Ryland Craze

To all who have been keeping up with this thread, thank you and all the prayers and well wishes are greatly appreciated.  I personally believe in the power of prayer and with that being said, when I got to the hospital this morning, she told me she was ready to go home and after checking her out and talking to her nurses and Dr's they agreed and I just brought her home about 30 minutes ago. She is actually better than she was prior to this last event on Sunday - so time will tell but I think she is well on the way to a great recovery.  She went from complete paralysis on her right side (leg and arm) to almost walking without the walker. Thank you all again - you guys are the greatest,
John

I added all the upper gunports tedious work adding the PE hinge straps painted and holes drilled for the two retrieval lines. I then moved onto the oars for the boats. The real challenge for turning was the kit wood selection of Basswood strips that were dried the same time Noah was building the ark. Basswood tends to shred rather than cut so smaller cuts are needed with more passes with the tool bit but can result in quality oars. Avoid the white(clear) strips, too soft and tend to break when cutting the tiny handle. Here are pictures of the process I used making 8 oars for each boat, plus two steering oars for the whale boats. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Can anyone share how the oars were lashed in the boats? or now I was thinking two bundles of 4 as seen in the pinnace on either side with the masts and booms in the center. I think they had to be lashed to keep in place under sail. Any advice would be appreciated. Next I will make the lifeline bags that hang between the davits.
 

Congratulations on the completion of your Cheerful.  Your craftsmanship is top notch.  I have enjoyed following this build log and I look forward to your new build.

Here are some shots of the Garagemahal/Goatlocker Shipyard. I am a blessed man and the Admiral is the best. The downstairs area is my woodworking shop, upstairs is the Goatlocker Lounge and Shipyard.
 

My first attempt at model ship building 3 years ago was by scratch.  I had no idea what I was doing. I learned as I went. Yes, I made many mistake. Mostly with the rigging.   I am currently working on 2 kits. Mostly to learn more.  When I finish with them, I will go back to scratch build. It's easier than you think, and more rewarding.

Continued work on the elevator today - all done, now. Once the rudder is complete, I'll snip away the central support (left from the manufacturing process) and then have a completed empennage. 
~john

I went back into the closet.
 
I can only dream of having a real shop area full of tools. 

I've shown this photo of my workshop in a previous thread on the same topic. This was taken last November. The Portland is somewhat further along.
A portion of my 12' x 16' model railroad is seen at the far left. The second photo, shot by Phil Monat, gives you an introduction to the level of detail 
I incorporated over 33 years of construction. Layout has approximately 8' of water front.
 
John Elwood

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 216 – Bowsprit Cap
 
The bowsprit cap is a heavy balk of timber that is mortised on to the end of the bowsprit to support the jibboom.  It sits vertically, so the mortise for the bowsprit tenon and the round opening for the jibboom must be cut through the cap at a 20 degree angle corresponding to the angle of the bowsprit.  But first the cap must be cut out and the angles of the top and bottom faces shaped.  In the first picture, the outer lines of the shape and the centers of the openings have been laid out on a Castello plank,
 

 
Some additional work, permanent center lines for the openings, for example, is required on the drawing shown in the picture.  Once the overall piece was cut and the rounded ends shaped square on the sander, the beveled ends were sanded off as shown in the next picture.
 

 
This was done with the sander table angled at 20 degrees.  Some hand shaping is required where the straight side meets the curve of the ends to avoid under cutting the straight sides.  The angle of the bevel varies from 20 degrees at the apex to 90 at the side.
 
The cap is surrounded by an iron reinforcing band.  To fit the shape, this must be curved as shown below, so it will lay tightly on the cap when fitted.
 

 
The band may be seen on the drawing.  The copper strip shown in the picture was bent progressively with pliers to the shape shown.  It was then test fitted as shown below, curved for the other end of the cap, and further adjusted until a good fit was achieved.
 

 
After fitting, the band was soldered to form a ring and fit over the cap as shown below.
 

 
The band was then set aside so openings in the cap could be bored using a milling bit.  The mill setup I used is shown in the next picture.
 

 
A dead center has been mounted in the drill chuck to center it over one of the center marks on the piece. This was done before boring each of the two holes.  Two 18" holes were then bored as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The ¼" milling bit scales to 18" at 1:72.  A 3/16" bit would be used at the 1:96 scale.  After boring, the lower hole was filed to a square mortise to fit the bowsprit tenon.  After fitting the tenon, the cap was set up for gluing as shown below.
 

