qwerty2008

So, Saturday morning I go into the shop/garage to install the last of the fairlead tubes with the idea of starting to put down the sub deck on Sunday, when I notice the top of the mizzen topmast and it's t'gallant are lying on deck, and the main from the top up, is leaning at an odd angle.
 
Turns out the model's on it's bench under the garage door, and she's taller than where the door goes when the rig's up.  Hurricane Denise blew in and opened the garage door to put something in (despite being warned not to do that very thing).  The door struck the mizzen and main before she realized what was happening, and then blew off to the church yard sale before I got up.
 
Yes, I was upset, and the entire vocabulary of my sailing life came to the fore, but then I figured, feces takes place.  So I set to making repairs, or replacements, as the case may be.
 
The decapitated mizzen topmast.
 
The severed head of mizzen topmast.  Broke at the tops'l halliard sheave.
 
  A 2 inch brass rod reenforces the joint.
 
The brass rod was CAed in and the joint got epoxy putty squeezed in.
 
  A little sanding and paint and it's all set.
 
The sheared head of the mainmast.  It got a 4" brass rod and epoxy putty too, but that didn't hold in the flat break across the main's end grain.
 
The next day I put a pine Dutchman in the back side of the mast head.
 
Today that was reenforced with pieces set in on either side with their grain running vertically and straddling the break.
 
  Just before the clamp went on.  We'll see how it turns out tomorrow.  It may get another piece set in on the front face.
 
I had every intention of making a spare set of topmasts and some other spars - I just didn't expect to need them this soon.
 
No, I didn't get upset with Madam Guillotine, I just summoned up my inner Jew and used the power of guilt - my mother would be so proud.
 

Another update:
I have cut the old keel in the bow, since it was wrong either on size, slope, lenght...
The new bow is as it can be seen in the photo.
I added two pieces, the walnut one is the pink one in the drawing.
The other one is the green one in the drawing.
The cyan colored one is the effective bowsprit, which is not yet installed.
Again I want to remark the fact that the external hull and related bow and stern will be completely painted, so nothing of this "HORRIBLE PATCHWORK" will be seen when the model will be finished.
So use your fantasy at the moment to compensate this vision...
I have not yet decided if install the wolf head in the bowsprit.
All these wolf heads appears too much...
With this one the number become seven!
I changed a bit the slope of the bowsprit and its lenght, and now is much more like the ones in the various paintings.
I am still not too convinced by some detail of the original drawing, including the inclination of the bowsprit, which can provide some interferences with the big latin sail of the foremast.

I like the idea of a removable rudder.  I think the ultimate in rc ships is having a model you can both sail and display.  Also having removable rudder and keels will give you the ability to experiment with what works best for your model.  I'm still learning the actual mechanics of how a ships work.  I think RC ships really bring that side of modeling out.      

It probably let them standardize a bit on carriages.  Use the rear trunnion mount for a longer gun.  These barrels are pretty darn heavy and not something you just lift up and move.

Thank you Druxey, the exhibit is there for few weeks.
 
Thank you Mark, a visitor who has never seen a model before cannot imagine what he is going to see. He thinks he will see some sort of kit at the best. When he sees the first models, he is very much surprise and for what he sees after, well he was not prepare, to see two 8 foot models.
I would have liked to bring more things, but too much is like not enough. There was a possibility for 2 cases: 1 for ropes and 1 for tools which are used to build model ship. A rope machine always has success when she does a little demonstration because most of the peoples have never seen how ropes are turned. The other case has some tools. Some are made, some are bought. On the stand, one of my favorite is the hammer handle, I bought some and I did some. Since I tried these balanced handles (wood counterweight at the opposite of the handle), I love it and I would never return to an ordinary handle.
 
I also brought some machinist tools used with the lathe or the milling. I did fabricate tools about 10 years as a hobby, using these to climb in a spiral to build more and more complex tool.
 
Last Sunday I did a 3 hours lecture about this hobby. In the first part, accordingly to what I recently discovered, model ship began in England around 1650 and few years later in france in 1689 , following an Ordinance about Instructions for Navy Guards in Brest.
 
The main part being a complement after you saw the models outside only, peoples were able to look inside a model at every level and I guess they liked  to see in pictures this side of the model ship.

