NMBROOK

Hey all! I've been trying to work out the lines. To be able to continue with the other decks, I needed to plank the first one. As I'm building it by eye, I need to see the other decks in place before preparing for a mast and gratings. A bit backward.
 
Also started on the stern shape. 
 

 

 

 
 
 
/Matti

Just a heads up,Model-dockyard in the UK have this kit in stock now.A few pence shy of £370 before someone asks
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

After experimentation and actually using this technique on my Mordaunt build,I decided I would post a small tutorial of this system I developed due to the interest it caused.
Whilst I am not reinventing the wheel,this is a variation I adopted on the common method of using black paper.There are disadvantages with using black paper,firstly,that it reduces the glue penetration in a joint and secondly,it can appear too thick at the smaller scales.Some may say,the strength is not an issue for planking on a false deck,fair point,but I wanted a system that could be used for all joints where some caulking or similar would be used.This would include scarph joints in the keel where strength is important.
There are many similarities in techniques between using paper and tissue,but there are small differences caused by the delicate nature of the tissue.
This is a pic of the lower gun deck on Mordaunt using this technique.The timber is Pear and the planks are 6mm wide max(the planking is tapered)

To demonstrate the technique,I will be planking a small deck section that goes under the main deck hatches on Norske Love.This piece doubles up as part of the structure and is made from 6mm birch ply.No camber is incorporated as this will be unnoticeable as the only real view is through a companionway.It does have some shear and this is conveniently catered for by the bow the ply has attained,being stood in the corner of the workshop for several months.
The planks are cut from 3mm boxwood sheet.Cutting from the edge of the sheet,using the thickness as the plank width,helps maintain consistency.I cut the planks @1.5mm thick.To me this is less important as the deck will be scraped/sanded smooth.All gluing is done using Deluxe Materials Aliphatic Resin.The black tissue paper is acid free and bleed resistant.I obtained mine from WHSmith in the UK and can be found in the present wrapping section.

A section of tissue was placed on a small piece of clean glass.Glue was added to one side and one end of the plank.The plank is placed edge down on the tissue,ensuring the tissue develops no creases and the plank is firmly down on the glass.I then slice the tissue with a new scalpel blade to form a 'finger' that can be curled up on the plank end.The process is repeated until you have a good quantity of planks 'edged'.
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When the glue goes clear,but not fully set,slice through the paper between the planks.The individual planks will simply break off the glass with a little twisting pressure.The tissue should remain intact on the plank.Whilst the glue is still in the 'green' stage (a bit like cheese as it hasn't fully hardened),carefully trim the tissue flush with the plank faces.Keep the scalpel blade cutting toward the plank,not away as this can drag pieces of tissue off the edge.You can wait until the glue has hardened overnight,but I found this much harder and more time consuming.

Lay the planks in a conventional manner,ensuring to keep the tissue covered faces going the same way.I brush over the surface with a small wetted paintbrush.This consolidated any glue that has oozed out and is added insurance against the tissue dragging with the sanding and scraping.

 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thanks for dropping in Nigel,
and thanks for your nice appreciation
 
its good to hear from you again, hope all is well on your side (job and house moving related....)
 
Nils

You are off to a great start Nils,on what is a beautiful vessel
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

You are off to a great start Nils,on what is a beautiful vessel
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hello Shipmates, Elia-Slog-Lawrence-Edwin-Nigel-Greg-Mike-Salty dog, thank you very much for your likes, comments and also for passing by. As I said above summer has arrived....and the weather is not suitable for ship building..     So I don't have much to show, only some little progress on the 1st boat.. :)
 
Cheers
Dimitris

Hello Shipmates, Elia-Patrick-Greg-Boyd-Bob-Edwin-Tasmanian-Nigel-Frank-Rich I do thank you for your nice words and comments!!! :) Summer has arrived to Greece (temperature is 30 plus degrees Celsius) so more time to spend outside.Little progress regarding the ship. I installed the starboard stair and wooden stanchions and I just  begun to build the 1st boat out of ten :( !!
 
Kind Regards
Dimitris

Hi Mates,
 
Thanks for your supportive comments, very nice of you to add your thoughts. They are always such a source of encouragement.
 
So Plan B on the sheaves; the laminating idea, here are a few pics.
 
PS: without a sanding wheel/belt this would have never turned out. Looks OK, though it sits a bit too high on the deck, needs to be lowered a bit, along with needing two more pulleys, and hardware.
 
PS 2: Plan C is coming up (last pic). I was so completely annoyed at myself for not correctly using the Proxxon MF70, that I fashioned a third sheave, and will give it another go.
 
I will follow Nigel’s sage advice and try this again. Again Nigel, we know that you are so busy, thanks for taking the time to give instructions on the proper procedure. LOL.
 
