UpstateNY

Dear Nenad,
 
My deepest sympathies to you and your family at this time.
 
My thoughts are with you all.
 
Nigel.

Hi All,
 
A small update as I've finished the first part of the stern framing.
 
First step as usual was the clean off the laser char and here I went very light given the stern timbers have complex curves I didn't want to alter by mistake. The stern timbers were then glued in place, making sure they were firmly seated against bulkhead 8 and that their angles matched the template.  I copied the paper templates onto clear transparency film so I could see the timbers completely and so line them up easily. I did double check there was no scale offset when I copied them as Chuck warns in his instructions. The film is also much stronger than paper so I could use clips to hold the template against the frames without risk of tearing.
 
The upper side pieces were then chamfered so they fit snugly against the stern timbers and, together with the hull frames, were glued in place following the laser etched reference lines. I used my steel rule to make sure the upper pieces were not tilted in or outboard, again as warned in the instructions as these pieces form the bottom sills for the aft cannon ports. Once the glue set, my final check was to overlay the window template to double check the spacings.  Seems to be OK, but please sing out if you see anything amiss so I can correct it! 
 
Next up is some careful fairing of the upper pieces and then adding the sills and lintels to complete the window framing.
 
Thanks for reading and again for all the kind comments and "likes".  
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks....
 
I have done the research.....I agree Greg.  It is rather bright...more so in the photos than in real life.  The truth is I have seen it done three ways...left bright and also painted red to match the carriages. I have also see black trucks.  Th eSurly contemporary model has them left bright.  But now that you mention it,  lets see.  I thought that might be too much red however?  I imagine I could test one and if it doesnt look good I could replace the trucks.  Its easy enough.....
 
Also take a look at this one cutter model with ivory trucks.  go figure!!  I wont be doing it this way.
 

 
Black trucks
 

 
red trucks
 

 
 
 
Any thoughts.
 
 

The next step was to add the carriage bed and on top of that add the quoin.  I didnt add the quoin handle yet because I always break those.  So they will be the last bits to be completed.
 

 
In that same photo you will also see the metal work is completed.  The brackets (sides) were actually made in two pieces and held together with long bolts through both top to bottom.   Even though these are one piece the two bolts visible were simulated.   I used 28 gauge wire.  After inserting them into the holes I cut them so they stood proud of the surface.  There are the eyebolts on the aft side for the tackle.  These were made from 28 gauge wire as well.
 
On the sides of each bracket there is also a bolt through to the transom.  For this I used 24 gauge black wire.  Finally one more eyebolt was added to the side for the tackle.  I will not add the eyebolt and ring for the breech rope yet because its easier to do that while rigging the breech rope.  But I did drill the holes for them.  That is an absolute must.
 

 
Finally some images of the cannon placed on each carriage.  The trunnion cap was just made with some heavy paper painted to match th emetal.  Then I added a small length of 28 gauge wire to simulate the hinge for the trunnion cap.  I wont be adding any chains or other small details.  I dont think they look very good at this scale unless they are done perfectly.  Rather than try and become a "kitchen sink" modeler,  I prefer to simplify and concentrate on neatness and execution.  I know I wouldnt do it justice. 
 

 

 

 
Now to begin the other five carronades for the other side....YIKES 

The inner bulwark sheathing proved interesting. It took several pattern pieces to figure out the developed shapes of the planks. The first photo shows one plank being wet-bent into position. The card pattern for this is in the foreground, as well as patterns for the steersman's bench.
 
The second photo shows both inner sides complete and the vertical portion of the steersman's bench in position. The top of this has been made and painted. The same strategy as for the other horizontal surfaces was used to build it. The paint is in the process of drying and I'll install the top tomorrow.
 
There are several possible items I could now tackle, but I think that the risers (horizontal planks that support the ends of the thwarts) should be next.

Here are the pictures, as promised! The stern now fits nicely into the stern holder. The notch or indent was started with a sanding block, but I switched to a small file because I found it worked better.


I can now add station lines to the hull accurately, and that should help me when shaping the hull, as well as the base for the keel. I will make styrene templates for the shaping. I will try to start this process soon, starting with thinning the base for the false keel. Happy modeling to everyone!
Until next time!

