NMBROOK

Continuation. I hammered and blackened 98 nails in  internal frames.
 
 
 

assembly started

Hi all !
 
the parts finished for assembly. Fitted with brass straps and rings. The straps secured the brick-work and the rings where for securing all sorts of cooking devices.
 
 
 

Very nice progress Nigel! I wish I would be there yet. Still way to go for me.
 
How are you getting on with pearwood for planking? I only used it for carving so far. How does it behave when you are bending it.
Does it discolour when you steam it?
 
best regards
Tom

I thought it was about time for an update as the last one was several months ago   .
 
I have fitted the waterway and quickwork to the other internal hull face and completed the planking of the deck.I am currently completing  the exposed frame finishing pieces and working on the deck finish.I anticipate many coats of poly rubbed down every three coats.This gives a glass like surface as whilst I wish to see joints in the woodwork,I don't want to be able to feel them.
I feel these pictures may be a little on the red side.The pear is definitely brown with no hint of red,trouble is outdoor daylight pics are hard to come by as its dark when at home during the week and we have had some awful weather on the weekends
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hi Boyd
I have found tamiya dark iron to give a very satisfactory alternative finish to chemical treatments,dry brushing with silver adds to the effect.Prior spraying with tamiya primer is advisable.If leaving the brass natural,I would give it a spray with a satin or matt varnish,I think gloss can look too much at smaller scales.
 
Kind regards
 
Nigel

I neglected in my last update to explain how I am going to proceed from here. The kit was designed as a hull only Admiralty type model. As a result, all of the masting and rigging has to be done from scratch. My two primary references for this work will be AOTS Essex and Lees. I am confident that a representative job can be done this way. All of the blocks and rigging line will be from Syren (Chuck). The deadeyes are from Model Expo (I have a lot of them on hand). Some specialty items, such as the already done hearts, will be done from scratch.
 
The order of the work should be roughly as follows: the bowsprit (done); the lower masts and tops; the lower deadeyes and chains; complete the hull by doing the hammock netting; the lower standing rigging; the topmasts and jib boom and their standing rigging; the topgallant and royal masts and the flying jibboom and their standing rigging; the yards and the running rigging; the boats, anchors, lantern and any remaining undone items.
 
I've begun the lower mast work by starting on the tops. So far, I've made up the decking from holly strip and added the rims and other reinforcing pieces from holly and boxwood. i've also made up from boxwood and dry fitted the trestletrees and crosstrees. A lot of holes need to drilled and other parts such as railings need to be added. These assemblies will be painted black. Before finishing the tops, I will at least partially make the lower masts.
 
Bob

I thought it was about time for an update as the last one was several months ago   .
 
I have fitted the waterway and quickwork to the other internal hull face and completed the planking of the deck.I am currently completing  the exposed frame finishing pieces and working on the deck finish.I anticipate many coats of poly rubbed down every three coats.This gives a glass like surface as whilst I wish to see joints in the woodwork,I don't want to be able to feel them.
I feel these pictures may be a little on the red side.The pear is definitely brown with no hint of red,trouble is outdoor daylight pics are hard to come by as its dark when at home during the week and we have had some awful weather on the weekends
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

I thought it was about time for an update as the last one was several months ago   .
 
I have fitted the waterway and quickwork to the other internal hull face and completed the planking of the deck.I am currently completing  the exposed frame finishing pieces and working on the deck finish.I anticipate many coats of poly rubbed down every three coats.This gives a glass like surface as whilst I wish to see joints in the woodwork,I don't want to be able to feel them.
I feel these pictures may be a little on the red side.The pear is definitely brown with no hint of red,trouble is outdoor daylight pics are hard to come by as its dark when at home during the week and we have had some awful weather on the weekends
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Nigel,
 
Now that was an update (;-) As expected continued superlative work.
I have a hard time wrapping my head around just on build, you're my hero......
 
Michael

As always wonderful, Nigel...
For the color, no flash light may be the solution.

Nigel,
I've spent a better part of a day reading/studying this build log. Beautiful work to say the least. Everything from replacing the bulkhead upright timbers, to using complete filler blocks is so well thought out.
I love the natural color pallet. I do agree that too many different woods would make it busy. It will be exciting to see the transformation when the ebony is added to the mix !
What do you think of ebony treenails? Might be interesting to try on a sample piece !
Whatever you do, it will be superb for sure
 
Sincere Regards,
 
Bill

I thought it was about time for an update as the last one was several months ago   .
 
I have fitted the waterway and quickwork to the other internal hull face and completed the planking of the deck.I am currently completing  the exposed frame finishing pieces and working on the deck finish.I anticipate many coats of poly rubbed down every three coats.This gives a glass like surface as whilst I wish to see joints in the woodwork,I don't want to be able to feel them.
I feel these pictures may be a little on the red side.The pear is definitely brown with no hint of red,trouble is outdoor daylight pics are hard to come by as its dark when at home during the week and we have had some awful weather on the weekends
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

I thought it was about time for an update as the last one was several months ago   .
 
