davec

Michael - thanks!
 
John and Jim- Agree that the boat should be buildable over molds even though the monograph doesn't do it that way.  The current mold doesn't have the right contour along the top, and the sides don't quite agree with the plans.  Because everything is glued in place, it seems like it would be easier, faster, and  more accurate to redo from scratch.  I can rebuild it in a couple of hours so it works right, instead of frustrating myself trying to make this one work.  John - I may call you if I get stuck, but I'm optimistic - just wish I didn't have to wait for the plywood to come in the mail
 
thanks!
 
Dave

John and Michael - many thanks.  My plank bender is one of those soldering iron thingies - the one I used had a big round head that was deep enough to shape the three pieces of the keelson at the same time.
 
I’m beginning to run into some problems, and getting an idea why there are only two build logs, and I’m already as far as one of them stopped.
 
Looks like there are some issues coming up related to Jig 1 and building the bottom of the boat and the initial planking.  According to the monograph (link in the first post), the side planking appears to be done in three strakes, without any frame to hold the shape.  The more I look at it, the more difficult it looks, especially if I am going to end up with the 9 degree slope in the plans. The second build log ends just before the side planking, and I’m guessing this is why.  Jim Cricket’s build is planked over formers, which looks way more straightforward.
 
It looks like Jig 1 was designed to be used to shape the hull, but doesn’t get used that way in the monograph.  There are a few pictures that use two cross sections from it when adding the last planks, but never the whole thing.  The jig ends up only used to hold the keelson and chines coplanar while making the bottom of the hull, which is flat side to side, but curved fore and aft. 
 
The instructions say to shape Jig 1 to follow a smooth curve, but it can’t be just any smooth curve, it should conform to Jig 2.  One the bottom of the hull is finished, it is flipped over, placed on Jig 2, and the rest of the build is done on the second jig. 
 
The surfaces of Jig 1 and Jig 2 should be mirror images of each other.  They weren’t, and they are far enough off that the keelson and chines don’t fit vertically in the slots in Jig 1 through their whole lengths.  I might be able to fix that problem with a lot of shims and clamping and be able to build the flat bottom of the hull, but the jig won’t be useful for helping to plank.
 
I’ve ordered more 1/8” plywood, which is supposed to arrive Monday.  I miss being able to just drive to the hobby shop.  I’m going to redo Jig 1.
 
Looks like the easier thing to do would have been to make jig 2 first.  It is the simpler of the two to make.  It follows a single curve, and I’m comfortable I followed it, My plan is to redo jig 1, using jig 2 flipped upside down as a guide to adjust the heights of the cross sections of jig 1 to get the top surfaces to follow the right curve.  Once I have that right, I will notch the cross sections for the keelson and chines.  As the other builders noted, the section templates are a little too wide at some points, and the chine notches need to be moved inward.  This isn’t a problem for shaping the bottom of the hull, but makes the sides of the cross sections stick out past the edge of the chine, making the jig too wide to use to shape the side planks.  Once  the chine slots are cut  in the right place, I can hopefully shape the outside of the section templates to the intended shape of the inner side of the planking, and use the jig to help plank.  Even if I can’t get it to work for the planking, getting the tops of the cross sections in the right plane to hold the chines and keelson will make building the flat bottom a lot easier.  

A quick post this evening. The frames and floors are in, except in way of the centerboard trunk. Those floors will butt the bed logs, so I wanted the trunk in place first. There will be two sets of frames left.

I laid the trunk drawing out on a piece of vellum, overlaid on the lofting, and built the trunk right on top of the drawing.

The head ledges were cut out and held in place with the trusty old lead ducks. Those things are as handy as a flashlight to have around for things other than drafting.
I glued the top two planks of the case sides on first, with the ledges spaced carefully apart, then the thicker bed log (scribed to fit the keelson’s curvature), then last a tapered plank to close the trunk side. The ducks again hold the parts in place while the glue sets.


After gluing the first side, I trimmed the ends of the planks flush, and cut the top of the ledges. It slipped into the keelson notches without too much fussing.
 