Nigel, thanks for the information about Storm King, I will have to visit it sometime.  But I don't really have to travel far to find some, there are over 35 of them right here in the valley - owned by members of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club of which I am a member - in addition two are on display at the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston about 10 miles away from me - one is Franklin Roosevelt's Icicle - so I have plenty to pick from. See this post
and this post also

Great work on the rudder coat Jesse....my best wishes for a fast recovery as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Great work on the rudder coat Jesse....my best wishes for a fast recovery as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Great work on the rudder coat Jesse....my best wishes for a fast recovery as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Hi Jack,
 
The ice yacht Storm King is up at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennese and on display.  She look great when I saw her this summer and I expect they would be happy to let you take measurements if you called ahead. They were all very friendly when we visited and there are many other interesting exhibits as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Hi Jack,
 
The ice yacht Storm King is up at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennese and on display.  She look great when I saw her this summer and I expect they would be happy to let you take measurements if you called ahead. They were all very friendly when we visited and there are many other interesting exhibits as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Was able to do a small amount this moring after work. Started cutting the smaller beams for the lower deck, I had already sized the stock with my thickness planer to the proper width and height. Use a quick set up to get all 10 pieces correct lenght with no tear out coming out of the saw.\
 

 

 

 
Slowly but surely getting there 

Bit the bullet and rebuilt the broken frames. Required me to remove all frames from the keel, and thus build ,a new keel as well. All frames mounted, and added several spacers for holding proper spacing as well as added strength. All drying now. Will need to do some serious sanding to fare everything up.
 
In the meantime, need some suggestions for the inner planking and decking. I'm going to use pear from the outer framing. I have some holly, and plenty of cherry, but would love to hear some thoughts from others.

Great work on the rudder coat Jesse....my best wishes for a fast recovery as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Re-sizing port side gun ports....
Before proceeding with the beak-head ornamentation, I decided to turn my focus to the twenty four unfinished gun ports on the port side. 
The last five days have been spent building the frames and lids that must be retro-fitted into the openings originally cut according to the plan sheets.  Again.... after discovering the scaling issue with each.
 
The first two pics showing the creation of very small lid rings from staples....
 

 

 
Construction of the closed lid module (left) and the open lid module (right) ....
 

 
Carefully measured re-sizing of each port opening....
 

 

Hi Jack,
 
The ice yacht Storm King is up at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennese and on display.  She look great when I saw her this summer and I expect they would be happy to let you take measurements if you called ahead. They were all very friendly when we visited and there are many other interesting exhibits as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Great work on the rudder coat Jesse....my best wishes for a fast recovery as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Thanks for all the comments & likes. Haven't made much progress lately. Getting weaker & having more bad days now so I just don't get as much done as I want to.
 
 Cut a slot in a blunt end tweezer to hold the small brass nails for holding rudder coat on. Got it attached & painted it with flat enamel paint to look like tar which is what I assume they coated it with?
 
Jesse
 
 
 

Well my inexperience of ship building reared its ugly head again and not understanding certain relationships of ship elements. However, in looking around at previous builds I see others did the same which lead me back to the instruction manual and page 13, Fig 1-11 adding the transom extensions. In my opinion these extensions should not be added until the gundeck and spar deck gunports are framed in. Then the extensions should be added and aligned with the bottom edge of the gunports to get the galleries located in the correct position. This also assumes the issues with the transom framing is sorted out as well.
 
The following rework is for the benefit of those who will follow since there is no clear instructions in adding the bottoms of the galleries and molding which are critical visual elements of the build.
The pictures are self explanatory and questions or suggestions are welcome. The solution I am describing is based upon looking at several pictures of the real ship and the interpretation of them. 











 
Once finally ready, I will add the pre stain wood conditioner and then the black stain and then clear Satin finish. The one regret is that I will lose the wood board definition due to the previous staining process filling the grain and now being sanded. Hopefully the transom molding and decoration will mask this up.
 
The lesson I have learned is to refer to the pictures of the real ship, check the plans and resolve any differences. I will look at the instruction manual with a real jaundiced eye; but I am learning more about ship building.

I finally finished the standing rigging and I must say this was a challenging chapter.  Since I had installed the lower and upper shrouds for the fore mast while I was doing the main mast the rigging for the fore mast went a little quicker.
 
