Ryland Craze

Another big update.
 
Following the instructions, I worked on setting the sills, lintels, ports, etc...
 
I made a template of the gunport on a clear piece of plastic sheet, so I could compare it to the model.  Based on that, I know that the position of the guns in the ports may not all be at the same height.  For example, in the picture below, the gun will sit slightly high compared to the port.  I could have hacked away at the bulkhead to fix this but I think I would have ended up with a "lumpy" line of the gunports trying to make them line up.  In the end, I decided a nice, clean line of the ports was more important, and I would worry about the detailed gun positions later. (maybe this will come back to haunt me...)
Template:

This gun will sit high:

After all the sills, lintels and ports were in place, I noticed that some of the lines weren't flowing smoothly, so I had to add some filler materials in and sand them down to clean things up.  I made this rotary sander thing for my Dremel out of a couple of milk jug lids (a few minutes of time well spent).  It made quick work of sanding everything down.
Slight dip in the line:

Added some fillers (man- that picture looks rough):

Sanding disc thingy out of a milk jug lid:

Some pics of everything before planking:


I decided to plank one side at a time, so I could make all my rookie mistakes on one side, and fix them for the other.  I went ahead an upgraded to Castillo Boxwood for the planking above the wales.  This is really nice wood to work with.  My previous modeling experience with wood has been balsa and basswood, so I was completely blown away by this stuff.  This boxwood is incredible for carving, shaping and holding an edge (no wonder it is popular for model ships).  
 
Partway through the planking process:

It seems I cut almost every plank 2,3 or even 4 times before I got them right (-ish).  Really frustrating (but fun) to re-cut a simple plank with 2 square butt several times just because that last stroke of the sandpaper took off just a bit too much.  Even more frustrating to work on a really complicated piece only to mess it up on the sanding stroke.  I now have a nice bin of small boxwood scrap pieces...
 
Clamps, lots of clamps:

 
For no good reason, I decided to machine the sheave blocks and add pulleys.  Fired up my little Proxxon setup and turned the pulleys out of Hornbeam and the blocks from Castillo Boxwood.  Again, I was really impressed with the boxwood for machining.
Proxxon setup:

 
Block and pulleys:

There really is no need for this but it was fun anyway.  Even the Admiral was impressed.
 
Some pics of how she is now, before final sanding, treenailing and finishing:

 
Still deciding on the treenailing method.  Here is a sample using the method in the instructions, with a single coat of wipe-on poly:

 
That's all for now.

Thanks Matrim.  That's good advice.
 
All the bulkheads are now attached.  They are as straight and true as I could get them.  The first 6 or 7 required more sanding to get them to fit than the back 9 or 10.  I'm going to glue some wood across the tops of the bulkheads for additional bracing, and then move onto sanding the bulkhead's edges to shape.  I'm having fun!
 

 

 

 
Erik

Thanks all, both for the comments and the likes.  Please don't hesitate to offer constructive (or even not so constructive) criticism as well.  I had no idea that there was a 'standard' length for breaching lines, even if I didn't go with that length purely for my own visual appeal reasons.
 
Tonight I got back to the cannon.  First I made a shorter breaching line and used much smaller seizing thread.  I think it came out much nicer.  Since I was happy with both the length and the look, I went ahead and fixed the gun into place and secured the breaching line.  I then replaced the block with the broken hook, and rigged the out-hauls on both sides and after very carefully pulling the line tight, used a small brush and painted the lines with 50/50 white glue/water mix to help 'fix' the ropes.   All that's left now is to do the rope coils, but I'm going to wait until all the guns are in place for that, so I can better picture the space available for both location and size of the coils.     As far as the new toy goes, I don't really know enough about it to talk much really.  It's the 17" Sherline, and I got it with a fairly good assortment of accessories, a couple of 'how to' books, and a DVD.     It's very nice, and it's clearly designed for precision work, with a tool holder.  The Proxxon (which I also have and can be seen in some of my photo's) uses a 'rest' rather than a tool holder, and doesn't throttle down to slow speeds, where the Sherline can be run from 0 speed on up.  They are really designed for different uses, with the Proxxon being for wood turning using hand tools, and the Sherline is for using a tool-rest and precision work.   I initially figured when buying the Sherline that I would sell the Proxxon, but after using it, I think they both have a different purpose on the work bench and will probably keep the Proxxon for doing hand-work using the tool-rest.

