Cathead

Watching the winter Olympics has both slowed and helped my work. Slowed, because it's been an evening time sink watching so many events I enjoy. Helped, because I moved into the final parts of hull planking that required more careful shaping and manual gluing, so it gave me something to do while messing with individual planks.
 
I've been planking from the outside in, and once I got too near the centerline, my normal binder-clip clamps (black, below) wouldn't fit anymore. So I started using reversed and halved clothespins instead, whose angled shapes work quite well as wedges (also below). Their clamping parts aren't doing anything, but wedging them into the narrow gaps between plank and the center bulkhead worked really well, at least for straight areas. For curved areas, I mostly did this manually and watched Olympics. But I was really pleased with this method.
 

Then I made a frustrating mistake, managing to snap off a big chunk of the curve bow guard extension. It actually wasn't hard to repair, I just cut away most of the bow's curve on both sides, and bend and inserted a new piece that fully swept around that curve. It's not quite as nice as the original because the new joint was harder to hide, but when the model is finished it won't really show. I was still very annoyed with myself because I've been so careful in handling.
 

So here's the planked hull. Note that in this photo I've begun inserting the extra guard timbers at the stern, but not yet at the bow, to bring them up to the right density. If I had decided to plank over the underside of the guards, I wouldn't have needed to do this, so hadn't until the decision was made. But there's abundant evidence that leaving the guards open underneath is the right approach, so in go the rest of the guards.
 

 
As you may be able to tell above, I also used some wood filler to match a few less-than-ideal gaps in planking, mostly in the complicated stern area. Above, I've applied it to the starboard (lower) side but not yet the port (upper side), and haven't yet sanded it down. Below is a closer look at the stern, with one side filled and one side not. In this photo, it has been sanded. It's definitely smoother now but the planking lines still show through. I'm pleased with how this came out overall, though I did struggles to get the run of planking right and could probably have done it better. Those odd extensions at the very stern are on the real thing, I'll come back to that soon when I show the building of the rudder.
 

 
And here she is with all the guard timbers installed, right side up with my machinery templates laid out for reference. If you look closely at the starboard wheel area, you'll see a little vertical wooden thing that doesn't resolve well in the photo. That's my rough person for scale, he's about 5'8", shorter than me but about right for the period. The wheel is in about the right vertical place and orientation. The plain white rectangle represents the boilers.
 

So that's where Arabia stands post-Olympics. Next up, I need to cut way too many short strips of hull planking to fill in the last strake between all the guard timbers, then do any final hull finishing necessary. I'll paint the hull next before proceeding to planking the deck, and also will finish the rudder, though I probably won't install it until the very end to keep if from being knocked off. Then, finally, I'll move toward deck planking.
 
Thanks as always for following along. Hopefully this starts to get more interesting soon as we turn her right side up and the machinery and superstructure get underway.
 
 

I agree with Eric about hulls always being painted.  I have also seen black hulls but white was certainly the most common.
Kurt

Eric, Your hull looks very good, I wonder did they paint the bottoms on these early riverboats or use some sort of tar or pitch mixture?

She's coming along beautifully, mate!
 
John

Watching the winter Olympics has both slowed and helped my work. Slowed, because it's been an evening time sink watching so many events I enjoy. Helped, because I moved into the final parts of hull planking that required more careful shaping and manual gluing, so it gave me something to do while messing with individual planks.
 
I've been planking from the outside in, and once I got too near the centerline, my normal binder-clip clamps (black, below) wouldn't fit anymore. So I started using reversed and halved clothespins instead, whose angled shapes work quite well as wedges (also below). Their clamping parts aren't doing anything, but wedging them into the narrow gaps between plank and the center bulkhead worked really well, at least for straight areas. For curved areas, I mostly did this manually and watched Olympics. But I was really pleased with this method.
 

