Seventynet

Thanks a lot Zoltan, just keep up with the beautiful work on the Santa Maria! I get a lot of inspiration from your builds. Best, ian

Thanks for all the likes everyone and thank you for your comments Don. I am always grateful for your sage advice. I wonder whether the physics of bending and twisting a real plank and hence the need to spile or not is directly comparable to small scale models. I've always wondered whether it would be easier to bend and twist a real plank. Maybe it's the other way around? best, ian

Good Morning Shipmates, It has been a long voyage without significant discovery. Since I am about to embark on shore leave I present my latest progress on the Brazzera. I have finished both sides of the hull from the scupper plank down. All planks (essentially 4 per strake), except maybe one or two, have been spiled at the bow and stern giving me a more level look without planks riding up at the bow and stern. Obviously this necessitated different walnut stock (from MarisStella, Don and my own), hence the multi-coloured planks. Not that you don't get that from a single source too. For those interested in following this approach, the widest plank blanks would be about 35 mm with most being about 25 mm. Also keep in mind that in order to optimize the grain running lengthwise at the hook where the maximum bend will occur, you may want to have blank stock considerably wider than 35 mm. A consideration for doing this would be whether you decide to paint the hull which is obviously called for. Why go to all this trouble if you are going to paint? In the absence of spiling this hull poses severe edge bending challenges (I suppose less so depending on how you line out the geometry). Check out Zoran's log on the Brazerra/Trabakul to see the difference in his hull geometry. Just my two cents. I have no idea whether spiling like this this would be a sacrilegious trespass to traditional Brazzera shipwrights, but unless someone tells me that this definitely would not be done, I will use this same method for my Trabakul when I get around to it. I would appreciate it if people weighed in on this issue. It will not offend me if I am called on my approach. Some pictures are with mineral spirits so that I could spot excess glue. A couple of pictures show the notches in the planks at the bow before and after planking. There are actually two but they don't seem to both show up in the pictures. Best, Ian Thumbs.db

Nice job Derek! I look forward to your next build. Best, ian

Lovely work Nick. I'm learning all sorts of tricks here. I'm sorry that I hadn't cottoned on to this build until now. I hope there is space for me to squeeze in another chair. Best, ian

Looking very sweet Don. Clean and crisp. Thanks for showing us how you made the demizanas. Maybe you're hiding the rum in that? Ian

I use rubber bands and cut up eraser blocks instead of balsa blocks. You can apply all sorts of different pressure vectors that way. Love your work! Ian

I'm really liking your work Pierre. Keep the photos coming. Ian

Nice work on the Victory and welcome to the forum! Ian

Thanks for these tips Rob, they'll come in handy one day...Looking really good! Ian

I'm in the can't put them down camp for all the reasons Chris has mentioned. I think I got mine from Amazon.ca (Alvin brand) and they were around $100. Ian

Looking good Rob. Keep up the good work - on both fronts! Ian

This isn't to say that a fairlead in that position isn't a bit odd given the angle of the line, but that's what I seem to remember them calling for. A block on an eye would be more appropriate if you had one lying around from another kit. Ian

Hi Marcus, I'm sorry I'm not near the boat to examine it but I was able to dig up some pictures on my iPad. I attached a fairlead to the mast. I think I made it from scrap but I can't remember for sure.

Don, nice to see you back on this beautiful ship. I feel badly for your -23 degree C weather...so badly...smiley faces. In Maui, Ian

Thanks Don and others for pushing the like button. We're headed to Hawaii to get out of this ridiculously cold weather for a while. If you're not getting away I hope at least you enjoy skiing or some other winter related activity. Best, Ian

Beautiful! I'd like to see more! Ian

Perfect answer, thanks Heinz.

Thanks Michael and Zoran and others for the likes. Very much appreciated. As far as overall progress I have not come very far in the last month or so. A half hull is it. But I will not be in the shipyard much over the next month so I thought an update would be appropriate. In summary, I spiled all bow and stern planks. In doing so I achieved a relatively level/horizontal planking line and avoided stealers or drop planks. Best, Ian

Hi Heinz, just so many things to admire about your craftsmanship. Such a pleasure to follow your work. Listen, this is probably a dumb question but you didn't explain anywhere (that I can find) how you fashioned your gun port hinges to follow the contours of the wales where they intersect the gun ports. They look just great. But what material did you start with and did you simply bend them to follow the contours? Happy New Year, Ian

Wonderful job Elijah and congratulations. I look forward to your next build. Best, Ian

Wonderful work Graham. A pleasure to follow. Best, Ian

That's looking so nice and clean Don. Great shot showing how well your scuppers are lined up. Ian

Michael Mott described his hot air soldering station here.

Thanks very much Don and others for the likes. I have marked off the starboard side into 4 bands each of which will receive 5 planks. I will mark off each band just as I start planking in it. I think this plan is a bit of a departure from what others might have done so I hope it works. My objectives are threefold: have the planks lie in a more horizontal manner, that is, minimize the sweep up the stem; achieve a uniform plank width at the stem and stern; and eliminate drop planks and stealers. The penalty of course is that almost all of the bow and probably stern planks will have to be spiled therefore significantly increasing the time it will take me to complete this operation. Anyway I'm probably nuts to try this but unless someone talks me out of it that's the way I'm going to go. Best, Ian