 

So I still have to plank the other side, and try hard to not forget about the PIVOT BOLT before I install the trunk! That would be a problem to get right after the fact. I will have to decide how I want to engineer the pivot. I have my own method, which involves plumbing nipples and caps, and works great, but might not be period appropriate.
I welcome any comments or criticism. Thanks for looking.
 

Flipping the model is a bit less of a project than rolling a full size boat upright. Before pulling it off of the jig, I fitted a pair of cradles to set the boat into, which will get screwed down to the platform.

The boat popped right off, though it must have been stuck in one place, as there was a loud pop as it came free. But no problems anywhere, and the model is rigid, and holds it’s shape. I left the jig intact, so that once the inside is sanded, I can put it back in to mark station locations from which to measure my interior frames and bulkheads, etc.

 

 

There is the inevitable squeeze out between bottom planks, but hopefully it won’t be too hard to clean up. Except for the area either side of the centerboard trunk, there is either a deck, or a cockpit sole, so the interior bottom is not real visible. I’ll clean it up, but not get too crazy with it.
Now the real work begins.
 

We are all planked up. That was a lot of work, for a relatively simple boat. I believe that I could build a full size boat in about the same amount of time. Same number of parts, anyway. There are 120 planks in the bottom of this 20’ crab skiff!
The nice flat run of planking was pretty easy, but as I got near the ends there was a bit of twist, so I had to rip some thicker planking stock, and carve a little relief in the undersides so the planks would sit flat on the chines and keelson. I planked all 4 corners with staving, then planked the bottom to within one plank, and cut a tapered “shutter” that was a tight fit. That was satisfying, driving the last one of those up tight.


 


There was quite a bit of shaping to do on the outside in the ends, to fair in the thicker staving, and to maintain a clean, fair rabbet and chine. For the chine, I connected the line at the stem to the fair run of planking with a batten, and penciled in a line, then with a sharp chisel, pared the planks down to the line.

I had to resort to some filler, but I thought it more important to have a fair hull.
I think that I will scribe a line at the plank seams so they will show up under paint. For the bottom planking, I’ll let a little darker paint fill the scribed lines to show them up. Most deadrise boats that I’ve looked at up close show pretty pronounced plank seams, where the bottom paint is worn but the seams have stayed dark red copper. For sure I don’t want the boat to look like plywood, after I’ve gone to the trouble of laying traditional plank!



 

At this point, I need to finish sanding all over, and I’ll go ahead and use gesso primer on the hull, before I flip her over. Plus, I’ll get my waterline scribed while I have the boat all leveled on the jig. Thanks for tuning in.
 

Quick post today. I got the centerboard slot cut. Basically burned my way through with a Dremel metal cutoff wheel (I don’t have the little sawblade kit yet), and cleaned up with a sharp
chisel.

I then started bottom planking with the typical Chesapeake herringbone pattern. This allows the planks, at least away from the extreme ends, to lie nicely on the chine and keelson. The faying surface is nice and flat, and I’m making good contact with the planks. I started roughly amidship, and I’m working towards each end simultaneously. I put on a temporary keel (skeg and fore gripe) to butt the planking against, then realized that is probably a mistake, so I’ve stopped planking and I’m getting out the skeg, gripe, and outer stems now, which I’ll go ahead and fasten in permanently before I continue. I'll still have to fit a temporary piece in the centerboard slot to butt the planks against, but there's less risk of gluing that in by mistake, which is what I was worried about before.
 


I’ve been busy as well with other distractions, but I’m free now for a few days to concentrate again on the model. I’ll continue the bottom planking later. Its getting more fun now, and as always, thanks for looking in.
 

The RNAS’s pride and joy were the Curtiss-Felixstowe Patrol boats. Twin Rolls Royce Eagles, five Lewis guns plus bombs, these were the original “flying fortresses”. 
I tried to replicate salt staining on the fabric and lower hull, along with the ever present paint chipping on flying surfaces. Aircraft generally show a lot of wear and tear, so I concentrated on showing occasional patchwork, paint wear on ribs and edges, and on a couple areas, at patchworkof continual paint touch ups.
If I had to do it all over, and I might, I’d go for a more factory fresh look. Less controversy that way. But the model has had some continual minor touch ups since these pics and I hope to compete with it in the future.
Taking full pictures of this monster proved difficult.