 
The square was used to check the vertical face and the side of the cap when it was glued.  The last picture shows the iron band fitted to the cap and blackened.
 

 
The band was secured using some thin CA, but will be well anchored in position when the rigging eyebolts are added through drilled holes into the cap.
 
Ed

Thanks so much Nils, Dirk, Sjors, Dave and the "likes".
 
Nils, I intend to leave as much of the deck open as I can without sacrificing or compromising the above deck detailing or the attachment points for the rigging. I've been trying to work it out in my mind, but have reached no final decisions as yet.
 
Dave, I would think that Fair American would lend itself to an enjoyable exercise in interior detailing, and I look forward to watching you do it.
 
Bob

Work on the aft interior hull planking and framing for that portion of the upper deck is now complete. I also added the main deck clamp, the first main deck beam, and further interior hull planking in the hold.
 
The planking all follows the same methods and materials previously used. The deck framing again uses laser cut beams and also a laser cut partner for the main mast and the pumps. I added the first main deck beam at this point because the forward most beam for the aft portion of the upper decks rests upon it. I also drilled a hole in the keelson for mounting the main mast, after test fitting a dummy main mast through the partner.
 
Work will now shift to the bow before finishing the main deck.
 
Bob

And just to let everyone know I am still working on models.....not just a hippie activist.
 
Today the step was built.  It has a laser etched slot to aid in its assembly.  Then at the bow there is what I would call a "standard" of sorts.   It has a hole in it to help secure the pole for the flag.   Another will be drilled through the platform below it but I figured it would be damn near impossible to laser cut the hole on the platform and then line them up so the pole is straight.  So I will be drilling with the bit running through the hole in the standard making sure that afterwards the pole will sit upward and straight.  
 
Except for a very few details inboard,  the inboard part of the project is complete.  NNow I will move outboard and begin to finish up the carvings.   Then after that its the home stretch.    Happy modeling everyone!!!!  
 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 30 – The Mast
 
Kathryn’s single mast is 63 feet tall, the diameter at the foot of the mast is 13.5”, and the diameter at the mast top is 5.7” (all measurements taken from the HAER drawings).  The lower portion of the mast, from deck height down to the foot, is octagonal.
 
The measurements from the drawing were transferred to an appropriate piece of madrone, as in the following photo.
 
                        
 
The mast was shaped using a chisel and a holding jig.
 
                        
 
A 7-10-7 drawing was used to shape the mast as an octagonal.
 
                        
 
First a line was drawn across the width of the mast at several intervals along the length of the mast.  At each interval the width of the mast was indicated on a tic strip and, using the 7-10-7 drawing, the placement of the octagonal cuts was marked on the tic strip.
 
                        
 
The appropriate marks were made on the mast
 
                        
 
This was done on all four sides of the mast.  Lines connecting all of the octagonal marks were then drawn on the mast.
 
                        
 
The chisel was used to remove the material outside the octagonal lines.
 
                        
 
A round scraper was used to form the round shape of the mast.  I’ve found that it’s easier to keep the mast round using a scraper than when using sandpaper for this initial shaping.
 
                        
 
After finish sanding the shaping of the mast is completed.  The following photo shows the mast temporarily installed on Kathryn.
 
                        
 
The next step is to shape the bowsprit, which will be the topic of the next post.

Wings, top and bottom, completed. Dihedral added to the lower wing. Hinges added to the ailerons.  Now working on the empennage (elevator first). Lots of metal bending going on ;-) 
 
~john

Found the book through Clare Hess, a Model Ship World member. Isn't life grand!!!!!!!

Good Morning All,
Well, I've finally finished painting the hull. This took quite a bit more time than I anticipated. My problem was the line at the top of the wales where the black meets the yellow. The lower line where the black meets the white was easy to tape and achieve a decent result, but not so easy at the top of the wales. The wales is thicker than the planking above it, with a ledge. I wanted the top of the ledge to be black, not yellow, but taping to the 90 degree transition was very hard to do. I must have made four or five attempts and no matter how carefully I thought I was taping, I always ended up with an unacceptable result. It occurred to me that if i could tape flat on the yellow, just a fraction of an inch above the transition point it would be easier to get a clean tape line and perhaps it wouldn't be noticeable to the eye that the line was just barely higher than the top of the wales. So I ran a slightly dull pencil along the top of the wales and it placed a parallel line on the yellow, above the wales  barely 1/16 of an inch or so. I taped to this line and it worked like a charm. The eye cannot easily detect what I have done and the result, while not perfect, is acceptable.
 