Cheers,
 
Michael

Your build is coming on well Michael Sorry to hear of your sheave woes.When I cut them on the miller.I do not drill holes first.If you cut slots in depth stages of 0.5 to 1mm,working backwards and forwards increasing the depth of cut each time,it should work without problems.Another tip if you have three slots equal about centre,is to cut the central one first,then use the table dials to measure the offset of the other two.I invariably mill halfway from each side,otherwise the shank of the bit may burn the wood.It helps to have a datum,e.g. the top of the workpiece is flush with the side of the miller vice.
Hope this may help in some way.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Great work Nigel
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hi All,
  To provide a little break from turning the multitude of posts I need for all the railings (rather slow going right now ), I decided to assemble the cannons. The macro shots are very unforgiving, but at normal viewing distances, they don't look so bad. I am thinking about trying to drill out the mouths and perhaps try to smooth out the cast lines to clean them up a bit.  Chuck has replacements if I mess up as I certainly doubt I can turn my own right now!  Casey’s brass blackening solution is also now on its way so I can add the brass hardware to the carriages and the other details like the windlass bars to the other deck furniture.    Thumbnails below as usual and thanks for reading. Slowly, but surely she is taking shape  .   Cheers,   Nigel.                  

Hi All,
  Next up on the deck furniture is to make the various railing and posts. AL provides some simple square stock to make these, but I figured it would be fun to try turning the posts using my new lathe. It would at least give me some practice before I have to try tapering my masts.     I made a template for the posts from some copper sheet, following the method Janos posted in post #159 in KeithW’s great Royal William log. Probably should have found some brass or steel as the copper didn’t seem to hold much of an edge. I then used the template to shape each post after turning down the 3mm walnut strip.   Janos's post: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7195-hms-royal-william-by-keithw-euromodel-172/page-8   After a bunch of practice runs, I made up one of the starboard railings using the more presentable posts. Seems the technique will work with more practice. I am also thinking I need to add more posts as the gaps look a bit wide.   Thumbnails below.   Cheers,   Nigel.            

Hi All,
 
Past week or so has been spent learning how to make acceptable ladders. Without a mill or table saw to keep things 100% true, this proved a very challenging given my current woodworking skills. 
 
I tried several jigs and methods and in the end I used the basswood jig shown below to cut small tread support structures and then the treads to keep everything consistent. 3mm supports seemed to be correct for the Dragon's 1:60 scale to hold a decent tread separation.  I tried 5mm, but these only allowed 5 treads for the completed ladder so the scale looked wrong. The support structures were then glued on to the side rails using a dummy tread to separate the supports consistently on the side rail and hold the needed right angle between the support and the tread. Final adjustments were done by eye as the two sides of the ladder were assembled.
 
Thumbnails are below showing the jig with the individual pieces cut, my various learning attempts and the final version to the far right. Kit ladders are to the far left showing the problems I had with their misaligned pre-cut slots. Final picture is from my test fit of the pair of ladders against the poop deck. Overall I am pretty happy with the way these look now...they are at least better than I could manage using the kit ladders.  . Macro shots show I still have to tweak the port ladder to fully correct for the deck curvature.
 
As always, thanks for reading and for all the kind comments and likes.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

HI All,
 
Last few evenings I spent entertaining myself trying to learn to carve.  The idea of those stickers has been rather bugging me!
 
Process I used was to just photocopy the stickers and glue them onto a basswood sheet. I then just slowly chipped out the wood around the pattern until it released. Then using the sticker as a guide, I slowly added in some basic detail using my smallest knife and different shaped needle files.  Seems that the basic process will work, but I will need a lot of practice before I can make something that will be clean enough to use.  Practice makes perfect as always I guess!
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

Hi All,
  Continue to enjoy putting the decking furniture together. Large and small windlasses are assembled, with the next step being to drill the holes for the various bars.  Mizzen and main mast bitts were also assembled.   My first try at a ladder however leaves a lot to be desired! I’ve no idea how I got the fourth tread so badly misaligned after getting the first three to look reasonable, especially as the side supports had laser cut grooves. Some corrective surgery is called for!  At least the second ladder looks better…I now need to figure out how to add some handrails.   I also started to look at the ships boat which is just a piece of rough machine carved basswood w some plywood bow and stern end pieces  Um….so I've taken a couple of tries at making a small keel to learn how to build something from scratch. Not good enough yet, but still fun.   The other entertaining item is the bow and stern decorations are.....stickers! Looks like Iearning how to carve is in my future….   Enjoy your weekend everyone!    Cheers   Nigel.                      

Hi All,
  Most of the time this week has been spent scrapping all the surfaces to remove any residual glue. This residue seems to show up as a lighter film after the poly is applied and was especially noticeable on the darker walnut trim. Still seem to be a few lighter areas which need some work, but finish is looking a lot more even now. The bulwark and stern tree nailing was also finished off before a few coats of wipe on poly per applied w steel wool being used to lightly smooth down the surfaces between coats.   I then made a start on the fun decking stuff....nothing is glued in yet, they are just placed on the deck to see how they are looking. The deck supports for the masts and rear flag pole were sanded and poly’ed.  Deck hatch covers were made up and also poly'ed, but I’ll probably have to redo these as the planking lines look a bit uneven. Finally I made a prototype of the poop deck mizzen capstan. I still have to drill the dowel to attach the brass capstan bars. Looks like it is time to order the brass blackening solution now.   Thumbnails below and as usual thanks for reading and the likes.   Cheers,   Nigel.          