Here's my first attempt at trunnel-making and plank butts....

It gets more interesting when you have a real live ship to look at.
 

 

Ahoy mates,
 
Here is a review of Volume IV Revised, which I wrote for my club newsletter.  It pretty much echos what has already been written.  SeaWatch didn't have to print the supplement, but they did.  Now we're able to keep our original editions up to date at a minimal expense.  Here's a company that's looking out for its clients!
 
BobF
 
Swan Vol. IV Revised Edition.pdf

K moved on a little. I placed the floor planks in using the kit wood as that is paler than the hull planks but not as pale as Holly which is more representative of a furiously cleaned deck. 
 
Here are the planks and the stencils? for the platforms
 

 
Then I added the platforms both with support underneath as they are a little flimsy otherwise.
 

 
And then added the front of the shot locker..
 

 
Nice kit I am enjoying it though my work is not up to (a lot) of the other standards around here. My approach has always been 'incremental improvement' so as long as I do better than my last attempt then I am quite happy. 

Thanks Joe for the advise... Caldercraft it is...

I'm taking Chuck Seiler's advice, I'm gonna give the Sultana a good planking. I've sanded down the kit bulwarks, sanded the deck to fix the camber,
and procured all the lumber I need, plus a little extra.
Will have progress photos to post Monday...
 
Thank you for the inspiration, Chuck!

Erik - I'm new to wood ship modeling too, but have many years from the plastic side, and found that the CA glues that I already had work here as well: Super Thin for creeping into areas that need strengthening...and a medium gel for surface-to-surface contact.  Aside form CA, I also use Titebond and Elmer's Wood Glue for areas where I may have to tweak the positioning (like deck planking). I found something useful at Lowe's - GLUE DOTS. I was looking for a simple glue stick, and found these instead. If you need to temporarily place a piece, the dots will work...and when you're done, just roll the dot off with your finger and throw it away. I've used the dots to place copies of my plan sheet onto the decks for sizing and placement of details. Easy and clean to use, just roll the applicator across your surface and the dots will be placed for you!
 
I see you want to leave your longboat hull natural wood - just keep the CA glue off of your surfaces, since those glues will not accept the stain color you may want to add later...otherwise you may have to do more sanding, and you could end up sanding your planks too thin. Ask me how I know

I now have a good source of Boxwood and it was only 40 minutes up the road from me , so I started cutting the stern parts out yesterday and what a difference working with boxwood is-- it is so nice compared the bass wood and ply wood etc from my Billings kit experience.  More pictures when the stern is finished  
 
 
PS I used www.Originalmarquetry.co.uk   in Bristol...

After reading jcoby's last post I decided to play around a bit and see what the transom might look like installed with the knees aft edge flush with the end of the stern. I cut a piece out of the 1/32 sheet included in the kit approximately the size of the transom. After a little trimming of the slots the outboard knees sit in and a bit of sanding here and there this is what I came up with. The piece I made in the last post is not glued in place. It does push out the transom into very gentle curve, which the plans seem to indicate is normal as opposed to perfectly perpendicular to the stern. Of course I am no expert at reading plans. There will be a trim piece installed across where the deck and transom join All in all I think it will do, but welcome more thoughts.

I've had a brief pause on my build.  Rather than sprint into the build, I decided a more methodical approach will yield better results.  So, I bought a bunch of supplies at the hobby shop yesterday, mostly various methods of sanding, sanding sticks, sand paper, etc, and some Maxi-cure extra thick CA.
 
In preparation for attaching the bulkheads, I thoroughly sanded them on both sides with ever finer grades of sandpaper to get the burn marks off.  My plan is to not paint the bottom of the hull, so I'm proceeding with the thought that it will just be varnished. I'm trying to keep the wood as pristine as possible.  And . . . if I screw up the planking then I'll go ahead and paint the bottom.  Might as well aim high though. 
 

 
Based on other build logs, I also figured building an assembly jig was a good idea.  So, here's what I came up with.  The keel is straight and plumb with the vertical being at a 90 degree angle.
 

 
Next step:  Bulkheads.
 
Erik

Finally a long overdue update. My KF got little attention lately as work and other (fun) projects got in the way.
 