We're off to a family reunion this weekend. You know what they say - "Family isn't a word, it's a sentence!" If I survive, I'll be back with more updates.
 
David

I've rolled most of the Pipes for the funnels. I used various methods of getting a good straight tube out of them, including using a piece of PVC pipe drilled to the right size to clamp the joint together until the glue dried :

For the long bent pipe I inserted a piece of 1.2mm OD brass tubing into it and bent the tubing into the correct shape. The tubing stays in the pipe for strength (besides, once it was bent it was no longer removable ) :


Two of the pipes have "rabbit ear" cowls at the top. These were fairly easy to roll into the correct shape :



The pipes still need cleaning up, filling and painting.
 
  Danny
 

All my 40 of 15/32" are cut.
 
Am now in a switching mode between Syren but also Bluenose. Meaning I am alternating between the two. 

That's right, Greg. I finished off the steps with a chisel while double checking that each step was in the correct position. After locking in the keel position with a small strip I found that a few steps were slightly off by a 1/2" more or less. I figured better to correct it now when I could do it off the building board.
 

 

 
Mike

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 217 – Jibboom/Flying Jibboom
 
Thanks, everyone, for the comments and likes on the last post.
 
Although the Jibboom and its integral Flying Jibboom may be added after the lower bowsprit is permanently in place, I believe it is preferable to complete the entire assembly before securing it in the hull, so the next step is to make that spar.
 
As spars go, this one is fairly complex.  It has two steps down in diameter and is mortised for four large sheaves.  One at the foot is horizontal and used to haul the spar out.  The other three take the inner, outer, and flying jib (fore topgallant) stays.  There is a dummy sheave for the fore royal stay and the end of the spar is shaped to secure the fore skysail stay.  The lower end of the spar is octagonal.
 
The process closely follows practice used to shape actual spars.  The first picture shows step one – sometimes called the "first trim."
 

 
The length of Castello shown has been squared to about 10-thousandths of an inch over the maximum cross-section of 17.5" (.236" at 1:72).  Measurement points along the spar have been marked on all four faces, actual dimensions calculated for the specified full size diameters, and centerlines drawn down each face.  This would be the normal starting point for shaping the spar.  However, before starting that process, I machined all the mortises and bored all the radial holes – sheave slots, axle holes, eyebolt holes, etc.  There are two reasons for this: First, securing and centering the piece for boring/milling is much easier and accurate before it has been tapered or rounded.  Also, drilling into a flat horizontal surface is easier and more accurate than drilling into a curved surface – especially if the cut is all the way through and you want the opposite location to be correct.  The next picture shows the first trim marked for the locations of the stay sheaves.
 

 
I used the mill for all this work.  First, the vise was indicated to align it.  Then, an edge finder was used to locate the stationary jaw of the vise accurately.  The vise was then moved so the edge of the jaw was on the spindle center, then adjusted back by half the measured, actual width of the piece to place the spindle precisely over the center of the spar.  The pencil lines on the spar thus become superfluous and the holes will be accurately centered.  In the next picture two sheave slots are being milled using a 1/32" milling bit.
 

 
This size bit is smaller than the smallest sheave slot.  Later, the through slots will be filed out to the required size.  This step centers them only, avoiding the need for y-direction adjustments, losing the accurate center, and the attendant necessary calculations.  Because of the shortness of the bit, milling from both sides was needed.  The next picture shows the forward end of the spar with the mortises and the other holes bored.
 

 
The first shaping step is shown in the next picture.
 

 
The jig is designed to hold rectangular work of varying width.  A cabinet scraper was used to rough-taper the upper and lower faces of the spar.  This process involves taking numerous measurements at the points along the spar, as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The top and bottom faces are worked concurrently, allowing visual checking of the symmetry of the tapering vs. the marked center lines.  As the final diameters are approached, finer work was done with flat files as shown in the next picture.
 

