Rudolf

Model is finally finished, a friend photographer made real good pictures so when I got them I will post.
 
 

I tried to make as much details I could. Those smaller rings were to much to ask. Maybe on some other model.  the ones I made are 0.5-0,6 mm diameter made of 0.1 mm wire. 

Anchor size given in the book is to large so I shorten it so it can fit the distance between the bit and end of forecastle properly.

 

Forecastle I did I think two or three times. Since there was no pictures in the plans of how this was made I did it by the eye.
 
f

This middle horizontal beam is placed to get the convex shape of the clinker planking.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Two halves were nothing comparing to rounded stern it could have been better, but next time it will be.
Thank you all for kind words here is continuation of the work.
 


 

Good balance , keel is 2,8mm wide
 

Hi All
Thanks for the likes.
Onto fitting the bulkheads
 
A quick jig was made to keep the spine vertical whilst the bulkheads were fitted.  Bulkheads kept square using Lego and clamps
 

 
Once all bulkheads were fitted I added spacers to keep everything square, this is simply achieved by taking measurements of the gaps between the same bulkheads on either side of the spine and taking the average, two pieces of stock are then cut to that length and glued in place between the bulkheads
 

 
The 3mm ply spine is still flimsy at this point so bracing pieces are required.  These are cut from the templates provided and 3mm ply is used.   I cut the bracing pieces roughly 5mm less wide than the templates so that the edge of the bracing pieces were clear of the bulkhead edges..
Following shows a couple of the bracing pieces cut and installed clear of the bulkhead edges
 


 
Gaps in the bulkheads are plugged with some pine and sanded flush
 

 
The frame is now rock solid and straight
 

 
 
Thanks for dropping by
 
Mark
 
 
 

Hi All
Thanks for the likes....
Just a quick post setting out the bow area for planking.  This isn't the way I've done it in the past but seeing as how I'm experimenting in how I can use a paper model as the basis of a wooden version I've stuck with the way the paper model is done.
 
From left to right shows the process
First I extended the formers (red lines) above the deck level with sacrificial tabs to aid in the planking around the bow above the level of the deck
Next shows them fitted and I've added some 6mm ply against the spine that follows the curve of the stem post and in line with the rabbet piece i fitted in post #1
Finally I've filled between the formers with Jelutong wood.  This sands quite easy but takes nails better than balsa should I need to 
 
 


 
More functional than pretty
 
Thanks for looking in
 
Mark

Hi All
Thanks for the likes...
Moving onto the stern area, this needed some manipulation to how the paper model is constructed.  Hopefully my explanation of how I achieved this is not to confusing.
 
Firstly for context this is how the paper model is done


This formation allows for the modelling of the internals and for a moment my ambition threatened to overrule my ability, eventually, however reality prevailed and I decided against going this far.
 
This means I have to change parts H1 to H4 (top left) to accommodate the fixing of the stern fascia.  The paper model simply has this glued on top of part 6 (top left) and to the bulwarks and relies on the flexibility of the card to get some curvature.
 
Although there are no corresponding parts to what I need to achieve, there is enough information provided for me to fashion the parts needed and this explained (hopefully) below
 
Part G (above top left) is the transom and this was fashioned out of some hard maple 5mm thick by the template provide in plan view and the curvature determined by the markings on bulkhead 17 (horizontal markings).  A chamfer was then  created for the planking
 
 
 

 
 
Next was extending parts H1-H4 to allow the forming and fitting of the stern fascia at a later date.  To achieve this I used common features of two templates to give me the final shape
 
 


 
Middle picture above....X, Y and the deck level are common on the formers H1-H4 and to the bulwark templates.  These were glued one on top the other to produce a single template shown in the right.
 
Blanks were then cut from hard maple using the template ...I'm only using H1 and H4 on both sides of the stern post and omitting H2 and H3
 

 
The only difference in the finished parts of H1 and H4 is the length that attaches to the transom to give the curvature of the stern fascia and this was cut to the correct size
 
H1 and H4 templates were then used by subtracting 5mm for the transom to give me the shaping for the planking below the transom. Below shows these fitted and then filled with balsa and shaped
 
 
 

 
Finally H4's are  glued in place, with a bit of additional padding (3mm mdf) to help with the run of planking.  This will be sanded for a fair line.
 
 
 

 
I'm not installing the H1's at this stage as they will interfere with the planking
 
Hope this all makes some sort of sense.
 
