NMBROOK

Mini-update.
 
This is one step that I was postponing since I can't remember when. I wasn't too excited about it:
Cut that section in the bow. Finally I'm over it!

 

 

 

 
Still some finishing to do, but the main work is done. I had to move my ship temporarily to my pen turning workshop where I have and can use more noisy and dust making machinery. 

Excellent work Ian I simply love the notched planking detail.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

So sorry to hear of your drama Michael,but glad to see you are already on the way with the repairs,as they say 'what doesn't break us,only makes us stronger'
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Ferit, - Thanks (:-)
Woodo, Thanks so much for choosing to follow along. Very kind of you - welcome aboard.
 
Updated progress on mainmast;
 
Slid-in that middle sleeve filler at upper part of joined mast halves.
 
Cut the end bits which will house the pulleys
 
Measured the needed angle so that the crow’s nest will remain horizontal given the rake of the mainmast.
 
X’d out where I needed to cut the indentation groove to fit the two side half pulley bits.
 
Measured where I should glue the first piece allowing room for the platform cross braces.
 
Glued the first one.
 
PS: I think that my measurements were a bit off at the mast part that will be above the platform base. Looks too short? I will have to be creative when I add the mast cap and the metal sleeve that will wrap around the mast just under the cap. Hmmm L
 
====================
 
Next update will be sometime AFTER tonight’s most important worldwide event. GØT Season 6 Premiere. - John better show up !!
 
Cheers,
 
 
Michael
 

 
 

Thank you for the praise Brian, Don, Bob and Nigel. You have no idea how influential your own builds have been to my projects. Michael if it wasn't for your Herreshoff's king plank example my boat would be without this little experiment, which I thoroughly enjoyed doing. I might also say how much I liked working with maple for the first time. It does not seem to crack or check nearly as much as the walnut. Anyway with luck I'll be showing you how the filler worked out today.
 
Best, Ian

Hi Folks,
 
I am nearing the end of this operation and am quite pleased with the results. The next step is to caulk the slots. I think I will use a combo of walnut and ebony wood filler then cover with poly. I'm not sure how the poly will like the filler so I'll have to do some experimenting. Other suggestions are more than welcome.



 
Best, Ian
 
 

Well, after a disastrous first attempt ending up in the scrap box, the third gun port surround is now completed and in place on the model.
 

 
On to the fourth and hopefully it will go smoothly.
 
More to follow.............

Hello everyone, thanks to all for stopping by and for your comments and likes.
 Since last update I have been working on the floors and ceiling also the bunk rooms. It has been a lot of work but it all came together, I was expecting the floor to be the hard part, however, the bunks turned to be the hardest(for me at least). The six bunks took me about 10 hours to build even though they were laser cut. trying to hold the pieces in place in such a confined space to test fit proved to be a real test of the nerves. It was a good exercise in holding my breath and stretching my tongue
 I am really impressed with the planks, so far all have been milled really good and the color variation is almost non-existent I have yet to pick through to find a lighter or darker one.
 Even though this ship is a single planked hull it feels like I have one layer done already, I'm hoping the outside of the hull is as easy as the inside was to plank.
 The last 5 pictures show it finished with a fresh coat of brushed on wipe on poly.
 

 
These are the parts for the bow and stern bunks
 

 
 Next up is several more coats of poly then the hull begins
 
Have a Good One
 
 
 

Some progress has been made on the Trabakul, after taking off two weeks to work on Mayflower I have brought her to the front of the bench again.
 Since last I have started the ceiling(first four strakes) then installed the bilge keelson. I stopped there then went onto the floor in the fore and aft hatch, very important to do this now as if you were to finish off the ceiling you would have no way of getting fingers inside to put planks on the floor.
 Flooring in the aft hatch is complete and flooring in main hatch is partially complete, I'm working on the forward hatch now and expect to have it complete today.
 The aft hatch was done by installing the floor boards first, trimming them to fit stern( sort of a V shape) then finishing off the ceiling to meet the floor. This was accomplished by edge gluing four boards together then cutting to shape(kind of a four sided triangle) then bevelling the fore, back and top edges so they fit flush to adjoining surfaces. This took many attempts and lots of wood to complete and as always I kept my cool    .
 With all frustrations behind me I'm thinking things are going to be all good now. I will add that I am by no means a seasoned veteran but so far this kit has been my most challenging build to date and has been quite the adventure so far. 
 Next up after flooring is planking the bulkheads, will send more pictures soon
 
 

 
In these last three pictures you can see the bilge keelson(the oak planks) and also some of the centre flooring(lime wood) sanding is still required everywhere.

I took a bit of a play day off from the builds and made up these sanding sticks. The interior of the Trabakul is planked and with the bulkheads and support beams there is not room to get your hands inside to sand. So I'm hoping these will help. The feet are made from 1/2" square stock and the handles from 1/4" stock. A wooden pin is used to attach the foot to handle allowing it to swivel. I made extra feet so that I can have variety of grits. I'll attach the sandpaper with double sided tape, I'm just waiting for the poly to dry.
Have a good night all, and Thanks again for stopping in. I'm off to town tomorrow Wackowolf ordered some cold apple cider that I need to pick up.  
 

