KeithAug

Components used thus far making the beam engine. 
 
 After doing research when I start to make a thing I immediately go through my stash of bits and pieces. I look at each piece thinking if it or a version of it can be used. Those aha pieces go into my working bit tray along with the maybe pieces.
 
 I look at this process like it's kitting up the pieces for a model but not knowing if all the pieces will work. Working at this scale eliminates a lot of the bits I've collected over the years.
 
 Every thing is put together using CA
 
A. Beam and Column
 1. This piece is out of a package of boat davit parts. I used these in the pile driver build for the drum shaft. Here I've used it on the cylinder side of the column. It's had the center cut out.
 2. 1mm etched eye pins. I've used these things on every build, their just so handy and perfect for this scale. I'm using them here for rods.
 3. Cornwall model boats list these as a flange. When I ordered the several weeks ago I did so not having a purpose for them, they looked like they might come in handy. Here they'er used for the beam.
 4. Solid brass ring (I don't remember what they came out of?) used here glued to the top of the dowel.
 5. Brass split ring from craft store's jewelry section used at the bottom of the column. The split ring slips over the dowel, part 5 fits on top of the dowel. It gives the impression of a tapered column. The dowel is too small to make a proper taper.
 6. Very small dowel. 
 
B. Base
 1. Wheel from Tichy Train Group
 2. Pillow blocks from Tichy Train.
 3. Larger etched brass eye pin used here for the control rod from shaft to valves.
 
 C. Water Pump
  1. One hole stanchion. I've used pieces of these for various items, here the base is turned upside down and the length trimmed to pin into the base.
  2. Brass bead fitted over stanchion base to add shape to the water pump. 
 
 D. Cam
 1. Same flange as A, 3. Here I cut off about a third, shaped, drilled hole, and added pin. 

 
 I'll now paint and assemble these components before moving on to making the cylinder, steam chest, and rods. 
 
 
 Thank you to everyone so muck for the kind comments, likes, and support.
 
  Keith

Beautiful work Valeriy.

Ouch! I hope all is going well and that you enjoyed Christmas. The boat yard can always wait until spring.

Beautiful work Valeriy.

He only just made it. Nice bit of detail.

Yes - what Eric said. I hope your Christmas was wonderful.

Excellent work on the hull Phil. You have been busy. The stories keep me well entertained.

..and that boat at first just ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale. Nice job Mark.

The hull painting is underway. I used a good quality household undercoat (Dulux oil based primer-sealer), as it sands nicely. As the boot top line is white & the hull topsides black, I painted the boot top first, in full gloss oil based enamel (Humbrol gloss white). Humbrol seem to have changed the recipe, but it went ok - but 4 coats were needed to get a really opaque layer. The flow was nice straight from the tin, but the density could be better. The underwater paint will be a matt acrylic of some sort, pale grey, or pale blue-grey; the topsides oil based enamel. After the photos I'll put some thoughts on gloss level at scale.
 
I left the masking tape on the timberwork as I'll start the black now. And thanks to Tim Moore of this forum for the recommendation to paint some clear coating on the masking tape joint to reduce likelihood of bleeding under the tape. I did a test to check compatibility - which might be an issue down the track but it seems ok for the short time since i did the test.
 
Undercoated, sanded & with the boot top done:

 

 

This one is included to show something that to me was an important detail: the way the stem resolves to the hull as a crease, which then softens to become a faired curve some distance behind the front of the keel. The shadows show it, & it's about right to the actual yacht. 

 
For the topsides paint, I am doing a mix of Humbrol gloss black, plus about 25% Humbrol satin black added, plus a bit of Penetrol for flow. I might have added too much Penetrol as it's looking a little thin, but I'll do one coat & then judge whether to change the balance. The white boot top was left full gloss, but black will really show the gloss & I think full gloss at scale should be backed off a wee bit. This might not be an issue for a pale colour, but black will really show the gloss level.

I have been working away, heading towards painting the hull. There's been quite a few small & exacting jobs, not ones that give a huge sense of achievement, but necessary for a good paint job - & some bits that just had to be completed.
 
