NMBROOK

First work on the masting has now been done with the making and mounting of the bowsprit and jibboom. Both the bowsprit and jibboom were made from dowels, shaped appropriately,  stained golden oak, and then painted black where called for. The cap was cut from boxwood sheet, beveled, holes drilled and filed, and painted black. Various boxwood cleats were added for the gammoning, rigging collars and a jibboom stop.
 
After assembling the bowsprit, jibboom and cap, I added the lashing for the jibboom and then the collars for the bobstay, shrouds and forestay. A jackstaff was made and mounted to the cap. I then mounted the assembled unit and added the gammoning.
 
The Hahn drawing provides limited detail as to the masting and rigging, so I am using Lees to provide information on sizing of masting and rigging components.
 
Bob

After spending a few days up north with family for the Thanksgiving holiday, I'm back and have finished work on the hull and deck. The final work involved making and mounting the windlass, running the anchor cables around the windlass and down into the hold, and adding some cleats. I also remounted the galley stack.
 
The windlass was made up from boxwood strip, which was drilled and filed for the bars, beveled on the edges and then assembled around end pieces cut and filed to fit the octagonal shape of the windlass barrel. I had to make some small adjustments to the uprights to fit the barrel as made. After mounting the windlass, I wound the anchor cables around it and then ran them down into the hold, where they were glued to rope coils that had been placed down there long ago.
 
The cleats are 7mm laser cut pieces from Syren, shaped with files and mounted with pins.
 
This completes work on the hull and deck, except for the swivel guns and anchors, which will be done after the rigging. I will now be moving on to the masting and rigging.
 
Bob

I'm almost to the end of work on the deck. I've now mounted and rigged the remaining four guns, added the cross piece to the fore bitts and permanently mounted the previously made stack for the galley stove. I also threaded the anchor cables through the hawse holes and up through the openings on the forecastle deck (a ticklish job that probably should have been done earlier).
 
All that remains to be done is the windlass and probably a few cleats for rigging attachment. I'm still working out how to go about doing the windlass.
 
Bob
 
 

As a break from work on the guns, I decided to complete the detailing of the aft portion of the decks. This involved making and mounting the topsail sheet bitts, finishing and mounting the pumps and permanently mounting the deckhouse/companionway.
 
The bitts were easy, consisting of boxwood strip pieces slotted with a file for a secure fit together, and pinned and glued to the deck.
 
The pumps were more work. The tubes had been made and fitted previously (as shown in a prior post). At this point they were completed by making up the mechanism. This consisted of handles cut from styrene sheet, filed to final shape and drilled for small dowels and wire, and brackets for the handles made from wood strip, but painted black to simulate metal. The completed pumps were then mounted through the openings previously made through the upper and lower decks. 
 
The deckhouse/companionway had been made previously (as shown in a prior post) and was merely glued in place at this time.
 
Now it's back to rigging guns.
 
Bob
 
 

After turning my attention back to deck fittings and furniture, the first item was to make up the guns. There are six 3 pounders (very small ). I decided not to use the carriages and white metal barrel castings provided by the Lumberyard (the barrels were too large when compared to the plans), and substituted carriages and brass barrels from Syren. I used the 1:64 6 pounders (1 11/64" barrels) which fit the plans almost perfectly. I made one modification. The trunnions appeared too small, but I did not want to get involved with trying to drill through the brass barrels to add larger trunnions, so I added tiny bits of tubing to build them up.
 
After making up the carriage kits, I added the needed eyebolts and ring bolts from blackened brass. I also added the quoin handles, using the smallest brass belaying pins that I had on hand. 
 
I then started to rig the guns with their breech ropes and tackles. For the tackles I am using Syren 1/8" (3mm) blocks, which are the smallest that I can handle at this point, and Syren .008 line. After rigging two of them, I had had enough, so decided to mount them and move on to something else for a while. After mounting, I added separate rope coils to the tackle lines.
 
Bob
 
 
 

I've now done the deadeyes and chains. Fortunately, there aren't that many.
 
The chains consist of three parts: the deadeye straps, which are made from wire; the middle links, which are made from wire bent to loop shape using a simple jig made from two small nails in a block of wood; and the lower links, for which I used brass backing links that I had on hand from some past project. The deadeyes are also commercial products that I had on hand.
 
This work completes the work on the outer hull. I am now returning to do the remaining deck furniture and fittings.

