Chuck

I have completed the bench lockers and rudder trunk. This finishes up the inboard side of the transom nicely I think. I have taken many step by step photos but rather than go through the whole process here are some pictures. Its pretty self explanatory actually. The panels are made in two layers of .025 Yellow Cedar for the benches and rudder trunk. Then its just a matter of shaping them to fit snug and neat in position. You want a tight fir against the planked sides of the cabin. Small lengths of 24 gauge black wire was use for the benchtop lids. Some laser etching showed where they go. To finish it all up I added that aft-most beam permanently and also the framed for the rudder. Everything s laser cut for you...even the planking for the inside portion of the counter. The sides of the rudder trunk panels were beveled so they could be fit together with a tight mitered seam between them. I have not added wipe on poly yet. I want to do a bit of clean up and repainting where thing got scuffed up a bit. But I expect it will clean up OK. And I have already cleaned the inside of the windows as well. It will get harder to do that now that this detail was completed.

I will follow with interest....looking forward to your updates. Enjoy the project.

An excellent start...I eagerly await your progress updates.

I bought a case of metal cans with a screw top. It cost me $15. They are the size of a can of peanuts give or take. Folks use them to make candles or to store candy and other stuff. Got them on Etsy. I thought I would need many and I would wreck them after a while but this is still the first one after about 6 years. Chuck

Yes…i dont want to go too bright this time. Its the same red but then toned down with a thin wash on top. Of Burnt umber actually. It gives it a bit of character. I want to try something new…a bright shiny perfect model is starting to look a bit sterile to my eyes lately. So I am working the surface a bit. We shall see if it succeeds or fails miserably. Once the hull is almost complete I will do the same all over to establish the look I am shooting for. I am somewhat inspired by the crustiness and grime on the contemporary model.

Thanks Mike. I am working on it a lot lately. Mostly because I lack the wood to make many parts that are now out of stock. So as I get more I will be busy with inventory. So while I wait... I managed to get the transom beam in position. Much like the Winchelsea, it was made in layers to simplify it. These are all laser cut. But slightly longer than needed just in case. They were pre-bent in a jig set up. This is crucial. I used some scrap 3/16 x 3/16 wood under the center to bend it. I just clamped the end and then blasted it with the hair dryer on super hot. Note the wood scraps on the ends too. This protects the ends from denting and other damage. All of the layers are done like this. Using the 3/16" x 3/16 strip makes the perfect bend we need.. Testing it in place. Layer one. Not glued in yet. but pretty tight. Then repeat with layer two on top. No need to bevel the back edge. Just slide it against the stern frames. Then glue the top layer onto the bottom one while on the model. I found that helpful. You will be able to remove the whole thing because the bottom layer isnt glued in. This way you can sand it a bit if needed and clean it up. Testing the transom beam with the other six. They should be the same height and a test with a strip of wood confirms this. The deck planking will lay nicely on top. To finish off the transom beam, you can glue the final 3/64" thick layer on the top. This one will show so take your time cleaning it up. The back side was beveled to sit flash against the stern frames. The same was done on each end against the bulwarks so I got a tight fit. One of the red arrows shows this top layer. Note that it is narrower and leaves a nice rabbet on the forward side to accept the qdeck planking. The other red arrow shows a laser cut filler on the 3/64" thick. This is glued to the bulwarks and will be important in the next step. And finally...the iron straps are added. These are laser cut on black laser board. Each iron strap is in two pieces. One on the beam and the other curved section on the deck clamp. These will hardly be seen. In fact I think they are mostly covered later...what a pity. Next up was the planked inboard side of the transom. This is laser cut in one piece with etched lines to show the planking. Just bevel the sides for a tight fit. Also bevel the bottom edge as well. This was actually pre-bent in that same jig set up to establish the curve. It worked great. Use the 3/16" x 3/16" strip in the center like before. Once I got a tight fit I removed it and painted it red before gluing it in permanently. This helps me keep a crisp edge on the bottom with no sloppy paintwork. Then glue it in... The top of this area was prepared next. It is laser cut in a way that the grain makes it super easy to bend. So no jigs are needed. In fact be careful as it is delicate. The top is done in two halves. I have given folks and extra set just in case. There are notched for the stern frames. They are laser cut smaller than needed so you will need to enlarge them to fit tightly around the stern frames. The back edge was also beveled so it fit nice and tight. Then repeat with the other side. Note how the top is flush or nearly flush with the cap rail. Then a front mold piece finished it all up. Sanded to fit tightly and all prepared for painting. It is also 3/64" thick. Then its all painted and cleaned up...once the paint work is tidied up, this really finishes off the inboard side of the transom well. Next up I remove those six qdeck beams once again and start work on the locker benches and rudder trunk.