Bowsprit /  stem resolution (& boot top lines):

 
Drain holes for the scuppers area around the cockpit:

 
Stern apertures - the square ones are the cockpit footwell drains, & the round one will be the exhaust outlet; visible also is some filler to the inside of the planking / transom joint (hood ends??). I used sanding epoxy filler for that, & a tiny tiling wedge as a spatula - the end is such a nice combination of sharp & flexible for a tricky filling job. Plus a bit more timber to the lower aft edge of the keel, also visible.

 
Also the lower gudgeon for the rudder, which required a careful setout.....the rudder blade setout is done very well & cleverly on this particular boat: you can see that the aft edge of the keel meeting face is concave & the rudder nests into it nicely - but they managed to also allow the rudder to have a full 90º swing. This is for picnicking, you take out the tiller & the freely swinging rudder doesn't knock against the hull all afternoon. The gudgeon is pretty simple but I had to sleeve tube into tube to suit the OD & ID, seen here with the piece that wraps around ready for soldering.

 
Then shaped & dry fitted:

 
& then glued in place & shaped, as it has been carefully faired on the actual boat

 
The pintle below, & the spacer was a piece sawn off the gudgeon tube:

 
And here's the rudder in it's home position, note the faired rudder to keel junction:

 
And at 90º:

 
And lastly, another build of these doughty yachts has been launched, Sunday 30th December, see below. Built by retired shipwright Ian Smith, & his freely available videos online, on boat building are really excellent. Well done Smithy & Trish!

Just one more note, I will repurpose this made main mast to mizzen or some other spar due to it being a object of practise and also since I omitted the square section at the cheeks.
I haven't decided if I will use pine, birch or apple yet for the mast and spars. TBD.

Thanks Andy and John. 🙂
About joinery, I have found out there is no shortcut to a perfect joint. It's down to time, patience and perseverance...
 
So, another wee update before other shores and priorities takes precedence over scale model boat building. (they say it's Xmas time. Really? Already?)
Mast partner, or in layman terms, the hole where the mast pokes through the deck. A delicate little piece whit not much "meat" on it. 
I short - found a blank, drilled an appropriate sized hole (13,5mm) and trimmed it to fit. Whacked it in place with some diluted glue and chiseled/sanded flush to the deck beam.
Mast making then. Actually I did the mast first to se if the hole should be centered in the opening, which it should be.
The usual way, square stock planed to an octagon, planed even further and finally sanded. Care taken so to not sand too much.
Sounds easy enough. Of course mast making got me thinking. This was not my last mast or spar to build so better do some planning ahead.
Found and old shooting board that I don't use. Planed the underside flat and beautified it with some tung oil.
Next guides for the stock. Made these removable if I ever need it as a shooting board again and also to fit shorter guides if necessare. With the stock raised slightly over the board it is easy to grab and turn the stock while planing.
Next question - how to do the square or octagon shape if the mast has one. The main mast on Atlantica is octagon shaped at its lower section.
A small giuding block solved that and a long file which makes it easier to aim a somewhat horizontal face while filing.
 






Someday I will get rid of all the clutter in my shop. Some day...
 
Happy Holidays and Very Merry Christmas to you all!

Keith, he got it from an RC sailing supplier here in Aus. There will be similar shops in your neck of the woods. It's a hard film kind of like a very thin x-ray film and the stuff he gave me is somewhat translucent, it's more for function than scale appearance but I think it'll do the job.

I continue to assemble the cargo device parts on the ship's spar deck.

Thank you, Nils!
The railings are soldered from brass wire with a diameter of 0.4 mm and coated with nickel. Holes with a diameter of 0.6 mm are drilled in the deck. Then the guard railings are put in place with cyanoacrylate glue.

A steam winch for mooring is installed on the poop deck.

To be fair they have been very generous with their time and letting me visit the Yard occasionally, and very supportive. Couldn't do it without that access, for sure. The timber supply was serendipitous - we had a new drive to the house build through a stand of shelter belt trees we planted when we moved here in 1998. I have enough drying for many more builds yet!