Then I made a frustrating mistake, managing to snap off a big chunk of the curve bow guard extension. It actually wasn't hard to repair, I just cut away most of the bow's curve on both sides, and bend and inserted a new piece that fully swept around that curve. It's not quite as nice as the original because the new joint was harder to hide, but when the model is finished it won't really show. I was still very annoyed with myself because I've been so careful in handling.
 

So here's the planked hull. Note that in this photo I've begun inserting the extra guard timbers at the stern, but not yet at the bow, to bring them up to the right density. If I had decided to plank over the underside of the guards, I wouldn't have needed to do this, so hadn't until the decision was made. But there's abundant evidence that leaving the guards open underneath is the right approach, so in go the rest of the guards.
 

 
As you may be able to tell above, I also used some wood filler to match a few less-than-ideal gaps in planking, mostly in the complicated stern area. Above, I've applied it to the starboard (lower) side but not yet the port (upper side), and haven't yet sanded it down. Below is a closer look at the stern, with one side filled and one side not. In this photo, it has been sanded. It's definitely smoother now but the planking lines still show through. I'm pleased with how this came out overall, though I did struggles to get the run of planking right and could probably have done it better. Those odd extensions at the very stern are on the real thing, I'll come back to that soon when I show the building of the rudder.
 

 
And here she is with all the guard timbers installed, right side up with my machinery templates laid out for reference. If you look closely at the starboard wheel area, you'll see a little vertical wooden thing that doesn't resolve well in the photo. That's my rough person for scale, he's about 5'8", shorter than me but about right for the period. The wheel is in about the right vertical place and orientation. The plain white rectangle represents the boilers.
 

So that's where Arabia stands post-Olympics. Next up, I need to cut way too many short strips of hull planking to fill in the last strake between all the guard timbers, then do any final hull finishing necessary. I'll paint the hull next before proceeding to planking the deck, and also will finish the rudder, though I probably won't install it until the very end to keep if from being knocked off. Then, finally, I'll move toward deck planking.
 
Thanks as always for following along. Hopefully this starts to get more interesting soon as we turn her right side up and the machinery and superstructure get underway.
 
 

Watching the winter Olympics has both slowed and helped my work. Slowed, because it's been an evening time sink watching so many events I enjoy. Helped, because I moved into the final parts of hull planking that required more careful shaping and manual gluing, so it gave me something to do while messing with individual planks.
 
I've been planking from the outside in, and once I got too near the centerline, my normal binder-clip clamps (black, below) wouldn't fit anymore. So I started using reversed and halved clothespins instead, whose angled shapes work quite well as wedges (also below). Their clamping parts aren't doing anything, but wedging them into the narrow gaps between plank and the center bulkhead worked really well, at least for straight areas. For curved areas, I mostly did this manually and watched Olympics. But I was really pleased with this method.
 

Then I made a frustrating mistake, managing to snap off a big chunk of the curve bow guard extension. It actually wasn't hard to repair, I just cut away most of the bow's curve on both sides, and bend and inserted a new piece that fully swept around that curve. It's not quite as nice as the original because the new joint was harder to hide, but when the model is finished it won't really show. I was still very annoyed with myself because I've been so careful in handling.
 

So here's the planked hull. Note that in this photo I've begun inserting the extra guard timbers at the stern, but not yet at the bow, to bring them up to the right density. If I had decided to plank over the underside of the guards, I wouldn't have needed to do this, so hadn't until the decision was made. But there's abundant evidence that leaving the guards open underneath is the right approach, so in go the rest of the guards.
 

 
As you may be able to tell above, I also used some wood filler to match a few less-than-ideal gaps in planking, mostly in the complicated stern area. Above, I've applied it to the starboard (lower) side but not yet the port (upper side), and haven't yet sanded it down. Below is a closer look at the stern, with one side filled and one side not. In this photo, it has been sanded. It's definitely smoother now but the planking lines still show through. I'm pleased with how this came out overall, though I did struggles to get the run of planking right and could probably have done it better. Those odd extensions at the very stern are on the real thing, I'll come back to that soon when I show the building of the rudder.
 

