Jack12477

Not only is it "another world of modelling", but it's beyond comprehension just how difficult it is to do what Michael's doing. Truly a job for the seriously skilled!

First bit of planking is done with Swiss Pear.   Just the counter so far.  I've hung the stern post and rudder blank for position and to make sure I made the hole right.
 
There will be a bit of ebony trim over the exposed yellowheart after the rest of the planking goes one.  And "above" the counter and below the lights I'll be putting in the shaped trim strip after the rest of the stern has been planked.
 
All in all, I'm pretty pleased.

Holiday's over....back to the never ending ratlines!

My shipyard is idle today as we get ready to host 40 guests for a Christmas party. I'm 16 months into this build and I've learned a lot from all of you...that's a nice Christmas present!

I have got the gearbox to the point where I can now move on to the driving portion of this engine namely the pistons and associated gubbins.
 

 

 

 
First I needed to machine up some blank pistons these are .311" (7.89mm) in diameter and .372" (9.52mm) high
 
these were then set into a fixture to drill the wrist pin holes and to machine the squarish hole inside.
 

 

 
they are fiddly little things to work with, popping the O ring on is easy getting the ring off is another story.
 

 

 
they slide up and down nicely in the cylinder head.
 

 
 
Merry Christmas everyone
 
michael

Thank you Alistair
 
Red is a very transparent color to paint with.   If you use thin coats it will be somewhat transparent.  I have many more coats and more sanding to get it where I want but it will most likely have some transparency.
 
I found some workshop time....so I finished planking the starboard side.  Its a big milestone but then I look at the port side and have to repeat the entire process, including the square tuck   But it all worked out very well.   Once the other side is finished I can start treenailing.  
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

So I've been running those extra lines so I have the sheets to trim up the sails and those down haul lines to trim down the sails. in reviewing the pin diagrams I totally had enough space on the rails, the instructions just watered down the rigging a little bit by not including these lines. so, since I've been doing twice the planned running rigging I got stalled tonight as I am out of .15 line! fortunately my shop should be able to get it in for me but it will take me till after Christmas which is a bummer because I had hoped to be finishing up while Im off this week. SO close!

So a funny thing happened in the shipyard this weekend, I started early on Friday  and was cranking along, next thing you know Sunday rolls around (I had some sleep in between) the boat was finished and I had failed to take progress pictures.  Overall i would say the instructions through this final patch were solid, the only issue I had was it called for thread sizes that I didn't have, the black supplied with the kit only comes in two sizes and I don't think they match up with the sizes called for in the instructions. 
 
The hook on the backstay
 

 
Anchor and forward area
 

 
The traveller ring
 

 
The full boat + stand
 





 
And a quick pic of my next project, I hope I have the chops for it, time will tell, but I will take my time, review logs and try to focus on quality and perfection.  All kidding aside I think it's a 2 to 3 year project for me, so thats where you will be able to find me.
 

 
Thanks to all of the the folks the followed, commented and liked on this build, it's always more fun when people chime in or give you a thumbs up.  Kudos to Chuck Passaro for fantastic little boat design, a lot of feeling and life in this little model, two thumbs up.

Todays visit to the ship yard is brought to you by the word "mistakes".  I made all the chainplates and attached the eyes then mounted them to the boat, after I looked at it I realized that I h ad mounted them equal and fore of the mast instead of equal and aft of the mast
 

 
I pulled the front two off, filled the holes with putty and stained it then drilled new holes aft of the mast and remounted the chainplates. "Doh" number one of the day
 
I rigged the shrouds with the deadeyes and ran the lanyards to connect the chainplate deadeyes and shroud deadeyes.  Everything was going well and I called it a day and cleaned up when I realized I had used the wrong size thread for the shrouds.  I used the .012 black thread instead of the .021
 

 
"Doh" number two of the day it's all good though, I'll cut off all of the rigging I've done and redo it with the proper thread, at the same time I will redo two of the chainplates that sit too high above the cap rail.  
 
One thing I think I will deviate from the instructions when I rebuild them is to have the join of the wires that Chuck shows on top of the deadeye near the side or the bottom, it will be less obvious.

Here's a better shot:
 
At my advanced age it takes quite a while for the neurons to bring the "learned photography tricks" out of archival storage and into current active memory . In the old days of film photography when you needed to cut the light output from the electronic flash you could use a white handkerchief and drape it over the flash unit. In the case above I folded the handkerchief twice so I had two layers of cloth to diffuse the light output. Worked pretty good.

Well, some progress. I decided to leave the thwarts as specified in the instructions but enlarged the mast thwart a little. Sorry the lighting is dark, these point and shoot digital camera don't have a way of cutting the flash output. When I use the built-in flash at this close range it completely washes out the image.
 