Thanks for looking in
 
Mark
 
 

Beautiful Colin,
Looks the real thing at this scale!
What book are using for the drawings of the smack?
Greetings,
Rudolf

I mentioned this project quite a while ago on a page dedicated to the building of a Victorian racing yacht so I thought it might be worth updating it as a separate topic now I am back modelling after quite a while restoring a 1930 Singer Six car, a 1937 Singer Coupe and a 1952 MG TD imported from Texas!  This is a typical smack of about 40' LOD which I'm modelling at 1/2":1'.  The plans are non-scale so I have been using proportional dividers to scale up, plus I am constantly scouting the net for details that the plans do not show.   I am using lime for most of the boat as sheets in various thicknesses are readily available and it works really well with hand tools and my small bandsaw.  It will be apparent that I am not a precise modeler, being very much of the 'good enough' school, and I have used filler to fair the hull as I plan to paint her in traditional colours and hopefully evoke a working boat.  I'm currently making templates for the covering boards and cutting deck planking to scale, but i will paint the hull before planking as I will leave the deck unpainted even though most surviving boats have their decks sheathed and painted.      

Just an update on the covering boards: I have sanded the outer edge to meet the sheer strake and glued a 2mmm x 2mm strip around the inside edge to complete the impression of a complete board.  I will fill and sand off any gaps and then paint the covering boards (and perhaps the whole hull) before progressing to the deck planking.  

Margin planking has been installed on the port side!
 

This is very exciting because once I am finished with the margin planks on the starboard side, full deck planking can proceed rapidly (with a deck framing reveal on the port side).
 
As you can see, some repainting of the deck framing that will be revealed is in order.

Most of us model buidlers know that the covering boards are the pieces of timber that cover the hull-deck joint structure. Chances are you know that they are very complicated things to build. This step of the build simply confirmed that.
Covering boards usually are solid pieces of wood that are penetrated by holes that accommodate the stanchions that must travel through them. For me to produce them like that would have simply been impossible. These will be complicated enough to build as is. Essentially, I will fabricate the inboard side of the covering boards with “teeth” that project between the stanchions, then the outboard edge will be added in a separate step. The seam between the two pieces should be effectively hidden in the alcove formed by the stanchions and the bulwarks planking.
Here I have covered the deck structure adjacent to the stanchions with tape because I was wishing to protect my paint job of the deck structure that would remain visible in an unplanked area of deck. The protection was needed because I knew I would need to fair down the ledges to the level of the sheer in order for the covering boards to fit, and I didn’t want to harm the paint job.
 

In order to start the process, I needed to obtain the shape of the sheer from the plans. These were transferred using tracing paper to 3/64” stock. These shapes were then cut out excessively wide.
 

This results in six overly-wide and overly-long pieces, with generous areas of overlap.
 

Using double-sided tape, an individual piece was tacked down to the level of the deck structure. The forward and aft edges of each stanchion were marked, keeping track of station locations.
 

Now the really slow part began. Under the microscope, I began cutting out notches to make the “teeth” that will extend between each stanchion. Again, each covering board piece was made so that its inboard edge was continuous. The outboard edge of the covering board will be added as a separate piece later on in the build.
 

This piece shows many of the notches at full width, while others are still being widened. The width of each stanchion was relatively standard, but the gaps between the stanchions varied just enough to require extensive trial and error fittings.

But wait, that’s not all. Once all of the notches are wide enough, now they each need to be made deep enough. And none were of exactly of the same depth, due to individual differences in the shapes and angles of the stanchions. This again required many trial and error fittings with the goal of leaving minimal gap between the covering board’s notch and the inboard surface of each stanchion.
 

In the real ship, there is only about a 2 inch gap between the inboard surface of the stanchions and the margin plank of the deck. This is 1/32” in model scale. You can see the anticipated final inner edge of the covering board marked with a continuous pencil line here.
 

Perhaps it is a little more clear in this image. At this point there is a lot of excess wood on the inboard edge of the covering board. Removal of this excess will have to wait until later, as trimming it all off at this time would leave a piece of wood that is impossibly fragile.
 

The process of cutting the notches was accelerated when I realized I could use my table saw and miter to at least start the notches in a more efficient manner.
 

After having cut the notches to proper spacing, width, and depth, it was time to prep and paint the stanchions. Paint would add just enough thickness to each surface of the stanchions to require further tuning of the notches.
 

For primer, I used some old Badger Model-Flex gray, which had thickened considerably. It was diluted with water to a usable thickness, but it still maintained enough body to serve as an effective filler.

Overall this achieved a pretty smooth surface, but some defects were hard to fill completely, even after using primer and model filler.

I can’t remember how long it took to make all of these very bespoke pieces, but keep in mind that my last proper post was back in July…

There is lots of overlap, way more than I really needed, which also slowed the process.

