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JSGerson

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Everything posted by JSGerson

  1. JSGerson
    The seat pieces were cut and trimmed to fit and glued into place. The “hinges” are nothing more than pieces of black paper that were added when I Poly-wiped the wood. The remainder of the thwarts (seats) were supported by the risers (support strips). The forward thwart had a half round notch cut out for an optional mast.
  2. JSGerson
    It seemed to me that all ship’s boats are basically the same at this stage of the build. Looking at all of my 46 Rattlesnake models images that I have collected from the internet, I selected the ones with clear/detailed images of the ship’s boat. Not one of them duplicated any other’s boat. Everyone was different. That meant I had free rein as to what mine was going to look like. Taking elements from the kit itself, the Practicum, other boats on or off the Rattlesnake, and reference books, I came up with my version. Like most boats, I created a backseat with two side seats. Some of the models I had seen had a lid over the back seat so I thought that would be neat to have. The lid was simply etched into the wood. Additionally I added a mast block (my own design since I didn’t have much to go on) and some brass rings fore and aft colored black with a Sharpie pen.
  3. JSGerson
    At this point I decided that the exterior still needed something, so I added a piece of unstained 1/32” x 1/32” basswood right up against the sheer plank. It did two things. First it added a little snap to the boat. I had seen other small boats with similar structures. Second, it covered up small gaps between the planking and the sheer plank. The basswood piece was cut from the 1/32” x 3/32” basswood planking stock that came with the kit. I actually made two strips from one plank! Boy, I love that Byrne’s saw!
  4. JSGerson
    Basswood planking stock was added as the interior floor boards and for a change, there were no hassles. I left this basswood as well as the other basswood in the interior unstained to provide a contrast between the interior and the exterior of the boat.
  5. JSGerson
    Following the kit plans, additional ribbing was added. The ribs were made of the kit’s basswood but not the bass designated for it. Instead I used the unused planking material which was half the intended thickness. Two pieces were cut to size, soaked, bent, and laminated together. The bending was much easier that the original ribs on the building jig. They were glued to the inside of the hull, trimmed, and stained. The whole hull was then coated with Wipe-on Poly.
  6. JSGerson
    Using the Teak planking I made for the hull, a new bulkhead was veneered over the original. The same was done to the transom to match.
  7. JSGerson
    You will notice that the pre-cut bow bulkhead was too small and I had to beef it up during planking so it was not a pretty sight.
  8. JSGerson
    The excess planking was removed at the stern, but in the process the unsupported stem post above the hull broke off. That was because the grain of the wood was horizontal so it had no strength. A sneeze could have knocked it off so it wasn’t unexpected. If the stem post had been constructed like a real boat, the grain would have been vertical but because this was a very cheap kit (I paid $5.00 on sale, otherwise $8.00) a lot of detail was spared. I will address this later. The light colored basswood ribs and keel looked like tan lines against the darker Teak so I stained them with Early American 230 Minwax Wood Finish (what else?) to match the Teak.
  9. JSGerson
    Spud1 - There was no real problem removing the hull from the jig. The only thing holding it down were the ribs which extended into and were glued to the jig. Since they were basswood, they were easy to cut. There was one causality, the rudder post. Because the keel included both the stem and the rudder post, the grain of the wood ran horizontal at these points. Because of this, all one had to do was was breath on the rubber post and it would snap off, which it did. I will discuss all of this in my next post.
  10. JSGerson
    These final shots of the boat show the raw planking complete. The last shot, the boat has been removed from the building jig. The outside has had a preliminary sanding. The planks still hang over the stern and the interior desperately needs to have excess glue removed and sanded. No treatment to the wood surface has been applied yet.
  11. JSGerson
    It’s been a while since my last post, but progress has been made. Slowly I applied the planks, removed them and applied them again trying to keep the fine gaps between the planks at a minimum. Due to their thinness, the planks have a tendency to bow between the ribs. It would have been a lot easier to plank had there been more ribs.
  12. JSGerson
    The result was a strong 1/16” x 1/16” strip in perfect shape. After a little sanding and trimming, it was glued into place.
  13. JSGerson
    Grabbing a “spare” piece of boxwood stock (if I run out later, I’ll buy some more), I milled 1/16” x 1/32”strips, half the thickness called for. After a half hour these were ready and pliable. Instead of the pins, using some balsawood, I made a form in the shape of the platform. I laminated two strip pieces together with WeldBond and wrapped them around the form This glue gave me plenty of time to set it up and clamp before the it dried.
  14. JSGerson
