JSGerson
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The sternpost is tapered for thickness and along it length. Again using a photo from the practicum.
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You will notice that the keel is slightly longer than necessary. This is so the stem post can be fitted. You will also notice that the stem still has a notch. This is where the false keel will fit in. However before that is installed, the stempost needs to be. First a square opening in the counter is made. This photo is from the practicum as I didn’t one of my own.
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The practicum indicates that the keel is normally made of more than one piece of wood, but for simplicity one piece will be used. However where the joint would have been a bit of sleight of hand is performed. A lap joint is cut into the wood for show. Shhh…Don’t tell anyone and they will never know the difference! Although the practicum did not call for it I added pins along the keel to help mechanically attach it to the hull.
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CHAPTER 4 –Planking the Lower Hull As I have indicated before, this is my first real planking project and I’m taking a BIG bite from the apple. The practicum kitbash is following Harold Hahn’s model albeit in a smaller scale. Because the model uses very little if any paint (except black stain in lieu of ebony wood), the hull water line is created with different woods to complicate the planking process. Reading how to plank a hull and actually doing it are two completely different experiences. So due to my lack of the latter - experience, my results are far from perfect. The Stem, Keel and Sternpost Here is where the stem which was the first item created is finally attached to the hull.
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Thanks for the vote of confidence. I know we all make them, and I know because I don't have much of a ship building experience I'm going to make some more. It just, do I have to make them all?
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Once all the treenails were installed into the deck, clipped, and the deck sanded down smooth, a coat of poly-wipe was applied over the whole deck. End of Chapter 3
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The practicum tells you not to glue the margin plank until the very end. This way, you can remove that plank, to make the plank notches. The planks themselves are glued in. Finally at the end the margin plank is glued down. The trick is to, as the practicum puts it: “You want to have exactly 3 rows of planking left to install between the last row and the margin plank you have just cut. The aft end of the next row of planking you install will nib into the margin plank at the aft end about 1/4" from the end.” Mine was close but not exact…as usual. Tree Nails The deck planks have a single 026” treenail across its width and are installed as before on the beam lines into #69 drill bit holes. Bamboo nails are made using a draw plate and “glued” in using poly-wipe.
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Now the practicum instructs that you fine tune the cut shape using a compass to scribe the 3/16” line along the inner edge as shown in this image from the practicum.
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It is time to construct the 2nd half of the margin plank. The plank will continue from the 1st half all the way back to the parquet floor. A template is made as before but ¼” wide and cut the stock wood.
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As the planking approaches the margin plank, a notch is created starting from the 5th plank from the center. The plank is then trimmed to fit. After five rows on each side of the centerline, you are instructed to stop once again. The first image below is from the practicum.
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The margin plank is cut out and installed. The image below is from the practicum as I don’t have picture of my model at this stage.
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The template was cut 3/16” from the outer edge and transferred to the wood stock.
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A template is made of one half of the bow decking from the centerline of the beam to the center of the foremast in preparation of the 1st half of the margin plank. As the deck planking approaches the bow, the planks will cut into the margin plank.
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Deck Planking After establishing and marking the center line of the model, I noted where the deck beams would be using the Hahn deck plan. This was pointed out in the practicum because Mr. Hunt didn’t and pointed out the error of his ways. The deck beams are where the planking butt up against each other and they are not consistent. Starting at the parquet floor and along the centerline, centered side to side, the planks are cut to length as indicated in the practicum, coated on the edges with artist charcoal, and glued down. You will notice that there are four staggered rows each side of the center line and then it repeats. Just remember to open up the mast holes before they are total covered. At this point the practicum instructs you to stop and work on the bow.
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Then the whole floor was simply dropped in place and glued down.
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Once everything was glued solid, the excess strips were cut off leaving the floor piece in a checkerboard pattern. Because stained walnut was used, a number of tiles had to be touched up after sanding to smooth out the tiles.
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To create the checkerboard, the planks that were cut out will be glued to the plywood in such a way as to stagger the holly and stained walnut/ebony.
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First a 45 degree angle that ran approximately from corner to corner was drawn. A second line was laid perpendicular to this line so that it intersected the center line at the forward edge. These lines are the guidance to installing the first plank. This can be seen from an image from the practicum.
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The wood then glued onto the 4” x 4” in alternating strips and then squared up and trimming off the excess plywood. Using my Byrnes Machine table saw,3/16” slices were made 90º to the stripes.
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The walnut strips were stained with ebony minwax
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The Parquet Floor The practicum states there is absolutely no historical documentation to show that Rattlesnake had a checkerboard floor. Probably it didn't. It goes on to explain that the captain’s cabin in the HMS Victory, had a parquet floor of black and white checkerboard. Technically this is a former American ship whose plans were drawn up by the British. Who is to say it didn’t have a parquet floor when the British re-fitted her? Not only that, it looks like fun thing to do. First a template was made by making a tracing from the Hahn deck plan of the captain’s quarter’s floor and transferring it to cardstock. The cardstock was fine-tuned by fitting to the model. Based on the template, a piece of 1/64” plywood was cut and matched to fit the model. A second piece of plywood was cut to 4” x4”. Strips of 3/16” x .020” holly and walnut to-be-stained-black (did not have ebony) were cut to 3” long.
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Again the clamp was glued directly to the planking.
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The forecastle deck clamp has an extra added attraction – it’s curved due to shape of the bow. Using the Hahn plan, I bent the wood stock to conform to the shape of the bow. Also the notches have to be custom cut due to the curved shape.
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The reason for the “stop” was here was where the deck clamp was to be installed. By now, everything had been glued tight, sanded smooth, and coated with poly-wipe. Still not completely understand the complete consequences of my error I moved on and followed the practicum on how to make the deck clamp not realizing that it had to be modified due to the error. (There are those ripples moving out again!). I’ll get to that later. To make the deck clamp, I modified the side view template. The deck clamp is a 3/32” x 3/32” strip of boxwood with strategically placed and cut 1/16” x 1/16” x 1/16” notches. These will hold the cross beams for the deck above the stern and bow. I had a lot of difficulty placing the clamps on the model. As it turned out, I had the height almost right, but not the side to side position. It glued it directly on top of the bulwarks. In actuality, it should have been glued to the frames and bulkheads and the planking would have been around it. Visually it won’t be noticed by the novice viewer; but I know.
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Here is where I made a big mistake and did not discover it till later on, too late to redo over. The practicum says STOP when you reach the 5th row. In my enthusiasm I didn’t see the STOP sign and completed the planking.
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