davec

Cliff -  It will be nice to not be the only person working on the cross section. 
 
I wouldn't worry about the fitting out kit.  I mill my own wood, too.  David and Greg were very nice and sold me cannon barrels and the instructions separate from the wood kit.  It isn't a big problem to mill as you go along, and it give you complete freedom to work in whatever wood you want, and to have your cross section be a little different than everyone elses.  If you have the tools, milling the wood is the least challenging part of the build. It also completely liberates you from worrying about running out of wood if you have to redo parts to get them the way you want.
 
The Swan books and cross section instructions are excellent.  Greg and David have provided huge amounts of help and advice along the way for me, and I expect will for you as well.  If there is anything I can help with, please feel free to PM me.  I work slowly and check the site sporadically.  I did one scratch build before this (Hahn style Hannah).  The cross section is very different - the full framing and detailed interior make it a completely different project and I'm learning a huge number of new things. 
 
I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.
 
Best,
 
Dave

I completed the upper hull planking to the level of the shear strake.  Treenails are boxwood.  I started work on the inner upper hull planking as well.  I added the quarterdeck clamp and port stops.  I’m going to use swiss pear on the bulwarks planking and gun carriages.  I have some bloodwood, which would do better for a red color, but the grain seems too prominent.
 
I must have had some cumulative error in my measurements.  The plans specify two 11.5” planks with the lower one starting at the upper edge of the gunport.  This put the quarterdeck too high, so I thinned both strakes.  I used boxwood for the clamp on the side I am leaving unplanked.  Hopefully the different woods on the two sides won’t look bad.  The alternative was to use pear on both sides, but then it would have been the only piece of wood that wasn’t boxwood on that side of the hull.
 
I still haven’t decided about treenails for the holly lower hull.  I’m going to put finish on the upper hull tonight and reassess.  I think it will make the boxwood treenails more prominent, and if it does, I may decide the outer hull looks busy enough and not add any more treenails.
 
I’m still a little stuck on next steps.  I’d planned on putting in the lower and upper deck quickwork and spirketing prior to installing the deck beams and inner fixtures so I can sand and treenail without disrupting anything.  It looks like the placement of the deck beam and waterway determines the placement of the quickwork, so I may need to start work on the lower deck.
 

Underside planked.  I used holly.  Finish is minwax polycrylic satin, which is water based and doesn't seem to change the color of the wood.  It says on the can that it is good for light colored wood.  I started using it 13-14 years ago, and the holly on those models has not changed color.  It does seem like the can has a shelf life.  When I reopened my old can and tried it on scrap, it did darken the wood a little.  It was probably about 15 years old.  I bought a new can which worked fine.
 
I don't think I am going to treenail the holly.  I will treenail the boxwood, but not until the upper hull is planked,  Plan is to do the upper hull, at least to the level of the shear strake, then start installing all the inside parts that I was working on.

I completed the upper hull planking to the level of the shear strake.  Treenails are boxwood.  I started work on the inner upper hull planking as well.  I added the quarterdeck clamp and port stops.  I’m going to use swiss pear on the bulwarks planking and gun carriages.  I have some bloodwood, which would do better for a red color, but the grain seems too prominent.
 
I must have had some cumulative error in my measurements.  The plans specify two 11.5” planks with the lower one starting at the upper edge of the gunport.  This put the quarterdeck too high, so I thinned both strakes.  I used boxwood for the clamp on the side I am leaving unplanked.  Hopefully the different woods on the two sides won’t look bad.  The alternative was to use pear on both sides, but then it would have been the only piece of wood that wasn’t boxwood on that side of the hull.
 
I still haven’t decided about treenails for the holly lower hull.  I’m going to put finish on the upper hull tonight and reassess.  I think it will make the boxwood treenails more prominent, and if it does, I may decide the outer hull looks busy enough and not add any more treenails.
 
I’m still a little stuck on next steps.  I’d planned on putting in the lower and upper deck quickwork and spirketing prior to installing the deck beams and inner fixtures so I can sand and treenail without disrupting anything.  It looks like the placement of the deck beam and waterway determines the placement of the quickwork, so I may need to start work on the lower deck.
 

We just finished some work on our house, which included major renovations to my workshop.  I thought of putting up a build log of the renovations, but it wasn't me doing the work, and I just never got it together.
 
My old workshop was my dream workshop when we moved into the house. It was the first time I ever had a dedicated room, and it was decent size, around 17x12 feet. It was a usual basement room: unfinished, with exposed insulation, uncovered small part-eating gap between slab and wall, and just got outgrown as I go more tools and tried to work on two projects at once.  The room was off a “two-car garage”, which only fit two cars if they are parked front to back.  I used my table and band saws there.
 
