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And finally, some real progress to show. Forecastle complete and mounted. Just a few small bits to do before beginning masting and rigging.
 

 

And finally, some real progress to show. Forecastle complete and mounted. Just a few small bits to do before beginning masting and rigging.
 

 

Locking this, because the question was asked and answered elsewhere.

And finally, some real progress to show. Forecastle complete and mounted. Just a few small bits to do before beginning masting and rigging.
 

 

Yep, it's used to raise the the yard.

Hello again everyone, 
 
So it has been a very unproductive productive week or so.
 
I started working on the engines last week and got them about halfway built when I started to realize that they just weren't looking the way that I wanted them to. Unfortunately there are no real good detailed drawings of them (the HSR drawings are somewhat useful but are still a little lacking in details), so I am having to rely on photos of the actual Cairo and other builds to get an idea of the shape and reasonable size of them.
 
Working off the photos is tough given that everything is painted black and doesn't show a lot of depth.

 
So I gave it a shot to see what my first version would look like.
 
I started with the bottom support rails. The width was pretty easy to figure out since the HSR Gun Deck Plan drawings have them in place and since I have the plans scaled to 1:48 I could get this part close.

 
I then turned down and carved the connecting yokes. 


 
Then using 3 different size dowels I made up the steam drums and piston rods and laid out the assembly.

 
It was here that I started to think that they just weren't looking correctly proportioned. So I decided to work on other features and figured I'll circle back to these when I can get a better understanding of the size proportions between the assemblies.
 
So I decided to start work on the support pillars for the engines and paddle wheel. These were a little easier to figure out. The hardest part of this was getting the height position of the paddle wheel and the correct angle of the timbers.
 
These are the ones from the actual boat. Although they are not original, they gave me a general idea of how they were constructed.

 
These are my versions.


 
These are all just dry fit for now. I am waiting on another order of scale lumber to complete some of the interior walls. Once I have those in place can get everything glued down.
 
Next, to stall for time while still pondering my engine dilemma, I decided to get the toe boards in place for the crew quarters. 
 
Starboard quarters.

 
Port quarters.

 
Lastly I finished installing all of the hatch covers and cut out the rough version of the Pittman arm wooden inserts. These will be used a rough draft for now until I can get the engine situation straightened out. I just wanted to see what it was going to take to get these carved out.
 
Pittman arms.


 
And how she sits now (pardon my foot photo-bombing the picture). I removed the boilers and set them aside so they wouldn't get dinged up while working on the other features. I still need to get the boiler hold painted with a whitewash and touch up the coal, but I'll get there.

 
 
Doesn't look like very much right now, but soon I will start going vertical and it will then begin to look a little more like a gunboat instead of a barge.
 
That's all for now. Thanks for taking the time to visit.
 
-Brian

Chris, everything fits so nicely, lovely work. 

And finally, some real progress to show. Forecastle complete and mounted. Just a few small bits to do before beginning masting and rigging.
 

 

Really beautiful work Chris - fantastic job!
 

Ok, I promised an update, and here we are. 
 
I've actually done far more than you see here because most of the deck fittings (bitts, cannon, coamings, steps etc.) are now built too. I'll show some of that work in the next update.
 
There are a LOT of photos in this update but they only represent a fraction of what will be included in the manual, as Chris has asked me to detail photo stuff much further than is normally done. The manual should be epic when done!
 
 
Ok, on with fairing the hull. This one, I found, much more straightforward to sand than Flirt. It certainly didn't take the same amount of time to get the results I wanted. Of course, a lime plank was used to test the flow of the hull with the sanding.
 

 

 

 

 
 
With the sanding done, the inner prow is fitted. This is cut from 3mm pearwood. The fit of this is positive and it slots without any ambiguity and is perfectly straight when added, but I still added a few clamps to the mix too.

 

 
 
The prow is added at this stage so that the 0.8mm ply bulwarks can plug into it and set the level for the whole length. This one is dead easy as the top of the bulwark should be more or less at the top of the bulkheads. Easy!  Oh, if you get worried about the usual inflexible ply and ripple at the bow, then you won't get it with this model. The ply doesn't go to deep, and the shape of the bow is much friendlier than some hulls.

 
 
First planking is done with 1mm x 4mm lime, pinned as I go along with the very fine Amati pins that Chris supplies. The planks also tuck underneath the lower stern counter, so that's probably the trickiest area, but I didn't find it too bad for the first time I ever attempted doing it.

 

 

 

 
 
The inner keel is supplied in three further parts. These are self explanatory as you can see with the fore and aft parts. They will only plug into the hull in one position. The stern post is now sheathed in its outer pearwood facings (1mm thick) with laser engraving. This can now be glued to the model. Remember, apart from the sternpost facings, you won't see any of the other work...it'll all be covered over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The stern counter parts are now fitted and sanded. The lower pear is 1.5mm pear and I soaked that for 90 minutes and tightly bound it around a cylindrical 2kg weight and left it overnight to fully dry. The curve was perfect for the model.

