Jack12477

Mark,
 
Looks like fiddly work to me, quite nice ... is it an optical illusion due to the angle of of the ship in the photo, or is the angle from that left (Ishould say top) bottom strip smaller towards the top ...
 
Cheers

Thank you for the "likes" and the comments.
 
Well.. to paraphrase Clement Moore...  "The rudder was hung on the sternpost with care in hopes that I won't pull out my hair".   Yeah.. bad verse.. Oh well.
 
This part took some sorting out on exactly how to hang it properly rather than sort of cobbled like I did the kit models...   Thank heavens for the Optivisor as the holes for the bolts were pretty tiny.  I've half a mind to build the next one at 1:48 or 1:36 even just so I can see without eyestrain.  Like the Admiralty would be receptive to that.     
 
Next up will be the rudder coat (hopefully), the strop, and the chains.   Thanks to seeing Giampero's rudder coat, he gave me some ideas on how the Licorne's should look.  
 
Anyway, pictures.....
 
  

The rest of the cannon have been rigged and mounted!
 

 

 

 

Sharp eyes, Elijah.  Thank you Johann.
 
I was able to finish up one of the cannon today.  Only seven more to go!
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Getting crowded in here.. I'll grab the barrel in back use my binoculars.     Looking good so far, Jack.

When I look at the plans I thought the same thing, but I added a word to the clustered which I can't print here. LOL

For my third build I've decided to resurrect the kit I started about 3 years ago, but gave up on because I found the plan sheets so cluttered and confusing that frustration took the fun out of the build. So after completing the basic hull structure on the inverted skeleton I packed the entire boat up in the box and went on to do Chuck's 18th Longboat and the AL Marie Jeanne instead.  Now that I have several excellent Willie Bennett build logs to use as references, I've decided to give it another try.
 
I've wanted to build a Skipjack model after taking my granddaughter to the Chesapeake Maritime Musuem on St Michaels MD several years back and seeing several examples of these fine Chesapeake Bay work boats.
 
First the box with contents and ship's plans (if you enlarge the photos - last 3 photos below - you'll see what I mean by cluttered).
 

 
This is where I left the model when I decided to suspend the build
 

 
This is the status so far. Since the below decks structure will be completely covered I chose to not spend a lot of time detailing it and instead installed just enough to strengthen the model. This kit has a tendency to paint one into a corner if not careful. Installing the centerboard was a bit tricky and drilling the holes for the pivot was even more tricky given the side to side clearance and the length of the drill bit. I had to hold the bit in my fingers and rotate it slowing without the aid of a chuck.  And, yes, a few of the deck planks are skewed and not completely perpendicular. I cut the notches in the clamp plank off the model after bending to shape using Chuck's hairdryer heat method  and letting the planks sit clamped for about 36 hours. In some instances I am using butt joints and in others I'm notching the ends to fit into the pre-cut notches in the clamp plank. ("Clamp" is the term used in the plans)
 

 
So pull up a barrel, bench, chair, box or whatever and enjoy some popcorn from Sjors popcorn machine (Thanks Sjors ) and join the build.
 

For my third build I've decided to resurrect the kit I started about 3 years ago, but gave up on because I found the plan sheets so cluttered and confusing that frustration took the fun out of the build. So after completing the basic hull structure on the inverted skeleton I packed the entire boat up in the box and went on to do Chuck's 18th Longboat and the AL Marie Jeanne instead.  Now that I have several excellent Willie Bennett build logs to use as references, I've decided to give it another try.
 
I've wanted to build a Skipjack model after taking my granddaughter to the Chesapeake Maritime Musuem on St Michaels MD several years back and seeing several examples of these fine Chesapeake Bay work boats.
 
First the box with contents and ship's plans (if you enlarge the photos - last 3 photos below - you'll see what I mean by cluttered).
 