The stanchions and the inboard surfaces of the bulwarks planking are a burgundy color. I slowly added drops of blue Tamiya paint into a small jar of Tamiya red to achieve the desired shade of burgundy. The one small jar may in the end not be enough, because I will also use it to paint the inboard surfaces of the bulwarks planking. It took 3-4 coats to get a good smooth surface.

And as already mentioned, the notches had to be tuned again after painting the stanchions was finished.

So despite my efforts to protect them, I had to scrape and sand away portions of the previously painted deck structure. In fact, re-shaping of the deck beams and ledges was necessary in order to get the covering boards to sit flush with the sheer.

This ledge shows considerable downsloping toward the sheerline to accommodate the shape of the covering board.

So there will need to be repainting of the deck structure that will remain visible, after all.

The deck beams and ledges also required re-fairing of their curve once I had removed enough material to accommodate the covering board.

The covering boards were painted with a medium gray. Excess paint that ended up in the notches had to be sanded away after this was done.

At this point, I used the X-acto blade to begin removing some of the excess wood from the inboard edge of the covering boards. This helped make it easier to tune the pieces to sit against their underlying deck beams and ledges. It was also necessary to shape the undersurface of the covering boards to accommodate the camber of the deck structure. I carefully sanded the undersurface to change the cross section from rectangular to an angular undersurface.

In addition to trimming away wood from the inboard edge, I also carved down the thickness of the remaining excess wood in a way that left an edge that corresponded to the final inboard edge of the covering board. This involved scoring the surface of the piece with the X-Acto, then coming along with a fine chisel and planing away the surface of the piece along the inboard edge. The edge is visible as the bright line in this photo. This will make it much easier to identify the final edge when the last bits of excess are trimmed away, and to create a smooth and fair surface against which the margin plank will rest.
 

Next problem: now that I have this piece that sits fair when I press it down against the deck beams and ledges, how do I do the glue-up in a way that makes sure that I am not left with the kinds of gaps I can see in this picture? I don’t have that many fingers.

I used a 1/16” thick piece of scrap wood to create a curved piece that roughly followed the curve of the rail, then glued it to the tops of the stanchions.

This is a sacrificial piece that will hopefully come off easily when I am done with the next step.
 

Some of the stanchions were a tiny bit shorter than their neighbors. These differences will be hidden by the rail and its supports that will be added later.
 

Using scrap wood, wedges of wood thin enough to fit between the stanchions were created.
 

In preparation for glue-up, the areas of the undersurface of the covering board that will need to be wetted with glue were marked with pencil.
Then the mating surfaces of the deck structure were wetted as well. I put small amounts of glue into the notches of the covering board as well. The board was put in place, and the wedges were used to press them to the surface of the deck structure. Care was taken to make sure that the covering board was pressed in fully against the deck, as well as against the bases of the stanchions, without leaving any gaps.

After suitable drying time, the wedges were removed and the sacrificial piece was easily separated from the tops of the stanchions with the X-Acto.

I never would have been able to hand-paint such a clean appearance if I had simply glued up unpainted pieces of wood.
Now I only have to do this five more times, with the remaining covering board pieces! The joints between the pieces in real life would have had an angled appearance resembling a scarf joint, but I won’t be able to duplicate that here.
Once all the covering boards are installed, the next 2 jobs that would make sense are the beginning of the deck planking and also the bulwarks planking. I don’t know yet which I will do next, because it will probably take me awhile to get the rest of the covering boards in place.

As expected,  the wood has changed color, the complete drying out , will be in two weeks,  I guess

I made outdoor ladders.

I have coated the boat with oil and made a slipway. Once assembled, it turned out to look like this. Macro photography revealed some disadvantages, but in the future I will eliminate them.

In general I have completed work on the small boat. On the drawing it comes without metal fastenings for the mast, after some thought I decided to do it as on the drawing. What is left to do is to cover it with oil, make two slipways and install it inside the  longboat.

The oil has dried out. Color in natural light.

Wooden flooring on the rostra.

Managed to get the bowsprit netting done. Took a couple of tries but I think persistence paid off. 

Here is a picture of the actual netting on the Morgan I took this past summer that I used for a guide. 

I made a miniature loom and wove the netting around pins that were placed at each intersection along the outside edges. The ropes on the edges were held in place using the slits in each end of the loom. After everything was woven, I took some Tex 10 thread and tied knots at each intersection to keep everything in place. Those knots are barely noticeable. 👍 Below is a picture of the loom. Nothing fancy but quit effective. 😜

Tom

Starting to work on the tryworks structure. First step was to figure out how to make bricks at 1:96 scale. An actual brick measures 2 1/4” high x 7 5/8” wide x 3 5/8” deep.   That makes my scale brick .023 x .079 x .037.   I decided to try printing a grid on regular 20# copier paper and then paint the back. Borrowed this idea from sail making on my Leopard build.
 
