NMBROOK

A little more progress - planking all sanded down smooth & all gun ports that will be open are lined. I pre-painted the 1 by 5 mm strips for the linings before installing them - much easier than trying to paint them in place. No finish has been applied to the hull yet so it looks a little dull. Next up will be the stern galleries.
 

 

 

 
Mark

A number of decks have now been progressed. Not yet completed, because some of them need to be touched up or redone. Here they are, from the bottom up - incidentally, also showing how tight I have made them fit against the bulkhead:



First, the bottom windows which have been the subject of my last few posts.



The middle deck. Note the pattern of the planking. By this stage I realized that I was at least 2mm too tall, so I was trying to save half a millimeter here and there. The deck is carefully planked around the rear gallery to save some height.

Despite this, this part is destined for the rubbish bin. I do not like the effect of the joggled planks, and it turns out that I made this deck about 2mm too wide (which means that when it comes to shave it, it will cut into the joggled planks). I suppose I could ignore it and hope nobody notices ... but I would rather redo it.



Next, the rear gallery. Columns and doors have not yet been added.



The upper deck. The bottom has been planked, but not the top.

You can see the supports for the poop cabin (to come in the deck above). This is unsupported by any structure, so I decided to make a wooden lattice structure to strengthen it.



The upper gallery. As you can see, still under construction.

Note the hole cut through the gallery to accomodate the wooden lattice and the cabling for the poop LED's.



And finally, the poop deck. Despite all the effort to save height, I am off by 1mm. The poop deck will have to be shimmed by 1mm to raise it to fit the pre-cut transom. This is the advantage of building the features together (as opposed to constructing the poop deck first as some other RW builders have done) - I am able to adjust features as required.



I also decided to excavate some holes for the rear gunports and attach the rear decoration at this point.

I have stolen VinceP's idea and added a black line to the strip.



The decoration was hand drawn after a night on the booze. They will have to be painted over and redone.



An important feature of the rear galleries is that they slope according to the shape of the hull. You can also see that I have maintained the imaginary vertical line that goes straight through the windows of each deck.



Likewise, the sideways view shows that the middle and upper galleries are perfectly aligned. Also note that the each deck follows the line of the wales - an important feature that PiratePete exhorted upon in his "interpretative info". 



... and this is where we are now Note that nothing has been glued, what you see above is "only" a dry fit! The parts have been cut so nicely that they just slot straight in and hold their shape without glue.

I hope to have all the galleries finished by this weekend. There is a model show coming up, and I hope to have the whole stern finished by then.

She is looking grand Mark         The rudder is just a minor setback,I have the utmost respect for you for going ahead and reworking it.It makes me think,back in the day before internet forums,you just used to see pics of completed models in books and magazines and the reader assumed wrongly that everything went smoothly with the build.I wonder how many were discouraged when their efforts didn't meet muster the first time around?
I now view a project as just that,to build a model of 'X',whatever has to find it's way in the scrap bin between start and completion is immaterial
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Here are some more progress shots. Finished the upper planking on the port side over the past week. I still need to trim up some of the over hanging planks and sand everything smooth but she is together. Now it's time to attempt the lower hull. I've been putting this off as I still struggle with planking this area with all the curves and size changes. I've been reading up and watching videos for tips and practicing so I am as ready as I will be. Just have to keep telling myself to go slow, draw it out first, measure twice cut once, and if it starts to look wrong stop and see what is going on. I find I will stay focused on a small section and lose the over all perspective. That always leads to planking that may look great in a section but is doing something crazy elsewhere.
 
Wish me luck fellow ship builders! I will keep the log updated with how it is going.

Well I have started the lower hull planking. I'm using Mahogany for this area. I have sectioned off portions of the hull and after determining the number of strakes that will be needed, (22 in this case) I have divided out each section to determine the widths of each plank. My widest is 5mm tapering to 3.5mm at the extremities. After doing some reading I have learned that a plank should not taper to less than half the width which would be 2.5mm. At 3.5mm I am good with 1mm left to play with if I did something wrong with my layout, (which is quite possible).
 
I started by laying the garboard strake first. I decided to start from just forward of mid ship and work aft and upward. I will come back to plank the forward portion later. Next I measured out 80mm lengths for the individual planking. This would come out to be about 8 meters or 26 feet on the real ship. I'm sure this is probably too long of length for an actual plank but I think it looks good on the model. If anyone knows what an average plank length should be I would be interested to know.
 
I've also had to curve and taper the planks as needed though nothing too extreme yet. I've tried to show this in a couple of pictures but as the shape is minor it may be hard to see.. As I've laid each strake I have set the starting plank back 20mm from the preceding strake's edge.
 
So far I think it is coming out right. At least I'm still on track with my plan..... 