I have fitted the waterway and quickwork to the other internal hull face and completed the planking of the deck.I am currently completing  the exposed frame finishing pieces and working on the deck finish.I anticipate many coats of poly rubbed down every three coats.This gives a glass like surface as whilst I wish to see joints in the woodwork,I don't want to be able to feel them.
I feel these pictures may be a little on the red side.The pear is definitely brown with no hint of red,trouble is outdoor daylight pics are hard to come by as its dark when at home during the week and we have had some awful weather on the weekends
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thanks mate! The photos don't really do the colours justice I just wanted some pics of this stage as the next update will be too far along otherwise.
 
Favourite,mmm,probably not because each are different in their own way.The one that has drawn me in the most is probably Royal William,but I am deliberately holding back as I want the others to move along at a faster pace
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

I thought it was about time for an update as the last one was several months ago   .
 
I have fitted the waterway and quickwork to the other internal hull face and completed the planking of the deck.I am currently completing  the exposed frame finishing pieces and working on the deck finish.I anticipate many coats of poly rubbed down every three coats.This gives a glass like surface as whilst I wish to see joints in the woodwork,I don't want to be able to feel them.
I feel these pictures may be a little on the red side.The pear is definitely brown with no hint of red,trouble is outdoor daylight pics are hard to come by as its dark when at home during the week and we have had some awful weather on the weekends
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thanks Brian,I did take a chance on the variation of tones.On Caroline,I batched the Pear into two shades,one for above and one for below the wales.Doing this resulted in an enormous amount of waste,so I decided to let the 'quirks' of the pear show and I am pleased with the result.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

I thought it was about time for an update as the last one was several months ago   .
 
I have fitted the waterway and quickwork to the other internal hull face and completed the planking of the deck.I am currently completing  the exposed frame finishing pieces and working on the deck finish.I anticipate many coats of poly rubbed down every three coats.This gives a glass like surface as whilst I wish to see joints in the woodwork,I don't want to be able to feel them.
I feel these pictures may be a little on the red side.The pear is definitely brown with no hint of red,trouble is outdoor daylight pics are hard to come by as its dark when at home during the week and we have had some awful weather on the weekends
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Ok something in a way of an update.The infill has been faired although the final touches will be applied after fitting the false deck and bow/stern blocks.The deck stringers have been fitted.The two scrap pieces screwed down provide temporary clamping due to the sheer on these stringers.Next job is finishing the deck edge supports from amidships to bow and the bow/stern filler pieces.Not much more to add that the pics don't explain.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Things are getting interesting now    I have tack glued some temporary stringers to keep all the frames plumb and true and placed a couple of key braces to keep things following the centreline.I had come up with a fancy jig design but sacked that as to be honest it was unnecessary and would only restrict access.The hull was then infilled from the gun deck upwards partway using Obechi simply because it is easy to sand and shape and the local modelshop happened to have some 1/4 inch sheets..These followed the shear,but the tops were then trimmed down so that they a parallel to the waterline below the top of the first upperwale.I won't call this a chainwale as the channels sit above this according to photos of the builders model.Some extensive draughting was required to sort theTransom side timbers as there is no frame here in Euromodels design,simply fresh air.The transom is still a flat block as this permits easy measuring and marking out.There is a 10mm arc in the transom face which will be added later,but is why there doesn't appear to any overhang of the stern counter at the moment.I want to fill the gaps between the frames to coincide with the top edge of the upper wale.The futtocks would have in reality finished lower down,but I am doing this for asthetics and then there won't be unsightly holes.The visible section of the upperframes and gunport linings will be in Pear to provide an interesting contrast to the boxwood.The 'combs' that provide an anchor for the upperframe sections and fill the gaps I chose to make from European boxwood to further highlight this detail.Rectangles that are horizontal and follow the centreline were cut form box making sure there was enough material to allow contouring to the hull lines later.These were then milled on the MF70 with 5mm wide slots to accomodate the upper frames.The slots are deep enough to ensure the base of the frames lie below the top of the wale and the top of the blocks are high enough to go above it.The idea being that once they are all in place,temporary wales will be attached and the shear marked and trimmed on the top of the combs.The rectangular blocks had the bulk stock removed after milling prior to gluing in place.Final shaping will be done when they are all inplace.I am concentrating on the aft section of one side as there is a temporary upright holding things true at the stern.When this section is complete,I can fit another upright the otherside of the centreline then remove the existing one.This will give me the access to work on the inside of the hull at the inside.I am trying to avoid fitting the transom framing until later as it will make sanding the inside much more awkward.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Ok update time After sorting the remaining deck supports I preceeded to mark the subdeck out on a piece of 1/16th ply.After cutting out,I began to establish the deck beam positions in order to mark where plank butts treenails etc would be.Refering to 'Restoration Warship',Richard Ensor states that common practice was to have one deck beam central to each gunport and one inbetween.I drew out the gunport positions of the gundeck and marked the beams then marked the other beams halfway inbetween.This design is completely different to that portrayed on the plans,sorry Euromodels but the internal structure just doesn't ring true.Yes I am still working to the plans for the internal layout,just not the beam placement.Another issue came to light in the fact that the long grating and main mast resulted in 5 consecutive beams being split.There is no way this would happen,so I have shortened the gratings to allow two beams to run right through,hence the deck infill at each end.After one or two trial runs and a little trimming,making sure nothing was tight on the pear frames,the deck was glued in place.I did remove the temporary ties across the frame tops to allow this and the deck had to be bent ALOT to get it to 'spring' in.There is still lots of shaping to do to the lower hull especially the stern which is simply a block at the moment.Thorough checks on symmetry will be carried out as the work progresses. 
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Work continues moving forward with the framing.When it came to sanding back the inside,unfortunately the 'binding' stringer that will be fitted at the top falls below the level of the temporary stringer on the outside.I measured the overall thickness including the outside temporary stringer on the thinned section on the stern using the verniers and used this dimension as my point of reference to sand down and profile the central section.Work now concentrates on completing the obechi infill.I have already started at the bow,this will need increasing in height at the sides as the hull edge flows down in an arc to meet the stem.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