Work on the head is now complete. It was the pain that it always seems to be, but there is also a sense of accomplishment. At he risk of boring you all, I will go through it on a step by step basis, with photos of each successive phase.
 
I began with the cheeks. These were each done as laminations of two pieces cut from thin boxwood sheet, then sanded on their facing edges before being glued together and then final fitted to the hull. Card templates were used to get the initial shape.
 
Once the cheeks were in place, I made up the main rails. These too are made as laminations from thicker boxwood sheet, using card templates. After lamination, each rail was sanded to their tapered shape. The timber head shape was then filed into the upper end. The rails were then final fitted to the hull and glued into place.
 
 At this point, I chose to make and add the upper molding and then the knight heads and timber heads at the bow. These were filed to shape from two sizes of boxwood strip, painted black and then pinned and glued in place.
 
Next were the head timbers, which were made from boxwood strip and fitted,, with what seemed like endless trial and error, until they fit between the main rails and the cheeks.
 
The next, and possibly the most difficult, task was to do the cathead supports and the lower rails .These were done in segments. The first segment was the lower rail, which was made from boxwood strip bent to shape and fitted between the stem and the hull and glued in place to the head timbers. Then came the most difficult piece in the process, the cathead supports. These were first cut from thick boxwood sheet, using card templates, and then filed and sand to shape. This was a task, since they had to fit the hull contours, as well as the angles of the catheads and match up to the position, size and shape of the lower rails. I found it necessary to use very small filler pieces of strip to mate the two segments.
 
I the added the final pieces of the lower hull molding at the bow and between the fore channels and the cathead supports.
 
The last item was to paint the 3D printed resin figurehead from the kit and glue it into place.
 
Bob

Moving forward along the hull, from midship toward the bow, I've added a variety of items. These include the fore channels, additional hull moldings and various sizes and shapes of timber heads. I've also added eyebolts for gun tackles and  rigging attachment to the interior, as a matter of convenience at this point (holes were also drilled for  the breeching ropes but the ringbolts won't be added until the guns are done).
 
The various timber heads were all made up from boxwood strip. They were fully shaped with files on the strip wood stick before being cut off to length, brass pins added, painted black and then mounted in holes drilled in the caprail. The last attached photo is an overall shot that shows the work on the hull to date.
 
Well, there seems to be no escaping the fact that it's time to do the headwork (always my least favorite part of a build), so that will be the next order of business.
 
Bob

This week's work finished up the aft portion of the outer hull. This included doing the quarter deck rail, the swivel gun pedestals and the remaining hull molding in that area.
 
The largest part of the work was done on the rail, which was a complex task. I'm sorry that I didn't do any construction sequence photos, but the process was as follows: A piece of boxwood strip for the rail was bent to shape to match the cap rail and its edges sanded round; pieces of square boxwood strip were cut to length for the rail stanchions and holes were drilled in both ends of each for brass pins; holes were drilled in the cap rail for the mounting pins;  beginning with the forward most stanchion, each stanchion was fitted into it's hole in the caprail and then the railing was fitted above it and a hole drilled through the railing for the upper pin; the stanchions were then glued and pinned to the railing in turn, making sure that the full assembly fit as each stanchion was added: when the assembly was complete on each side of the hull, they were painted black and then glued into the caprails as units; the stern end rail was made up and fitted after the side rails were in place. I chose to use pins at both top and bottom of each stanchion because I expect some rigging to be tied off to the rails, creating stress that glue alone wouldn't take care of.
 
The next work was to make up and mount the six swivel gun pedestals. This was straightforward, involving cutting boxwood strip to length, filing them to hexagonal shape, drilling mounting holes for the guns in the pedestal tops, finishing them with wipe-on poly and black paint and gluing them in place.
 
The last work was to fill in the moldings, which required cutting and fitting the prepainted molding pieces.
 
Bob

Once again, some rainy weather led to extra modeling time. I accomplished a few things.
 
 First, image and mounted the rudder. The basic piece was the laser cut part from the kit. I had to add a piece to the upper portion to enable a proper fit through the deck. I then shaped the fore sideband tapered the aft side. The pintles and gudgeons were done with black painted paper (I avoid metal work whenever possible) with blackened brass for the working parts. The tiller was cut from boxwood sheet and rounded where appropriate. It was then attached to the rudder after the rudder was mounted. 
 
I then started making and mounting the various timber heads. These were made from boxwood strip, shaped with files, painted black and mounted to the cap rail with pins and glue.
 