I'm a little off with the glue here, hard taking picture and glue at same time the rest are better   
 
 I'm off to the refreshment ridge, anyone need anything?  

This the start of my next build the “Trabakul” by Marisstella:
 
First up I would like to thank Marisstella, especially Zoran, not only for this great kit but also for the fantastic service and patience of putting up with my endless questions some of which were not that bright. That being said two of the concerns I had were the instructions and the shipping from Croatia and to that Zoran e-mailed me the plans and instructions. They looked real good with lots of pictures showing pretty much everything one would need, then to top it off the shipping was free ( not sure if this offer is still on you will have to check with Zoran) so I went for it putting my other kits back a little further on the list.
 
Time to Start:
 
Upon opening the box I was first impressed by the amount material it contained. This is a single planked hull, my first, so I guess I was expecting a lot less wood. I’m thinking maybe they know my skills with wood and just sent lots of extra as a way of me not bothering them anymore   . I went through all the packages and billets and everything looks excellent, one thing that did stand out is the fine laser cuts in the billets much finer than I have seen.
 The strip wood all looks real nice and of good quality even the dowels are straight (a real bonus!!).
 Reading the instruction book and going over the plans there is some challenges ahead, one being the interior which is completely finished (another first for me).
My plan is not to bash this kit what so ever and just build as is, now I said this is the plan not a promise  .
 
Here is the box and contents:
 

 
all pieces sanded and dry fitted. a little tough getting pieces out of billet but nothing unmanageable
 

 
a glass kitchen table is indispensable for this hobby, everything so far has gone well. Lots of charring but easily sanded
 

 
More to come, seem to have misplaced some pictures

Excellent work Bill My take on the van de velde work was that although six ports are shown,the cannons would be have to be moved from the front most port to the outer ones in the bulkhead.There isn't sufficient deck space to use two seperate cannons for both ports.at the front corner.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Gun surround number two is carved and in place. I set one of the blanks for carving number three against the bulkhead to show the raw blank sketched and ready for carving.
 

 
Now for number three.
 
What Nigel said is an interesting take on what the extra gun ports might have been used for. I just have to decide whether I want to include them or not.
 
More to follow.............

It's now 250 hours into building la Couronne and the hull planking is complete! I still have some sanding and a few areas that I will be filling with saw dust and glue but the hard part is complete and I'm happy with the results. Next up is work on the forward bulkhead at the bow. I need to plank it and trim it out and finish shaping the curve of the hull planking. 
 
On another note, the feet that she is resting on are kit supplied. I am just using them temporarily for pictures as she will be going back into the clamps for work. I do not completely like the stands design that the kit instructs me to build but I do like the shape of these feet. I'm thinking I will use them as a template to make new ones with a nicer wood.
 
Now for the pictures. Enjoy!

Keith,absolutely STUNNING work,the stern looks fantastic    .I have been following quietly in the background,watching your dedication coping with the trials and tribulations of this complex stern.Your patience has paid off in spades.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Keith,absolutely STUNNING work,the stern looks fantastic    .I have been following quietly in the background,watching your dedication coping with the trials and tribulations of this complex stern.Your patience has paid off in spades.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thanks for the comments from everyone who visited the build.
 
The carving is now mounted on the bulkhead. There will be a crown added directly above it in the future. The bulkhead is starting to look filled in, slowly but surely. 
 

 
One down and three more to go. Hopefully without breaking off the very small points as Druxey has noted.
 
More to follow.......

Great work Michael and glad the pencil worked out for you
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Keith,absolutely STUNNING work,the stern looks fantastic    .I have been following quietly in the background,watching your dedication coping with the trials and tribulations of this complex stern.Your patience has paid off in spades.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Time for an update. Over the past week, it seems as if all I was doing was taking care of little details in preparation for the installation of the poop deck: 
 

 
... indeed there is quite a list. To make sure I don't forget, I had to make a list and tick them off one by one. Every now and then i'll think of something else and add it to my list. You can see my modelling style, I build my features on an A4 piece of paper (plenty to be recycled at the office). Whenever I think of something, I write it down. If I need to draw something, I just draw on it. It also catches all glue stains and keeps my self healing cutting board clean. 
 

 
First on the list was to make a set of cannon carriages. This had to be done because a pair of cannon carriages have to be installed before the poop deck goes on. If you check my post from February last year, I explained how I made them. On the left are kit supplied carriages. On the right are my scratchbuilt ones under construction. 
 

 
Because (horror of horrors) my deck features are a slightly different size to the Euromodel supplied parts (but correct according to the plans), I had to construct a new archway using the kit supplied archway as a template. 
 

 
The top gallery, seen in the previous post under construction, has now been completely veneered over and the windows have been installed. 
 

 
Whilst checking the poop deck for fit, I noticed that the hindmost part of the deck was off by 1mm! Not much, but enough to cause problems. The solution was to cut some material to bulk it up. 
 

