qwerty2008

I'm enjoying following your log.
BTW - I found this photo a few years back, and I thought you might like it.  Looks like an Armed Virginia Sloop to me.
 

Cheers.

After doing the stern, it was almost a relief to get back to planking the lower hull. I've now done the lower segment on the starboard side through the rough sanding. I started with the garboard strake and then worked from top and bottom until the area was filled in. The final strake required some shaping and fitting, but generally the work went fairly smoothly.
 
Before moving on to the port side, I will drill and fill for the treenails on this side ( there are well over a thousand holes to be done on each side and I want to break up that task).
 
Bob

Well, I've done the square tuck stern and it was as troublesome as I feared it would be. Definitely the hardest part of the work to date. I went through a good part of a sheet of 1/8" boxwood to make the framing (my trash can was delighted with all of the treats it received  ), but I finally said "enough". The result is "OK", but not great. The planking was tricky, but easier.
 
Once I was at it, I decided to go ahead and complete the area by tree nailing and putting on a coat of Wipe-on Poly. I then added the stern post, because I prefer to do the lower planking with it in place. Lastly, I added the molding at the bottom of the counter above the tuck framing.
 
All in all, I'm just glad to be back at the lower planking.
 
Bob

Sorry Nenad. I just had to change the knights to more practical models. I think this looks more workmanlike if not so artistic
 

Dick

I have decided to redo the knights as they are impractical.

I have decided to have two knights to raise the yard which would have been heavy and will make a capstan to assist.
 
Here is an illustration from the Trombetta manuscript showing, I believe, a knight in situ. Other people have suggested that this is a person but this is clearly not the case
 

 

 
 
Cheers
Dick

Barrels
I was not at all satisfied with the powder kegs. The bands are too wide and look sloppy.
So I decided to experiment with making barrels of a bit larger size. I will need several in the hold later on.
 
Standard dowel is not the best choice but I went ahead and used 1/4 inch diameter for these trials. It is probably made out of pine.
The main thing is that I wanted to use some narrow tape for the bands rather than painting them. Let me show you my various approaches and the final method I have settled on thus far.
 
I have a small mini lathe (used but from Harbor Freight) with lots of attachments and cutting tools. I modified a cut-off bit and thinned it to 0.032 inch. I will use this later to cut some grooves for the tape. The black tape is 1/64th inch wide and, although it has some adhesive, it does not really stick that well.

I ended up relying on the wet poly wipe to keep it in place (and even then it was a bit of struggle).
 
Here are the steps.
First I clean off the end of the rod and indent it with a simple turning bit.
 
Rather than turning chisels I use a triangular file to round off the end and cut the groove to the length of the barrel.  
Both ends get rounded to my eyeballs. Nothing sacred. After all, coopers used the same eye balls.
 
I finally settled on resting the tape inside a tiny groove as shown. This gives me much better spacing and more uniform looking bands.
 
I may still modify this, but so far it works.
 
 
 

Lower hull planking on the starboard side is now finished. This involved drilling and filling over 1300 holes for the simulated treenails, final sanding with multiple grades of sandpaper and a coat of Wipe-on Poly to seal and protect the work. Although my hand seems to be permanently cramped into the position of gripping the pin vise drill  , I am generally pleased with the result.
 
Now, it's on to the port side to do it all over again by adding and finishing the lower planking there.
 
Bob

Guys
 
All I can say is that I am careful and slow to a fault.  Its tough to get stuff done this way.   But I do agree everyone should just slow down.  Its what I recommend  a lot of folks to do...
 
Anyway...back to Cheerful.
 
I was able after two attempts to shape the boom crutch and create a procedure for doing so.  The key was starting with a much thicker piece and making the boom crutch a bit over-sized to start.  I cut out the boom crutch on a piece of 1/4" thick boxwood and carefully adjusted for three angles.   When completed it will be just 1/8" wide to match the width of the fashion piece.  Now that the starboard side is complete I can do the other and take pictures at every step.  This is certainly one piece that needs slow and attentive care to the angles involved.  The boon crutch must be turned inboard slightly so the boom can actually sit in it.  This is tough because the fashion piece and the side of the hull goes in the opposite direction!!!   This one piece took me over four hours to produce, shape and paint to a finish I found acceptable.
 
A few careful reference marks and filing...then turn the piece inward and you are good to go!!!   I will have a step by step soon.  You can see the second boom crutch over-sized and ready to shape in one of the photos.  Note the tail is left long so the proper angles can be created while sanding it shorter.
 
