bdgiantman2

Today I made some progress on the transom and frames, including the jig. I’ve been staring at this on my computer
for months in anxiety wondering if this will even make sense let alone work. It did. Some minor adjustments need to be made but I’m very happy with the results. 

the jig is fit to the hull dry and it’s pretty snug in order To keep things lined up properly. There are two pieces of the jig that align all the frames as well as the vertical components of the jig, none of these parts should be glued to the frames otherwise you’re in trouble. There are a series of transverse structure pieces that tie the frames Together and help with QG assembly.

you can also see the gun port framing, this is all laser cut and etched for the gun port sills, they should just slide into place.

The base for the upper balcony was also installed to test fitment and it worked, it’s made up of two pieces one lower and one upper, together they also create the deck camber at the balcony and are a landing for the balcony planking. The notches in the frames help hold their shape and then just clamp the upper on after the lower is dry.



I also ran a test on the longitudinal piece for the gun ports on the lower deck, this also ties all the bulkheads together. On the bottom you will see the etchings for the gunport sills, tomorrow I will cut out the remaining 8 and possibly add
all the sills.

after all the gunport structure is in place and the bulkheads are stabilized, then I can remove the framing jig, the transverse parts of the jig will have to be cut loose in order to lift it out but this shouldn’t be a problem. Another jig will Be made in the center to contain the bulkheads when fairing, I will hopefully build this tomorrow. 
Thanks for looking in! Questions and comments are always welcome.
JJ

My laser control board was delivered this morning, I wasted no time installing and began cutting as soon as the machine was happy again. I made some headway in the structure, I do however have some fine tuning to do and tolerances need to be adjusted. 
Most everything is dry fitted with  zero slop to it, I need to increase the cuts by just a bit in the next model
I modified the design of the longitudinal stiffeners and reduced their size, they are now made up of two pieces and lock together In the middle. This helps with installation as you only have to manage half the bulkheads.
 


This created a very rigid structure with all the bulkheads being well behaved and equally spaced on each side

you can also see the two bow filler pieces that meet bulkhead 3 and overlap the longitudinal stiffener and help to tie the forward bulkheads in with the remaining ones, this keeps the forward part of the model square. The bow pieces all have reference lines for fairing as well. 


From the back side of the model you can see the reference lines for the wales as well as each deck, there are two sets of wales and three decks that will be built, each deck and wale is marked, I will explain more when I build the next model.

like the bow fillers, the lower stern frames also tie into the longitudinal stiffeners to help keep the stern square, there will also be a stern frame jig included as the stern frames are very long and delicate, this will assist in getting the frames properly placed and tied into other structure on the model. I will get this assembled and on the model tomorrow .
For tomorrow I plan to also get the longitudinal guides for the gun ports cut, these are going to be extremely tricky and complex, there will also be a continuation of the stern frame jig to help support all the upper frames when fairing, they are just too tall to leave unsupported.
Thanks for stoping by.
JJ

Small update:
So I’ve had very little progress as I’m experiencing some laser issues which is eating up a lot of material, so until I reach tech support and resolve the issue I’ve decided to postpone anymore attempts at cutting parts, especially AYC. But I’ve got a few bulkheads cut and I’m pleased with how they fit, establishing proper tolerances is challenging, I will find out how well it will go together when I get additional longitudinal structure installed. I hope to be up and running again next week and will make some progress updates.

I have been experimenting with lining off the bulkheads for planking and so far the results look promising on the computer model, marks made on the bullheads are designed to accommodate required fairing. Both sets of wales as well as the deck elevations are also represented.


 

Thank you for the great picture of your collection of rib frame pieces. I had been curious about how you and Chuck as well as many better model builders were making your hull ribs.  Been struggling with making better frames and making those wedge parts looked so fiddly and asking for fractures. Keep up your great skills and I am enjoying this read.
 
Brian D.

Thank you for the great picture of your collection of rib frame pieces. I had been curious about how you and Chuck as well as many better model builders were making your hull ribs.  Been struggling with making better frames and making those wedge parts looked so fiddly and asking for fractures. Keep up your great skills and I am enjoying this read.
 
Brian D.

Thank you for the great picture of your collection of rib frame pieces. I had been curious about how you and Chuck as well as many better model builders were making your hull ribs.  Been struggling with making better frames and making those wedge parts looked so fiddly and asking for fractures. Keep up your great skills and I am enjoying this read.
 
Brian D.

Square frames (pt. 2)
Hi guys,
 
Moving ahead I decided to cut out the remaining square frames from sheet and mill all 140 scarph joints. A real exercise in patience, like doing guns.