I cut all the mortices for the carlings in the upper deck beams and started to make the first of the knee's and hanging knees. These are not one of my favourite parts to make and unfortunately every beam has a hanging knee. This is due to the heavy load on the deck with all the canons. I'll stick to my mantra and go step by step or part by part in this case
 

 

 

 

 

 
Remco

The Armed Virginia Sloop from Model shipways is quite popular as a first build.

Took a break from tiny little blocks tonight, and gave the captain a way to steer his ship.  Seems like a reasonable thing to do, given that she has a rudder and all.
 
I did not replace the cast wheel with anything aftermarket, as all of the wood wheels I've seen are really 'fat', and I don't think they look right.  I have read several articles on scratch making wheels, but I don't have the right equipment to use any of those methods yet, so I just painted the kit one and used it.  Not sure the color is right, but I don't have a lot of brown paints, so this is what I ended up with.
 

Making my way through the tedious, but necessary, early steps. I first rough faired the hull using various sanding sticks. Then I added the gunport framing, trying to be careful to maintain a smooth flowing line. Next, I cut the forward most ports in the filler pieces at the bow and faired the gun ports. Lastly, I "finished" fairing the hull. I expect to need some minor adjustments when I begin the hull planking.
 
Next up will be the stern framing.
 
Bob

Lines Drawing:
 
The other plan that was available at the museum, was the lines drawing.  I plan on using the information on this plan to measure the hull to see how close it is to the original plans, but that has to wait until it is unpacked from storage...
 
At first glance, it appears that the hull is pretty accurate at least in shape to the actual vessel.  The exception to this, is that the line, and station drawing indicates that the vessel had a slight tumble home above extreme breadth.  I do not believe that the model shows this, but rather has vertical sides above the extreme breadth line.  But, again, measurement must wait.
 
Stations:

 
Stern:

 
As you can see, this was a really large document, so a picture of the whole thing was not practical:

 

 
Title Block:

 
After I was done perusing the plans collection, the artifacts collection manager took me for a behind the scenes tour of the collections vault!  What a great experience.  I got to see the museum's entire collection of ship models, including a few bone prisoner of war models from the Napoleonic Wars!  I also got to see prints going back the American War for Independence, and a Medal of Honor awarded to a sailor aboard the USS Constitution in 1879.  The award was given for bravery of sailors entering the water to repair the damaged rudder at sea on a voyage to Paris.  You can read about it here.
 
Even in this collection there were a couple of items relevant to the Variag.  In particular, there was a print from 1900 AD that depicts the Cramp & Sons Yard.  The Variag can be seen floating at one of the yard's docks, with the US Battleship Alabama afloat in the river astern of the Variag. 
 

 

 

Hello Greg, I am sorry, but this does not look like it is going to be a fast project! 
 
Research Trip To The Independence Seaport Museum:
 
Since the introductory post on this build log, many things have happened in life that have prevented me from working on this or any project for that matter.  The fact of the matter is, that this kit is currently in storage, as my family and I have moved and are waiting to get into our new house.  However, on the last day that we lived in our old location, I was able to do something that was a first for me.  I went to the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, where some of the original plans for this vessel still exist.
 
Back in March, I made an acquaintance through a living history group that I participate in.  This person happens to be the collections manager at this museum, and in chatting with him he informed me that the museum had in it's collection plans for this particular vessel.  So, excited, yet intimidated, I planned my visit to do a research trip at the museum. 
 
The archivist was very helpful.  Before my arrival, she pulled all of the relevant documents and plans, as well as, prepared a list of all of the related items that I might want to see.  Needless to say I spent a very pleasant day viewing a lot of original documents that related to various types vessels from abut 1860 - 1910.  One of the most unique set of plans that I viewed, where that of the curious USS Vesuvius.  Take a moment to follow the link provided for this vessel, as it is truly a unique piece of naval history.  When Originally built, its armament consisted of three pneumatic guns that shot projectiles of dynamite!
 
Any way, on to the Varyag, or the (Variag) as all of the documents at the museum referred to her.  There were only two plans available from the collection, and neither are extremely useful to this modeling effort.  However, they are really interesting in their own right. 
 
