mrshanks

Thanks Dave. I swear by this method and have never had any issues with doing it this way.

Nice work on the planking, Don! I use the same technique (weld bond and CA glues)) for my planking. The CA is a "liquid clamp" which holds while the Weldbond cures.

Hey Mike, the blade is a 80 tooth, unfortunately it is the finest blade Proxxon offers. It cuts thin strips fairly good as long as you have the proper hold downs in place. The blades that Jim Byrnes sells have a 1/2" hole whereas the Proxxon has a 10 mm hole. I have the ones from Jim but still have to make a bushing for them in order to use them. To clean the "gunk" in your blades use some spray on oven cleaner, I have been using that for years now and it works really good.

Hi Lawrence, Thanks for your comments. Yes that jig is a lot of help cutting strips, certainly makes things more accurate. I have use it a few times now and am very happy with it.

Can't tell you what blade Don uses, but this is an excellent read on what blades to use for what size of wood you are cutting from Jeff at Hobbymill who used to be the go-to source for milled wood for the US builders - http://www.hobbymillusa.com/byrnes-saw-operation.php

Thanks to everyone for stopping in and for your comments and likes. I finished fairing the hull to my satisfaction and have started the planking.
 

This picture is showing the little jig I used to mark the placement of the first plank, 1.5 mm above the top edge of bulkhead
 

The first two planks on either side need to be cut down from 5 mm to 4 mm, here I am doing that using my homemade jig and Proxon table saw.
 

 
The first plank being attached. I use a combination of ca glue and white glue (weldbond). I started at the stern and moved forward, I trim the plank to length and shape when I get to the bow I find I get better results doing it this way rather than off ship.
 

 
Here is the first plank completed. You will notice the port side front bulkhead is a little different, the original one broke off and joined the numerous other lost parts on my floor , so I made this one out of some scraps. The height isn't  a big deal as these all get taken off later, it is just needed to get the proper shape of the bow with the planks
 

 
 And here is how she looks as of this afternoon. The next four planks will be the full width throughout their length then after these the rest will need to be shaped. Unlike most ships the Trabaccolo's bow is bigger than the stern so it is a bit of a reversal from other builds I have done.
 Well that's it for now, I'll see you all in about 8 or 10 planks. It's my now favourite time of day "nap time"  
 
 

Don, the main tool is a Sherline lathe, tool bits, files, sanding sticks
Ko

It always helps to have the right tools for the job. Well done.
 
If I were to do that same task today, I would have had to use wood stock, a saw, straight edge, a micrometer, hand files, sand paper, glue, and paint. I know it wouldn't have looked as good as yours.
 
Jon

Just caught up with and looked in on this log.....some very impressive skills being displayed here!!!
 
JP

Jon here is an example why a lathe comes in handy. The kit smokestack was a POS casting with the mold being squeezed too much and formed an oval versus a round part aside from the rough porous surface it had. 
 
I started with a piece of 1/2" diameter bar stock and turned a new stack out of brass faster than it would take to cleanup the POS casting. Again I went to the images of the real ship and added the spark arrestor as well.
 
Here is a sequence of pictures explaining what I did to make it. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Now back to other parts.

Thanks again for providing those beautiful pictures and great explanations. I will probably buy one of those new toys in the future before I start my Conny after all, it's only money 8-)
 
Jon

Jon, the top disc was hand cut and sanded and polished by hand. The pattern, the laser cut wood part with the brass ring was traced onto a piece of brass. The brass ring provided a hard smooth surface for tracing using a sharp scribe point and small center circle. The circle was drilled into the center mark but nor all the way through and thus the indexing point. Picture 4.
 
I would highly recommend at some point acquiring a table top lathe; mine is a Sherline #4400 with the long bed. Also a 4 jaw self centering chuck for holding square stock. I am not a machinist; I am self taught on both the lathe and milling machine. Sherline offers a great book targeted at beginners to work with tabletop machines that they offer. Here are a couple of links. Explore their site and online museum to see some great work being done.
 
http://sherline.com/product/44004410-lathe/
 
http://sherline.com/product/5301-tabletop-machining/

I have no experience with a lathe, let alone a metal lathe, but I assume one was use for making the capstan top as well as the inset underside for the indexing pin. How did you initially cut the disc and then hold it in place to spin it on the lathe to create its final diameter and inset?
 
Jon

Thanks for your kind words! I moved onto the capstan and started the anchors to work back and forth. I again checked the photos of the real ship for reference since the plans and instructions are a little sketchy. The laser cut parts center holes for the dowel to pass through were slightly off center; so the parts were trued up on the lathe once glued together. I added brass ring and solid polished top as well.
 