I think he's more concerned about the depth of the rudder, Qwert
 
Actually, too deep of a rudder will cause cavitation - it will stall and be ineffective.  You get more effect with waterline length near the surface.  Take note of how schooners and yachts based on Grand Banks boats often have 1/2 heart shaped rudders with their greatest length at the waterline and coming to a point at the keel.  You can see that on Friendship sloops, for example.
 
Also, rudder throw beyond 30°-35° can cause drag enough to stall the boat, especially with fast rudder movements.  Heck, I've done that in my 16 footer.

Seeing as I have to make another windlass anyway...I will alter the plans to show the bar holes on every other face.  Its an easy fix.  I can see that it would make sense...or to alternate their position should they appear on every face like shown on John;'s example he posted above.  Dont y0u wish making changes in real life was as easy as having Photoshop.
 
Heres what she looks like with every other...piece of cake...
 

Windlass 2.0
 
The final version....no photoshop this time 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm about to try and build an RC racing schooner, the Malabar One, designed in 1922 by John Alden.  It was the first of a series of ten schooners he designed all named Malabar.
 

 
I've never bult a boat from scratch, so it will be interesting how it comes out.
 
A friend gave me an empty fiberglass hull, a lead keel and a stack of old drawings, and that's it.  
The hull is 48" stem to stern. The keel weights 18 lbs.
 

 
Here's what I have as reference materials to go by:
 

 

 
This is from a different, but similar boat also designed by John Alden:
 

 
I was also given an old print of another build using the same hull:
 

 
 
So I have lot's of questions about woods and techniques.
The original boat used White Oak for framing, and hard pine for deck planks. (Why pine? - seems soft and not water friendly)
I've been told that aircraft spruce works great for model framing members.
I also have easy access to lots of white oak, and the tools to machine it.
 
I originally planed to do the deck in teak, and the deck houses and details in mahogany.  
The deck MUST be water-proof - this will be a working, sailing model, so I guess I have to seal and varnish the deck or ??
 
Don't know what to make the masts and spars out of. (spruce?)
 

I know I need a reference frame to hold the fiberglass hull while I build the deck.
I had a big piece of melamine coated particle board sitting around - if well supported it likes to stay nice and flat, so I used it and laid out the centerline and the 12 station marks:
 

 
I traced the hulls lines from the drawing I had to a piece of velum so I could cutout the hull supports:
 

 
I transferred the information from the drawings to a piece of pboard for the keel support:
 

 

 
And cut out the hull supports using the velum copies in 1/2" birch plywood:
 

 

 
Now I need to figure out how thick the deck will be so I can mark where the sheer strip goes.

I feel like I should decide exactly what I'm going to do in a number of areas before I begin anything.
How the deck gets constructed is not nailed down, nor am I comfortable about wood selections yet.
 
I decided to try building the deck beams out of a couple different woods to see what happenens.
I wanted to try bent laminations to see if it would keep the crown shape better than steam bending.
 
I scaled info about the deck crown from the real boat drawings ( 6" in 10'-6" ) to my boat ( 5/8" in 14" ) and made a form out of a 2x4 and 3/4" MDF:
 

 
I ripped 3/4" white oak into strips 3/4" x 3/32"
 

 
Glued 4 of them together with epoxy and pressed them together in the form:
 

 
After the epoxy set, I ripped the 3/4" lamination down the center with a band saw and ended up with two crowned oak beams 16" long:
 

 
Here they are - just checking how they look across the hull:
 

 
The beams seem to be holding their shape, they only spring out 1/16" when they come out of the press.  
I might try steam bending the oak strips first, then glueing them, to relieve some stress and get beams that want to keep their shape.
 

I have put some accommodation beneath the half-deck.
Dick
 

Daniel: I do have a clear plastic insert that increases the rudders size and I am thinking of making it removable so that I can replace it with a bigger one later if needed. The Byzantium is a schooner and therefore it can be steered almost entirely with the sails (or so I've been told) also the large scale means that the rudder extension doesn't need to be so large. The main thing I worry about is the size of my keel fin, the large surface area will reduce leeway and heeling but will also resist turning whereas the narrow keel on the Prins Willem combined with the large rudder allows it to turn on a dime which is nice for control but not very realistic.
 
 
 
 
Lextin.

"Moderation is the order of the day!" otherwise you're going to build a catamaran...     
 
Here te latest news:
 
Here you see the inner part placed on the beech plywood strip and below the Stern & Stem - but the keel!!! 
Is it possible that a nearly 60ft long keel is made from one single pice of tree???
And the plank under it is also from one pice???
Due to the Mondleld's rule "No plank was longer than 35ft" I ask my question.
 