Mike

Not luck... but skill.   Very well done.

The construction came to an end after approx. 4600 hours. All that remains is to post a few last photos and thank all the followers for watching and commenting on the progress of the model construction. Thank you.

Update: I've remade a handful of frames and am plodding through the steps already described to get them into play.  The next step requires all frames to be present and correct.
In the meantime, I had a very pleasant visit to Royal Museums Greenwich (a.k.a. The National Maritime Museum).  The only plan of Berwick showing the stern decoration and figurehead, J2632, is not available online in hi-res and I am glad to say I was allowed to view the original.  The detail is superb and, I confess, more elaborate than I had imagined.  There was a 'what have I done?' moment but it passed.
For copyright compliance reasons I will not post the images taken directly from the original.  However, I have begun a crude process of digitally separating the components and looking for clues as to what was carved and what was painted.  It is based on J2632 but is modified enough to allow me to comfortably post it here.
This is work-in-progress, a tool to get me closer to the finished model and will evolve.  Plan A at the moment is to start on the stern decoration as soon as the re-drawing is completed, the figurehead later.
 

 

Job well done on this construction of Winnie! Your build was a lot of fun to follow and thank you for all of your great explanations and tips. 

Thank you for the great pieces of advice you're sharing with all of us and this beautifuly made model ship. Your hawse timbers look perfect.
 
Brian D

Thank you for the great pieces of advice you're sharing with all of us and this beautifuly made model ship. Your hawse timbers look perfect.
 
Brian D

I had a feeling that would be getting better results using a table saw to make those slots for where the ribs mount to the keel or for the building jig block. *SIGHS* I really wish I had the money to afford a table saw. Knew that the scroll saw wasn't accurate enough for those cuts

Great looking first few ribs, Mr. Passaro, and thank you so much for the well explained instructions thus far. I am guessing that those grooves you have made in the taller ribs double up not only as the markers for the railings but also be the marker guides for the shorter ribs and using the same puzzle construction for them? I will look forward to much more on this project.
 
Brian D

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I last updated my progress on the shipyard but I managed to find some time to get an update in.
 
Day 25
I was able to get most of the cabinets painted up and finally started work on the benchtops. I forgot to take pictures of the painting, but who really wants to watch paint dry anyway?
Started off with my workstation area, just a simple corner desk that will hold my monitors and other assorted computer accessories. This section will be a few inches lower than the rest of the bench, for ergonomic reasons. I've found it hard to spend 8-10 hours a day at work on a 36" desktop. 

 
All of the bracing up, painted and ready for the tops to be installed.


 
Corner top installed.

 
More of the benchtops cut and installed.

 
Day 26
My original plan for the benchtop was to build it out of MDF, paint it black, then print out a bunch of old ship pictures and plans and glue then to the benchtop, then coat the whole thing in clear epoxy resin. That was until I found out that the price of MDF has just gotten stupid expensive. So I did some re-thinking and decided to go with some OSB and matte black Formica. This cut the benchtop cost in half.

Prepping the first piece of Formica for gluing.

 
and the first section is in.

 
Moving along with the Formica.




 
Day 27
With the Formica all installed it was time to trim the edges of the benchtop out. I went the cheap method with this and used 2x4's to make the trim. I ripped the 2x4's and rounded them on both sides to give a nice bullnose edge that is easy on the forearms. Again I forgot to take pictures of the ripping an rounding process, but here is the first piece going in.

 
Day 28
With the trim work in it was time to start moving a few things in. I had to clear off my current adjustable workbench so that I could get it painted up and the top modified to where it will work in my new shipyard. The benchtop edging was given a coat of stain and varnish and I moved my organizers in.

 
Day 29
I had a few short upper cabinets left over that I couldn't figure out what to do with, when it finally hit me. The would provide great overhead storage for my reloading powders and primers. They would be high enough to keep the grandkids from getting into them and still be accessible to my reloading bench. Had planned on installing a piece of 1" flat steel on the wall in this area and use magnets to hold my building plans on. Instead I installed a piece of steel angle iron to help support the uppers and also function as magnetic plan holder.

 
Finally I started moving my stash in. I left this corner open for the sole purpose of storing my future builds.

 
And I moved my reloading bench in as well. There will be additional shelves above the bench mounted to the stringers that are currently on the wall. Just need to get those built. I'm going to also make a few modifications to this bench to help hide some of the clutter, but that will come later on.

 
I've got my adjustable workbench out of the house and is currently waiting on paint and some trim. I'll have photos of that project on my next update. Just a few more items on my to-do list and the room should be ready to start creating some sawdust again.
 
Thank you all for stopping by.
 