Progress this week has been slowing down as weather has been great so the outside was the place to be. The bosun was very happy about this given he now has his favorite ball back after it emerged from one of the final snow drifts so there's been a lot of ball throwing this weekend! 
 
That being said, the starboard side and final bow trim has now been completed. Next week there will be a lot of clean up before the final coats of poly are applied to the hull and decks before starting on all the fun deck items.
 
So the usual pictures are below and as always thanks for reading and of course for the likes.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

Hi All,
  A small update this week as I continue to work on the starboard bulwark. The inboard and outboard planking has been completed and rear walnut trim applied to the stern. This then allowed the underside trim on the stern to be completed to finally link the port and starboard sides.   A small celebration here as the last of the winter snow in the yard has finally melted today and there is a new color appearing on the ground - I think it is called green! The outside beckons!     Thanks to all for reading and of course for the likes and comments.  All are much appreciated.   Cheers,   Nigel.          

Here you go Augie...couldn't resist doing the other rail!
 
Now I have to get to the point I can actually glue it on! Hopefully it won't completely spring back over the next week or so!
 
Back to planking! 
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi All,

A little more progress has been made to finally complete the port bulkwark. Outer basswood planks were first treenailed using the drill and fill method in the same way as the decking. The inside of the bulwark was then also planked with basswood to help hide all the treenail holes!

3x3mm walnut strips were then cut, sanded to match the waterway thickness and finally glued to the planking to make some dummy frames.  The dummy frames were aligned to the joints in the decking. Making these frames took me a long time as each frame had to be individually fitted to match the hull and deck shape correctly. I usually needed several attempts at sanding the angles correctly before each dummy frame fitted at least reasonably well.

Walnut strips were as usual heat formed to shape the fore and aft gunwales. The bow curves especially took repeated heating before I could match the hull shape. Some edge bending was also needed to get the strip to lay correctly on the frame tops. Aft gunwale was made in pieces in the end as even with heat, I kept breaking the strip at the sharp transition to the poop deck.

As usual a few thumbnails are below. After some final cleanup, the starboard bulwark is up next.

Cheers,

Nigel.
 

 

 

 

 

Hi All,

So, continuing to add the detail to the outside of the port bulwark. I am using walnut which I hope makes a nice contrast against the basswood planking. Much this work is not actually in the plans, but it is a lot of fun adding it in. Heartstopping moments  were as I cut in the entrance using a fine razor saw, but all went well with only some fine scratching of the decking I can easily finish out. I then detailed the entrance using various sizes of walnut strips. I thought I was done on the entrance, but the macro shot shows I have a lot of clean up still left to do! The underside of the port bulkwark is also completed with the last strip now glued on to finish the bottom surface of the ply bulkwark. All the strips were as usual heat formed to shape.

Next steps are to treenail the bulwark outer planking (you can see my setup pencil marks in some shots) before starting to finish the inside of the port bulwark.

As usual thanks for reading and for the “likes”. They are much appreciated.

Cheers,

Nigel.
 
 

Hi All,
  So over the weekend, I managed to attach the bulkwarks. Once more Chuck’s heat technique helped to preform the bulwarks, but I found I needed to slightly overbend the ply to hit the needed shape as it wanted to spring back more than the solid walnut I used for the main deck waterways. Port bulwark was then planked on the outside in basswood using the same 4 shift pattern as used for the deck, trying to match up the joints to the decking lines. Finally, I added the poop deck walnut rubbing strakes and waterways again heating them to preshape. Feels good to be finally starting to add some of the deck details.    Thumbnails attached below and as usual thanks for reading.   Cheers,   Nigel.

Hi All,
  Only a quick update, but here is my first attempt at using Chuck’s edge bending technique as demo’ed in the video in his awesome Cutter Cheerful build log. Link below.   http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/8131-hm-cutter-cheerful-1806-148-scale-by-chuck/page-22   The waterways (2x3mm walnut) on the Dragon need to be edge curved to match the deck shape. I used the cutoff from the laser cut deck sheet to draw out the shape of the deck and then clamped the strip to form the needed shape. As the Admiral’s hairdryer was off limits ( ), I used the Captain’s embossing heat tool to heat the walnut gently for about 5 minutes, keeping the heat tool moving all the time. After allowing the strip to cool for 30 mins, I released the clamps and the strip matched the needed shape pretty well. A minute of light pressure until the wood glue tacked up and done with no clamping needed.   Wonderful tip…thank you Chuck!   Thumbnails below. Apologies for the image ordering...uploads aren't working correctly for me right now.   Cheers,   Nigel.

Thanks Augie!
 
So, I made a little more progress this weekend on the Dragon.
  The cabin has been assembled, planked and treenailed.  I then skipped ahead of the instructions to complete the rudder. This allowed me to use the rudder assembly to set the correct angle and placement of the rudder post holes through the main and cabin decks. I did this now as didn't like the idea of drilling these large holes with the model largely assembled. I also marked the gluing location of the cabin on the main deck while I had the rudder clamped in position. The cabin was then glued onto the main deck.   She is slowly starting to take shape and some photos are below. Next step is now to start assembling the upper bulwarks.   Cheers,   Nigel.