 

All four guns on the foredeck at last, not fitted yet but ready

And some candid under deck shots before the skid beams go on, and one especially for Keith

Port side starting tomorrow
 

Last gun rigged and ready to be fitted, spent the rest of the day making the quarterdeck barricade, the top newel posts type thingies took some making as to small for my makeshift lathe, each one was shaped and finished by hand with a scalpel, broke a few while drilling also and ended up making 17 in the end to get these 8 that were identical and reasonable shape

Keith especially for you

One cannon and one carronade to go for the foredeck and the guns will be finished at last, then turning the boat around and bringing the port side up to the same level as starboard, timberheads, deadeyes etc
 

One of the planks under the chase cannon has developed a bit of a warp so going to replace that tomorrow as well

Sorry Keith no more frighteners, so all six guns for the quarterdeck completed, not attached yet as some cleaning and polishing of all the deck beams needs to be done and the sill on the aft most port needs fixing, cap squares not easy to make and hats off to all the guys ie BE doing it at 1/64 and smaller

So four guns to finish for the foredeck and sort out the tiller mess, as you can see above I have all the ropes that were attached to the old one pulled through, how im going to reattach im not sure, I can feed a new helm through but how do I attach the ropes and a new gooseneck will be interesting

Houston we have a problem, capsized!!!😁

Ha no actually this is one of those momentous moments, last pieces of the caprail being fitted after all this time

So after a 3 month break to finish the clerk of the cheques yacht the Sirius is back on the table, I decided that I didn't like some of the work I had previously done especially the ending of the quarterdeck so I cleared the deck ready for action

I removed the planks at the back end of the deck and carried them back to the transon, losing the cut away from the bosses instructions

added all the bolts to the waterway, carronade mounts and gratings which I hadn't done before for some reason, then moving onto finishing the quarted decks guns properly with cap squares etc

I wish Keith, still freezing here, although we've had a couple of warmer days over Xmas and I've been able to get out there



 

Took a week to get the keelson strips bent.  Kept soaking them and clamping them in the jig to dry, but they didn't fully conform.  Finally took my plank bender, heat bent them, then clamped them, and they kept the appropriate shape.  Important lesson learned - lots of other parts to bend. Next time will start with the heat and get them shaped in a few hours. Very different from planking a hull, where you only need to get them close, then glue in place to keep the final shape.  Major step -  up until now have just made jigs.  Now I have an actual part of the model.

Chuck - thanks so much.  Would have been great to have this before making rope for Hannah - spent weeks figuring out recipes and how to color.  And I do remember morope - beautiful looking stuff, but if I ever forgot to superglue prior to cutting, major unravelling.  I have your rope rocket and am looking forward to getting my Sharpie to the rigging stage so I can try it.
 
Dave

Took a week to get the keelson strips bent.  Kept soaking them and clamping them in the jig to dry, but they didn't fully conform.  Finally took my plank bender, heat bent them, then clamped them, and they kept the appropriate shape.  Important lesson learned - lots of other parts to bend. Next time will start with the heat and get them shaped in a few hours. Very different from planking a hull, where you only need to get them close, then glue in place to keep the final shape.  Major step -  up until now have just made jigs.  Now I have an actual part of the model.

I can't believe it's been a week since the last post... not much done.  Bowsprit guys seizing redone and tightened up a bit.  Booms and gaffs tapered, rounded and sized.  Jaws Cut out and glued in place.  Clappers installed.