 
And here she is with all the guard timbers installed, right side up with my machinery templates laid out for reference. If you look closely at the starboard wheel area, you'll see a little vertical wooden thing that doesn't resolve well in the photo. That's my rough person for scale, he's about 5'8", shorter than me but about right for the period. The wheel is in about the right vertical place and orientation. The plain white rectangle represents the boilers.
 

So that's where Arabia stands post-Olympics. Next up, I need to cut way too many short strips of hull planking to fill in the last strake between all the guard timbers, then do any final hull finishing necessary. I'll paint the hull next before proceeding to planking the deck, and also will finish the rudder, though I probably won't install it until the very end to keep if from being knocked off. Then, finally, I'll move toward deck planking.
 
Thanks as always for following along. Hopefully this starts to get more interesting soon as we turn her right side up and the machinery and superstructure get underway.
 
 

Watching the winter Olympics has both slowed and helped my work. Slowed, because it's been an evening time sink watching so many events I enjoy. Helped, because I moved into the final parts of hull planking that required more careful shaping and manual gluing, so it gave me something to do while messing with individual planks.
 
I've been planking from the outside in, and once I got too near the centerline, my normal binder-clip clamps (black, below) wouldn't fit anymore. So I started using reversed and halved clothespins instead, whose angled shapes work quite well as wedges (also below). Their clamping parts aren't doing anything, but wedging them into the narrow gaps between plank and the center bulkhead worked really well, at least for straight areas. For curved areas, I mostly did this manually and watched Olympics. But I was really pleased with this method.
 

Then I made a frustrating mistake, managing to snap off a big chunk of the curve bow guard extension. It actually wasn't hard to repair, I just cut away most of the bow's curve on both sides, and bend and inserted a new piece that fully swept around that curve. It's not quite as nice as the original because the new joint was harder to hide, but when the model is finished it won't really show. I was still very annoyed with myself because I've been so careful in handling.
 

So here's the planked hull. Note that in this photo I've begun inserting the extra guard timbers at the stern, but not yet at the bow, to bring them up to the right density. If I had decided to plank over the underside of the guards, I wouldn't have needed to do this, so hadn't until the decision was made. But there's abundant evidence that leaving the guards open underneath is the right approach, so in go the rest of the guards.
 

 
As you may be able to tell above, I also used some wood filler to match a few less-than-ideal gaps in planking, mostly in the complicated stern area. Above, I've applied it to the starboard (lower) side but not yet the port (upper side), and haven't yet sanded it down. Below is a closer look at the stern, with one side filled and one side not. In this photo, it has been sanded. It's definitely smoother now but the planking lines still show through. I'm pleased with how this came out overall, though I did struggles to get the run of planking right and could probably have done it better. Those odd extensions at the very stern are on the real thing, I'll come back to that soon when I show the building of the rudder.
 

 
And here she is with all the guard timbers installed, right side up with my machinery templates laid out for reference. If you look closely at the starboard wheel area, you'll see a little vertical wooden thing that doesn't resolve well in the photo. That's my rough person for scale, he's about 5'8", shorter than me but about right for the period. The wheel is in about the right vertical place and orientation. The plain white rectangle represents the boilers.
 

So that's where Arabia stands post-Olympics. Next up, I need to cut way too many short strips of hull planking to fill in the last strake between all the guard timbers, then do any final hull finishing necessary. I'll paint the hull next before proceeding to planking the deck, and also will finish the rudder, though I probably won't install it until the very end to keep if from being knocked off. Then, finally, I'll move toward deck planking.
 
Thanks as always for following along. Hopefully this starts to get more interesting soon as we turn her right side up and the machinery and superstructure get underway.
 
 

Watching the winter Olympics has both slowed and helped my work. Slowed, because it's been an evening time sink watching so many events I enjoy. Helped, because I moved into the final parts of hull planking that required more careful shaping and manual gluing, so it gave me something to do while messing with individual planks.
 