More ramblings...
Planking - setting out the battens.
I’ve set virtual ‘battens’ every three planks – as the Yard did and set a width for the garboard and top five planks at each of six frames down the length of the boat. Then added the positions/decisions determined in the last post (magic line) we end up with the following lines, this on Vigilance I.


 
I’ve flipped this photo to allow a rough comparison view, (the hogging is now obvious even if the angle is not quite right!). Maybe run of planking in the stern quarters is a tad wider, but it’s marginal.
 
 
Designing the planking under the elliptical counter is challenging and required a bit of head scratching, as discussed in the previous posting.
The planking twists as it passes aft under the counter, particularly the sheer strake which has a severe twist of almost 90° for the last few feet. It requires some very creative clamping. The inside face is bevelled flat to provide a surface which is level to the cover boards.

Then we know plank 13 terminates at the top of the sternpost centreline as below; so planks 14 to 20 terminate along the sheer from the centreline back to the sheer strake along the counter sheer line.
 

Mapped all this int CAD to try and get something to transfer key points onto the boat.

Care needs to be taken that the sheerstrake is not allowed to terminate too far forward (as it would like to do as it twists) as this would expand the area for plank 14-20 to fill.
Triangulating from the plan view, and profile view onto the sectional at frame 34 it's possible to plot how the planking passes under the counter over frames 36-40. It will need fairing as we go, but at least it is a rough guide to work with. I’m grateful to Stirling’s Shipyard Manager, Richard, who helped with some useful reflections on how they did this. There’s no textbooks or tutorials on counter planking so no-one knows how this was done by Uphams. Presumably just passed down from one generation to another.
After a little tweaking we have a satisfactory set of lines.
Then copied all these lines onto the profile framing plan of Vigilance II so that I can plank both hulls together.

Stock planking is from timber we planted in 2000, and since thinned. One is maple, which is pale, hard and fine grained. The other is poplar, which is faster growing, but still very clean, straight grained and stable. Both have been seasoned for 4 years and dried in stock lengths for a further year inside. They measure 11° on the moisture meter.
They were cut into stock size on the band saw, then cut to size on the micromark table saw before thicknessing down to 1.9mm and 2.15mm.

So now over to the model to lay some planks on the frames to test the plan we’ve come up with before finalising it. ('At last!' I hear you all say...)
Started by transferring the lines using a combination of direct measurements with the dividers, and then filling between the batten lines with tick marks in the usual way.


The garboard is dry fitted first, then the first few up over the deadwoods to establish the lines.

Nothing glued yet, but tick marks at the batten points can then be checked for fairness. It’s looking OK at this point, but very slow progress. This image is of Vigilance II, which is the easier of the pair, and I can copy the planks to make a second set which can be used for Vigilance I which is sitting in the background. It's been a long time coming, but some real progress at last.
All for now!
 
 

Update
Thanks for the views, comments and 'thumbs up'!
Well time in the shop has been limited recently; a prolonged spell of dry settled weather has allowed me to get on with several jobs outside that needed doing – a pair of new shed doors, clearing out downpipes and fixing gutters etc. Not to mention a few bonus fishing trips. All unexpected but very welcome.
A change to colder weather brings me back on task.
During this time, Vigilance No. 1 took on a mild twist. That’s what comes of leaving a framed boat un-planked for too long, despite leaving her well held in the building jig..  It wasn’t much but would have thrown things out of kilter later on, so took the time to fix it.

It necessitated taking off the shelves and clamps, stringers and the haunch timbers, hitching her back into shape and re-gluing. A pain but it’s done.

I will say that C/A glue is actually a whole lot easier to unstick than PVA – a quick wipe with acetone on a brush. Leave a few minutes than pry carefully apart.
Anyway, onto the next step.
 
 
A preamble to planking.  [Skip this section if you want to avoid my inane ramblings – I’m simply planning aloud].
I had naively assumed that I could plank both versions simultaneously. A moment’s thought shows that version 1 (cutaway); ‘plank on frame’ and version 2 (fully built); ‘plank on station or bulkhead’ requires different approaches, even if the intention is that the resulting hulls will look the same.
Even if the planks are identical, the positions of the frames (V1) and stations (V2) are different, and hence the ‘tick strips’ or whatever needs to be original to each version.
Additionally, version 1 has frames at 6° to the heel, whereas version 2 has stations perpendicular to the keel.
I think it will become confusing to try and log these together, so let’s concentrate on what’s common to both for the moment.
 