 

 
 
More engraved pearwood now with the external bulwarks. It's vital that these are glued in exactly the right position, and the various holes adjacent to the windows and cannon ports, align with those in the ply bulwark. The bulwarks are first soaked and bent around the ply, then clamped and allowed to dry overnight. The dry parts are then glued to the model. Pear can swell quite a lot so you really do need to leave anything soaked, for an overnight drying session. 

 

 
 
With the bulwarks in position the keel outer facings can be added. These create the rabbet for the planking, that Chris introduced with his Zulu and Fifie fishing boats. The parts are located with pear tabs and I also add brass pins thought the horseshoe to doubly align things.

 

 

 
 
Second planking is done with 1mm x 4mm pear. I Managed to get three un-tapered planks in before tapering began. With this model, I only found the need to taper just one plank at the stern! As there is more real estate to cover there, I wasn't going to complain. All pear planking was done with Gorilla Glue CA gel.

 

 
 
Once the hull is sanded smooth, I marked a temporary waterline on the hull and many slight gaps below the waterline were filled with diluted acrylic filler, and all sanded smooth. Above the waterline, any gaps were pretty much either invisible or non-existent. 

 

 
 
With the hull prepared, the temporary beams are removed, along with the bulkhead tabs. The remnants are sanded flush with the false deck. 
 

 

 
 
Before the maple deck is laid, the inner pear bulwarks are soaked and clamped around the inner ply bulwark and left overnight to dry. 

 
 
A little edge sanding is needed to make sure these maple decks fit snugly. They are quite flexible, and they need to be to be able to get the parts into position due to the bulwarks that lean inwards. They are still nice and easy to fit though. Dilute white glue is applied to the maple deck sections and then they are stuck down, with clamps around the edges. 

 

 

 
 
Upper bulwarks now put in position. 

 
 
Small oval MDF plugs are supplied to help align the main, inner bulwarks. With everything set, a sanding stick is used to level the tops of the bulwarks, even though they were very close anyhow. 

 
 
I used my tiny set of tungsten carbide files to clean up inside the gun ports and the rail decor areas.

 

 
 
I'll post another update next week with more hull work and I'll show some deck fittings too.
 
More next time...
 
 

Been lurking a while,...have an ever growing interest in scale modeling in general. Fixing to take a swing at a few different types. I enjoy nautical/whaling history and subject matter. I do a little antler and bone carving,..work on some powder horns,..do a little scrimshaw among other things. It varies 😏 I've enjoyed the gallery here on several visits,...you guys are very skilled. - aaronc  

Past few weeks spent drawing up the frames and keel using the plans from the naval architect that designed her.  The keel's design is unlike any I have seen before, having as much as an 8 inch radius on the bottom edges amidships and then reducing moving forward and aft.  The taper from midships forward and aft is quite severe compared to keels in days of old and has been quite a challenge in fabricating it.   The scale request is 1:24, so the  max width of the keel is 1.1" at scale.  I laminated two 3/4" pieces of poplar then ran it it through the planer on each side to the 1.1" dimension.  From there I marked out the tapers and planed and sanded to the correct dimensions.  Some finish sanding is still needed at this point.  The keel cross section shape at each frame is being checked with templates made using the body plan drawing which shows the shape very nicely.     There is a 20 foot section of the keel that is metal for ballast, but as the entire hull will be painted, there was no need to go casting this metal ballast piece.
 
 A false keel will be set on top of the keel and the frames glued in place on the false keel and keel.   The frames are hybrids of bulkheads and true frames.   A little of the inside of the hull will be viewable if the build goes as I have planned so full bulkheads did not seem like a good way to go.    
 
Photo of a couple of the frames are below as well as photos of the keel.  The false keel and frames are made from 0.21" thick birch plywood.    As a side note, when buying any lumber at a yard or home center. I am sure to check the actual thickness of any wood as it is not always as labelled.
 
Allan

Keel cross section template below
 

 

Bossman, thank you for your kind words.  I hope some of my ideas will be of some help to other builders as I myself have taken loads of ideas from other builders.
 
Here is an update on more work on the masts.  One of my major concerns was how to wire the lantern on the Main Mast without any wiring showing.
 
At this stage all the components of the lantern are only dry fitted.  

 
 
Bending the brass tube with such a short radius without the tube being pinched and the inside hole closing or narrowing down was not easy, but on the third try a managed to bend it  and have enough space for the wires to pass.  I used very tin wires, the one used for winding transformers. It is only going to have the load of just one led on it.
 
Brass tube goes through the mast just on top of the channel made along the mast.

 
When I saw that everything fitted ok I painted the top and glued it in place. Connected the tin wires to the led and glued, the base of the lantern to the brass tube and the led in place passing the wires from inside the brass tube and turned the tin wires down into the channel. 

 
Soldered them to ticker wires so that they will not be so fragile to handle and later on connect to the wires already prepared under the deck.
 
The wires come out on the other side of the mast just under the level of the quarterdeck.

 
Channel filled up with Milliput Clay.  I wanted the wires to be solidly embedded so that there will be no room for movement or pulling on the wires that might damage them and also to have a good base for fitting the rubbing paunch on. 

