Cathead

Just a small amount of progress to report. May is not cooperating in terms of free time to work on models. 
 
I added the longitudinal hog chains based on some blurry historical image details and logical assumptions about their natural location. I used thin wire, which I couldn't get perfectly straight, but it's another quirk that the camera captures but the eye doesn't really see.



Then I got to work on the...not quite sure what to call them, but the timber frames on the bow used to push tows. You can see them pretty clearly here:
 

This is where I found I hadn't thought ahead enough. Those are pretty widely spaced across the bow, which means the bow has very little curvature. When I went to install mine after making them, I found that my bow curves away more sharply than I thought when I first laid it out, so now if I placed them that far apart their fronts fell well behind the bow and wouldn't be able to push anything. 
 
So I had the choice of either placing them accurately far apart, but too far back from the point of the bow, or too close together, but accurately forward enough to extend just beyond the bow. For better or worse, I chose the latter, though now I'm wondering if it was the wrong decision because they're more noticeably "wrong" compared to the original photos than if they were properly spaced but a bit too far back. Anyway, see what you think (compare to same photo angle in background):

Another view, with comparable angle in background and separate photo below:
 


Changing them would mean popping them off the deck and hopefully not leaving too much glue stain; I could always cover those with a few random timbers or something. Thoughts?
 
In the above photos, you'll also notice I built a version of the capstan that sits just behind those whatever-they're-called braces.
 
Finally, I added the two thick diagonal braces that lead aft from the chimneys to the pilot house:

 
I think I'm getting close to done with the basic details. There are some more thin guy wires supporting the chimneys, though they're very hard to see in the historical photos. I need to figure out where I'm going to get that big locomotive headlight that's so prominent on the front edge of the boiler deck.
 
The biggest single project remaining is the paddlewheel, which I'm going to need some quiet focused time to concentrate on designing. Not going to happen in the next week, that's for sure. But I started this log on June 17, 2023, and there's an outside chance I'll have her done one year later. Thanks for sticking with me!

That'll work.

Yards have all been completed and are now hanging off the masts.  Now to finish the running rigging.  I'm definitely glad I bought some rigging tools to help with the hard to reach places, sometimes I feel like a contortionist while trying to get into the right position to tie a rope off to a belaying pin.
 
Here are the completed yards


 
I've decided to leave some of these ropes loose until the end as I keep accidently bumping the spanker boom. 

 
The start of some of the running rigging. 

 
Here is how the Beagle currently sits


 
 
Question on non tensioned ropes like the horses hanging from the yards.  I see many builders use alligator clips or small clamps to hang from ropes to simulate the weight on the ropes hanging, is the technique to just brush these ropes with diluted PVA glue and then hang some weight on them while they dry?

Truly a lovely build for a first go!   One thing for the future or maybe you could change now --in your photos the blocks appear to be upside down.  The line would go over the sheave and under the crown, not under the sheave and over the tail.
The below is from another build, but shows what I mean.
Allan

After finishing up the backstays I have started on the gaffs, boom, and yards.  I have completed the yards for the foremast, hopefully this weekend I can get some good progress on the yards for the main mast.

Hello,
I know, it's the Sliding Foot Assembly. But I don't think that that was also used in 1745. Goodwin described it too. If you find it at a model from this period, send me a picture.

Hello,
the wheels are now installed and rigged.


And that is what you later will see of it. But the shipwright is pleased and spend a beer for the crew 

Hello,
the wheels are mostly ready. The paint would't dry, so it took a lot longer then normal. I don't know why 🤔

and that is what you will see when the mast is installed. When there also the binnacle stand in front of the mast, you will see nearly nothing of the wheels 

So, here they are in there full beauty 

But there is also a last problem. The rope to the tiller. In the drawing for the 1745 establishment they draw there something what I interpret as coamings with a lid. Most models have there nothing, or just two wholes in the deck, where the rope disappeared. 
I would at least build it so, but not so large and with two slits for the rope. But not with these sliding foots. I think, that they where a later innovation. But may be, someone of you know there more. 
  
 

Hello,
it is done. At least the wheels are ready build. Next to build are the two supporters for the wheels.

Hello,
because today the summer ended we had here the last weeks and it rained again the whole day, I was busy at the yard. 
This is cutter No. 3 and I think now it works. The handles are a little too bulky, but when they are slimmer they would break. The spooks have a Ø of 1,6 mm!


Now are only 17+ spooks left

Just catching up - my index finger almost got numb from clicking so many likes...
 
Cheers,
 
PS: clicked a wrong key -- nothing below is hidden....
 
Cheers

Hello,
the first results.  I think, tomorrow I have to make the cutter new. But it is an interesting material and cuts better then wood. 

Hello,
the wheels. They kept me busy this week, and other things like my garden. But now they are in the raw ready. I think I must not explain the pictures

 
 
 
 and then that  So, go back to start, and try again
 
This time I made the beads before I cut the rim loose. The shipwright is pleased.
In the foreground you see some of the spokes. They are from mammoth ivory. So, if you hear nothing from me the next weeks, I'm busy or I had thrown it all away. I hope not.

 

I was able to get a lot done this week. Firstly I finished added the bolt ropes and grommets to the topsails so I can now add the reef points to finish them up.
 

 
I also finished bending the topG sails to the topG yards.
 

 
The topsail and lower yards are now completed, with all the blocks, man ropes and studding sail booms installed.
 

 
I added the spritsail yard and rigging to the bowsprit.
 

 
And have the fore shrouds seized to length and the lanyards threaded.
 

 
I am in the process of adding the rigging to the boomkins, finishing up the fore shrouds, and starting to rig the main shrouds.