Probably too coarse(I use 320 grit)....but more than anything you are not gluing up those layers securely with enough glue...and or not waiting long enough for the layers to completely dry. Dont be afraid to use enough glue. In my case usually CA. A drop on each area needed to be secured. And I tumble at the highest speed in my tumbler...3000 RPM. Note how my tumbler is home made and very simple. No wood flapper and instead just a few sheets of 320 grit which are very flexible yet stiff enough to do the job. the center shaft is also simple…a wooden stick (cherry) with a slit in it to accept the sandpaper. Like a tuning fork of sorts with some cross strips in the center to prevent splitting. This thing gets a ton of use and does the trick beautifully without any broken bits afterwards.

Looking good so far!! Have fun with the project.

Its all mainly Alaskan Yellow Cedar. Real premium stuff however which is clear A grade with little to no grain visible. in Europe it can be sourced at Hobbymill.eu. Great place to get wood. They have AYC and other woods. In the US it is available at ModelersSawmill.com

Simply beautiful work...just outstanding!!

Lovely work.

Nicely done. Yes its all fiddly bits from this point. But I am sure you will enjoy it.

Its not difficult. The hull flexes a bit initially. You dont need much. As long as the beams arent cut too long it a piece of cake. They slip right in and dont move…a good fit actually. Having said that...for those who might have some trouble, you can absolutely add another layer. Adding another strip of say 1/8 x 1/32 cedar following the bottom of the notches would be fine. I did not find the need to do that however.

Thanks Rusty... Just a small update... Now that the aft platforms are completed it made sense to plank the great cabin next. First thing to do was add the laser cut deck clamps. These have notches cut for the qdeck beams. You can see the deck clamp added below. The aft side needs to be beveled to fit flush against the transom. The forward side is left a bit long so you can trim it to fit neatly in place. That forward-most beam notch is a bit longer to give us some wiggle room later for the placement of that beam. In addition before gluing it in...you must shape where the qbadge window is. Sand the shape into the bottom edge of the deck clamp as shown. Because it could be in a slightly different position model-to-model, this detail is not laser cut into the deck clamp. NOTE the red arrow. The bottom of the notch in the clamp should be even with the top of the window or even slightly higher. But it should not be below the top edge of the windows. If it is, you should make adjustments before gluing it onto the model. In addition, the bottom of these beam notches should NOT be altered. However, when you test fit the beams and find you need to make adjustments, you can absolutely enlarge the notches on the sides and top for a better fit. Just carefully chisel out some of the deck clamp or the planking above it to accommodate your beams. Next we will plank the inboard side of the great cabin. I am sure most of you could do this without any issues, but to help make it easier, there is a template on the plans. See below. This should make it easier to cut each strake with the appropriate tapers. There are six strakes. I highly recommend that these planks be cut from a 3/64" sheet as they are somewhat wide at the stern. Plus they are pretty much all drawn out for you. I will also add that you may have to make small adjustments because depending on where you aft platform ended up , you may have a slightly different area of space. Adjust the template accordingly and cut your planks to fit. Again they are 3/64" thick. Below shows the cabin planked inboard. I carefully cut around that window and did simulate caulking for the plank seams. I just used full length planks rather than show any possible butt joints. They wont be seen anyway. Note the forward edge of the planking runs down the FORWARD edge of the hull frame. Keep the forward esge nice and neat right down the edge of that hull frame. You might see some laser cut qdeck beams in that picture as well. They are just laying on the lower platform. Although we wont be adding them just yet, it will be to our benefit to have them handy while we do the next steps of fitting out the cabin benches and rudder trunk details. The laser char was removed from the deck beams and they were cut to length. It takes some practice on the first few to get the length correct so they sit nicely in those notches. But dont throw it away if you cut it too short. Just use it for the next shorter beam and work from the forward side aft when doing this. Test fitting the qdeck beams....none are glued in as I mentioned. Note the extra space on the first beam at the deck clamp notch. This will let us move it around where needed when we start work on the bulkheads there. If any of you are having a problem slipping the beams into those notches, you could easily add another strip of say 1/8 x 1/32 cedar following the bottom of the notches and it would be fine. I did not find the need to do that however. But you might find it easier if there was a second layer that stood proud of the planking a bit to rest your beams on. Builder's choice...

It looks like you have some adjustments to make....the hair brackets are not positioned correctly. In addition the stem needs some trimming and then it will all be OK.