A full day of planking has ended on a high note in that so far my layout seems to be working. So far I am very happy with the way it is looking and it is quickly on it's way to being the best planking job I've done to date. I still have a long way to go so the ultimate verdict is still a long way out but, if things continue to go like thy have, I believe I will have a nice looking hull.
 
One tool that has been a huge help is a triangular needle file. To get the planks that go over the widest curves on the hull to lay flush along their edges I have been going in and angle filing the underside of the previously laid plank so the new one can slip under it and close out the joint. See the pictures below. This is keeping the joints nice and tight so hopefully I will not need any filler on this 2nd planking.
 
I still have not done much at the bow yet. The couple of strakes that have reached there have turned out good though. I will be focusing on the bow area in the next few days as I gradually make my way forward.
 
Also, I know some of these pictures are not the best. I am using my phone to take these progress shots as that is easier than clearing off the table and setting up the good camera and background boards for nicer photos. I will take some of those when I hit a bigger milestone, say when half the hull is planked. I will definitely need to clean up all the sawdust then anyway!

Almost have the starboard side planked. Hopefully this weekend will allow me to finish it. I'm still very pleased with the results I'm seeing. Even around the bow which was my biggest fear has so far been coming along as planned. I'm getting real excited to see it complete. Yes, I still have a whole other side to plank but I will hopefully be able to do it with less fear and worry if I know that what I'm doing actually works.
 

So great news! I've managed to spend the past four hours finishing up the starboard planking. I am very pleased in that I have finally planked a ship with no stealers nor any drop planks. I have 22 strakes plus the garboard from bow to stern. Granted I have to replicate this on the port side but I am confident I can do this now. I think all that reading I have been doing over the past several months on planking has finally sank into my head. One day I may even be able to do it in one planking but lets not rush things. Haha.
 
I've done some initial sanding on the hull but will of course do more before I apply a finish. I must say that the Mahogany wood from Crown Timberyard has been great to work with. Much better than what came with the kit. I honestly do not think I could have gotten the same results using the kit supplied wood as the strips edges left a lot to be desired in terms of straight and square. They do work fine in small areas and for deck furniture so I do not feel they were a complete waste. 
 
Now it's onward to the port side. I will start layout tomorrow and planking also perhaps. As always enjoy the pictures and thanks for stopping by.  

Congratulations Bob,absolutely fabulous work    
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

MIGHTY fine planking work Jason!!!!!!!
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thanks for the comments and the "likes"...
 
Here's the rudder ready to hang.   Once the cudgeons are on the hull, I'll add the rudder coat and mount it.  I'll probably pin it to the sternpost from the inside of the hull just to keep it in place as I'll be flipping the hull over a few more times before cutting it loose and mounting it to a cradle.
 
I made a judgement call after testing on some scrap about the bolts.  Not going to happen.  If the bolts are visible, they're oversize by an order of magnitude.  If' they're just the right size, they're invisible.  
 
I also did some testing to compare Jax Black to Birchwood Casey Black.  Not much difference except maybe the Birchwood Casey is a bit blacker and also seems to cover silver solder better.
 
Been a busy of testing this stuff.  
 
Ok.. pictures.....
 
First piccy shows the old and the new together.  I'm happier with the new and the old is hitting the scrap box.   The second pic has a dummy sternpost next to it.  I've got a big smile on that one.  
 

 

Mates,
 
Thanks for the likes and comments.
 
Peter thanks for dropping in and posting. I, also, as a landlubber, have tended to follow the look of builds that I admire. And yes it seems as if the deadeye alignments are the examples to follow, but I would imagine that your notions are actually correct. Your description makes entirely good sense.
 
I, then went back through some files, and did, in fact, notice variations with the museum's and the 1/10th. My mindset ignored "seeing" these.
 
Noted, thanks I will continue to eyeball them, but I will also be less stressed if I see minor variations. Thanks again for your thoughts.
 
Regards,
 
Michael

The backing panels for the six sculptures that will adorn the bulkhead are now in position. 
 

 
This partial view of the Van de Velde sketch shows the area in question and above the backing panels are decorative carvings with rectangular protrusions.
 

 
The picture below shows these decorative carvings in process. Using my table saw, partial cuts were taken in two directions to create the raised areas. next I will form each carving and separate them later for mounting on the buklhead.
 

 
More to follow.............

After separation, some of the detail has been carved into one of the pieces.
 

 
With final finishing, the piece is mounted above the vertical panel.
 

 
More to follow................

Progress continues on the bulkhead sculptures with the mounting of the six carved pieces above the vertical panels. They are carved from English Boxwood.
 

 
More to follow.............

The first photo shows the boxwood blank to be used for the pedestal that the carved figure will stand on along side of one already rough carved.
 