Because the boom crutch was painted black it might be hard to see in these photos but essentially the boom crutch must match the angle of the fashion piece when viewed from the side and from astern in two planes while being turned to line up with the path of the boom (or the main mast).  All while hiding the seam between the two pieces...thank God it is supposed to be painted black.  
 

 

 

 

 

Hi all  
Thanks a lot for all your visits and the likes on the last few logs! - they are always well appreciated!      @Patrick ... I hope, that you have for your part a long patience with my workshop.      Now, let's have a little break from the deck. I like to show you a beautiful painting of a CA-Pilot that I found on the web (http://www.kyst-norge.no).     Best regards, Mike

... some little progress from last evening ...
 

... and once again: cutting free the frames of the main opening before planking.
 
 
 
 
 
Best regards,
Mike

... and the deck slowly grows ...
 
 
 
 
 
Till soon,
Mike

Hi again
Thank you all for the visits and so many likes!
 
@Patrick
... thanks a lot and cheers!   
 
@Paul
... thanks a lot, always greatly appreciated!   
 
A special case of the planking we'll find in the area of the wide groove of the openings (they will be later equipped with an elastic gasket). There I have a “flying“ plank without bearing - it's hanging in the air.
 
The fix of this problem shows two planks coupled on the underside (s. below).
 

 

 

 
Best regards,
Mike

So here we go with the next increment of this cross section (which will take a long time to complete). 
 
Gun powder cartridges:
The lowest usable section of this parts of this ship will be the gun powder room, water tanks and other storage areas. Earlier I mentioned the confusion about the powder room in the forward section and how it relied on the various modifications of the ship. The part that struck my fancy was the last revision that made the powder room(s) way down deep below the orlop deck, and a drawing provided by Jonathan is what I will go by.

I have made book shelves in the past, but never this small. I started with some 1/32 inch thick boxwood for the back, shelves and sides. Then I cut some blocks for the spacers and coated them with wax. The following pictures show how I assembled the storage shelves for the gun powder cartridges and two small powder kegs. When assembled, the room will be lined with copper sheets.
 
 

Working really hard on slowing down my pace. At my age, it's really tough.
I remember reading a comment from one of our friends.... "So many ships to build, yet so little time."

I think Chuck has it absolutely right: you cannot rush and be sloppy if you want a great result.

Magic!!!  Seriously I have no idea...I just work very slooooowly.    Drives others nuts when they watch me working on something.  

OK Chuck solve the biggest mystery for me.....how in the heck do you keep your builds so clean looking???
 
I think mine is pretty clean when I go to take a photo, only to find the photo magnifies each minuscule dust particle by a factor of 10!! And that is after O blow it it and wipe it sown with a tack cloth.
 
Come on ....share, please  ;o)
 
Tom

Eye sights fine, I did however, stab my index finger with a file which, as you can imagine made tying the knots real fun.
 
 
 
 
Lextin.

I have managed to get in a few hours of work on the Byzantium today. I made some blocks, now I have all 3 sizes. I also repainted the nameplate as it got covered up during paint touchups. But most importantly I have tied 112 clove hitches on the port side ratlines.




My box of fittings is filling up



 
 
 
 
Lextin.

Well, busting my bottom the get Constellation rigged for sailing in open water at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Model Expo this weekend and the event's been cancelled because of a tropical storm coming up the coast.  I think I'll continue on prepping her and maybe take her down to Annapolis in a couple of weeks and sail her on the Severn.

Timberheads are completed....now on to the boom crutches.  Just a word about those boom crutches.  These are probably some of the trickiest parts of the model to make.  There are going to be some crazy angles to create and much trial and error.  I expect to make quite a large pile of bad boom crutches.  This is for the benefit of all those building the model as well.  You will no doubt have a large pile of discarded crutches also.  I will do my best to explain how I make them step by step.  
 

 

 

 

So, finally I figured it out...it took me only, what? 6 months on how to proceed...
 
No, not really. Day-job, you know, and the dreaded wall of fatigue was close up front. Didnt bang into it though, for which I'm glad.
 
Anyway, two strakes on, how to get the rest on without bulkheads. Some simple and crude frames might be the solution.
 
The masking tape is to get the positioning of frame pairs equal.
Contact cement between the tape and the frame will make for a desent bond I hope. And not to cumbersome to peel off when I get to that.
 

Nice work on the ratlines and necessary "supply stash", Lextin.  Those files hurt even worse than an x-acto, don't they?

Eye sights fine, I did however, stab my index finger with a file which, as you can imagine made tying the knots real fun.
 
 
 
 
Lextin.