Looking foreward toward your answers,
 

Christian

Hi Lextin. Looks really good, especially the lead bar at the bottom of the keel. Dare I say it...not long to go before we can see some sailing shots?
 
All the best!

I did some more work on the keel then took some pictures of the model.






 
Lextin.

Thank you gentlemen...
 
I took a break from framing because I wanted to work on the windlass.  Its 3 1/2" long. I have had the design concept in my brain for over a year and I wanted to see if it would work.  I think it came out really well.  The design is much like the lantern.  You build the windlass drum in sections and slide them onto a 1/16" x 1/16" strip.  There are 65 pieces in this windlass.   All laser cut.  Its a perfect match to the plans.  The hardest part (which isnt very hard at all)  is to bevel the edges of each face of the drum.  This is so they fit tightly together.   Once you get the angle down,  it goes quickly and without incident.   You have to bevel the edges without over doing it because you will lose the original shape of each precision cut piece.  The laser char on the edge actually help out a lot.  You need to bevel the edge until the laser char is all gone and resist beveling further.  
 
 I was worried about this ever since I saw the model in the Rogers collection.  Yes, you could shape the windless drum from one piece and carve the sprockets by hand...but that is a real challenge.  I have seen what David Antscherl did for his Comet model and it scared me to death ever since.  Knowing that others will ultimately build this model I needed to put my kit designer hat on.  This windlass is a MAJOR deck fitting and can make or break a model of a cutter if it isnt done well enough.
 
Ultimately,  this windlass will be painted all red but I am not sure yet.  Its usually shown that way on contemporary models.  If I decide to leave it natural boxwood I will paint the ends of the drum so you cant see the construction method.  If its painted carefully to look like wood, it will look like a solid piece.  This is still not glued together.  The individual segments are just slid onto the stick.  I just have to snip the ends of teh stick off and sand them down after the segments are glued together. Silly me, I got so into making it, that I didnt take any construction photos.
 
That means I will have to build another one at some point.  Lucky me. 
 
Now to take my daughter to the movies and sit with her and about 7 other 14 year old noisy girls.  Lucky me again!!!
 

 

 

 

I did some more work on the keel then took some pictures of the model.






 
Lextin.

Thought I'd relax a little and make some spars.  These have been rough cut ever since I first made the  masts; today I shaped them; all the t'gallant and royal yards.
 
The nice thing about this time period is that the yards are round over their entire length, all the details are "iron" bands and eyes.  Macedonian's spars will be another story.
 

Here is another update. Some progress has been made on the deck fixtures and fittings.
 
Here is a look at the wheel box which still needs some sanding and another coat of paint along with a peek at the wheel.
 
The mainmast collar and the aft hatch is also nearing completion.
 
The windlass is getting there, but still needs a few fittings added and the axel trimmed. The bitts will be painted after the windlass has been fitted but not attached.
 
Questions and comments welcomed.
 
Russ

Your cutter is starting to grow, Chuck.
 
Thanks for the photos of the Roger's Collection model - beautiful.  perhaps the aftermost shroud is served because the mainsail could rub against it when she was running before a wind?
 
John

I also wanted to post some photos of the Rogers collection model.  I should have done so earlier on in this log.  It is identified as Cheerful but after much scrutiny it is not.  At least in my opinion.  The measurements on deck match but thats about it.  There are too many stunning discrepancies when compared to the original drafts.  But its very close.  It is a cutter of the same period and for research its very valuable.
 
The rigging is quite odd as well.  Nothing I have ever seen on a cutter of this period.  It is interesting to note that until recently this model was identified as an unknown cutter circa 1770's.  I am not sure who actually mis-identified it as Cheerful but it has changed at least three times in literature that refers to the Rogers collection.
 
Its a great model non-the-less.  What I was glad to see was it is not Clinker planked.    One of the reasons I chose this subject.  I also have many photos of the square tuck...note the vertical planking back there as opposed to the usual diagonal.   This is a detail that is also shown on the original draft.  Also note the gunnades on deck.  These are the carronades on carriages rather than sleds.   This model does not have long twelves at the bow which Cheerful did have.  Instead it has more gunnades.  Also note such peculiar things such as the aft most shroud being served but the fore shroud is not.  Go figure.
 
