JSGerson

Whaleboat Keels It was time to install the keels. The kit called for a cross section of 1/32”w x 1/16”h. Per the US Navy plans, I figured it to be 1/32” x 3/64” not that anyone would notice. I cut some stock boxwood to my dimensions for the straight length on the Byrnes saw. I cut to size the curved sections of the bows and sterns from a cardstock template based on the actual model, not the plans. Once glued into place, they were painted with white primer.

With such a beautiful model, how are you going to display it? Hopefully you won't just put it on a shelf to collect dust. What are your plans?

Metal Hardware Like I did with the gig, I used split-rings to create the various little metal pieces protecting the holes in the centerboard and lifting rings. Once more I used my poor man’s cleat making technique – no metal lathe, just files and a rotary drill

First off let me say Mom rode out Irma just fine. She lost power for four days, but she and her temporary 24-hr aid survived with only minor discomfort. And, it appears that Maria will leave her alone. Whaleboat Stern Benches and Aft Decks I attempted without success to create the stern U-shaped bench from straight planks. I thought I would use the plans as a pattern cutting, fitting, and gluing the pieces so that I could insert the whole assembly as a unit. That didn’t work because the gluing surface were the edges of the planks and they would snap apart just looking at them. I tried assembling them in situ, but there was no support for the planks to be attached to during construction. I admitted defeat, and used 1/64” plywood and with an X-acto knife, etched in the board marks. Then I stained it which brought out the etched lines. Note: these images are dry fits.

Work on the model may slow down a bit due to hurricane Irma. As I have mentioned in past posts, I visit my Mom in Florida every couple of months or so. She is now in the crosshairs of the storm. All my relatives who could have helped her, were too far away. I tried to get someone to board her condo windows up, but there was no plywood to be had. Luckily, my Sister (lives in Connecticut) managed to get someone with experience with elder care (she’s 99 years old) to stay with her 24-hours-a-day till the storm subsides. They are going to hunker down and hold on to it other. I wish I could have done more, but I’m 600 miles away. By that time, I’ll be feeling the effects here in South Carolina. I don’t know what kind of condition Mom or her condo will be in, whether she will be able to stay there, or will have to come to live at my place for a while once the worst is over. It’s going to be an interesting and bumpy ride

Whaleboat Thwarts I decided to install the thwarts next. Because the thwarts are not painted, I used 3/32” x 1/64” boxwood. These were cut to fit and rested on the riser installed earlier. The thwart stanchions are 1/32” in diameter and were made from bamboo pulled through a drawplate just like the gig. The thwarts also have knees which attach to the top of the seats. These were made from 1/8” x 1/64” boxwood. The knees were first carved on the wood stock then cut off using the razor saw and miter. The miter was used more for creating consistent lengths than squareness of cut because I had to file off an additional fraction of wood so that the legs of “L” shape was a bit more than 90 degrees to conform to the shape of the hull. These were then glued into position.

Very nice. If you hadn't brought the problem to our attention, we would never had know a repair was made. Good job. Jon

Whaleboat Foot Rests Just like in the gig, the foot rest were made in the same manner from 1/64” stock material. This time, the two position brackets were paint grey. I left the foot rest itself bare because I thought that paint would not last very long under the wear and tear of rower’s feet and they probably were replaced as needed. It also offers a little contrast.

The sole was made from a single piece of 1/64” plywood. Lines were etched in with an X-acto knife to represent the removeable hatch. It was painted and glued into position.

Whaleboats Just wanted to say that this week (Aug 21, 2017) has been interesting. I got to see the eclipse as I was right smack dab in the middle of the totality just west of Columbia SC, about an hour from my home (using back roads to avoid highway traffic). It truly was a spectacular sight. My friends and I could not have asked for a better day. However, the next afternoon, I discovered that someone had rammed into my mailbox with a vehicle and smashed it into three pieces and damaged the one next to me sometime earlier in the day. I spent Wednesday removing what was left of the old mailbox post, and putting in a new one. If it’s not one thing, it’s another in the life of a home owner. When we last saw the two whaleboats, I had left them as a simple hull with simulated ribs painted with white primer. Per the Hunt practicum, he gave the builder a choice of priming the hull and ribs and then adding the flooring, or adding the flooring and then painting a more difficult structure. Since I had already primed the hull and ribs earlier, the flooring was added and then a coat of white primer was then applied to it. Ideally one would want to glue the bare wood pieces to a bare wood surface and not a painted one. On the other hand, a coat of gray had to be applied to the inside of the hull as well and I would still have to paint the hull and ribs again. Eventually all was glued and painted. The plans called for the use of 1/32” x 1/64” risings but due to the fragility of the stock and the low probability anyone would notice, 1/32” square painted white strip of basswood was used and positioned at the border of the white and gray paint inside the hull. The rising will eventually support the thwarts.