 
This is where I left the model when I decided to suspend the build
 

 
This is the status so far. Since the below decks structure will be completely covered I chose to not spend a lot of time detailing it and instead installed just enough to strengthen the model. This kit has a tendency to paint one into a corner if not careful. Installing the centerboard was a bit tricky and drilling the holes for the pivot was even more tricky given the side to side clearance and the length of the drill bit. I had to hold the bit in my fingers and rotate it slowing without the aid of a chuck.  And, yes, a few of the deck planks are skewed and not completely perpendicular. I cut the notches in the clamp plank off the model after bending to shape using Chuck's hairdryer heat method  and letting the planks sit clamped for about 36 hours. In some instances I am using butt joints and in others I'm notching the ends to fit into the pre-cut notches in the clamp plank. ("Clamp" is the term used in the plans)
 

 
So pull up a barrel, bench, chair, box or whatever and enjoy some popcorn from Sjors popcorn machine (Thanks Sjors ) and join the build.
 

For my third build I've decided to resurrect the kit I started about 3 years ago, but gave up on because I found the plan sheets so cluttered and confusing that frustration took the fun out of the build. So after completing the basic hull structure on the inverted skeleton I packed the entire boat up in the box and went on to do Chuck's 18th Longboat and the AL Marie Jeanne instead.  Now that I have several excellent Willie Bennett build logs to use as references, I've decided to give it another try.
 
I've wanted to build a Skipjack model after taking my granddaughter to the Chesapeake Maritime Musuem on St Michaels MD several years back and seeing several examples of these fine Chesapeake Bay work boats.
 
First the box with contents and ship's plans (if you enlarge the photos - last 3 photos below - you'll see what I mean by cluttered).
 

 
This is where I left the model when I decided to suspend the build
 

 
This is the status so far. Since the below decks structure will be completely covered I chose to not spend a lot of time detailing it and instead installed just enough to strengthen the model. This kit has a tendency to paint one into a corner if not careful. Installing the centerboard was a bit tricky and drilling the holes for the pivot was even more tricky given the side to side clearance and the length of the drill bit. I had to hold the bit in my fingers and rotate it slowing without the aid of a chuck.  And, yes, a few of the deck planks are skewed and not completely perpendicular. I cut the notches in the clamp plank off the model after bending to shape using Chuck's hairdryer heat method  and letting the planks sit clamped for about 36 hours. In some instances I am using butt joints and in others I'm notching the ends to fit into the pre-cut notches in the clamp plank. ("Clamp" is the term used in the plans)
 

 
So pull up a barrel, bench, chair, box or whatever and enjoy some popcorn from Sjors popcorn machine (Thanks Sjors ) and join the build.
 

They are nice looking boats. You are off to a good start. Your right about the plans. They are about as cluttered as I have ever seen. I'll sit on my rope coil if you don't mind.

For my third build I've decided to resurrect the kit I started about 3 years ago, but gave up on because I found the plan sheets so cluttered and confusing that frustration took the fun out of the build. So after completing the basic hull structure on the inverted skeleton I packed the entire boat up in the box and went on to do Chuck's 18th Longboat and the AL Marie Jeanne instead.  Now that I have several excellent Willie Bennett build logs to use as references, I've decided to give it another try.
 
I've wanted to build a Skipjack model after taking my granddaughter to the Chesapeake Maritime Musuem on St Michaels MD several years back and seeing several examples of these fine Chesapeake Bay work boats.
 
First the box with contents and ship's plans (if you enlarge the photos - last 3 photos below - you'll see what I mean by cluttered).
 

 
This is where I left the model when I decided to suspend the build
 

 
This is the status so far. Since the below decks structure will be completely covered I chose to not spend a lot of time detailing it and instead installed just enough to strengthen the model. This kit has a tendency to paint one into a corner if not careful. Installing the centerboard was a bit tricky and drilling the holes for the pivot was even more tricky given the side to side clearance and the length of the drill bit. I had to hold the bit in my fingers and rotate it slowing without the aid of a chuck.  And, yes, a few of the deck planks are skewed and not completely perpendicular. I cut the notches in the clamp plank off the model after bending to shape using Chuck's hairdryer heat method  and letting the planks sit clamped for about 36 hours. In some instances I am using butt joints and in others I'm notching the ends to fit into the pre-cut notches in the clamp plank. ("Clamp" is the term used in the plans)
 

 
So pull up a barrel, bench, chair, box or whatever and enjoy some popcorn from Sjors popcorn machine (Thanks Sjors ) and join the build.
 