-Brian
 
 
 

I had a feeling that would be getting better results using a table saw to make those slots for where the ribs mount to the keel or for the building jig block. *SIGHS* I really wish I had the money to afford a table saw. Knew that the scroll saw wasn't accurate enough for those cuts

After a delay due to life-stuff, I am back in the fiddleyard.
 
Having made the frame half-sections in pairs and fours (post #3) and then butt-jointed two together to make a complete frame (post #18), I did some quality checking. 
A few assemblies failed inspection and were remade from spare stock.  I made about 50% more than needed when milling the Swiss pear to cover the learning curve but, so far, I have only had to remake four frames.  All pieces got a very light sanding, had their identifying marks freshened up after all that handling and checked one last time.  Once satisfied, it was time to cut the slot in each that would locate it accurately where it belonged on the building board.  As bdgiantman2 mentions above, this stage appears demanding. The slot in each frame piece must be dead centre and a good fit on the spine running centrally on the board; if not, any slop will show up later and cause headache and grief. Getting this right started with the fussy approach taken earlier to getting each of the half-frames aligned precisely in the assembly jig.
So, to business. The butt-jointed frames all have their centre-line at a perfect right angle to the straight line across the top, sort of visible in this photo:

In order to put the slot consistently in the same place on all (50+) frames a jig and fixture were needed.
The fixture first. It consists of two pieces of hardwood, sapele I believe, planed smooth, square and parallel; an offcut of Swiss pear as a spacer the same thickness as the frames to be held; and a thumbscrew and M6 wood insert. A couple of woodscrews finished it off.
 

The pear was sandwiched between the two pieces of hardwood and then, after predrilling, two woodscrews pull them together.

The assembly must sit flat without any rocking. I ran a plane along the bottom to make sure. In use, the threaded insert will be at the back on the right and the thumbscrew faces the operator. 

The gap between the pear spacer and the thumbscrew is large enough to accommodate the widest of Berwick’s frames. A line is permanently marked in this gap and a clearance slot on the bottom is scribed accurately on it.

This fixture, with a frame clamped in place, will slide right and left between two fixed stops. The saw is prepared by mounting my sexy auxiliary fence with a travel stop to limit travel to the left and the standard Byrnes fence to the right. Trial and error produced a good, snug fit. 

Cutting the slot, with the fixture at full travel to the right:

… and to the left:

 
The finished slot:

A test piece was aligned, clamped and passed back and forth over the blade. It worked well, the test piece fitted snugly on the spine:

Time to try it for real. Profile ‘L’ is one of the wider profiles. Line up the centre-line, re-tighten the left and right stops and go.

Viewed from below after cutting but before removing the workpiece:
 

 
I am happy with the fit and, as long as I am careful lining up the joint on the profile assemblies and don’t touch the locking screws on the stops, they should all be consistent.

Fifty-three to go.

If good at using a scroll saw it could be done, but most likely wouldn't have as pretty an outcome as this laser product and a time-consuming attempt. Having wood files and proper sanding blocks are a big help either way. 
 
I personally have never used chisels building a model ship and honestly hesitant to try.  

McDonald's was the first job I had,  and I do remember the hysteria of some customers over that sandwich.  I agree it was overrated for what you got.

You and Mike do some of the cleanest plank work on the net.

Adding the forward cant frames went rather quickly. Fairing them took me about three days, maybe more. Transitioning the deadwood into each cant frame had to be done carefully. I'm always finding the need to refine the previous fairing work after new frames are added, though less each time.
 
I added the 3/64" P1 and P2 filler pieces to each side of the stem as well.


Mike

Keeping the cants vertical is really important. When the spacing started to get tight, I simply angled the machinist square to clear the frame already installed. A strip was used to hold the frame against the machinist square while the glue set. It was easy enough to get the right strip thickness by adding layers of painters tape. At the top of each frame, I added boxwood wedges to fill the gap between the frame and the numbered support strip. This ties everything together and should give a lot more support when fairing the cants.

It's hard to see the true run of the cant footing since some of these cants are further away from the keel than others. Actually, the square frames where the same way, giving me the false impression that they would not fair in properly. I'm sure that things will work out okay for the cants as well.

Mike
 

Your progress looks really good so far, Bruce. You also are at the place where I find myself in trouble most, getting the notch right for the building block - or with my case building a model of the Brig Eagle, the place where the keel and the keelson timbers will be connecting on the frames. 

Your models are fantastic, Ben!! And safe moving. I find it interesting that even though both of your ship models are British 5th rates, that the Winnie is that much bigger than Pegasus. Or was Pegasus actually a 6th rate?