Thanks for the likes.
 
I used a trick I employed when filing up connecting rods on my model steam locomotive, and that is to use a hardened button as a filing guide.
 

 

 

 
The top of the handle ended up being hand filed I had originally intended to turn it in the lathe by holding the lever in the four jaw chuck, it caught and bent so after straightening it I used needle files sandpaper and steel wool to clean it up.
 

 
Michael

Greg, Mark, Carl and Mark thanks for your encouraging comments about my work, and again to all who have appreciated it quietly.
 
Moving forward to the control of the clutch I have started to make the forward reverse lever. This lever will need to have some ability to be adjusted.To give just the right amount of pressure to the clutch spring. The geometry of the fulcrum points is critical.
 
The strength of the coil spring is also one of the items that might need a few reworks to get right as well. The whole physics of springs and their construction is no doubt a science, but from my practical point of reference, a trial and error method will have to suffice. So I will see if it works.
 
I rummaged through the scrap box until I found the right bit of brass to cut the lever out of. I used the vernier height gauge to lay out the shape, then pre-drilled all the holes while it was rectangular this makes it much easier to get them square to each other.
 

 
the cutting was done with a fine blade in the jewelers saw. I have already started to file the surfaces to the final shape.
 

 
The keeper rods are now set into the gearbox these were turned up from some free machining 1/8th inch hex stock, at first I left the heads as a hex bolt but they were too big and interfered with the pressure collar. so turned them into cheesehead screws. the spring was wound from some .020 music wire, I used the number drill series of drills as the arbor to find the correct size to finish up with a 3/16th internal bore the third attempt produced the correct diameter, it was a number 21 drill.
 

 
The lower pivot point to which the lever connect to will be mounted on the back wall of the oil pan below the prop shaft, and will be able to be threaded forwards and backwards to give the adjustment.
 

 
There will be a connecting link from the lever to the clamp on top of the clamp ring.
 
Michael
 
 

● Poop Bulkhead: A few things have made me rethink my approach to the remaining deck planking. The boxwood strips I received vary in thickness between .031"-.050". I think it would be difficult to sand the planks flat without damaging the coamings that are supposed to be glued to the main deck beforehand. Also, the kit supplied gratings do not have a tight fit when assembled and the holes are too large according to the plans. I'm working on a solution for both and will post the results hopefully soon. Meanwhile here is a photo of the Poop Bulkhead. I made a photocopy of the diamond pattern shown in the manual and used the kit supplied 1/16" white tape around the edge, with half its width showing. I left some room for the planking to run under the door as well.
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 101 – Planking and Wales
 
To conveniently work on the planking below the channels, the hull was inverted as shown in the first picture
 

 
The toptimbers are no longer as vulnerable with the planking installed up to the top so there is minimal risk of damage.  I still use carpet padding as a precaution and have tied the hull down to keep from pushing it off the bench.
 
The next picture shows some of the planking installed at the bow.
 

 
The hull is marked with pencil lines to show the extent of the wale and the load waterline.  I have highlighted the lower edge of the wale in red and the lwl in blue.
 
The wale is 6” thick and there are roughly 20 strakes of 6” wide planks from top to bottom.  The top strake transitions from the 4” common  to the 6” wale planking two strakes below the lower channels.  That break in thickness can be seen in these pictures.  The next picture is a close-up of the “hooding ends.”
 

 
The wale planks are pared down to match the depth of the rabbet.  The treenails are hard bamboo (old garden stakes) – very hard and very dark.  The grain flecks and the color variation in the maple planks is a bit distracting, but all of this planking will be painted.
 
The planking around the stern was done concurrently with that shown above. In the next picture the second strake below the planksheer rail has been curved and is clamped to dry.
 

 
Each of these is boiled for over an hour, clamped as shown below and left overnight to dry.  It can then be glued with a similar clamping arrangement.  This is really a one-step-per-day process.
 
The last picture shows the three strakes below the rail – levelled off but not yet finish sanded.
 

 
 
The next strake will be the transition strake to the wale thickness.  There may be one more circumferential strake  - at the "knuckle" - but the planks below will butt into the last of these.  The ends of the the planks below will bolt into the supporting chocks between the stern timbers.  The chock around the helm port has not yet been fitted.
 
Space is left for the main rail.   The area between this and the lower rail will be decorated with a bas-relief eagle and some s-curved vines.  The words “Young America” then “New York” will be lettered below the lower rail on these lower three planks..
 