I've been planking from the outside in, and once I got too near the centerline, my normal binder-clip clamps (black, below) wouldn't fit anymore. So I started using reversed and halved clothespins instead, whose angled shapes work quite well as wedges (also below). Their clamping parts aren't doing anything, but wedging them into the narrow gaps between plank and the center bulkhead worked really well, at least for straight areas. For curved areas, I mostly did this manually and watched Olympics. But I was really pleased with this method.
 

Then I made a frustrating mistake, managing to snap off a big chunk of the curve bow guard extension. It actually wasn't hard to repair, I just cut away most of the bow's curve on both sides, and bend and inserted a new piece that fully swept around that curve. It's not quite as nice as the original because the new joint was harder to hide, but when the model is finished it won't really show. I was still very annoyed with myself because I've been so careful in handling.
 

So here's the planked hull. Note that in this photo I've begun inserting the extra guard timbers at the stern, but not yet at the bow, to bring them up to the right density. If I had decided to plank over the underside of the guards, I wouldn't have needed to do this, so hadn't until the decision was made. But there's abundant evidence that leaving the guards open underneath is the right approach, so in go the rest of the guards.
 

 
As you may be able to tell above, I also used some wood filler to match a few less-than-ideal gaps in planking, mostly in the complicated stern area. Above, I've applied it to the starboard (lower) side but not yet the port (upper side), and haven't yet sanded it down. Below is a closer look at the stern, with one side filled and one side not. In this photo, it has been sanded. It's definitely smoother now but the planking lines still show through. I'm pleased with how this came out overall, though I did struggles to get the run of planking right and could probably have done it better. Those odd extensions at the very stern are on the real thing, I'll come back to that soon when I show the building of the rudder.
 

 
And here she is with all the guard timbers installed, right side up with my machinery templates laid out for reference. If you look closely at the starboard wheel area, you'll see a little vertical wooden thing that doesn't resolve well in the photo. That's my rough person for scale, he's about 5'8", shorter than me but about right for the period. The wheel is in about the right vertical place and orientation. The plain white rectangle represents the boilers.
 

So that's where Arabia stands post-Olympics. Next up, I need to cut way too many short strips of hull planking to fill in the last strake between all the guard timbers, then do any final hull finishing necessary. I'll paint the hull next before proceeding to planking the deck, and also will finish the rudder, though I probably won't install it until the very end to keep if from being knocked off. Then, finally, I'll move toward deck planking.
 
Thanks as always for following along. Hopefully this starts to get more interesting soon as we turn her right side up and the machinery and superstructure get underway.
 
 

Watching the winter Olympics has both slowed and helped my work. Slowed, because it's been an evening time sink watching so many events I enjoy. Helped, because I moved into the final parts of hull planking that required more careful shaping and manual gluing, so it gave me something to do while messing with individual planks.
 
I've been planking from the outside in, and once I got too near the centerline, my normal binder-clip clamps (black, below) wouldn't fit anymore. So I started using reversed and halved clothespins instead, whose angled shapes work quite well as wedges (also below). Their clamping parts aren't doing anything, but wedging them into the narrow gaps between plank and the center bulkhead worked really well, at least for straight areas. For curved areas, I mostly did this manually and watched Olympics. But I was really pleased with this method.
 

Then I made a frustrating mistake, managing to snap off a big chunk of the curve bow guard extension. It actually wasn't hard to repair, I just cut away most of the bow's curve on both sides, and bend and inserted a new piece that fully swept around that curve. It's not quite as nice as the original because the new joint was harder to hide, but when the model is finished it won't really show. I was still very annoyed with myself because I've been so careful in handling.
 

So here's the planked hull. Note that in this photo I've begun inserting the extra guard timbers at the stern, but not yet at the bow, to bring them up to the right density. If I had decided to plank over the underside of the guards, I wouldn't have needed to do this, so hadn't until the decision was made. But there's abundant evidence that leaving the guards open underneath is the right approach, so in go the rest of the guards.
 

