Some pics
 
My simplified vice for holding the flat stuff
 
 
 
 
Most of the parts that make up the Shellroom still to be given a coat of Poly

 
Support Beams and Deck Beams in place

 
Support Beams and Decking placed and given two coats of Poly

 
So that's it for now, next update will be soon.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie
 
 
 
 
 
 

Buck, I have no Idea. This is all trial and error. I am flying by the seat of my pants on this one.
 
Michael

Bob, Carl, thanks for the kind words. And to all who visited and showed their appreciation.
 
Just a small update.
 
The trial shaping of some springs and the fitting of the valve spring keepers.
 
The first picture shows test fitting the valve into the .052" slot of the keeper, they are .110" on the major diameter and .081  on the minor diameter and .070" high.
 

 
The raw springs, these are just freehand off the mandrel which is an .067"  drill  which creates an internal diameter of .081"
 

 
Trimmed up a bit.
 

 
Trial fitting on the block.
 

 
Now I need to get some consistently formed springs made. The second from the left is the best one so that is the goal.
 
Michael
 
 

Beautiful Model. Well done, Rich. The sails came out really nice also.

Beautiful Model. Well done, Rich. The sails came out really nice also.

Correct!!!  Bottom of ports follow the run of the deck.  Sides are vertical and straight with teh frames.  Port lids will be the same.  Typical mistake seen on kits.  Not all ports are completely square at all.  Take a look at this original draft.  The red dashed square is at right angles.  Note how the port is not.   It follows the deck.
 

I've been away for the last couple of weeks, but did finally manage to get some shipyard time in this weekend.  When last we  met, I had decided to go ahead with the Deck Clamp Bolts.  Here are a few pics of the final product – the pics appear somewhat streaky as the Wipe-on Poly was still wet when the pics were taken.
 

 

 

 

 
With this job out of the way, it was time to make a start on construction of the Shell Room.........
 
Shell Room Construction
 
Construction of the Shell Room begins with the fitting of the lower support beams, made from 5/16” square Pear, across the Floor Riders, with cross beams added in situ to ensure a proper fit.
 

 
Once the glue had dried, the frame assembly was removed from the model for further construction and fit-out.  The next step was to install the deck planks.  These are made from Holly, 1/16” x 1/8”.  I opted to simulate caulking using black paper as I wanted to see how this would look, knowing that once the assembly was completed, this deck would hardly be visible.  I also added treenails, using the drill and fill method as described previously.
 

 
In the above photo, you may notice three filled holes towards the left hand end (one in each beam).  This was where I incorrectly transferred one measurement before drilling.  I have filled the incorrect holes with a mixture of Pear sawdust and diluted PVA.  Once the assembly is complete, these will be barely visible, so I’m going to live with it. I've also just noticed that a couple of "treenails" in the Holly decking have come adrift and need replacing......
 
The pillars to support the shell racks were the next to be made.  No particular rocket science here, but a great job for the Sherline Mill after cutting the blanks on the Byrnes saw.  I constructed a small jig to hold all 18 pieces, then cut the dados (which are 2mm deep) in two passes of 1 mm each, using a 5/64” end mill cutter.  The only issue I had in this job was caused by operator error when I failed to ensure that the cutter was securely held in the mill.  The net result was that I destroyed half of my blanks in one pass.  No biggie – just whipped up some more blanks on the Byrnes saw and replaced the duds. (Did I mention I love my Byrnes saw?.........and my Sherline Mill?)
 

 
The pillars were also drilled in each end to take one end of a 1.5mm diameter brass locating pin (to match the holes drilled in the support beams).
 
Finally, here is an overall shot of all the components of the shell room.  The Shells themselves are ¼” diameter beads – they  may be just a tad undersize, so I’m holding off on drilling out the shell racks until I find out whether I can source some slightly larger beads of the same type.
 

 
 

As requested....here's some pics of the completed Connie. I have to laugh...all the work we put into the deck and guns, etc....and they wind up barely visible. Just like the hull planks....nobody (but me) looks down there.

I finally mounted the jolly boats. This effectively completes the ship.....but ...you know....and I know....I'll be "tweeking" her until I start a new ship. I still have to get or build a case.

I used a steel rule to measure the height and tilt of the frames "Z".  Held in place while the glue dried.  Then the outer parts ("ZZ") were glued on.  A large amout of these frames will be sanded down to get the right shape of the stern.  There will likely be a lot of stress in the sanding so they will set for 24 hours before I go at them.
Maury

More work on the port sills.  The sills require beveling in two dimensions.  The ends have to be mitered (sides) so they fit between the bulkhead uppers, but they need an additional bevel in vertical plane where the sill rises following the shear.  I use a Miter Sander.  It comes with three sanding blocks with angles from 0 to 8 degrees.  Here I'm putting a 4 degree bevel on one end of a sill.  The other side gets a similar bevel on the opposite edge so they are parallel.  They get inserted between the uppers following the new modified reference lines drawn on the bulkhead uppers.  You can see the grain on the boxwood, which is a big disappointment with the quality of wood I got from Lumberyard.  It won't matter in this spot, but where it's visible, I'm going to go to with Crown for my next buy.
Maury