  
Ed

Here's a better shot:
 
At my advanced age it takes quite a while for the neurons to bring the "learned photography tricks" out of archival storage and into current active memory . In the old days of film photography when you needed to cut the light output from the electronic flash you could use a white handkerchief and drape it over the flash unit. In the case above I folded the handkerchief twice so I had two layers of cloth to diffuse the light output. Worked pretty good.

I use the Dremel Workstation as a  drill press. It's available thru MicroMark http://www.micromark.com/dremel-workstation,8556.html  Dremel has collets that take even the smallest drill bits. Mine works fine for model work.

ditto mine ! 

Here's a better shot:
 
At my advanced age it takes quite a while for the neurons to bring the "learned photography tricks" out of archival storage and into current active memory . In the old days of film photography when you needed to cut the light output from the electronic flash you could use a white handkerchief and drape it over the flash unit. In the case above I folded the handkerchief twice so I had two layers of cloth to diffuse the light output. Worked pretty good.

Well, some progress. I decided to leave the thwarts as specified in the instructions but enlarged the mast thwart a little. Sorry the lighting is dark, these point and shoot digital camera don't have a way of cutting the flash output. When I use the built-in flash at this close range it completely washes out the image.
 

Update:  Bow stem repaired. Temporary braces removed, Cap rail installed and sanded. Red tape applied to mask off areas to be painted. I'm going to paint the cap rail, inside and stern red as the others. Interior I think I will stain (not sure which color yet). Have not decided whether I will paint the lower hull white or leave it "natural". The red "masking" tape I'm using is Great Planes brand 1/8" EZ-Mask Flexible Masking tape. I started using it when I was building the plastic Tamiya armor kits. It's very flexible, low tack and applies easily.
 



 

Well, some progress. I decided to leave the thwarts as specified in the instructions but enlarged the mast thwart a little. Sorry the lighting is dark, these point and shoot digital camera don't have a way of cutting the flash output. When I use the built-in flash at this close range it completely washes out the image.
 

Okay, I'm finally back to square one. The "restoration" is complete. Planks didn't fit as nicely into the rabbet at the bow as originally but it's passable. In the process I broke off the top of the bow stem, so I have to either fabricate a new piece or use the "spare" stem that comes with the kit to graft a new top piece onto the existing but broken stem. I'll work on that next week. And I have to remove the frame braces I installed to protect the frames while I was trying to reattach the planks.
 
For now, here's the results:
 


 
Ryan: The Admiral gladly contributed the sponge to the shipyards tool chest
 

Ed, and Jack, thank you for your kind comments. and for all who added likes.
 
I had to make a new band clamp because the tabs were not wide enough to bolt it to the pan. the new one was machined from a solid ring and then a lot of fiddling and filing to get it to spring just right.
 

 

 
I also whipped up a flywheel because it is tough on my fingertips turning the 1/8th shaft all the time to test stuff.
 

 

 
Today I worked on the clutch, it was a bit of a design build affair following the general principles, the gearbox and clutch will be underneath the cover so only the top of the linkage and the lever will need to be as accurate as possible to keep the appearance of the engine looking as the full size engine.
 
I abandoned the cap screw hex and made a hex broach from a 3/16 allen key. first I heated it up and let it cool slowly to take the hardness out of it, then cut a taper on one end of the hex. Next I added the beveled slots to create the cutting faces. I ended up making a second one because I forgot to temper the first one after re hardening it, it cut the first hex through about a half inch length of brass stock, and then I tried a longer piece of brass and it shattered into three.
 

 
Pushing the second one with the vice rather than using the hammer which is how I managed to wreck the first one.
 

 
At the back end of the broach I reduced the diameter before it was hardened so that I could part off the disks one at a time, as the broach was forced through, each time the broach reached the end I put it back in the lathe parted off another disc
 

 
Next I turned a few discs of mild steel off a blank that had been pre drilled for the keeper rods. the steel discs are 5/8 diameter and .020 thick the brass plates are 5/16 diameter and .040 thick. the steel discs will be fixed to the gearbox and rotate about the hex the hex will be pinned to the prop shaft and the brass plated will spin with the hex
 
.
 
Here they are test fitted for size, the wide brass collar is also keyed to the prop shaft and will be the pushing element to squeeze the plates together.
 

 
Time for bed
 
Michael
 
 

It's not a Dremel chuck you need but the interchangeable collets that go into the chuck.  I have a Dremel 395 and 3001 and both fit the Workstation. They "clamp" in via threading on the "nose" of the drill. A ring is unscrewed and the dremel is then screwed into the workstation and router/shaper station.  I have both the "old" Dremel and the new Dremel and use them both interchangeably  The collets look like these http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Accessories/Pages/SubCategories.aspx?catid=2005&catname=Chucks+%26amp%3b+Collets and are not that expensive.