 
As you may be able to tell above, I also used some wood filler to match a few less-than-ideal gaps in planking, mostly in the complicated stern area. Above, I've applied it to the starboard (lower) side but not yet the port (upper side), and haven't yet sanded it down. Below is a closer look at the stern, with one side filled and one side not. In this photo, it has been sanded. It's definitely smoother now but the planking lines still show through. I'm pleased with how this came out overall, though I did struggles to get the run of planking right and could probably have done it better. Those odd extensions at the very stern are on the real thing, I'll come back to that soon when I show the building of the rudder.
 

 
And here she is with all the guard timbers installed, right side up with my machinery templates laid out for reference. If you look closely at the starboard wheel area, you'll see a little vertical wooden thing that doesn't resolve well in the photo. That's my rough person for scale, he's about 5'8", shorter than me but about right for the period. The wheel is in about the right vertical place and orientation. The plain white rectangle represents the boilers.
 

So that's where Arabia stands post-Olympics. Next up, I need to cut way too many short strips of hull planking to fill in the last strake between all the guard timbers, then do any final hull finishing necessary. I'll paint the hull next before proceeding to planking the deck, and also will finish the rudder, though I probably won't install it until the very end to keep if from being knocked off. Then, finally, I'll move toward deck planking.
 
Thanks as always for following along. Hopefully this starts to get more interesting soon as we turn her right side up and the machinery and superstructure get underway.
 
 

Watching the winter Olympics has both slowed and helped my work. Slowed, because it's been an evening time sink watching so many events I enjoy. Helped, because I moved into the final parts of hull planking that required more careful shaping and manual gluing, so it gave me something to do while messing with individual planks.
 
I've been planking from the outside in, and once I got too near the centerline, my normal binder-clip clamps (black, below) wouldn't fit anymore. So I started using reversed and halved clothespins instead, whose angled shapes work quite well as wedges (also below). Their clamping parts aren't doing anything, but wedging them into the narrow gaps between plank and the center bulkhead worked really well, at least for straight areas. For curved areas, I mostly did this manually and watched Olympics. But I was really pleased with this method.
 

Then I made a frustrating mistake, managing to snap off a big chunk of the curve bow guard extension. It actually wasn't hard to repair, I just cut away most of the bow's curve on both sides, and bend and inserted a new piece that fully swept around that curve. It's not quite as nice as the original because the new joint was harder to hide, but when the model is finished it won't really show. I was still very annoyed with myself because I've been so careful in handling.
 

So here's the planked hull. Note that in this photo I've begun inserting the extra guard timbers at the stern, but not yet at the bow, to bring them up to the right density. If I had decided to plank over the underside of the guards, I wouldn't have needed to do this, so hadn't until the decision was made. But there's abundant evidence that leaving the guards open underneath is the right approach, so in go the rest of the guards.
 

 
As you may be able to tell above, I also used some wood filler to match a few less-than-ideal gaps in planking, mostly in the complicated stern area. Above, I've applied it to the starboard (lower) side but not yet the port (upper side), and haven't yet sanded it down. Below is a closer look at the stern, with one side filled and one side not. In this photo, it has been sanded. It's definitely smoother now but the planking lines still show through. I'm pleased with how this came out overall, though I did struggles to get the run of planking right and could probably have done it better. Those odd extensions at the very stern are on the real thing, I'll come back to that soon when I show the building of the rudder.
 

 
And here she is with all the guard timbers installed, right side up with my machinery templates laid out for reference. If you look closely at the starboard wheel area, you'll see a little vertical wooden thing that doesn't resolve well in the photo. That's my rough person for scale, he's about 5'8", shorter than me but about right for the period. The wheel is in about the right vertical place and orientation. The plain white rectangle represents the boilers.
 