Lastly, while access was still easy, I started drilling holes for, and mounting eyebolts for future rigging attachment, including the aft most guns.Many others remain to be done. I also added a black wire horse for the boom sheet, on the inner transom.
 
Bob

Work on the outer hull began with the quarter badges. As with the transom, i needed to make a decision as to how to handle the carvings. My answer was essentially the same; I couldn't make my own; I couldn't use the laser cut carving pieces from the Lumberyard; so I had to use the resin castings from the kit. To use them, I first cut out the windows from the castings and then painted them to mach the hull wood, with a bit of black background. I liked the paint better than what I had done on the transom, so I did some repainting on the transom to try and match. The windows are, again, the Lumberyard laser cut ones, again thinned down considerably. The glazing is again Micro Kristal Klear.
 
I then made up the main channels from boxwood strip, painted them black and glued and pinned them in place.
 
Lastly, I started to add moldings to the hull sides, The lowest is half round and the others are a simple double bead. All of the moldings will be painted black. The moldings were simple to place because when planking the hull I had used base pieces for the moldings in the planking and was able to just follow those base pieces when attaching the final molding pieces.
 
Bob

I've spent the last week on the stern, which is now finished. A few general thoughts first: the Hahn plans are a reconstruction from the Admiralty draughts, which only show the general shape of the transom and windows; I have generally followed the Hahn plan, but not exactly; my deviations reflect both some artistic license and limitations on my skills.
 
The transom was built up from scratch from boxwood strip and sheet, using a card template following the shape shown on the plans. the windows are laser cut from the Lumberyard, but substantially reduced in thickness. The transom was built to fit these windows. Window glazing was done using Micro Krystal Klear, which leaves a clear translucent surface. The outer surface of the transom was painted black and the inner portion left natural to suit my taste. The pilasters along the windows were made up from boxwood strip, as was the molding above the windows. 
 
The carvings at the top of the transom created the biggest problem. Bearing in mind my utter lack of any artistic ability, I needed to find a way to do the carvings. I had a laser cut carving piece from the Lumberyard, but it was much too fragile to withstand my clumsy efforts to bring it to final shape. I then made an equally feeble effort carve my own from scratch. Finally, I turned to a part from the kit: the kit contained a complete transom piece cast from a flexible resin (?); I had rejected the idea of using it for the transom, but decided to try cutting the carving portion from the part and painting it to match the hull wood. I may still tinker with the painting, but I'm reasonably satisfied with the overall effect.
 
Now, it's on to completing the outside hull.
 
Bob

I've now added the cap rails and the the catheads. 
 
The catheads were made and added first because they needed to be in place before the cap rails could be added in the bow. They were made from laminated strips of boxwood to avoid having to make slots (which I find difficult. if not impossible, to make). The sheaves are boxwood disks glued in place. Mounting the catheads required that openings had to be cut in the hull planking. This is never a task that I look forward to for fear of damage, but it went fairly smoothly, using a razor saw for the vertical cuts, a blade for the horizontal, and files to clean it up.
 
The cap rails were made from boxwood strip, except for the bow, which was cut to shape from boxwood sheet, using card templates. All of the rails were painted black before mounting them. The outside edge of the rails still needs to have a molding attached to them. This will be done at a later time as work proceeds on the outer hull.
 
Next up will be work on the stern.
 
Bob

We returned to Florida after a week away, just after our power was restored. Fortunately, there was no damage done and life is returning to normal. "Normal" means back to work on Halifax, so here's an update.
 
The next order of business was to complete the decking for the aft most section. In order to do that, I needed to at least rough out and position the deckhouse/companionway/binnacle structure first. Once I got started on it, however, it was too much fun to stop, so I finished it completely. The structure was made as follows: the walls were made from individual planks cut from 1/8" x 1/16" boxwood strip; the walls were shaped to match the camber of the decks; the walls were assembled using square strip at the inside corners; interior dividers were cut from 1/16" boxwood sheet and fitted to form the companionway walls and the binnacle cabinet; moldings were added to all of the walls using 1/32" boxwood strip; the doors were made in the same manner as the walls; the roof was cut from 1/32" boxwood sheet and bent to fit the camber; final detailing was done using PE door hinges and roundhead brass pins for door handles. I couldn't resist doing a compass for the binnacle, although it really can barely be seen. The compass was made from a slice of brass tubing, with a styrene disk for the face. I used Micro Krystal Klear for the "glass". One of the photos shows the structure in place temporarily, but it won't be mounted permanently until later.
 