    NOTE: For those faithfully following this log, I apologize for going at a snail’s pace. Each step for me is new territory and although I try not to make too many mistakes, it seems to me that although I may not repeat too many of them, it seems to me that I have made every one of them at least once. So bear with me as I plod along; there is no rush. Using the Hahn’s platform drawing as a template, the curve of the platform was traced onto the platform construction and the excess was then trimmed off. I used a disc sander. The platforms have a perimeter strip which is made in two parts. The back piece is simply a 1/16” square strip glued to the edge. The remainder is one long strip that is bent to shape. Mr. Hunt stated in the Practicum that he soaked his piece for 30 minutes to get it pliable enough to bend and glue, bend and glue in place using CA glue. I don’t know what kind of magic he was casting but that didn’t work for me. Initially I tried soaking the boxwood strip 2 days and then wrapping it around pins following the template I made earlier. As careful as I was, using both the heating iron method and a plank bending tool that make fine creases on the inside of the bend, the strip broke in two places due to the tight curve. I had the same problem when I was making the ribs for the ship’s boat. If there is some technique that makes this work, I don’t know what it is. It was time to be innovative.
  15. JSGerson
    I always looked forward to your next installment of your log. It's a shame (for me) that it has come to an end. Good luck on your next project.
  16. JSGerson
    The two planks next to the sheer rails were reinstalled. Additionally I installed the garboard planks and the planks next to it but not until I did that twice. It’s not perfect, but it’ll do. All of this was going on while I had my problems with the Rattlesnake’s mast tops (see log). Boy, was I having fun!
  17. JSGerson
    I didn’t like the way the basswood sheer rails looked next to the teak planks so I decided to add an accent to the boat to complement the mother ship Rattlesnake by painting them black.
  18. JSGerson
    Using the proportion method of planking I laid out the planking marks and added two planks to each side next to the rail on each side and ripped them out. I didn't like the way they looked.
  19. JSGerson
    Between now and my last post a lot has happened and I have really nothing to show for it. After the sheer rails were glued in place, I ripped them out because I found gaps between the ribs and the rail; which you can’t see in the pictures. Not good; I did it over.
  20. JSGerson
    Once the glue was set (I waited 24hrs just to be sure), I fired up the Byrnes saw, and stroke by stroke, I nibbled away the wood to create the rabbet. Based on the dry fit, it worked like a charm.
  21. JSGerson
    I am pleased to announce “success” is creating the platform pieces. All I did was change a few minor details: · I inadvertently used the “wrong” wood (Boxwood instead of prescribed Holly) · I switched from CA glue to Weld Bond · Changed from 1/32” square stock to 1/16” square stock
  22. JSGerson
    I'm not going to let those platforms get me. I am tenacious enough that I am giving the mast tops another shot using 1/16" square stock this time using wood glue instead of CA due to the larger surface area. So intent was I that after I chopped up some 1/16 x 1/16" wood to size and glued it together, I realized that I grabbed boxwood instead of holly as called for in the Practicum. I just can't win for losing. Well, so be it; boxwood it is. Martin - Both the Practicum and Model Shipways are following Hahn's plans for the tops. Mamoli shows planking as well, just that all the planks are in one direction. I'm not giving up on the Practicum just yet. It's gotten me this far which I would never been able to do without it. I'll just have to be more careful with these later chapters as they have more errors and omissions due to his rushing and corner cutting in the late stages of building his model and writing the Practicum. He indicated somewhere that he was building 4 models and writing their practicums all at the same time while trying to meet some deadline. It shows. Boy are we having fun now.
  23. JSGerson
    It’s been a while since my last post and I had hoped to say I made some progress, Alas, this is not so. I am back to square one not once but twice in trying to construct these platforms. After I tried numerous times to create the platforms using the 1/32” strips and then have them fall apart as I attempted to create the rabbet, I decided to bite the bullet and cheat. I would create the platforms using 1/32” boxwood sheets. Then I planned on scribing lines on them to make it look like they were made of strips. I meticulously measured and milled the boxwood from a thicker piece of stock and then cut them to size exactly as indicated in the practicum. Everything went according to plan until I laid them out before I attempted to cut the rabbet. Something did not look right. The dimensions were correct except the pieces looked too narrow. Placing the pieces on Hahn’s drawing of the mast tops I discovered the problem. The Practicum lied. The strips should have been 1/16” x 1/16” NOT 1/32” x 1/32” as indicated. The lengths were correct but not the widths. Therefore, I will have to start over again for a third time.
  24. JSGerson
    Very nice. I'm still plodding along, one step forward then two steps back. I'm no further ahead than I was 3 weeks ago. I must commend you for a job well done.
  25. JSGerson
    Once the wood was bent and dry, it was dry fitted. Here it was discovered that again, either the instructions were not clear or the parts did not match the plans. All of the ribs had notches in the keel, the stem bulkhead did not. This created a disconnect as to how the planking would flow over it. The bulkhead also seemed too narrow so I tried to beef it up by adding more basswood. Even then it appears that I will have to use some wood filler to fill in some of the open gaps. The first sheer line was glued in place with WeldBond at the bow. It will be completed when it is glued to all the remaining ribs and the transom. Of course this will be repeated for the other side.

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