At the urging of my tremendously supportive wife, we put up an insulated wall that splits the garage and creates a new second workshop room. There is a third furnace room in back, which we were able to clear out.  All three rooms will be part of the new workshop.  The two front rooms got:
 
-Sheet rock over ceilings and exposed insulation
-Painted walls, ceilings, and floors
-lights and electrical outlets
-dehumidifier with drain for condensate
-vent for spray booth
-molding covering gap between walls and slab where parts always disappeared
-utility sinks
 
The unfinished furnace room got lights and electrical outlets.  The epoxy floors should be dry enough that I can start to move my tables and tools back in over the weekend.  Plan is for storage and big sawdust producing machines in the unfinished room (band saw and table saw). Still working on the layout of the other rooms.  Most likely paint and assembly in the new room with the spray booth vent, and wood and metal small power tools in the old workshop.  I don’t think I will outgrow this workshop, and now could build something bigger than a model if I ever want to.
 
Some pictures below. The camera on my phone made the rooms look a lot darker than they really are - the lighting is great.   I didn’t take any of the furnace room. It looks like an unfinished basement room with a furnace in the corner, but now with lights and enough electrical outlets.  First two pictures are the new room, second two are the renovated old workshop room.
 
Should be able to get back to Echo in a week or so.  It’s been sitting on the shelf if my office waiting. 

HI ALL
MANAGED TO GRAB SOME MODELMAKING TIME OVER THE LAST WEEK.......NO WORK! NICE LITTLE BREAK.
STOVE HAS BEEN PAINTED AND PUMP WELL AND SHOT LOCKERS FINISHED.
TIME TO START ON THE MAIN DECK.
BEAMS HAVE BEEN PREFABRICATED FROM SLIGHTLY THICKER STOCK AND SANDED TO SHAPE.
BASIC RUDDER ASSEMBLED  JUST NEEDS THE IRON WORK DOING.
PRECUT SOME HOLLY READY FOR TURNING THE HOLD PILLARS.
 
TREATED MY SELF TO A NICE LITTLE SHERLINE SELF CENTERING CHUCK........OUCH A TAD PRICEY IN THE UK!!!!
BUT INFINITELY SUPERIOR TO THE FAR EASTERN OFFERINGS.
 
THATS ALL FOLKS...FOR NOW AT LEAST.
 
CHEERS....MICK

Almost all parts for the landing gear have been identified, just need to figure out what some "spacers" are. Can´t really tell if they are pre made parts or if I have to make them myself. Anyway I have started to spray paint the landing gear and wheels. I paint them red of course, I will post some pictures to see what you say about the color. I´m not dissatisfied with the color but not really content either... I feel it is a tad too "orange" and bright. But I want to use a spray can as it gives a much smoother layer than brush painting so I might stick with it. when it is dry I´ll post pictures of course.
 
So while I´m waiting for the paint to dry I have started a bit on the engine. Identifying parts and cleaning parts from flash with sand papper, sand disc on my proxxon and files. The parts have quite a lot of flash. I have found some pictures of the engine on the net so I know what the parts should look like which is lucky as some of the parts are almost indistinguishable from what they should look like. But with sanding they start to look rather ok. Feels like I´m chipping out a statue from a piece of rock. From a blob of white metal I slowly grind out the engine part

It is done! Basically all the internal bracing is done. There are four more (two on each side) where the cock pit is but those are added in a later step. I have also added the in step for the pilot and two handles towards the tail of the aircraft. That was step no 4 according to the instructions. It was a step in my taste, find three parts, polish them a bit, glue them in place and done! The will get a coat of steel paint to match the rest of the airframe.
 
I´ve started on the landing gear, which is the next step.
 
 

 

 

 
And now for something completely different...
 
At a yard sale I found a RC aircraft, I could not resist buying it. It was supposedly easy to fly. I have never flown a RC aircraft in my entire life but figured "how hard can it be?". Well after the first flight which lasted all of approx 4 seconds I crashed and the tail broke off. Well it will be easy to fix with some tape basically. It proves that I might be able to build a fighter but cannot fly it
 

 
 

I´ve started on the internal rigging for the fuselage bracing. I know it is a bit on the "heavy" side but after trying out a few different techniques and wires this is what is the best compromise between size and "time spent". A thin thin metal wire would look nice but after trying it out it took a lot longer time than using thread. There are quite a few wires and if each wire takes 15 minutes longer ( for example) and there is about thirty wires... Well that is a few hours of extra work. 
 