 

 
 
Like the main mast I found it beneficial to install and temporarily secure the topgallant stay and royal stay prior to fixing the royal backstay.  This is also when the dyslectic shipwright showed up.  I always make a point of going over the directions a number of times to make sure I’m installing the parts on the proper side of the ship but even after doing this I installed the topgallant stay to the port side and the royal stay to the starboard, opposite to the directions.  After a few choice words I decided to leave them as is because I figured nobody, well maybe Dirk, would notice anyway. To avoid this happening again I thought I would make a little visual aid.
 
 

 
 
I just need to add some rope coils to finish up.
 

Hi All,
 
A small update as I've finished the first part of the stern framing.
 
First step as usual was the clean off the laser char and here I went very light given the stern timbers have complex curves I didn't want to alter by mistake. The stern timbers were then glued in place, making sure they were firmly seated against bulkhead 8 and that their angles matched the template.  I copied the paper templates onto clear transparency film so I could see the timbers completely and so line them up easily. I did double check there was no scale offset when I copied them as Chuck warns in his instructions. The film is also much stronger than paper so I could use clips to hold the template against the frames without risk of tearing.
 
The upper side pieces were then chamfered so they fit snugly against the stern timbers and, together with the hull frames, were glued in place following the laser etched reference lines. I used my steel rule to make sure the upper pieces were not tilted in or outboard, again as warned in the instructions as these pieces form the bottom sills for the aft cannon ports. Once the glue set, my final check was to overlay the window template to double check the spacings.  Seems to be OK, but please sing out if you see anything amiss so I can correct it! 
 
Next up is some careful fairing of the upper pieces and then adding the sills and lintels to complete the window framing.
 
Thanks for reading and again for all the kind comments and "likes".  
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi John,
 
Your paint finishes looks very even and I like the color...be interesting to see it against the decking.
 
Enjoying following along....I really like how this model looks and goes together.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Hi All,
 
A small update as I've finished the first part of the stern framing.
 
First step as usual was the clean off the laser char and here I went very light given the stern timbers have complex curves I didn't want to alter by mistake. The stern timbers were then glued in place, making sure they were firmly seated against bulkhead 8 and that their angles matched the template.  I copied the paper templates onto clear transparency film so I could see the timbers completely and so line them up easily. I did double check there was no scale offset when I copied them as Chuck warns in his instructions. The film is also much stronger than paper so I could use clips to hold the template against the frames without risk of tearing.
 
The upper side pieces were then chamfered so they fit snugly against the stern timbers and, together with the hull frames, were glued in place following the laser etched reference lines. I used my steel rule to make sure the upper pieces were not tilted in or outboard, again as warned in the instructions as these pieces form the bottom sills for the aft cannon ports. Once the glue set, my final check was to overlay the window template to double check the spacings.  Seems to be OK, but please sing out if you see anything amiss so I can correct it! 
 
Next up is some careful fairing of the upper pieces and then adding the sills and lintels to complete the window framing.
 
Thanks for reading and again for all the kind comments and "likes".  
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi All,
 
A small update as I've finished the first part of the stern framing.
 
First step as usual was the clean off the laser char and here I went very light given the stern timbers have complex curves I didn't want to alter by mistake. The stern timbers were then glued in place, making sure they were firmly seated against bulkhead 8 and that their angles matched the template.  I copied the paper templates onto clear transparency film so I could see the timbers completely and so line them up easily. I did double check there was no scale offset when I copied them as Chuck warns in his instructions. The film is also much stronger than paper so I could use clips to hold the template against the frames without risk of tearing.
 
The upper side pieces were then chamfered so they fit snugly against the stern timbers and, together with the hull frames, were glued in place following the laser etched reference lines. I used my steel rule to make sure the upper pieces were not tilted in or outboard, again as warned in the instructions as these pieces form the bottom sills for the aft cannon ports. Once the glue set, my final check was to overlay the window template to double check the spacings.  Seems to be OK, but please sing out if you see anything amiss so I can correct it! 
 
Next up is some careful fairing of the upper pieces and then adding the sills and lintels to complete the window framing.
 
Thanks for reading and again for all the kind comments and "likes".  
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.