 

 
 
After I filled the channel I made sure that everything was in place and the light works.

 
To keep the led in place and to make sure the connections do not short with each other or with the body of the lantern I literally embedded the base of the led in epoxy glue.  The Araldite epoxy glue is non conductive when dry, so it was perfect for the job.
If you look carefully under the top I added a piece of wood on the outer face of the trestletree.  After building the top and trying it on the mast I realised that the trestletrees do not lie exactly on top of the bibs.  They did not look good and as far as I know I did the masts according to the plans. I noticed on other builds that they had the same problem. 


 
Rubbing Paunch glued over the channel, covering all the way from where I passed the wires.

 
The rest of the lantern I will fit later on when the mast is fitted in place as I am sure I will otherwise damage it.

 
Now the remaining problem for this light is to connect the wires to the  two supply wires presently coming out from the same hole on the deck where the mast is to be inserted as the connections have to go under the deck.
 
Robert
 
 
 

And finally, some real progress to show. Forecastle complete and mounted. Just a few small bits to do before beginning masting and rigging.
 

 

Making progress very slowly this week as I'm in the middle of my sixth house move in six years 😒. Painting the ship exterior now, starting with the deck. I've painted the bulwarks red matte with a matte varnish on top. 
 

 
Onto building the stern cover next. I've built an interior here just for fun. I added gloss varnish and painted some areas white, hopefully once I build the windows (using microscope slides) I can see what's inside relatively clearly:
 

 
After the stern cover is done I'll add the wales, finish off the bulwarks, add the keel and finish painting the rest of the hull.
 
Still debating in my mind whether to paint the lower part of the hull white or just varnish it as is. I bought a really nice white luminos paint/protector from lasur for that purpose but I really like the look of the oak stain and I think it will look great on its own with the blue and yellow ochre decorative paint to be added...we'll see.
 

First, thank you all.
With some steps I'm already following Occre videos, are great for noobs like me, but I'm also researching other techniques that would be sort of my way to do things👨‍🔧. The photos of the HMG Beagle are great to use as reerence, with them and the book of anatomy of the ship (I could find the Beagle one and the Bellona other, which I'm going to use in the mid-far future as one of the references for scrach building of San Juan de Nepomuceno unless I could get proper blueprints in Madrid's Navy Museum⛵)  I'm planning some minor mods in the kit.
 
And now, the update.
With summer in the middle I wasn't able to do much things, being able to travel again through the country, we make some visits to our families, so I wasn't able to do as much as I would like.

Without the proper tools to keep the pression it was need a little bit of thinking out of the box.
 

Ready for planking. In this last picture you can see how looks my little corner of fun. Almost clean again after being use as extra table for unpaking things 😅
 

that looks so good Chris,  I love it!

Well, we've completed the restoration of the Manhassett ice yacht on Saturday, 8/15. This past Tuesday, 8/20, a group of club members loaded her onto a member's  truck and took her back across the river to Tivoli/Red Hook to be stored in her trailer in the barn until we get ice.  We are tentatively going to do a setup and mast stepping on Saturday, 9/12 with a little celebratory champagne as social distancing allows. 
 
Some photos below:  (3 coats of Marine Varnish applied)
 
O
 


Guides for the forestays that hold the bow down - countering the upward pull of the sails on the backbone

 
The skeg is reattached - this protects the tiller (rear skate) from damage from an ice hummock and from falling into an open crack in the ice. It will bounce the stern upward if it hits something - it is also sacrificial.

I will post photos later of the setup and mast stepping so you can see the ice yacht fully assembled.
 
Then I guess it will be back to the basement bunker, err model shop, to resume working on the Constellation. 
 

One more pic.  I painted the caprail brown as well as finishing up the hawse holes.
 

 
 

And finally, some real progress to show. Forecastle complete and mounted. Just a few small bits to do before beginning masting and rigging.
 

 

And finally, some real progress to show. Forecastle complete and mounted. Just a few small bits to do before beginning masting and rigging.
 

 

And finally, some real progress to show. Forecastle complete and mounted. Just a few small bits to do before beginning masting and rigging.
 

 

Tons of progress! I'll post more photos at some point but here's where the build currently stands. Almost finished, but still have the top sail, anchors and loose ropes to clean up. Oh yes, a flag!

I've managed to billow out the sails but they don't stick out convincingly so I'm considering mounting the boat in an epoxy "sea" at an angle, like some others have done. A 15 degree angle or so gives them a dramatic look.
 

 
 
 

Decided to bring the log up to date. Partly because I need advise or should I say start a debate. Anyway up date first.
 
Since last updated I have rigged the following items:
 
Topmast Stays Topmast Preventer Stays T'gallant Shrouds T'gallant backstays T'gallant Stays Bowsprit horses Martingales Horses and Flemish horses Spritsail Halyards Jibboom Guy Pendants Boomkin shrouds Lower mast slings Jeers truss pendants Tackle pendants inner and outer tricing lines Lifts Driver boom rigging Gaff Guy rigging Update photographs below:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, some real progress to show. Forecastle complete and mounted. Just a few small bits to do before beginning masting and rigging.