The method described is that used originally, and by the shipyard, so far as I can see.
Once the frames are roughly faired, battens are placed at sheer and at intervals down the stem to the rabbet line on the keel, as shown, all adjusted to create fair lines.

These create bands of planking to be filled in stages, starting with the garboard & sheer. The distance between the battens is divided to give the planking width in each band, although in practice, planks are put on at each ribband position first, then the gaps filled with shutter planks spiled as necessary.
The position of the battens is decided when designing the line-off plan, and by consideration of what they do to the plank width.  Convention is that a plank should not reduce by more than half it’s width, and that where possible stealers etc should be avoided. This whole subject is vast, and open to all sorts of interpretation. I don’t pretend to know very much about it, but the principles are straightforward enough – ‘do what looks good and works with the wood’. In other words, keep it fair and avoid too much edge setting. There are many excellent tutorials around, including several on this forum to which I can add nothing.
The simplest method is to measure the length of each station’s girth from sheer to keel and divide it by the number of planks required. This gives the width of each plank at each station. However, for some hull shapes (including Vigilance) this may not work when the lines are pinched or stretched at either end of the boat, and the widths are either too narrow or too broad, necessitating stealers, broadstrakes or suchlike.
For such boats one method involves drawing one or more lines along the hull, made by stretching a string along its length so that it proscribes the shortest path from stem the stern. A dead straight plank lays perfectly on this 'Magic' line and will need no edge setting, because it is a right-angles to the hull at every point. This becomes the ribband that defines the point above which planks are identical in shape (other than the bevel). By which I mean they will have the same width at each station. Below this line the planking requires a different approach due to the more acute shapes below the waterline. (Credit due to Mr Sauzedde for the explanation).

So back to practicalities and how to line off Vigilance, starting with what we know about her.
The photograph of Vigilance at Newlyn shows her with 21 planks not easily discerned, edged yellow below. Planks 10,11,&12 at the turn of the bilge were thicker, as were the three topside strakes. Strakes 1 – 7 were wider over the deadwoods at the sternpost to allow the narrower planks to fall more fairly under the counter.

Over the years and several re-plankings later, she still had 21 planks when she arrived at the yard in August 2023.
Planks10 11 and 12 were thicker, as were the top three strakes. Planks 8 and 9 reduced into one plank at around frame 5 or 6 on both sides at some time – unsure if this is original, but to be avoided in the plan.

Planking was 2 3/8” thick ; planks 10, 11 and 12 at the turn of the bilge are thicker at 3”, as are the three topsides.
The garboard is 7” wide at the midpoint frame 18, and the sheer and the four topsides below it are also wider than the bilge band at the midline by about an inch.
As mentioned, the planking widens over the aft deadwood section, another shot of this below.
 
As the planks come under the counter at the stern they first terminate onto the sternpost, then as they go above the sternpost onto the stern tube each butts the opposing plank at the centreline, as shown in the image. Plank 8 marks the intersection of the stern post and the counter, and is a good place to consider marking a fair line above which the planking is all of similar widths at each section, as previously described.
The battens below show how the planking bands work under the counter, and how the planks butt above the stern post.


To create a fair line from the bilge to the intersection of the sternpost and stern tube it is necessary to widen the first 6 planks above the garboard from the keel as they run over the deadwood and up the concave surface of the frames.

This can be seen in the final image below, the bottom edge of plank 7 marked.

So the idea is to mark the position of the batten at the sheer and the next ribband on the line just described joining the 7/8 planks junction at the point where the stern post enters the counter planking at the stern tube. It’s a bit arbitrary; one could equally have used the planks 8/9 boundary (as I think the yard did),  but keeping the seven lower planks together works well I think.
The last decision is where to terminate this line at the stem.

The planking has equal widths from the garboard to the sheer at the stem, so this really takes care of the last position we need to map out the first band of planking. 