I use various sized (15, 20, 25 and 30 pound test) monofilament line as simulated bolts.  A little heat at the end simulates a nut or bolt head.  These have not been trimmed yet.
Maury

Took a week to get the keelson strips bent.  Kept soaking them and clamping them in the jig to dry, but they didn't fully conform.  Finally took my plank bender, heat bent them, then clamped them, and they kept the appropriate shape.  Important lesson learned - lots of other parts to bend. Next time will start with the heat and get them shaped in a few hours. Very different from planking a hull, where you only need to get them close, then glue in place to keep the final shape.  Major step -  up until now have just made jigs.  Now I have an actual part of the model.

Spirketting and profiled decorative moulding rails.

Took a week to get the keelson strips bent.  Kept soaking them and clamping them in the jig to dry, but they didn't fully conform.  Finally took my plank bender, heat bent them, then clamped them, and they kept the appropriate shape.  Important lesson learned - lots of other parts to bend. Next time will start with the heat and get them shaped in a few hours. Very different from planking a hull, where you only need to get them close, then glue in place to keep the final shape.  Major step -  up until now have just made jigs.  Now I have an actual part of the model.

Little more work yesterday.  Milled the wood for the chines, including the 9 degree angled side.  I have the tilting table for the Byrnes saw.  I don't get to use it often, but it works great. I also milled the 1/16" sheet for the bottom planking.  After the keelson pieces soaked overnight, they were clamped into the jig.  I work overnight tonight, so hopefully they will be dry and ready to shape and assemble over the weekend. The instructions say to screw the jig to the building board.  I will do that after this step.  Much easier to clamp with access to both top and bottom of the jig.

I picked the East Coast Oyster Sharpie for my next project using the plans and practicum by Bill Strachan and available from the NRG.  Everything is outlined at https://thenrg.org/genericsharpie.php, and the practicum has tons of pictures.  It is so well illustrated that I will probably limit the build log a little and not include things that are well outlined in the practicum, which is available on the NRG website for free.  The plans are beautiful, the build looks like it won’t take 6 years like my last one did, and it looks like a very different kind of project, which will make a good break.  I’m a little nervous as there are only two logs on MSW, and they both stop fairly early in the build. 
 
I started back in February with big plans to keep the project moving along, then COVID-19 hit.  I work in health care, so rather than extra time to model at a social distance, work has been completely consuming in terms of patient care and pandemic preparation and management.  I mostly go to the workshop at the end of a long day to decompress.  Working while tired has led to a lot of re-do’s already.  Not sure if late 19th century Sharpie’s had names, but this one will be christened “Corona”.
 
So far, I’ve made the two building jigs. There have been a few discrepancies between the plans and practicum, and I’m starting to work off the plans with the instructions more as a guide.  Jig 2 went together easily.

The first jig needed some shims on frames 5 and 6.  Not sure what happened as I cut to the line in terms of frame shape.  I had a nice smooth curve along the top, but needed to shim the sides of frame 5 and 6 around 1/64 and 3/64 retrospectively.  With the shims, I have a smooth curve along the sides as well.  There are also some slight discrepancies between the as built jig and the profile on the plan, but given that everything seems fair, I don’t expect it will cause a problem later.

From this point on, I’ll be building the model instead of jigs, so will include more pictures.  I have enough boxwood left over from the cross section, so plan to use it.  I usually use contrasting wood colors, but have wanted to try a model using a single type of wood. I will finish in wipe on poly. I think the rigging and metal work should have enough contrast to keep it visually interesting.

Took a week to get the keelson strips bent.  Kept soaking them and clamping them in the jig to dry, but they didn't fully conform.  Finally took my plank bender, heat bent them, then clamped them, and they kept the appropriate shape.  Important lesson learned - lots of other parts to bend. Next time will start with the heat and get them shaped in a few hours. Very different from planking a hull, where you only need to get them close, then glue in place to keep the final shape.  Major step -  up until now have just made jigs.  Now I have an actual part of the model.

Chuck - thanks so much.  Would have been great to have this before making rope for Hannah - spent weeks figuring out recipes and how to color.  And I do remember morope - beautiful looking stuff, but if I ever forgot to superglue prior to cutting, major unravelling.  I have your rope rocket and am looking forward to getting my Sharpie to the rigging stage so I can try it.
 
Dave