I´m torn between detailing and ( in the end ) finishing. It is easy for projects to bog down if you spend too much time "just adding that final touch" on each and every detail, in the end the model does not get finished or at least not in a reasonable time. So I try to stop myself from falling in that "trap". 
 
I try to choose a middle ground
 
In an early step I used the kit provided thread for the internal bracing. If I had changed to a much thinner thread it would have looked a bit weird. This was before I was made aware of the Uschi website. I would have liked to use their stretchable rigging but it was a bit too late to redo everything. I´ll keep it in mind for my next aircraft model.

Thank you Greg, Druxey, Christian and Albert.
 
I made some progress in the couple last weeks and now the barge is completed. The inside was already oiled as once the deck is in place I will have limited access to do it later - even if the deck planking is only partial.
Here are the pictures.
 
Alexandru





















 

Hello,
 
The deck framing is now complete. Here are some pictures.
 
Alexandru

All of the full frames have now been made up and mounted. The next step was to permanently mount the the keel-stem-stern assembly to the the full frames. Before doing this, I did some work on the stem that could more easily be done before mounting. This involved drilling, cutting and filing the gammoning slot, and cutting and tapering the upper forward portion to accommodate the fitting of the figurehead. The figurehead is a 3D printed resin piece supplied by the Lumberyard. I am attaching a photo showing it in place temporarily. It will be painted to match the wood before permanent mounting at a much later time.
 
I will be away from the shipyard for about a week, and will then begin on the stern half frames.
 
Bob

Thanks to all for the interest in my report.
In the meantime, I have made some progress on building the
top of the main mast.
Currently, I'm going to make the supports for the railing.

Hi Albert,
many thanks.
Here is a brief update:

Thanks to
Rob, Albert,
an all others for the LIKES.
 
Lately, I've managed not much. So I'll show you just a few pictures.
I hope I can show more again soon.
 

Hello Denis,
I'm glad you like it.
Thanks for the nice comment.
@all
Thanks for the LIKES!

The construction of the masts continues as shown on the next pictures.
The other parts are shown as
-Topmast cross trees

- Topmast cap and topmast head

- Topgallant mast

Thank you, Albert!
Here is an update on the construction of the masts and topmasts.
 
On the first picture is to see how I just made the hole for the sheave of the top ropes.

The next picture shows the topmast heel with the fidhole and the fid.

On the last picture, the components are provisionally composed.

 
 
 
 

It is always a pleasure to get positive comments.
Many Thanks!

Mast production continues.
Further details were made.
 

Hello,

Here we continue with the construction of the masts.
The following picture shows the foremast in progress.

The other picture shows the parts for the lower mast
Crosstrees and the frontfish for the main mast.

Hi Nils,
thank you for your nice reply.
 
And this is how the result looks.

Hi Albert,
 
thank you for your nice comment,
and all other for the likes.
 
On the next picture collage the grinding of the mast can be seen.
I do this with small boards on which sandpaper was glued.
With the fingers you can regulate very fine the pressure.
I hope I get a good result.

 

Hello,
many thanks for all replies and likes!

There was some time quiet in the model shipyard.
Now I have started building the lower masts.
According to the original I build the lower masts from individual parts.
At least I try. Whether it works, will show.
For this purpose, I have drawn up a simplified scheme.


In the following I show a first attempt.

 

 

 

 
Here I show the assembly of the main mast.


And here I begin with the turning and grinding of the main mast.

 
Continued coming soon ....
 
 

I redid the catheads, going to the design seen on Chuck's Cheerful.  They look much better now.  Another two coats of paint needed and the sheaves need attention.  Still mulling over the issue with the shrouds.
Maury

Once they were test fit, the cat heads seemed to be a bit too long and a bit "heavy".  I shortened them about 12" (1/4" at scale) and tapered the top of the arm a bit.

 

I'm happier with them now.  I need to work on the simulated sheaves.  The hawse holes are another matter.  Just where to put them is wide open.  None of the drawings available show them at all.  Seems unlikely they would have just run the anchor hawse over the top of the rail.
Maury
 

The cat heads have been completed.

Test fit includes cutting out part of the upper rail so it rests on top of the frame top.

A few minor adjustments, then paint.  Note the space for water to drain where the cat base meets the waterway.  Other things need attention.  Where do lines run and belay?  Eyes and rings at various places.   Where should the hawse openings go? Lots of details to deal with.
Maury