For my third build I've decided to resurrect the kit I started about 3 years ago, but gave up on because I found the plan sheets so cluttered and confusing that frustration took the fun out of the build. So after completing the basic hull structure on the inverted skeleton I packed the entire boat up in the box and went on to do Chuck's 18th Longboat and the AL Marie Jeanne instead.  Now that I have several excellent Willie Bennett build logs to use as references, I've decided to give it another try.
 
I've wanted to build a Skipjack model after taking my granddaughter to the Chesapeake Maritime Musuem on St Michaels MD several years back and seeing several examples of these fine Chesapeake Bay work boats.
 
First the box with contents and ship's plans (if you enlarge the photos - last 3 photos below - you'll see what I mean by cluttered).
 

 
This is where I left the model when I decided to suspend the build
 

 
This is the status so far. Since the below decks structure will be completely covered I chose to not spend a lot of time detailing it and instead installed just enough to strengthen the model. This kit has a tendency to paint one into a corner if not careful. Installing the centerboard was a bit tricky and drilling the holes for the pivot was even more tricky given the side to side clearance and the length of the drill bit. I had to hold the bit in my fingers and rotate it slowing without the aid of a chuck.  And, yes, a few of the deck planks are skewed and not completely perpendicular. I cut the notches in the clamp plank off the model after bending to shape using Chuck's hairdryer heat method  and letting the planks sit clamped for about 36 hours. In some instances I am using butt joints and in others I'm notching the ends to fit into the pre-cut notches in the clamp plank. ("Clamp" is the term used in the plans)
 

 
So pull up a barrel, bench, chair, box or whatever and enjoy some popcorn from Sjors popcorn machine (Thanks Sjors ) and join the build.
 

Fine job, Michael.  Fine job.
 
Bob

Me too...although my enjoyment is laced with a large dose of "skill-envy"!

I always love following your metal work

Thanks for the compliment Druxey,  and thanks for all the likes.
 
Just a small update after filing the first side to a closer shape I needed to clamp the opposite side but the conditions were now different and it did not want to clamp the same as the first.
 
Here you can see that the base has been thinned down a lot.
 

 
The solution was to soft solder the base to the 9/16 rod this will be helpful also when it comes to drilling the mounting holes for attaching to the mast.
 

 
Michael

Wow five pages in. There is so much amazing shipbuilding going on in these five pages, so I had to do a lot of reading catching up as I scrolled down looking for my own. Oh I know there is a quicker way, but this was so much more fun and educational
 
Belated thanks to all the comments and likes that I missed here in the last month indeed a whole month has passed where does the time go?
 
In order to get my head back into the Herreshoff mindset if that is at all possible, I went to the catalogues of the replica hardware and looked at a lot of pictures for the rigging. 
 
I have made a start on the classic goose-neck that Herreshoff used for the small boats. The line drawing in the product catalogue shows that they were sized for 3 1/2 to 5 inch diameter. The printed off the page 7 sheet drawing of the goose-neck is exactly 5/8 inch in diameter which is the scale diameter as the low end of my mast. A great bit of serendipity.
 
After doing a small scribble in my sketchbook detailing the steps to create the piece in bronze and what cutters to use to rough out the form. Then rummaging around in the scrap box produced a small bar of said bronze about 1 5/8 inch long by 3/8 wide by 11/32 thick checking the cross section with the plan of the goose-neck it was just a little bit larger covering the plan view.
 
This first pic shows the drill chuck I took the picture after all the first steps of milling and drilling the hole for the pin, I do not want to give the impression that I used this chuck for milling, I have commented on this practice in previous posts, and never mill with the drill chuck. 
 

 
In order then:
 
I set the bar vertical in the mill vice, and milled straight down with a 5/8 end mill so that it cut the resulting chord to match the edges of the 3/8 width.
The mill was retracted and the vernier dials on the mill were all set to zero, the end mill was changed to a 1/4 diameter mill then the edge was lined up with the opposite side and the in out axis reset to zero then offset first to the left by .172 inches next I took .020" cuts into the block for .250" this was repeated until I reached a depth of .3 inches, in retrospect I should have gone .350 deep.
 