Any question and I would be glad to try and answer them.  I have tons of photos.   I also have some photos of the only sister....in this class,  Surly.  This is another contemporary model in a Canadian museum.  It shows this class after a major refit.  One that Cheerful never had because it had such a short life.
 
Chuck
 

 

 

 

 

 

So now the fore boomkins are installed.

I had the sticks rough cut from that mahoganyish pallet wood, I made the aft boomkins from.   I had to get up the courage to cut a hole on either side of the head for them to go through.  The first one was really tense, but the second one was less so, if not easier.
I have no plan or measurements for these thing, or their position on the bow, so I stared a lot of photos.  One photo was at an angle where I could measure the boomkin was 70% of the length of the top-rail of the head, back from the bow.


I had to shape the boomkins.  The tip is basically a cube with the corners knocked off.  From there to the head planking it's 8-sided.  Then it's square right to the hull.
Once everything was shaped and fitted, I drilled a hole in the inside end and in the hull for a 1/16" brass rod.  On the ship today, they're merely bolted to the hull-no bracket, socket, or anything like that.


With everything checked for fit, I painted the portion inside the head white.  When that dried I CAed the rod into the boomkin.  I got some kneadable epoxy putty a while back and put a wad of it on the end of the boomkin that would attach to the hull, and a drop of CA on the brass rod, and installed them.


They seem to line up nicely with the fores'l tacks.

Hi All,
I decided to go with the idea of using FABRIC PAINT to give the look of nails n roves. I am really not crazy about a lot of those nails n roves to do. Since at a size between .05mm to 1mm, just not worth the trouble for something that would really not be noticed. Plus I am not a fan of trenails and/or nails n roves anyway. Call me crazy but I rather do ratlines. I do really not care for the the look. But I thought I would giver a go...my boat now has a bad case of the pimples. LOL!


If you remember Jeff plans show dashed lines on the frames. Which would assist the builder in faring the frames. So what I did was fare each frame individually before I installed them on the boat floor. I left enough material to finish the faring after the frames were permanently glued into position.
Has with my Bounty Launch build the instructions had me leave off the cant frames till the rest were fared. So I decided to leave off frames D n E nearest to the bow section to fare after the rest of the frames were completed... Once completed I glued them into place and I used frame C as a reference to do frame D and E. I layed my sanding block on frame C and went from there to get them all in line. Using a batten to keep me in line....

Now if you go back to page 1. You will see the that the boat bottom at the stem n stern areas come to a point. The plans had me cut out the stem n stern with a squared joint...So I spoke with Jeff and he did say I was right in deciding to Nip off the boat bottom ends to a squared end and butt he stem n stern post to them...(he is going to correct the plans at a later date)

So here's a few pictures...




















Well I knew things were going too smoothly....

Ok I am now at a stand still. I started to trace out the gar-board strack. Then I transferred it to white card. Then I placed the card gar-board against my frames to see how close I was. Well I was way off. I could not figure out why for the longest time. I took my traced out gar-board and layed it on the plans and it matched perfectly.
You ever get one of those nights that all you do is think and your production is nil. Well after staring at my project and then back to the plans hoping to figure out what was going on, I finally saw it. If you look at my project my flat bottom boat floor is flat. But on the plans it is not so. It curves up slightly at the fore n aft ends. I never saw it till NOW.
So am I correct in assuming that I will not be able to transfer the strakes on the plans to my material. Because measuring from stem to stern on the plans it 15 inches, on my model it's 16 inches. My option is now to mark of my own strakes on the frames and go from there. By creating my own planks. I need to know from you experienced scratch builders that I am making the right decision, and that I am understanding these plans correctly. Since this is all new to me. Thanks for any advice to help me out here....


here's a couple of pictures

Well who says you don't learn from midwest models. If I had noticed the upward rake of the boat floor I would of gone the way midwest had me build my Dinghy. All I would of done different on the Batteau was cut out the frames about 1 inch longer so when I nail it to the building board. Because the stem n stern posts are much longer then the frames themselves. here is a pic of what I am talking about.
I have to start thinking a different way since this a scratch build. is this what you mean by the dark side.....HAHA!

i recommend anybody building the Batteau to make a building board and invert it as you see my dinghy. It will make thing a whole lot easier....


So now that building board was too late for me to use, I had to fashion one to suit the situation I was now in.....here are the results. Oh please give me your opinions and let me know if i could of done it a better way....
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