Here are a few pictures of what I did.
 

 

 
It is very difficult to cut a thin ring off a tube with out tearing it up when the cut through happens; so I just cut a groove to use as a guide for the saw blade.

 

 

 
This also shows an in progress anchor with metal straps added; the rest still need to be done. Note that the centering hole was not drilled completely through the brass top; the top wood pin was cut down to be used as an indexing pin into the partially drilled hole in the underside of the brass disc top.

 
Back to the rest of the structures to be completed.
 

Hey Elijah I think you're doing a great job on your ship. Blackening metal fittings is always a personal decision, bright metals will eventually dull even if they're coated with a clear lacquer. There are several really good threads on this forum on how to blacken metals. There is a definite learning curve and I would highly recommend reading through these before making a decision.
 
However the coppering is a slightly different story since copper turns green in saltwater. If you look online for photos of the Connie as she was pulled recently into dry dock you'll see a nice green patina. There are chemicals you can use to turn copper green quickly, or if you use wood you can do a faux finish to simulate the patina. This is what I did on my Connie per the instructions in the Mamoli kit.

Treenailing of the main deck planking is now done. As with the hull, this was done by drill and fill, using golden oak filler. After final sanding, a coat of Wipe-on Poly was applied as a sealer. The treenailing followed the beam lines previously laid out, and the pattern shown in AOTS.
 
To break up what what seemed like an endless drilling of holes, I decided to make the fore and main hatches during that process. The coamings were made from walnut strip from the kit. The main hatch planking was done with boxwood strip.Ringbolts still need to be added to the hatch planks. The fore hatch grating was done using cambered boxwood grating material from Syren that I had left over from Cheerful.
 
After putting it off for as long as I could, I'm now starting on the second planking of the lower hull.
 
Bob 

First off, that is some gorgeous wood!
 
It's hard to say because pix don't show the 3D view very well. Not your fault, it's just the way it is.  If anything, I would say the garboard may be extending into the bow a little too much. But you can judge that. The key is you don't want the garboard turning up at all at the bow. In your next to last pic it kinda looks like it might be turning up some - maybe just the camera angle. I can say from experience, if it goes too far into the bow (even if the GB looks level) the next strakes will start to turn up.
 
One view you didn't show was your transom. How is that working out?

Hello all! I got three strakes done in the last two days, including the garboard on the starboard side. I took a lot of pictures, so I will let them explain themselves. I did surgery to remove a bad plank that had CA on it, and replaced it. The garboard points up at the same rate as the planks above do, so I think it works, but I would like to hear feedback on it. If I manage to get the next two strakes above the garboard, I will move on to the garboard on the port side. Really, after I get some planks on the lower part of the hull, on both sides, it will only be a matter of closing the gap. Onward !











I will update again at the halfway point! Thanks for any comments and help! Until next time.

Looking good! I will echo what Mike said about the garboard turning up at the bow. Even if it is only a slight bend, once you start adding strakes that bend will become more and more noticable. One way to check this is to keep measuring your space inbetween the garboard and those upper planks. Do your planks still fit in that space with the correct number and widths? If they do then you are ok. If not then you need to reset.
 
What happens is that the spacing at the bow will close out faster that the rest of the hull as it is a smaller space to begin with. If your planks are turning up there thrn that will accelerate that gap closure and you will not have the space to run the same number of strakes at the bow as you have on the rest of the ship.
 
You may be fine but double check you spacing now. It is easier to replace one plank then have to remove a lot of planks or be unhappy with your results.

Good Afternoon everyone..
Another, day, another dollar... Very good progress made today; the hull is planked and ready for good ol' Elmer's Wood filler.  I'll apply that tomorrow and let it dry overnight so Wednesday is final sanding of the hull day.;  Hope all is well with everyone else.
Best,
Jerry

Good looking decking, Brian.

Nice work :)

I love what you're doing with the planking Brian. It looks great.
 
Bob

Brian,
 
One thing about scanners.. they don't do exactly 100%.   Some stupidity about counterfeiting money..       So... either buy a small ruler or make a small ruler on some paper and scan it with your plans/patterns.  I pull the drawing into CorelDraw and adjust that the ruler is correct size, then print.  Or... you just  copy/print from the scanner/printer (assuming it's an all in one device) and adjust the size as you print.
 
Your foredeck came out great in spite of the problems.

That looks REALLY good. Dont beat yourself up too much on the mistakes, its all part of the process.
Sam