ca.shipwright

Another Decision Time for another decision. As I plank the rest of the hull with the under layer, I have to decide whether or not to install the dummy canons before I close up the hull. Since I plan to have the canons run out as shown in one of my earlier pictures of the gun ports, the canon do not go all the way in to their shoulders- they only go partially into the hole in the rear of the gun port. I am thinking of using 5 minue epoxy. Taking the canon and puddling some epoxy on the shaft behind the barrel, placing the canon in the hole of the gun port, ( the holes I drilled are slightly under-sized for the canon end of the mounting pin to get them to be run out) stand the ship on its side so that the canon is facing up, and letting the epoxy flow down to the rear piece of the gun port and wait for it to set up. This will also give me enough time to adjust the barrels for evenness. I am toying with the idea of making a plug slightly smaller the the gunport opening with a hole the diameter of the canon to slip over the canon to hold it in place while the expoxy hardens. If this looks like it will work, I can go to 30 minute epoxy and jiggle to my heart's content. I am afraid that if I use CA, it will set up to fast to adjust the canon. Comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

This is a repost of an earlier unformated post. The photos remain above. Sorry for hiccups. Port Side Planking Finished 12 views2 comments Edited: 2 days ago Finished the port side planking today. I must say it came out much better than the starboard side. The port holes are framed more evenly. I got closer to the 1/32 lip on the gun ports. I used the NWSL chopper that I had forgotten about for cutting. What a difference over freehand. First the stripes: The width of the black and tan stripes are dead on. 12 mm on the black and 9/16 inch for the tan. This carries through for the entire run. The runs are very smooth except at the stern on the port side where there is a little dip. Where I run into trouble is that my hull seems to have more sheer then maybe it should.. I have measured from several different reference points and can't seem to locate and differences. The India ink worked wonderfully. There are several things that you need to know about ebonizing with this ink. First , use only Archieval grade which will not fade. Second, if it gets on anything, it is a scissors' stain. Third, since the ink is only on the surface of the wood, it is rather easy to scrape or sand it off. I stained the different strips before glueing with 2 coats of the ink. I then put a protective coat of Wipe-on-Poly. I glued the black lower stripe and the lowest tan strip. I then sanded the tan stripe before putting the next black stripe on. More Wipe-on-Poly. This really brought the tan color out on the boxwood. Continued black, tan, black, tan up to the rails. A final touch-up with the ink and a little more poly and that is that. I came out with a 1 -2 mm asymmetry starboard to port- the tan stripe a little low or the black stripe a little high. I'll live with it. The most difficult item was the anchor stock wales. Amidship, they lay nice and interlock beautifully. It does get very dicey with the split planks and the slight curve of the sheer as you move forward or aft. I gave myself a C for the starboard side and a B for the port side. We are our own worst critics. A couple of photos are attached Starboard Side For some reason, there seems to be a camera issue with the bow having a wave that you don't see in the side view. On to planking the lower hull. This should go much faster. I am not looking forward to planking the bluff bow down the road. Just putting one foot in front of the other. Regards to all

The starboard hull planking is finished except for the bow area. There were lots of challenges in planking the Victory’s hull. The first challenge is that the optics of the sheer of the planking colliding with the straight, parallel lines of the stripes gets very confusing. Even with the hull lined out and light stripes colored, it takes a huge amount of concentration to get what you are trying to accomplish. Am I doing a sheer plank or a split plank for the stripe, or both? Ebonizing the boxwood with India Ink to simulate the ebony worked better than I hoped. The India Ink and wipe on poly were put on the strips that I milled after the milling and before installation. It does pay to put a dab of the ink on the end of the cut plank before you glue it. First lesson: The sheer of the ship has to flatten out as you approach midship. No matter how you try, the planking wants to angle to level rather than curve into the bend. Not to worry; it all works out in the end. Second lesson: My doing the 1/32” lip on the gun port leaves a lot to be desired. They vary too much and most are too wide. This is due to variation of the between ports strips being not exactly even. Trying to shave them down to make the 3 or 4 planks once they are glued is messy and not very effective. I have a solution for the port side. I will edge glue these planks and then trim them using either the True Sander or the Byrnes disc sander to get the exact length. Should give me a nice straight edge and my sought after 1/32” lip. Third lesson: My use of the red Sharpie did not work well. It smeared when rubbed with the Wipe-on-Poly and looks terrible. I tried to redo the lips and inside of the port with bulworks red paint. This is another task that in next to impossible. I am going to have to live with this on the starboard side. I am going to sand off the Sharpe red on the port side and totally reline out the hull. Repaint with the bulworks red paint and go from there. Fourth Lesson: A model has two sides to the hull. The first side you work on and finish is the practice side. You then take the lessons you learned and the skills you have developed with you to the other side. This side of the hull will come out great. This is the side which will be displayed. The practice side will wind up against the wall never to be seen again. This is the proof of the truism that Bob Hunt says not to go plank by plank on both sides. I can see it now. The reason is so simple. Not only are the sides not exact mirror images, you will make the same mistake twice. The bow area is going to have some special requirements. Among them is a slight upward sweep of the stripes at the bow. The 1/16” strips can’t be bent. They will be laminated out of 2 1/32” strips, one glued on top of another. The anchor stock wales will have to custom fit because of the upward sweep. I will make a paper pattern to get the proper shape. They too will be laminated. I am pleased to say the the black and white stripes are all dead-on width wise. In this last photo there appears to be some camera paralax toward the front of the ship. The stripes are even all the way down. One another note. I am glad that I can accurately mill my own wood courtesy of Mr. Byrnes' fantastic machines. If I had to by strip lumber, this kit would cost a fortune to build. On to planking the lower hull. This should go much faster. I am not looking forward to planking the bluff bow down the road. Just putting one foot in front of the other Thanks for looking in. Comments and suggestions are always welcome. Regards

Darrell, I bought the Niagara after seeing one at the NRG show on the Queen Mary an eon ago. I thought it was one beautifu ship But, having visited Victory and examined her from stem to stern a over 2 days, she went the head of the way. I have since sold Niagara. A man can rig just so many cannon. And the Victory has 104. Every model ship builder should build one first rate ship model. Thanks for dropping in and the kind words.

OK How do we remove the formatting in a copy and paste post. Thanks

Your ship's boats are some of the best I've seen in 20 years of modeling.

Very nicely done.

An easy way is: scale you have/scale you want 64/72 = 0.88 Set the copier to 88% and away you go. As a mental check, when going smaller, the copy number is less than one. When going larger the copy number is greater than one. Hope this helps

If you use a number 2 pencil, as I do, Make sure you do not color only the top edge corner of the plank. Color the entire side edge. If you don't, when it comes time to finish sanding the deck, you may sand all the color off and wind up with no caulking. Please don't as me how I know this. Regards

Found the book through Clare Hess, a Model Ship World member. Isn't life grand!!!!!!!

Jesse, What a great idea for making the knees. This goes into my tips and tricks file. Thanks for sharing. Regards

Danny, Do you happen to have the Asian sites; URLs by chance. I tried Google and there are very poor search results. Can you kind out what the least expensive cost is two mail about a 2.5 lb. book to Richmond, VA, USA? I would be greatful.

Dave, You are making me dread rigging my Endeavour. This looks like a never ending tale. Maybe that's why I keep working on the Victory and procrastinate on the Endeavour. Yours is looking real good. Regards

Keith, Keeps looking better and better. Very nice work indeed! Regards

E J, I have thoroughly enjoyed your build. I have always thought the La Couronne was the most beautiful ship of that era, and, your model just reinforces this. I can't believe you finished in less than 1000 hours. This is truly a job well done!!! Regards

Bottom line: Copyright protection is granted for 70 years in the US, whether the author is alive or dead. It makes no difference if the book is out of print, the copyright is still in force.

Thanks Kurt and Doug. A world wide search turned up 42 copies for sale. Prices were $195.00 to $4995.00 (no typo). I must be loosing my mind. I can wait. The Connie is about 18 months out on the ways as I work on my Victory.

Thanks Danny. Postage from AUS is $50 US for a total of $122 US. I am going to do what Doug did and watch and wait for a reasonable price. My Connie build is probably 2 years out- lots of time yet.

Well, Under the heading of "If it seems to good to be true, it usually is". Just received notice that the AOS Constitution,from Bookbyte, is all of a sudden out of stock and a refund is issued. So much for the bargain. The seller must have woken up.

Amazing isn't it. Thanks again Ken

Thanks Ken. It's on the way. Chuck- it did not occur to me that a PDF copy would be a copyright violation. With all the e- everything, including books, I thought it was legitimate. My apologies. I like to think I am more ethical than this. Bye the way, it appears that the book is out of print. Even the Constitution Museum store where I ordered it 3 weeks ago can't get a copy.

Zoly, I sure would like to give it a try. Let me know how to procede. Thanks

Hi Folks, I'm looking to buy a copy of the AOS 44 Gun Frigate Constitution by Marquardt. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Starboard side planking completed The starboard hull planking is finished except for the bow area. There were lots of challenges in planking the Victory’s hull. The first challenge is that the optics of the sheer of the planking colliding with the straight, parallel lines of the stripes gets very confusing. Even with the hull lined out and light stripes colored, it takes a huge amount of concentration to get what you are trying to accomplish. Am I doing a sheer plank or a split plank for the stripe, or both? Ebonizing the boxwood with India Ink to simulate the ebony worked better than I hoped. The India Ink and wipe on poly were put on the strips that I milled after the milling and before installation. It does pay to put a dab of the ink on the end of the cut plank before you glue it. First lesson: The sheer of the ship has to flatten out as you approach amidship. No matter how you try, the planking wants to angle to level rather than curve into the bend. Not to worry; it all works out in the end. Second lesson: My doing the 1/32” lip on the gun port leaves a lot to be desired. They vary too much and most are too wide. This is due to variation of the between ports strips being not exactly even. Trying to shave them down to make the 3 or 4 planks once they are glued is messy and not very effective. I have a solution for the port side. I will edge glue these planks and then trim them using either the True Sander or the Byrnes disc sander to get the exact length. Should give me a nice straight edge and my sought after 1/32” lip. Third lesson: My use of the red Sharpie did not work well. It smeared when rubbed with the Wipe-on-Poly and looks terrible. I tried to redo the lips and inside of the port with bulworks red paint. This is another task that in next to impossible. I am going to have to live with this on the starboard side. I am going to sand off the Sharpe red on the port side and totally reline out the hull. Repaint with the bulworks red paint and go from there. Fourth Lesson: A model has two sides to the hull. The first side you work on and finish is the practice side. You then take the lessons you learned and the skills you have developed with you to the other side. This side of the hull will come out great. This is the side which will be displayed. The practice side will wind up against the wall never to be seen again. This is the proof of the truism that Bob Hunt says not to go plank by plank on both sides. I can see it now. The reason is so simple. Not only are the sides not exact mirror images, you will make the same mistake twice. The bow area is going to have some special requirements. Among them is a slight upward sweep of the stripes at the bow. The 1/16” strips can’t be bent. They will be laminated out of 2 1/32” strips, one glued on top of another. The anchor stock wales will have to custom fit because of the upward sweep. I will make a paper pattern to get the proper shape. They too will be laminated. As I looked at the finished starboard hull, I can really see how my work improved as you go forward. Repetition is the ultimate skill builder. And, the Victory has a lot of repetition. Overall, I am quite pleased how this side came out. After a short time out to reorganize and clean up the shop, it’s off to the port side. I am pleased to say the the black and white stripes are all done on width wise. In this last photo there appears to be some camera paralax toward the front of the ship. The stripes are even all the way down. One another note. I am glad that I can accurately mill my own wood courtesy of Mr. Byrnes' fantastic machines. If I had to by strip lumber, this kit would cost a fortune to build. Thanks for looking in. Comments and suggestions are always welcome. Regards Word 2010.lnk