 
In this picture the outermost step has been filed before working the end of the spar.  Only the top and bottom faces are tapered at this stage, eventually reaching the "second trim" – two opposite faces tapered to (almost) final size.  Again, at this stage I left a total of about 10/1000ths of an inch excess at each point.  In the next picture the spar is being marked on the tapered faces to allow the two remaining parallel faces to be reduced symmetrically.
 

 
The remaining two faces are then reduced by the same process, yielding the "third trim" of the spar shown in the next picture.
 

 
This piece will next be converted to octagonal shapes consistent in size with the square profiles in the picture.  Next post.
 
Ed

Um, finished. I really don't think I can add anymore detail. 
 
Smaller than Yamato, and parked up with the rest. 

Okay, here's a very brief update again.
 
I don't know why it's so easy to get sucked into a paper project, but it is...
 
About a week or so ago, I made this chest of drawers for the Captain's day cabin. The kit photos showed a couple items sitting atop, and I'm contemplating a rolled up map, maybe a book. Yeah, it gets addictive.
 

 
Just today, I set it into place to see how it would look and above it, on the partition wall, was an empty space, and I thought "That would be a great place to hang a painting".
 
Next thing I know, I'm on the Internet looking for paintings appropriate to a British ship of 1778 or later. I hunted down a Willem Van de Velde the Younger, Royal visit to the fleet in the Thames Estuary, 6 June 1672. I also found a nice portrait of King George III, but settled on the former.
 
I found a site that sold framed artwork that allowed you to see what the painting would look like with a choice of frames. I figured that tastes were more toward what we would consider gaudy. So, I did a screen grab. I probably should have photoshopped out the matte, but didn't think of it. I don't know if I really care, though I might if people could really see the painting clearly.
 
The pic in the screen grab had a watermark, so I used photoshop to overlay another image I found that didn't have one, then proceeded to size it appropriately. A put a few different sizes on a small piece of photo paper, which I printed on my inkjet.

 
Now, if I had been more ambitious, I might have also built up the frame a bit, so it didn't look so two dimensional. But, I did laminate the print to card stock to make it thicker. I also edged this with a gold paint pen. If I'm not happy with this when I go to install it, I do have a somewhat larger image I printed earlier without a frame. I could always build up a frame and use that instead.
 

 
Anyway, it was yet another fun distraction.
 
 

the best window frame maker I know is Dirk {dubz}
 
his window tutorial start around page 10.........but I think you'll enjoy the entire log  

Hello guys,
 
I've always like to build models since I was a young kid.  My first model ship was an AL Virginia Schooner, which I built when I was in third grade.  It wasn't museum quality, but pretty good for such a young kid.  I built a very small solid hull USS Constitution when I was in eighth grade, and an AL San Francisco Galleon the following year.  The Constitution was pretty easy but the Galleon's plank bending proved to be quite difficult so i came to this board as a lurker to get advice.  Last year, I built an AL King of the Mississippi that is 99.9% done, I just need to put on a few extras.  
 
Now, I've started my biggest project, an AL USS Constellation.  I was disappointed by the model, especially the fittings, stern, and instructions, so I'm making a custom ship of my own with a square stern as opposed to the rounded one supplied, and mostly custom fittings (although I haven't got there yet).  I go off to college in a month so I'm in a bit of a hurry, but so far it's looking better than any of my other ships, thanks to consulting various build logs and planking guides on this site and others.  I'll post a build log here sometime.

Making progress, albeit rather slowly. As they say, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.”
 
The tapering of the keel and stem should be done before the rabbet is cut. The fore end of the keel is tapered from 12" to 10". This also reduces the width of the lower stem at the boxing joint. From there the stem is given a gentle taper to full width just below the whales. The transition from the boxing joint to the stem can be tricky, so care was taken while sanding.
 

 

 
The aft end of the keel is also tapered down from 12" to 10".  Once all the tapering is completed, the rabbet can be cut. The rabbet has been turned vertical and is approx 2 1/2" deep. This will allow for some adjustment later when the 3" planking is added.
 

 
The fore deadwood and stemson where made from 15" boxwood sheet. The stepping line was done on the mill. There was no visible light coming through the joint prior to gluing.  Those clamps come in handy!
 

 

 
Mike