The mill was returned to the starting point at zero and then offset to .172 and the same depth cut was repeated on the opposite side. again the mill was returned to zero and then changed up to the drill chuck all I had to do was reset the in out with a pointer to the edge so that I could index the piece in by .062" I then drilled it out to the .3 depth with a .047 drill after using a centre drill to ensure that the bit didn't wander. this concluded the first set up in the vice.
 

 
the bar was reset horizontally so that the gap could be milled out, if I had had a T slot cutter this would not have been necessary as I could have slotted it while still vertical.
 

 
I changed the chuck in the mill back to the milling one and set up a 1/8th end mill and milled the gap and a small relief at the top and bottom.
 

 
Next I switched the bar back to the vertical position and carefully reset the position so that the .047" drill slid easily back into the previously drilled hole it is a bit nerve wracking but I needed to tap the hole in the bottom bar of the body 0x80 and I wanted to make sure that it was all in line, it is so easy to break these small taps the pivot pin for the boom will thread into this later.
 

 
Now comes the work with the files and sanding stick of wet and dry paper. I cut off the milled end of the bar and clamped it in the precision vice. Remember I mentioned it would have been better to go to a depth of .350" on the first machining well the small tab is the reason. I had to file this extra bit off, it can be seen in the next picture. I used a small piece of 9/16 brass rod to act as a clamp jig.
 

 
That's all for now, this evening I will continue with the filing.
 
Michael
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Fun build brings back memories. It was my first ever build 27 years ago.

For my third build I've decided to resurrect the kit I started about 3 years ago, but gave up on because I found the plan sheets so cluttered and confusing that frustration took the fun out of the build. So after completing the basic hull structure on the inverted skeleton I packed the entire boat up in the box and went on to do Chuck's 18th Longboat and the AL Marie Jeanne instead.  Now that I have several excellent Willie Bennett build logs to use as references, I've decided to give it another try.
 
I've wanted to build a Skipjack model after taking my granddaughter to the Chesapeake Maritime Musuem on St Michaels MD several years back and seeing several examples of these fine Chesapeake Bay work boats.
 
First the box with contents and ship's plans (if you enlarge the photos - last 3 photos below - you'll see what I mean by cluttered).
 

 
This is where I left the model when I decided to suspend the build
 

 
This is the status so far. Since the below decks structure will be completely covered I chose to not spend a lot of time detailing it and instead installed just enough to strengthen the model. This kit has a tendency to paint one into a corner if not careful. Installing the centerboard was a bit tricky and drilling the holes for the pivot was even more tricky given the side to side clearance and the length of the drill bit. I had to hold the bit in my fingers and rotate it slowing without the aid of a chuck.  And, yes, a few of the deck planks are skewed and not completely perpendicular. I cut the notches in the clamp plank off the model after bending to shape using Chuck's hairdryer heat method  and letting the planks sit clamped for about 36 hours. In some instances I am using butt joints and in others I'm notching the ends to fit into the pre-cut notches in the clamp plank. ("Clamp" is the term used in the plans)
 

 
So pull up a barrel, bench, chair, box or whatever and enjoy some popcorn from Sjors popcorn machine (Thanks Sjors ) and join the build.
 

Hey! They must have put me in the "front-row".   

Finally!! finished....... I posted a small video for now, I have to get some more pvc pipe for my photo backdrop. This model is a lot bigger than my last one ,so I need to extend the backdrop ...then I'll take some still shots and post them, Excuse the shakes!! Thanks for look'n in.
 
Frank
 
            

I find it interesting...there is nothing in this build log that whatsoever reveal that there is somewhat of a temper involved. On the contrary, you seem to have all the patience, perseverance and endurance in the world when I look your ruler straight deck structure. Meticulously made long boats and everything else.
Inspirational!

Druxey it just gets better and better, The presentation on the base looks perfect.The burl worktop is pretty top drawer too.
 
Michael

Thank you, everyone!
 
The next thing to tackle was the 'go faster' stripe along the sheer strake. Old paintings and extant ceremonial barges show either a green or scarlet strake. I opted for green, to contrast with the red paint. Securing the model on its side gently was a problem. Clamping was not an option! I decided to use a piece of dense styrofoam, which worked very well. I simply cut a slightly wedge-shaped piece out of the block and lowered the model into the gap. The masking used is Tamiya flexible tape.

Hi druxey
 
FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Best regards
Gerhard