The deck planking was done in the same fashion as before and provides an open look into the stern cabin.
 
Bob
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

While sitting here nervously awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Irma, it seemed like a good time to do an update on Halifax.
 
I've now done the deck planking on the first raised portion of the aft deck (quarterdeck?). Like the previous deck sections, it was done in a limited fashion, allowing for the placement of a hatch, guns, pumps, mainmast and deckhouse. Once again the planking is holly with golden oak drill and fill treenails. 
 
The hatch again has precut grating strips and boxwood strip coaming. The pump tubes were made up to facilitate fitting and were done with dowel and boxwood strip. The pumps will not be completed and mounted until later. I also made up the companionway ladder from boxwood strip and mounted it. This is another item that will disappear almost completely when the deckhouse is mounted.
 
I'm working on the deckhouse now in preparation for the deck planking of the final aft section. The storm is supposed to hit us this weekend, so I have no idea at this point how long we will have power or how long it may be out, if we lose it. 
 
Bob

The next area to be done was the deck planking for the midship area. In keeping with my intention to leave large deck areas open, I planked along the sides only to the width required for the guns. I did then add a strip of planking down the center because it just looked odd to me without it. The planking was again done with holly strip, using 3/16" strip for the margin plank and 1/8" strip for the remainder. Treenailing was again done with golden oak filler.
 
In order to complete this planking work, I had to accomplish three other tasks: First, I did the main hatch, using some old grating strip material on hand and boxwood strip for the coaming; second, before gluing the hatch in place, I realized that if I ran the anchor cables back to the hatch, their drop into the hold would be visible, requiring that I provide coils in the hold; third, I needed to fit the windlass bitts to the deck planking, and, thus, had to make them and their cheeks from boxwood strip at this point. The bitts were not mounted permanently at this time, but are shown sitting (crookedly) in the last attached photo.
 
Bob

I've been moving along a little more quickly than usual, This has been for two reasons: first, there has been some rain that's cut down on golf time; second, and more importantly, I've been enjoying this build as much as any that I can remember, and I'm finding it hard to stop whenever I start working on it.
 
As a result, this past week I've done the interior bulwark planking, the forecastle deck planking (to the extent that it will be done), the stove pipe and the forecastle scuttle.
 
The bulwark planking was done with boxwood strip of various sizes, but all 1/32" thick. This was pretty straightforward, with the exception of the compound curves at the bow, which required considerable bending and twisting using wet heat. I have chosen to leave the bulwarks in natural wood (as did Hahn in the book), and they were finished with Wipe-on Poly.
 
I began the forecastle decking by cutting the margin planks from holly sheet using card templates. The remainder of the limited planking was done with holly strip. In order to do the deck planking, I needed to make up the stove pipe and scuttle coamings. I simulated the deck treenailing with golden oak filler in drilled holes. Halifax had an unusual arrangement where the the anchor cables came up through the forecastle deck. I drilled holes in the decking for these and then added pieces of drilled boxwood strip as reinforcement.
 
The coamings were made from boxwood strip and formed around the grating and the stovepipe base. The grating was done from some precut grating material I had on hand. The stovepipe base was styrene sheet and the stovepipe itself was made from two sizes of styrene tube. These were painted black. The last photos show the stovepipe and scuttle temporarily in place and also a dummy bowsprit which i used to fit the deck planking.
 
Bob

After spending some time away with family, I've returned and completed the deck framing. This consisted of two tasks: framing the midship portion of the deck, and filling in the spaces between all of the deck beams with inner hull planking. While I wondered if there would have been knees between the beams, neither the drawings nor the book photos show any, and I went with the planking. In any event, the perimeter of the decks will be covered by deck planking, which will conceal this detail.
 
As with the other deck segments, I used the laser cut pieces for the beams and ledges and boxwood strip for the carlings. Boxwood strip was used for the planking, which had to be cut and fitted for each individual space.
 
Next will be the planking of the inner bulwarks above the decks.
 
 
Bob

The bow area is now done. This involved a variety of items:
 
Planking of the forward part of the interior hull, including deck clamps. This was done with various sizes of boxwood strips, as with the earlier similar work. I must admit that it was difficult work to fit the curves  and i'm not very happy with some of it. Fortunately, it will be barely visible.
 
Two breasthooks. There is no detail of these in the drawings and dimensions were estimated from book photos and limited info in the drawings.They were made from boxwood sheet, using card templates. I also had to drill the hawse holes in the hull to establish the position of the upper breasthook.
 