Using the sectional plans of the frames at key points the position of the top of plank 7 (as determined by division of the frame length) can be mapped onto the boat in CAD. Putting all this information together we can plot the batten line we need as shown (line with dots along it). Below these the lower 7 planks are faired.
Interestingly when checked on the model this line does correspond nicely to the ‘magic’ line where a plank sits straight without edge setting.
I found a picture of plank 8 being fitted and you can see it needs no bevel and little or no edge setting. Lou would be pleased.

Above this line planking is divided equally into further bands using battens.
From the CAD plans it’s possible to measure the distance up each frame that the planks cross, at least at key points like the top of plank 7 and the other batten lines. The ability to accurately measure the length of a curve on a plan is an unexpected bonus of using CAD.
These can be transferred onto the model with a bit of care, and planking can progress from the garboard to the ‘magic line’ then downwards from the sheer. I may well have another band somewhere in the bilge area, but I want to avoid having to spire in more than necessary.
So that’s my happy task ahead.
If you’ve followed all this so far you deserve a medal. Or like me, a nice little glass of calvados, a momento of a recent trip to Brittany.
 
All for now!
 
 
Widen planks in this area

As usual, the first wetting of the boat has revealed some work. First, I glued 500 grams of lead in the bottom of the ship, below the WTC. Also the techrack has too much friction, so I straightened out the M3 wires and adjusted the nuts. Sanded all contact points with the PVC tubes. It now runs better. Also, I wanted a magnetic switch so the whole boat can be switched on and off without opening the bajonet, using a magnet. The normal units use relais, and I did not have the space for them. Instead I made a small circuit with one MOSFET, one resistor and a reed–switch.


I’ve tested it switching up to 2.2A, and when the reed is open there is no measurable current use. Seems to work!

The reedswitch is located inside the water tight compartment, underneath a hatch. I put a magnet inside a wooden crew member, and when I place this in the hatch, the boat is switched off. On removal before sailing, the boat is switched on. It just fits between the existing main switch inside the WTC and the Arduino controller.

I think the techrack is now complete, and next step is to test the boat in the bath, further balancing, filling and emptying the temp to dive and raise the boat and unfolding of the planes.

Working on the “captain below” feature. O-13 has 4 hatches. I’ve made those from wood before, but to have low friction hinges I decided to print these. All hatches should open when the boat surfaces, and close before submerging. The hatch to the forward torpedo room has just enough space below it for half a crewman to stock his torso out of the hatch. 

by the way; the 1:50 winch holds the mechanism below and is the first part made with my first ever, very old Unimat-3 Lathe!
I’ve mounted him on a printed double-arm balance, so he comes vertically up. On the other side of the balance are  a 4ml blue foam-float weighted with 2 gram lead. So a “driving force” of 2 gram to either raise the float when the deck floods or to lower it when the deck drains on surfacing.
The hatch is driven by the 2ml float weighted with 1 gram of brass on the right of the pic. It all seems to work dry….

 
although there is more space underneath the bridge, the officer emerging from the hatch there has to rise full length, to be visible over the bridge rim. The double-arm balance did not fit there, so the officer is pushed up by a simple counterweight and is guided by a brass wire. It’s a little more iffy - likely needing optimisation. The nut will be replaced by a compass stand made on my lathe.

Brian, when do we get to unwrap new photos of Caroline? Hope all is well for you, it's been a while.

Thank you Gary! 
 
My grandfather always told me, “why pay someone to do something for you when you can do it yourself cheaper”, and I have lived by these words most of my life. I do know my limitations and there have been times where I just have to get someone else to do it. It’s not for lack of trying, but it would be cheaper in the long run for fear of screwing it up and having to redo the project. 
 
I took these words into consideration when ordering the printer, now I can build the parts myself and not have to pay someone else for them.
 
I’ve been in the technology field for almost 30 years and have been using CAD software for almost the entire time. Many of the software packages these devices use are based on CAD so the learning curve is fairly easy. Most of them come with a free version that is simplistic and scaled down for the standard user. There are other programs out there that are more robust and allow for much better renderings and manipulation of the project you are working on, but I’ve found the free ones get the job done for what I need. Not to mention the better programs are stupid expensive.
 