So that's where Arabia stands post-Olympics. Next up, I need to cut way too many short strips of hull planking to fill in the last strake between all the guard timbers, then do any final hull finishing necessary. I'll paint the hull next before proceeding to planking the deck, and also will finish the rudder, though I probably won't install it until the very end to keep if from being knocked off. Then, finally, I'll move toward deck planking.
 
Thanks as always for following along. Hopefully this starts to get more interesting soon as we turn her right side up and the machinery and superstructure get underway.
 
 

Almost forgot it's Wednesday.
 
Scharnhorst issue 32
 

 
As announced we finally begin planking the middle of the hull with the 32 first planking strips. At 3mm width these are the slimmest planking strips I've ever used, making them both the easiest and most tedious to work with. Easy because it's really simple to have them follow the lines of the ship without watering or prebending. Also chamfering becomes unneccessary. On the other hand, you have to put down a lot more strips than usual.
 
Tall ship builders might be wondering why the strips are not layed down in a pattern. With the strength of the MDF hull skeleton theres no need to pattern for more stability and as the hull is made of steel plates in the original anyway we actually don't want a pattern of planks to show.

Thanks for the comments and the likes.
 
Well, reworking the cannons are out   I can't reliably jig them into any tool I have for turning without damaging them or the cannon suddenly rotating on the cascabel.   Oh well...  I have 12 of the 24 carriages (wood parts only) assemble.  Fiddly things and since the upper deck(s) guns are even smaller, I'm going to go with a different design.  Once all 24 are assembled, I'll add the hardware, blacken the barrels and install them.   Drilling for the eyebolts, making the training rig, etc. will follow.   For those keeping score, hull is pierced for 26 ports on the gundeck, but the French (as this point in time) left them unfilled for access to anchor cables, etc.   Also, there two are on the forward side of the stoves/kitchens and room to work them (and for recoil) is limited.  I'll post some progress photos once the carriages are assembled and also as I make them ready with all the hardware, etc.
 
 

I had a little time after work so I continued on the mast.  It looks so crooked in photos but doesn't look crooked in person...wierd. 

Figures I get called into work today. I was having so mich fun with the mast to. 

the hole were to small again. I had to drill them out. 

I'm loving the mast.  Its basically all brass. I have always wanted to work with brass or scratch build a brass model.  This is the closest I've ever come to that. 
Anyways I started by bending all the brass I could. And making sure parts fit into holes (which of course they don't). I drilled out a few holes. 

Main mast time! i have been waiting for this part. I looks really fun!!

so, I have completed one side of the interior windows and main doors to the second deck structure. I decided to go with yellow curtains as it is quite dark inside, especially when the next deck goes on as you can see where I have placed it on top to get an idea of how much visibility is inside. again, the whole structure is just dry fitted as I still need to make up and position exterior louvre window shutters on each side of the windows. this should also clean up and square off the window framing nicely. I hope!
 
chris
 

Here is the hull to date. Three coats of white paint sanded in between each and another coat of dope for the wood. The deck has just had one coat so far. Any more will stop all the additional stuff sticking.
 
Oh by the way, I painted the insides of the holes and the frames at the stern black so that they will look hollow when the rest goes on.
 
So now for the bling !!!

I have painted my bottom white !!! It was quite brave of me actually because I rather liked the wood but, in view of the fact that the boat is going to have so much decoration I decided to stick with the real colour scheme.
 
I have done a bit of decorating. I had to put the pieces on the bow stem or ram in order to get the surrounding wood in the right place and thickness.
I have also made the main deck cabin. I hated the nasty windows provided. They were just printed outlines on thin blue plastic so I decided to make my own with some left over net and stuff called 'kristal klear' which is a glue really but dries transparent. I'm afraid my pictures don't show the result very well at the moment but they should look ok when in position and light shines through them.
 