 
The real transom was dry fitted after I curved it with a steam iron. As you can see, it aligns perfectly with the poop deck ... 
 

 
... and all the decks below. 
 
The sharp eyed will notice that the rearmost gunports have been closed over. This is because I positioned them incorrectly. The metal side decorations feature holes cut out for gunport locations! If your gunport holes are off by a fraction, they will not line up with the metal decorations! Mine were off by just 1mm. That's enough to make me close them over and cut them out again when I dry fit the side metal decorations. 
 
The upper wales have been brought all the way back to the stern, with a tiny gap cut for metal decorations. 

All the decks have been planked over, except the poop deck. I managed to salvage the deck I was planning to discard, turns out that I could remove the planks fairly easily. Wood glued to plastic isn't as secure as wood glued to wood - run a scalpel between the plank and the styrene structure, and the plank just pops off. It leaves quite a bit of CA residue, but that is easily scraped off. 
 
Other RW builders will note that the shape of the decks is quite different to that given by Pete in his Interpretive Info. The shape of the deck was arrived by placing the poop deck (which has the correct curvature) on a piece of paper, and Part 53 on either side of it until the rear edges are flush with the poop deck. From that, I traced a line. That gives me the rear line of the deck. For each deck, I placed Parts 51, 52, and 53 respectively. I drew and built the deck slightly oversized - I then placed them on a model then used a ruler to line them all up and shaved them back. Finally, the transom was dry fitted and further adjustments made. 
 
You can also see how the decking material accomodates the openings for the doors. You can just catch a glimpse of the interior with the doors slightly ajar, so I did not have to veneer over the whole inside deck. 
 
The contours of the planks follow the galleries closely. Slide a gallery over the deck, and it will fall into the planks with a satisfying pop. 
 

 
If you study the rear of the USNA model of the Royal William, you will notice a few features that Euromodel's plans do not have, and make no provision for in the kit. 
 

 
One of them is ceiling decorations and a center column. I have added the decorations. It is nowhere near as elaborate as the USNA model, but good enough in my opinion. I have also turned some columns on my lathe (not pictured). The circle in the center is to hold the columns once they are installed. 
 

 
The galleries have had most of the column decorations added. The last set of columns will be added once I determine the position and angle of the archways (depicted in the previous post). This is surprisingly complex - when I get around to doing so, I will make a post about it. 
 
Next to the galleries is a picture of my doors, yet to be cut out. You can see that the doors are assembled on a piece of transparent styrene. A diagram of the door is drawn on paper, then the styrene taped onto it. I then plank over the plastic and paint. When done, I just cut it out and install. 
 

 

 
... and lastly, a couple of pictures of the model as she is. Probably about five more things to tick off my list, and then the poop deck goes on. 

Next incremental steps for the mainmast;
 
Again pics. are self explanatory.
 
===================
 
Next steps will be to continue shaping the first two side bits, and need to cut grooves for the crow’s-nest cross-braces.
 
Then onto the last two wood bits which will become the outer halves of the pulley framing.
 
PS: These clamps are so excellent – Super strong secure grip. Perfect in this instance  (Amazon)
 
Regards,
 
Michael

 

This photo shows the size of the gunport surround carving in its rough format. It remains to clean up and finish the carving prior to mounting on the bulkhead.
 

 
More to follow.............

Here we go with a minor update but I feel that I have put in quite a bit of work without much progress being shown. I guess it just goes like that sometimes.
 
A few pictures to share:
 
Deck Sheer Planks and King Plank:
To follow Michael Mott's king plank approach I milled some 7mm walnut strips, soaked and bent (in a jig), and repeated endlessly. That stuff could be used for long bows - it just does not want to edge bend. But I finally defeated the stubborn planks and glued them on. No finishing at this stage. Next was to dry fit the king plank. Tape left in place to mark the mast hole. I won't glue it until I finish fitting and shaping all the deck planks to it.

 
Stern Decking:
I figure I would border the stern with walnut - for no reason other than it seemed like a good idea:


 
Milling deck planks and cutting rebate:
I decided to contrast the walnut with maple. I cut up an old butcher board. I cut the strips 3.6mm wide to fit 5 planks amidships. I cut the wood so that the end grain is on top with the notion that it will bend easier that way. The wood looks pretty speckled but it will do I think.
 
The part I am most happy with was the solution for cutting the rebate on the inboard of each deck plank to accommodate the calking. I installed my slitting blade on the Byrnes saw and adjusted the height and fence gap to suit. It worked a charm, so far. One plank looks like the rebate faces the adjacent rebate but that's just poor optics - in fact it is a remnant of the laminated butcher block LOL.




 
Getting the planks ready:
The one picture I have shows two planks ready to bend, which I think I'll try to do inplace first. I am not savvy about exactly how the ends should butt the king plank as I know Michael's had some slightly different angles, so I am a bit hesitant. If anyone has any advice I'd certainly be appreciative.