OK, now you are really showing off 8-). I would have never thought of using blackboard chalk as a carving material. Fantastic job. Too bad your viewers will be leaving their nose prints on the display case (you are making a display case, aren't you?) as they try to see the intricate detail of the carving. Your skills never cease to amaze me. Wow! Jon

As I mentioned above (Aug 18, 2017 post), I used the same exact Armanti figures for my model. I got mine at Age of Sail. Jon

Don't forget, you have to replace the bulwarks planks on the inner walls as well. I don't envy the work ahead for you. Good luck. Jon

You might want to use 5 minute epoxy glue on those joints. They will fill in any gaps, you have the luxury of a little time to set the pieces once the glue is in place, you can file/sand off any excess, and you can paint it. The main point though, due to the small gluing surfaces, I believe the epoxy will be a whole lot stronger. I used this method for the mast top stanchions on my Rattlesnake. (June 9. 2014 post). BTY, what kind of drill did you use to form the holes in the metal? All I have are wood drills which either bend or break if you breath on them too hard. Jon

I used those exact same figures for my Rattlesnake (post Feb 11, 2017). After I trimmed off the casting seams I dipped them in the same acid bath I used for blackening metal pieces to get rid of any oils left on the metal. To my surprised, the metal turned black as if I had blackened them. Just thought you might want to aware of that. Jon

Nice solution. When I use pins, I install the pin into item that needs to be glued to the deck. Then I position the item to its intended location and press the item so that the pin makes an impression on the deck. Then I drill a pin hole into the impression. Now the pin fits into the deck and the item is properly located. It doesn't matter that the pins don't necessarily line up with each other (because they are hidden), but that the resulting pieces are located in their respective positions. Jon

As always neat, clean, well photographed, and a pleasure to view and read. Jon

You should be very pleased Jon

May I suggest you add metal pins to the underside of anything you're going to mount to the deck that will handle rigging line. The rigging line adds a lot of tension to bits and stanchions and may pull them off the deck. Trying to repair that kind of catastrophe is something I would want to wish on any model builder. Jon

Gig Bumper The major element of the gig was the bumper. This was made from 1/32” square boxwood which was pre-bent by soaking in water and then using a hot iron wood bender. It makes gluing so much easier. Gig Completed The pintle and gudgeon were made of ordinary white paper wrapped the rudder and rudder post. According to the photographs on the actual ship they are white so I did not use a contrasting color to make them stand out. It’s part of my philosophy that less is more. Finally, I used ordinary beige sewing thread for the yoke tiller ropes.

The pins were created by inserting the long bamboo pin stock and cutting it in place to slightly larger than needed length. Once all the pins were in place I then trimmed the pins to their proper length and filed their ends to approximate the slightly conical pointed end.

Gig Thole Pins The US Navy’s plans provide excruciating detail of the thole pins; way too much detail for this level of scale. The pins are not cylinder shaped but slightly conical; do not have a circular cross section, more oblong; come to a flattened rounded point at the top; and the pairs aren’t even the same shape. So like many of the other builders who decided to include thole pins, I chose to make mine circular cross section with a flattened pointed top. Using a Byrnes draw plate, I drew down bamboo skewers close to 7/128” in diameter. The thole plate was supposed to be 1/128” thick but I didn’t dare get any thinner than 1/64”. My idea was to make the plates, drill the two thole pin holes, add the pins and use CA glue. Once the CA dried solid, I would trim the pins and sand the bottom of the plate and again using CA glue into position. Drilling two holes in the plate for the pins was next to impossible because as soon as the drill bit started to turn, the wood would split. I then used Plan B. I stained the plate first hoping the stain would act a bit like glue in the grain of the wood. Then I glued the plate into position on the rail to provide additional structural strength. Then I drilled the hole for the pins. Even then, I had one plate split.

i was think more in terms of the material for the hammocks than the additional detail.

You might want to take a look at Tlevine's build of the HMS Atalant (March 23, 2014 post) for the hammocks and see if that will help. Jon

The rudder was painted white. It look almost all brown in the image but that was just the shadow of the camera lens. The yoke tiller and the standard yoke are unpainted oak on the actual boat so these were given a light stain. The standard tiller looks awfully short to my eyes, but it matches perfectly with the kit’s plans. These pictures show the dry fit. They will be permanently assembled as a last step.