The first was a launching plan.  This plan featured the calculations necessary for launching the vessel into the river from the building ways.  It shows the hull of the Variag at several different points along the path of launching, and it gives the various weights, centers of gravity and buoyancy, and the moment at which the vessel becomes completely buoyant.  It also provides the speed vs. time of the launching process.  Again, not very useful for producing the model, but very interesting.
 
Title Block:

 
On Board Weights:

 
Various Views:

 

 

 
View from the Research Room, the vessel with the buff super structure is the USS Olympia

 
Next post, the line drawing...

Hello Chris,Just a thought,If your winter climate is wet,damp, a moisture problem could effect your modeling woods etc,check the quality of your windows,ie single/double pane,fully insulate .Your basement is half way there already,A small area for painting (dust free)closed off (plastic),if your using power tools this area has also to be required to be dust free, there is dust removal systems that connect ,that's not to expensive, then out of the room. A good system of lighting,plug outlets,a chair and a stool at different heights ,also easier on the back to change . A floor covering at the modeling area that can make it easy to find dropped pieces as you know many are very small,a place to display plans,a usable sink,magnifying lamp ,music,, I used to manage big kitchens at one point in my life,were tool etc were used by many staff so the motto being "put things back were you got it from"to prevent clutter and accidents" the most used ones in a central area to lesson travel. A not easy task is to keep the room temp as even as possible, on the lighter side,1 sofa for pondering,2 a refrigerater(for beer) to help ponder problems,snacks etc,. Enjoy your new home and modeling,ps do not forget to ask permission from the Admiral,ha ha,Edwin

Planking of the port side above the wales is now completed. Both sides have had an initial sanding with 180 grit.
 

 
In preparation for the stern planking the outside stern frames were thinned to 1/16" in thickness. I'm looking forward to getting started on the planking so I can tighten up this area which is still somewhat fragile.
 

Be careful of the plans!  There is a 1/4" difference in the height of the quarterdeck bulkheads shown on the plans and the new parts; I did my transom windows over as a result.  There are also numerous discrepancies between the manual and the plans, and not just the elimination of the lower decks.  Be sure to read ahead, as you may want to opt for a different sequence in building.
 
Having said all that, this is going to be a magnificent build.
 
Stu

Another slightly different subject:  last weekend I toured the replica of the French frigate "Hermione" when it arrived in Jamestown.  It's very similar to layout and construction to "Essex", so go to see it if you possibly can -- it's well worth it.  Just google "Hermione" and you'll get its schedule.  It should be in the Washington, DC area as I post this.
 
Stu

Been a little delayed, but very excited that I have gotten my little work shop mostly completed. Great things to come... but not in a very fast manner! Thanks all! More tomorrow.

The boat progress continues to be very slow, I've been spending way too much time playing Fallout: New Vegas again after watching the FO:4 trailer.    I may be old, but I guess I'm still a computer nerd at heart.
  Finished all the pintles & gudgeons to mount the rudder, and then glued them into the rabbet's I cut for them in the rudder. Then I used a small drill and drilled indents into the brass to put tiny drops of glue to simulate bolt heads.  

 
I forgot to take pictures of the in progress of that part, but it's not very interesting anyway. Today I mounted the rudder to the hull. It actually turns!      Next I move back to the deck, but before I can finish up all the various things that go on the deck, I need to mount all the eye-bolts and cleats while there is nothing in the way. The kit supplies white-metal casting cleats, and they are kind of ugly and I hate working with them, so I decided replace the cleats with the boxwood ones from Syren.   I have finished one of them, and I haven't counted, but I think I need 30+, so this will take a while. They aren't terribly difficult, just time consuming. Each one has to be filed to final shape, then have a tiny hole drilled into it to place a short brass rod to make them stay in place on the ship, since glue alone wouldn't work and they'd get knocked off the instant I started tying off rigging to them.     These things are pretty small, those squares on the cutting mat are 1/2". I hold them with jewelers needle nose pliers and use a small file to shape them. I then use a #72 drill in the mill to drill the tiny hole, and I'm using the small brass nails that I used for nailing the planking on the Carmen for the brass rod. I can get two of these out of each of those little nails, and I have a bunch of them left over.   The mill is pretty great for this, since the top to bottom thickness of the cleat is only 2.3mm, so the mill lets me get a very nicely centered hole and not accidentally drill all the way through the cleat when working with such a small piece.