Upper deck framing was done in the same manner as previously, using laser cut beams and a couple of miscellaneous laser cut pieces.
 
The fore bitts. These extend down through the upper deck to the lower deck. They also provide the rear support point for the bowsprit, between the decks, so I had to fit a dummy bowsprit at this point, since it will be impossible to do this at any later time. The bitts are boxwood strip.The above deck cross piece will be added later.
 
The stove and a ladder. For the stove, the drawings show only a generic looking box without much detail. The book photos give no further help. Since the stove is very small, and will be virtually invisible, I decided to go with the generic box. It was made from styrene sheet and painted black. The ladder down to the hold from the lower deck was made from boxwood strip.
 
I will now complete framing of the main deck in the mid-ship area.
 
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

Moving forward on the aft lower deck, I've added the last transverse partition, the inner hull planking in that section, the ladder to the hold from the lower deck and the beginning of the upper deck beams. 
 
The partition and the hull planking were done exactly like the previous ones and need no further description.
 
The ladder was made from boxwood strip and fitted to the curvature of the hold planking. It looks a little strange, but I'm not aware of any alternative.
 
The deck beams are laser cut boxwood pieces that I cut to fit each location. It was certainly a timesaver to have all of the roundup precut and consistent through the beams.
 
I'm also attaching a photo of the doors mounted at the rear cabin, which I had neglected to attach with my previous update.
 
Bob 

Moving forward on the aft lower deck, I've now completed the next set of partitions. These are the the second of the three transverse portions (and it's attached upper deck beam) and two fore and aft partitions which create what the plans refer to as the captain's bed place and the mate's cabin. I also did the interior hull planking in this area.
 
All of the partitions were made up from boxwood strip, as was the hull planking. The doors were made from boxwood strip, with cut off  round head brass pins for handles and blackened brass hinges from a PE set in my stash. As always, everything was finished with Wipe-on Poly.
 
My next work will be to finish the work on the aft lower deck and to add the remaining deck beams for the upper deck above the lower deck area.
 
Bob

Work on the interior of the stern cabin is now essentially complete. All of the work was done with boxwood strip and sheet and was finished with Wipe-on Poly. In order, the work done was as follows:
 
1) Planking of the interior of the stern frames;
 
2) Fitting and mounting of the facing of the bench;
 
3) Making up and mounting the cabinetry described in the plans as "lockers with bed places";
 
4) Making and mounting the bench top;
 
5) Making and mounting the forward partition for the cabin, and the upper deck beam to which it is attached (the doors are made, but not yet mounted);
 
6) fitting and mounting the interior wall planking to the level of the upper deck beams.
 
The work entailed a great deal of fitting and adjusting to get a proper fit of the various interconnected pieces, but was really an enjoyable and fun part of the build -- probably my favorite part to date.
 
Bob 
 
 

I've done two areas in the past week: the interior planking of the hold and the forward platform.
 
The platform framing was done with boxwood strip, in the same manner as the aft lower deck. The fitting of the beams was tricky, but there are only three of them. The holly deck planking was done in the same way as the aft deck planking. Again, I wasn't as careful as I might have been with the forward most part of the deck, since it will be covered by a breasthook. The framed opening is for the foremast.
 
The hold planking was done with boxwood strip. I chose to plank the entire port side (up as far as the fore platform level so far), but to only do a few planks on the starboard side. I intend to leave an open space in that planking on that side and to not resume it until the level of the exterior hull planking.The planking extends just beyond the start of the decks, fore and aft. I finished with a coat of Wipe-on Poly.
 
I'm now working on the interior stern planking and the work in the stern cabin.
 
Bob

Glad to be back into progress mode again. I've completed the first part of the interior work that I will do. This consists of the framing and planking of the aft lower deck.
 
The framing was done with boxwood strip and includes framing for what appears to be a scuttle, and also some supports for the beams. The beam supports, like much of the other interior work, will never be seen. The planking was done with holly strip, as will all of the other deck planking. The caulking is done with a carpenters pencil and the drill and fill treenails are done with golden oak filler. The holes in the forward part of the deck are for the pumps. The deck planking that looks ragged at the edges will all be covered by cabinetry.
 
My current intention is to do all of the aft lower  deck partitions and cabinetry, the fore lower deck framing and planking, full interior hull planking in the hold on the port side and partial on the starboard side, and full interior planking above the lower decks, including the stern. I'm not entirely sure in what order I'll proceed.
 
Bob