 
This photo shows two of the carved pedestals mounted on the bulkhead ready for the carved figures to come. Note the darker colour of the Boxwood as I milled some new stock yesterday from a 60 year old piece of Boxwood I was saving for the carvings.
 

 
More to follow...................

Taking a break from carving the pedestals, I fabricated the ladder shown in the next photo.
 

 
More to follow...............

Congratulations Bob,absolutely fabulous work    
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thank you Grant and Bob
I tried the paint route,didn't look right,so that idea aborted The issue is the massive difference in colour between the boxwood I use for carving and the box used for general construction and planking.
This is further complicated by the fact I am not prepared to carve every detail on the model,kit castings will be used where appropriate.
The plan is that everything was always going to be box and ebony,no other colours anywhere.I am prepared to make one exception and that is the decoration,so now I have tried my 'get out of jail card'.
The pic is of the carving with gilding paste applied.This stuff buffs up to a high sheen,does not obscure detail and does not have the metallic flakes prominent like paint.
This does present another problem in that you cannot cover it with Poly,even if you spray it on,it turns milky.This would mean doweling the carvings and fitting all the ornamentation when the hull and decks are complete and fitted out.
The pic really doesn't do it justice.The combination of iphone camera and a dark and dingy wet day don't help.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

After shaping the bottom figure,I decided to relieve the back of the carving.This lended to a more 3d appearance allowing me to open up the area between the legs.
 
Since taking these pics,the carving has been separated from the stock and has had a thin coat of yellow ochre acrylic.The reasoning behind this is that the wood I use for carving is far too yellow for this model.The carving would not blend with other boxwood the hull is planked with. I hope that after applying a coat of poly it will blend better.If not,it is small enough to strip and try again to find a suitable method.If I get this right,it means I can use the cast wreaths around the gunports.These are good quality from a detail point of view and a better alternative to carving 22 identical ones!!
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thank you very much indeed Nigel
 
The upper character is now complete(well apart from the great lump of boxwood to be cut off later )
 
I have now started on roughing out the lower one.This one is crouched down with hands together
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thank you very much Don and Jason
 
The reason I chose epoxy in this instance Jason is two fold.Firstly,I couldn't guarantee a perfect fit to the inside of the planking.The epoxy fills gaps whereas pva does not.Secondly,epoxy sticks to ebony better than pva and I needed this joint to be as strong as possible.
 
Ok,I have now started work on the decorative figures that run between the windows.These are to be carved out of boxwood(yes I know,I can see where this is heading   )I could cast them,but they are all different due to the angles involved.I am trying to mirror what is illustrated on the kit castings.
This is the start of the first piece.It comprises of two figures on top of one another.I have started with the top one as I want the feet to fall on the rail below the windows.This is very much in the roughing stage.Weight loss,breast reduction,then detailing are on the menu
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Congratulations Bob,absolutely fabulous work    
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hi All,
 
Not a real update, but figured I'd post this early in case this helps someone out. I know Udo is currently working on his beakhead planking.
 
In doing a test fit of the beakhead doors, I found they did not fit as they were too high for the openings in the bulkhead.   Checking the plans, I found the doors matched the drawing of the completed beakhead on sheet 4, but were indeed higher than the door openings for the beakhead bulkhead G as detailed on sheet 3. An early test fit of a door should show if your kit has the same issue.
 
I've now increased the height for two of the four doors as you can see in the picture below of a test fit. I've also put a door next to the unchanged openings as a reference using a deck plank to set the height.  Pretty glad I found this now as normally the doors are added after finish out of much of the interior bow decking, furniture and painting.
 
Hope this is useful.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 
 

My Cheerful is now complete. I have mounted the anchors, which was the last remaining work to be done. As I indicated earlier, I was having trouble coming up with a mounting plan with which I was happy. My solution, after reviewing photos of contemporary models, and trying out various configurations, was to mount the two anchors differently. On the congested port side, I chose to go with lashing the anchor to two timberheads, without a cable or cat block. On the more open starboard side, I went with the anchor hanging from the cat block, with a cable leading back to the windlass and being tied off to it, as shown on the Rogers collection model. 
 
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you on MSW who have followed this build and provided the kind of support, encouragement and friendship that we have come to expect from the members of this site. I also want to thank Chuck for coming up with this project and the products to support it. It has been one of the most enjoyable builds that I have done.
 
Attached are photos of the anchor installation and the  model's completion portraits.
 
For those interested, my next build will be the Caldercraft Granado. A full description of the reasons for the choice and my plans for the build will be set out in the log that I will be starting today in the kit build section ( how's that for a cheap ploy to get all of you to look at the new log      ).
 
Bob