I have started to fit the upper hull starting from the stern forwards.By notching back the temporary stringers,I am able to use plain pear strip overwidth,rather than trying to develop individual shapes for each of the frame sections.There is a not very clear photo showing this.Each piece was fitted with an obechi infill individually.By using the digital vernier to check running dimensions as I went along,this avoided any accumulative build up of error.The obechi was thickness sanded(using a sanding block   )to suit each location.There is variation in frame spacing due to working with the constraints of bulkhead positions,but it is so small,it unnoticable to the eye.I have set the obechi 2mm above the base of the upper trim(bottom of the ebony planking).This is to allow fine adjustment of the ends and then capping with 3mm boxwood.Doing it this way means no tool marks will be visible on the frames from shaping the ends of the obechi.This complete section has been trimmed 3mm below the cap rail so I can fit a square pear 'binding' stringer to tie everything together.I got this idea from Dr Mike and makes alot of sense to tie all these laminations together.It also provides a sanding guide for upper frame thickness.This will be pinned later into the top of some of the frames for additional strength.The length of this upper edge is overlong at present and steps down to a lower level,which will be cut back when the next section is complete.My technique just leaves a section to sand back when the temporary stringers are removed.I am considering replacing these afterwards,but bolting to the hull with M2 bolts as this area will be planked over.I am also considering using threaded rods as well to keep the upper hull the right distance apart as work progresses.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Not a very exciting update today,however my experiment has been a success.I have been debating about caulking techniques and despite using a pencil for longer than I care to mention,it never looks as good as the black paper route.However after watching Dr Mike's dvd explaining that black paper prevents proper glue bond strength,himself using cheap white paper and dying it black,I wanted to find an alternative with a bit less faff Having to visit town today for other reasons  I did stumble upon black tissue paper.I thought this would still allow proper penetration of the glue,but would it be easy to work with?I adopted worse case scenario for the test and cut some planks roughly(not even changing to a fine blade )on the table saw.Smearing one edge of these with alaphatic and placing them on the tissue edge on.Having left to dry for a hour(would really leave overnight in practice) and then cutting the tissue with a new scalpel blade close on the underside and a little above the face side,separated the planks.These were then glued to a sheet of ply.Two hours later this was scraped and sanded back.Again I would leave overnight but I was being deliberately rough for the trial.Anyway complete success.No issue with the tissue paper wanting to drag out of the joints as it was fully impregnated with glue and razor sharp black(not greyish you get with the pencil) lines.The only imperfections are from the rough edges of the planks.In reality these would be smooth .I wanted to crack this dilemma as this technique will be used on the whole build which includes the scarph joints in the keel and the hull planking so strength is important.A couple of pics but the difference between this and pencil isn't truly conveyed with my iphone camera.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

I have completed the basic 'inner' hull structure to the starboard side.As I am waiting for a timber delivery I thought I may as weel sort out the lower gunport linings.After studying Euromodels drawings and also pics of the builders model,it became apparent there were differences not just in the position of gunports but also the height  and shape of the top of the hull sides.Because I want to reflect the design of the NMM model I would have to address these areas.The most notable fact is there is a gunport right forward on the museum model that is missing on Euromodels representation.Looking at the design you would probably only get a musket in there,but it is there nevertheless.Also the stern galleries are very different and you will notice the gunports are close up to this.This basically meant starting from scratch and the bulk of the ports were moved aft slightly.An additional port would then fit in at the beakhead,but also the first and last port on the main gun deck are spaced differently.My revised design reflects this. 
There is a three page article in John Franklin's book covering the builder's model which gives the exact gunport sizes and wale scantlings and spacings.The Euromodel kit design shows upper wales that are too small in comparison.In order to get things to work the top edge of the hull has been increased in height to compensate for this.You will notice the additional pear laminations on the top edge,the bulkheads are too short to run to the top.The lower of the pear strips has been 'dowelled' with 0.7mm copper wire into every pear upright.This has resulted in an incredibly strong hull wall even before planking.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel