KeithAug

Eric - I have to agree with Brian - those clamps are enormous. Did you run out of clothes pegs? Deck looking good.

Nicely done Hakan. But of course it is much more difficult for those who only own a number 11 scalpel. Now if you only had a lathe you could spend months working out the best way of turning coamings. 😬

Druexy - I sort of imagined they would have many uses when first liberated about 10 years ago. They are nice and springy. We could invent a game - The "what rubbish do you have in your modelling draw" game. Nil points Pat.

Andy its a fairing guide - so I know when to stop sanding.

Andy / Brick - they must have been made in their billions. Now sadly cosigned to that technological scrap heap in the sky. Brick - it's not your age - they date from 1990's. Thank you John.

The weather continues to be unseasonably mild with the workshop hovering around 13c. Unfortunately progress has been somewhat disturbed by family commitments. In the following 2 images I have balanced felt tip pens on the floors which are installed at the correct level. The ones without pens are just bracings for the frames. The boiler room floor is just above the keel and hence does little to brace the frames in this area. Additional balsa wood blocks are installed to brace the frames in this area. These will be removed once the planking is suitably advanced. Now for something you will all recognise - a short lived technology no longer with us! I saved these because I thought they would come in handy at some time. I wanted some very thin but stiff shims to insert in the cut lines for the deck. This supported deck edge pieces while the glue dried. I also cut out all the up-stands that were originally used in combination with the alignment rods. I also glued in the prop shaft tube.

Beautifully precise work👏

Interesting model. I'm looking forward to following.

luddite - Lathes and mills just introduce further layers of problem solving opportunities - and flanges can be made out of metal - like the real ones are.😀

Fascinating model. I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.

All looking very neat Mark. I like the idea of the rubber bands pulling the planks together.

Ian - my view is that planking is an art not a science. My preference is to start at the deck and make my way towards the keel - however hulls can be very different in shape and what works best for one won't necessarily work best for another. My advice would be not to worry too much about all those youtube videos and just make a start. It was easier before the internet because it was just a case of suck and see. The main thing to bear in mind is that planks should bend in their narrow direction and not in their wide direction. You will find that the first plank naturally wants to go on while only bending in its narrow direction (i.e it follows its natural curvature). Your tendency will be to try and force it to follow a different line (like the deck edge). Doing this forces it to bend in the wide direction. If you force it too much the plank will start to twist producing a clinker effect which is undesirable. I could go on at length but my best advice would be to put a few planks on, then post an update and request advice as you go. Your frame is looking nicely made. The planking is going to be quite difficult across the final 4 frames because they change shape quite dramatically.

The more you practice the luckier you get.

Ras - that's really impressive but I bet the auto spell checker had something to do with its UPS capabilities.🙂 One tip with the turning - high speed steel turning tool can be ground to be much sharper than carbide tipped tools. I generally find HSS tools give a much better finish when turning soft metals such as brass.

Nice little lathe Ras.

It looks pretty good to me. As a lamp shade it is a fail.

Rick I assume she is still up for sale. I seem to remember reading an article that suggested she would be a difficult sale because her steam propulsion limited the market to enthusiasts. Presumably the yuppy boat buyers all want the convenience of instant diesel power. A pity really as she may be deteriorating in storage for some time. She really needs to go the a bunch of steam enthusiasts to be operated as a working museum ship for the benefit of the public at large. Hopefully she will find a deserving owner. Tom - I bet she would win the argument. Hakan - Thank you but my philosophy is not to prod a sleeping tiger.

I spent a rather uncomfortable afternoon in the large bay just off the Bowmore Distillery. It was rather windy and the bay (although shallow enough to anchor) doesn't offer much protection. About 8pm we abandoned the anchorage and set off on a very cold trip to Port Ellen. What I remember most was the cheese and fresh chilli sandwiches that were served just after our departure. They made a cold, overcast and miserable evening quite bearable. We arrived at Port Ellen too late for the pub. I much prefer the Speyside whiskeys - much more mellow. I do have a bottle of Chivas Regal 12 years in the cabinet but blended whiskeys can't really be counted as proper Islay spirits.

Thank you for the complements Phil. In this instance the mistake would have become obvious when the screw didn't fit in the correct position relative to the stern post. Thank you also Roel, Eberhard, Druxey and John.

Currently out of stock - https://eccentricengineering.com.au/shop/Turnado-With-The-Lot-p178595904

I hope it's not Lagavulin. Islay whiskeys all taste like cough medicine to me. It's all those phenolic compounds from the peaty water. I remember some very bad headaches from my sailing trips to Port Ellen.

Hakan - how thick are the planks - remember the intention isn't to revert to the lampshade plan

Phil, Tom, Pat - you are all too kind ---- and a good balance to my wife who finds plenty to critisise about me. The weather here continues to be mild. Yesterday Scotland had it warmest January day ever recorded - 19c. In the south it was somewhat cooler, never making it above a pleasant 14c. Apparently a southerly wind is blowing straight up from the Sahara delivering plenty of warmth and tons of red dust. the dust hasn't arrived yet. All this means that I got plenty of time in the workshop over the weekend. This is a good thing because the rest of the week is taken up with Grandparent duties. Anyway here is the update. Having got to the area of the prop shaft I decided to be clever and install the prop shaft tunnel now rather than later. The final section of keel has a knuckle and I very carefully shaped the aft keel piece so that the inner edge provided the alignment reference for the prop shaft. I know that sounds confusing but all may become clear later. The aft keel piece was installed and glued in place. I then turned the shaft tunnel and cut a slot along its length. This slot is inserted into the keel to locate the tunnel in its correct position and at the correct angle. I thought I would avoid cutting away the frames that supported the keel so I cut the shaft tunnel into segments and glued these in place. The next picture should make clear my earlier confusing description. Now that would have been great if only I hadn't messed up the position of the shaft. This was about 1/8" below where it needed to be (i.e too high in the hull). The good thing was that I found this now rather than later. So off it came and on to plan B. The aft keel section was well stuck by this stage so it was a case of some tricky sawing to get the alignment section back to where it needed to be. I remade the shaft tunnel and threw away the idea of fitting it in segments. it was a daft idea after all. I then glued it in place having checked and rechecked it was in the right place. I then proceeded with installing the last of the frames. I also installed slotted keel pieces, the slot being necessary to take the somewhat elaborate stern post. The bracing "floors" also continued to go in. The final keel piece then went in. This final piece defines the angle of the transom which I think I got right. Then I left it overnight and everything dried rock solid. If I screwed anything up this is now all firewood.😬

That is brilliant.

I recommend Macallan Double Cask 15 year old. My son is in Malmo on Thursday and Friday - giving a medical lecture. Has the weather warmed up yet?