My 3D printer is a Bambu Labs P1S and came with its proprietary software Bambu Studio, but like many of the other programs out there it uses the standard file types, and there are several sites out there that have free files that you can upload to the device, and you can scale them to the size you need as well as make alterations to them. Somewhat like my laser engraver/cutter, there were a few days of beating my head on the table trying to figure it all out but it didn’t take too much time before I was off and running. 
 
-Brian

The guards are now shaped to the proper angles.
 
I am researching sea chests and a few other small details for the hull before going on to the last major piece - the stern frame that holds the propeller and rudder. I haven't decided what material to make if from. I could carve it out of Castello boxwood. That would be easier than cutting if from a brass or aluminum bar.
 
I am continuing to apply thin layers of acrylic sealer and then sand the hull smooth with fine grit sandpaper. I don't plan to apply paint until after the stern frame is installed and all the other hull details are finished.
 
There will be a pause in construction while I spend some time with kids, grandkids and great grandkids and enjoy Christmas.
 
 
 
 
 

The ship had a "guard" or rub rail around the edge of the hull at the main deck level. This was even more complex in cross section than the garboard strake. The sections of the blueprints on the left below give an idea how the shape changed along the length of then hull. The drawing on the right below shows how I plan to create the guard.
 

 
The red lines in the right hand drawing show the guard at several bulkhead positions. The top of the guard is flush with the sub deck, continuing the camber of the deck. The outboard side of the guard is vertical, and about 0.1 inch (2.54 mm) high along most of the length. The inboard side follows the line of the hull planking for a distance of 0.15 inches (3.8 mm).The bottom of the guard angles up from the hull planking to the bottom of the outboard edge.
 
I gave some thought to trying to pre-shape a 0.25 x 0.25 inch (6.35 x 6.35 mm) strip before gluing it to the hull, but that would be pretty tricky with all the changing angles. Then I thought about trying to bend and twist a 0.25 x 0.25 inch (6.35 x 6.35 mm) strip around the hull edge but I wasn't confident about trying to bend a piece that thick without breaking it.
 
I decided to build up the guard with two or three 1/16 inch (1.59 mm) thick strips. These could be shaped to fit the curvature of the hull easily using wet heat. In the image above right the outlines of these strips are shown in green. Where the hull angles outward near the bow I needed a 1/4 inch (6.35 mm) wide strip against the hull planking. Farther aft where the hull side is nearly vertical a 0.18 inch (4.6 mm) wide strip would do - this is the same as the hull planking strips. Near the bow and stern I may need three layers of strips to have enough wood for the guards.
 

 
I used large rubber bands to hold the strips against the hull while gluing them. Metal pins were placed along a line 0.15 inch below the subdeck edge to fix the position of the strips vertically.
 
The first layer of the strips rose above the edge of the subdeck, and the rubber bands tended to pull the top of the strips over and cause them to pull away from the hull at the bottom. I put some wood blocks on the subdeck under the rubber bands to change the pull angle on the guard strips. I put another set of short wood strips between the rubber bands and the guard strip along the lower edge of the guard strip to force it back against the hull planking. This worked nicely to hold the guard strip against the hull while the glue set.
 
 
The first layer of the guard strips was the most challenging. After the glue had set the raised edge of the first layer gave a place for clamps to hold the second layer in place. The second layer was easier, but where the hull angled outward it was still necessary to use the short wood pieces between the rubber bands and the lower edge of the strips to hold the guard strip tight against the first layer.
 

 
Here is the hull with two layers of strips in place for the guard.
 

 
I am going to recalculate the dimensions again to see if the third layer is necessary. It will be needed for only a very thin extra width to the outboard edges in some places, and I may just build this up with wood shavings.
 
The guard will be shaped in three steps. First the top edges will be planed, filed and sanded to continue the camber of the subdeck. Then the width outboard will be marked and trimmed to the correct thickness, with the outboard edge shaped vertical. The final step will be to mark the lower corner of the outboard edge and cut away wood on the lower side to create the angle down to the bottom of the guard at the hull planking. That will be the tricky and time consuming part of the job.