 

The toprails on the bulwarks had to be made with 2x1mm strip laminated 4 wide and then on the outside edges 1mm square of walnut and 1mm square of boxwood all of which had to be bent to fit the bow and stern !! Is it surprising that I was about 5mm short on the front rails !! I think my patch up job is OK. 
I have now planked what I think is the poop deck, put on the waterways (more bending), the bulwark rails and the two rear boxwood strips and added the steps. I finished covering the stern and the bow piece. Nearly all the bending done thank goodness except for the ram edges which are drying as I type !!
 
 

Its not really the case.  The Winnie is already designed and finished.  Its all about just building it now with maybe some minor tweaks.  No heavy lifting needed.  This one on the other hand is such a new concept for me since I never built a fully framed anything.  I could have gone the same easy route that most go and just do a hahn style project but that is nothing new at all.  So the brain challenge drafting and designing these elements as developed by David Antscherl is just as much fun as building the Winnie.  I am very grateful that it isnt the full hull.  Once I finalize the three slightly different frame design concepts for these three different styles of frame I will be in good shape.  Then its just rinse and repeat......and I only have one more left to tinker with......
 
Today at my shop the guys all came over and I handed out some laser cut frames to them so they can build them at home.  You missed that today but next time you come I will give you a few.  Its great having a bunch of testors  ready and available so I can watch them assemble my crazy contraptions while I observe any problem areas that might prop up.  So far so good.   I believe Larry will be building this prototype alongside me and I will be getting him started in a couple of weeks......its a huge help with the entire process  and fun for me to watch.  Mike brought his Winnie too!!!  Which looks great.

There will be three different types of frames.  All with slight variations of my frame design concept.  You have seen the first which is the typical square frame.  This second type which are are only four or 5 have shifted top timbers....or bent top timbers.  It is built very similar to the last frame I described and will be described in full in the instructions.  It is shown below with the bent top timber. The other thing you might notice in this photo is the laser etched notches on the frame for the port sill and lintel framing.  This should make adding the port sills easier although if you would like to, you can adjust the notch shape so it looks more like the traditional fish tail shape you see and expect.  It all depends on how much realism you want to add depending on your experience.  The other interesting pieces are the two notched registration strips that will span across the top of all the frames.  I didnt see this on other fully framed projects and I thought it would be a nice addition.  This is going to be very different than the stylized framing ala Hahn.
 

The third and final frame style will be those that are broken with a space to accommodate the gun ports.  I will be designing it so they can remain in one piece until after you insert the port sills and lintels.  This will make more sense after I show pictures.  This last version of my frame concept will be up next so I want to finalize the testing and get it done soon.
 
You can see the bent frames and "broken or split" frames in this 3 d rendering.  I am working from aft towards the bow so the next two frames will be those broken frames to accommodate the gun ports
 

 
 
 
Chuck

I recently returned from a trip to the US East Coast, which included a visit to the Elizabeth II, a working replica ship of the late 16th century, of the kind that would have carried the failed Roanoke colonists from England. Here she is, from the official site:
 
 

 
There are many photos available online if you search the name, and if you are at all capable of visiting, it is a fantastic experience. They have trained re-enactors on board who compromise the actual sailing crew when they take her out of port, and I had a delightful time poking around every nook and cranny of the ship. Also took a number of photos myself, which could be shared if you're looking for a specific detail (and I got it in the camera). She is berthed in Manteo, NC.

Nice and plum.

hey pop, all the window/door openings have to be framed then the windows and doors are placed in place. on the kit instructions the openings here are supposed to be doors with handles on each one. on my boat however they are going to be windows with small curtains. here you can see 3 examples of the windows dry fitted for you to get the general idea. the openings here have only been framed in the vertical plane atm. on the outside of each frame there are louvre shutters either side which I am yet to make up. at the front of the structure is the main doorway to the entrance of the structure. once all the windows and doors have been glued into place I will be able to see just how much of the interior of this space is visible once the deck is fitted on top of the structure. if it is too dark and one cant really see inside I will leave it as is. if, however it is still fairly visible, I will put in a false floor (easy to do), and try to create a scene inside the compartment.
 
chris