I have a good start on the last two sails which are the topsails. I am currently working on adding the bolt rope. I don't know why I didn't think of this for the previous sails but for these I started adding the bolt ropes from the middle of the bottom of the sail so I could work on both sides up to the top of the sail. This will speed up this process by half. These sails have three rows of reef points so they will take a while to add.
 

 
I am still adding blocks and man ropes to the topsail yards and lower yards, although they are almost done. The studding sail booms will be added after all the blocks are on.
 

 
I have put the bowsprit in place and added the gammoning. I am in the process of adding the bob stays and bowsprit stays. I have the bob stays temporarily tied to the deadeyes on the bowsprit so I can get them all even. 
 

 
I have the lower shrouds for the fore and main masts served and ready so I will be adding them soon too. I will also be tying the topG sails to the completed topG yards to get that process started.

This was a fun week.  I finished the stern details.  These included building the second seat, which I'm happy to say is close to identical to the first.  I made the horse for the boom sheet out of 22 gauge annealed wire, with washers made from .062" diameter styrene rod with the center .028" drilled out for the wire.  I cut and formed the transom knees, and glued those on.  I then shaped and added the cleats.  These I had bought from Chuck a long time ago.  I see he currently offers cleats in 5mm, 7mm, and 9mm.  I have 9mm and 6mm on hand.  So for the cleats on the transom knees, I shortened the 6mm to 5mm, and used the 9mm and 6mm cleats in the other areas of the stern.  I see in these enlarged photos a couple of spots that need touching up, but I'm otherwise happy with the way these details turned out.
 
Erik

I think that this old U S Navy expression must apply to you Steven:
 
”If you can’t get your job done during the 24 hour day, work nights!”
 
Or perhaps days are longer Down Under.
 
😀😀😀😀
Roger

Got the two long pieces of veneer on the upper hull attached.
 

 

 
Because these pieces are so wide, they are terribly unforgiving of any error in hull fairing, and that point is made apparent toward the bow. Here you can see that the natural curve of the veneer creates some small pockets where too much material was removed during the hull fairing process.
 

 
You can't simply smash these down, because that will cause the veneers to buckle. Nor can you simply ignore them, because doing so will cause the wales (the next belt of planking) to sit too low relative to the upper veneers. Nope, I'm gonna have to add some material in those areas to raise the surface slightly and allow the wales to sit level with the upper hull veneers. An unwelcome task, but necessary.
 
In the meantime, I may be hitting the pause button yet again on this build, for reasons I'll discuss in a separate topic. 😮 Don't worry -- nothing bad!

Sanding done (mostly) and stern veneers applied. You can tell from the photo that some additional minor sanding and filling will be needed to achieve the final stern shape.
 

Okay, with the Hurricane now occupying a space of honor on the shelf, it's back to Phoenix! Following the instructions, we next darken the openings for the gratings. Exciting stuff, right?
 

 
Then it's time to start applying finish planking. Yay! The process starts at the stern. Before I started gluing anything, I cut out the relevant parts and did some dry fitting. That's when I noticed that the sternpost fascia pieces are not wide enough to cover the width of the post.
 

 
I went back and read through the instructions again. Sure enough, it looks like I overlooked some tapering that needs to be done. I will check some build logs to confirm this, but I'm pretty sure I have some more chisel & sandpaper work in my immediate future.
 
Cheers!

Hey brunnels. Thanks for the comment. I doubted my abilities a lot going into it. I think I am quite lucky with the way it turned out. Adding these whaleboats ends up concealing quite a lot of detail so it's definitely a choice to consider.

The boats look really nice! Great work!

After completing the hulls, I could start working away at all the internal details. First, I laid the deck planks. These all were a bit narrower than the previous boat. I’m still not really sure that there is enough space between the planks and the thwart raiser.




Then I worked away at the gratings, quarter decks and various benches

After the thwarts went in, they really started to come to life

I’m just going to post a bunch of pictures now. There were many small things on these boats. I think the thwart knees were a particular pain and they could be a bit better, but I’m otherwise very happy with the boats now.










So this was my biggest point of improvement going into this build and I am extremely relieved it is done and very happy with how it turned out. These boats absolutely turned into a project of themselves, but I feel they take an important place in the model. I’ve learnt a lot through this process and am extremely grateful for all the logs and posts I’ve seen on this forum of other people’s small boats, that was a huge help. Anyway, onwards now. I can finally start thinking about the ship again and how I am going to fit all these little guys in.

Thanks Roger. That's my opinion entirely. A lot of this is educated guesswork based on (extremely!) inadequate source material. Of course we can't be sure it's all correct, but a lot of the fun is in the investigation of source material and speculation as to how it could be done, given the pictorial evidence (often affected by artistic licence), the archaeological evidence (often frustratingly incomplete) and the practicalities of sailing a wooden vessel.
 
And if later evidence proves one of the guesses wrong, one still has the satisfaction of having done the best one could with the information that was available at the time.
 
So, on to current progress. Shrouds and halyards in place, but only the foremast shrouds have been finalised.

I really do need to clear my workdesk before I take photos!
 
I made new silkspan sails - I wasn't happy with the first iteration. This time I made them oversize and folded the edges over instead of gluing strips of silkspan to the edges. The cross was painted on with Tamiya acrylic paint. I needed two coats for the "face" side and one for the other side. Considerably happier with the second version.
And I've added the blocks to the yards - for the tacks at the lower ends and the vangs at the upper.

Druxey, if I might pick your brains - how did you attach the bolt ropes to your silkspan sails (they look particularly good)? And the robands?
 
Steven
 
 
 

Hi folks, just a wee update. I didn´t give up on the project, it´s just a wee break because of my return to work and the garden (that´s the unfortnate circumstance when having a bungalow with front- and back garden. But I will come back and finish the ship for sure.
 
I don´t give up guys, don´t worry...
 
Micha