I have 3 different grids depending on how the brick is positioned. I used a scalpel and steel straight edge to cut the grid into strips. Then the strips were cut to the appropriate brick view length. This resulted in tiny little bricks which look like confetti for mice. 😂
 
Pictured below are bricks looking down at the top 3 5/8 x 7 5/8 (lower group) and next to the tryworks are bricks looking at the front 2 5/8 x 7 5/8”. 

 
Below is the front step with top view bricks layed in place. The mortar is supposed to be 3/8 wide in full scale which comes out to about .004”. I am eyeballing what seems to look good proportionally. If anyone wants to check when I am done - have at it. 😜😁

I am pleased with the results so far. Next is to do the rear step. Then all 4 sides with the 2 5/8 high brick. Tedious work but I think the realism is worth the effort.  Just when I recovered from placing a thousand plus copper tiles I get to do microscopic bricks. This must be the “journey” part I keep hearing about with this hobby!😂

Tom
 

Well I guess it’s a wrap. I completed my Charles W. Morgan today. It has been an educational and fun 2 year journey. Thanks to everyone here on MSW for all the support. Not sure what my next build will be. I will take a break for a bit. I still have a 9000 piece puzzle of the Battle of Algiers. That will be a good project to take a break with. 
 
Here are some final pics. I need to figure out how to make an album and mark the build log finished. 
 
Happy modeling!
 










 

Well, the 6th grade CYO basketball season has drawn to a close and our team succeeded beyond my wildest dreams:  we went 13-1, and captured the Manhattan division title.  Our second and final loss came in a division matchup with the Bronx winners.  We played a gritty first half, and kept it close, but made mistakes in the second half.  We were simply overmatched.  Nonetheless, it was a wonderful and extremely rewarding season.  The Knicks, on the other hand, continue to surprise, so my attentions remain somewhat divided.
 
That being said, I am lately looking to focus more on model building.  I’ve completed all of the fore, main and mizzen channel deadeye strops.  Although Andre Kudin’s particular method is definitely more efficient with less clean-up - he solders the lower strop loop at a neatly cut joint - I stuck with the R.C. Anderson overlap method I had been using because the strops were coming out uniformly, nicely shaped, and strong.  I will change my approach for the deadeye strops in the tops.

Next in order to be made are the chain preventer plates.  One of the key differences between what I had first tried, when making the chain preventer plates, and what Andre does is that Andre bends each plate from an individual length of wire, rather than try to economize on material by wrapping a longer length of wire, many turns, around an appropriately sized former.
 
When you do the latter, for one thing - you may succeed in crimping the continuous loop neatly around the former, but it is nigh impossible, after parting the links to get the links off the former without pulling them all out of shape.
 
The other issue with parting the links in this way is that you end up with one neat flush end and a pinched end, which leads to a weaker solder joint.
 
What I am after are uniformly straight chain links, free of odd kinks, and sloppy joints.  To that end I set up a simple bending jig like the one I see in Andre’s videos.  Following is a series of screen captures from his YouTube videos.  This particular video is either #13 or #16, in the series, if I remember correctly:






And following along, I first pre-bend short lengths of wire around a drill mandrel:

I’ve placed a shallow spacer beneath the link area, so that the ends will be slightly raised and easier to crimp with my parallel pliers:

I crimp snug around the upper pin, then use my pliers to pull each end snugly around the lower pin.  I then crimp around the lower pin:

I can then remove the link, and flush-cut each side of the link.  A little tweezer/finger manipulation creates a nicely closed link:

Silver solder paste has proven to be really great as I can control its application with the tip of an Exacto.  A touch to the iron, and I have nicely soldered joints that only require a little cleanup:

Now, Andre puts the soldered loops back over the two-pin jig and uses his round-nose pliers to crimp eyes at each end.  I found, though, that the joints with this 28 gauge wire simply failed when I tried this:

Alternatively, I found that I could place each link end over the lower pin, hold the outer end with a tweezer, and use my round nose plier to crimp around the single pin.  This worked beautifully:

Now, It’s a simple matter of doing that over and again about 60X.
 
It is, of course tedious, but satisfying to achieve the result I am after.
 
More to follow!
 
Best,
 
Marc

Seems the Dutch had very similar guns. This one also had the stepped (Z) carriage sides.
Unfortunately displayed on an elevated stand. Could only read "Cornelis" at the back, which I assumed was a manufacturer?