I finished up the aft platforms... They were both planked with the scuttle lids being finished as described earlier. But then two upright timbers were cut to length (3/16 x 3/16) and placed on both sides of the open hatchway. This gives it more support so you can Carefully cut away the beam between them. It will look like the pic below when done. Then you can make the short ladder that goes in that opening between platforms. This is typical and laser cut for you. The only difference is that this ladder is tilted or skewed sideways. Its an interesting detail. The reason for this will become clear when we start building out all of the cabins. There is a small square with the angle you will need for this ladder on the plans. See below. This is what it looks like in position. Brutal close-ups... Then I figured it would be fun to build and install the shot lockers. All pieces are laser cut. The sides were glued on top of the back piece first. They were placed at right angles neatly. Then the front is added...which is shorter and has laser etched plank details. Next comes the top piece. This was laser cut a bit wider than needed for wiggle room. It was glued on top and then the back side was sanded flush where the top hung over the edge. The lids were also prepared. It is one piece with some laser etched details. Basically you have to bevel the top and bottom edges. Quite a bit as you can see. Here the lid piece was added. It has etched reference marks for the hinges. The hinges are laser board and added the same way we did them for the fire hearth. The top and bottom halves of the hinge are separate pieces. They are glued on first. Then to finish them up a small length of 24 gauge black wire was used to simulate the hinge pins between them. And finally added to the model...you may have to adjust the height of the shot locker AS you are building it. It all depends on whether or not you placed the height of the aft platform differently. Maybe you placed the platform lower and thus your shot locker may have to be shorter. Measure twice and cut once sort of thing...its so important to get the platform heights correct. But if you didnt, thats OK...just do some problem solving and with some adjustments you will be just fine. I would even go as far to suggest that you test the back piece in position before you assemble the shot locker. Then you will know if its too tall or short and you can adjust accordingly.

That looks pretty darned good to my eye. Its an exceptional build. Chuck

Thank you very much!!! I am just doing busy work...planking those aft platforms. But I thought this small detail was worth mentioning. Maybe some of you will think this is a good tip to use on any model. The lower aft platform is planked first following the plans and templates provided. But as seen on many ship models there are scuttles which have rings for handles. Similarly you see these type of rings used for the gun tackles on decks etc. Most folks will make a split ring and then insert this into the eye of an eyebolt. You have seen this a million times. The photo below shows just that. Look at the bottom row. On the left is what you typically see. The split ring on an eyebolt. Nothing wrong with this as everyone does it this way. But even when the eyebolts have smaller eyes you will end up with so many unsightly rings on deck or on your scuttle lids that look out of scale and sticking up. Yes, you are supposed to sink the eyes part-way into the deck which is a real pain. But even then, it looks very odd to me now after examining so many contemporary models. So to the right is a solution for this which I keep meaning to post... but always forget to. The split rings in this case are made from 24 gauge black wire. They are made as usual...wrapping many times around a #47 drill bit and sawed off to produce a 15 or 20 rings. Rather than make and use tiny eyebolts I just take a small length of thinner 28 gauge black wire and make a small bent "V". This makes it easy to handle and slip the split ring onto. Then I crimp the 28 gauge wire tight around the split ring with a small pliers. Its very simple indeed. Squeeze the two ends together and snip off the bottom on an angle so you have a point. It looks almost like a cotter pin of sorts. This is slipped into a hole drilled on deck or in this case the scuttle lids. I saw this done in my favorite book. "Legacy of a Ship Model" by Rob Napier. During his restoration of the Princess Royal model he took the model apart...I mean all of it. In the book there are so many photos of these items which show the way the contemporary model builders made their parts. This is how the contemporary builder made these on that model (250 years ago) and after carefully examining so many other contemporary models I believe most of them were made just like this. There is an excellent photo of the contemporary version of one of these in that book....along with countless other gems showing how those guys did stuff back then. Rob had to make more of these for his restoration and used the exact same method of course. This makes the handles and rings look so much more to scale. No more pesky eyes sticking up that are too large all over the deck for the crew to trip over. Its a small detail but I thought worth mentioning now that I remembered to do so. At least I hope you think so. Its the small details that make a difference when you add them all up... Lastly I also made the mizzen mast coat as you can see. Its made in the same way as on the Winnie. Three layers. The middle layer is rounded off and the char removed. Then the top and bottom layers were added after removing the char from those. The mast coat is not glue down permanently. Its just lightly tacked with some rubber cement. You may have to move it when trying to position the mizzen mast later. So dont glue it down permanently yet. The hole on deck is slightly larger than that of the mast coat...so you can move it any way to accommodate the mast later. NOTE: The mast coat was later changed here to be Octagonal. The lower masts are not round and I discovered this later. But I was able to replace the round mast coat with one that was octagonal later on. So my model will be accurate. Your kits have had the laser cut mast coats updated as well. The laser cut parts are now octagonal. Its an interesting detail I have not seen on a contemporary model so I want to make sure I accurately depict the same. The lower masts are octagonal from the keel up to the sheer line or caprail before turning to round in section. I have only since acquired some really fantastic photos showing this feature. Chuck

Wrong Syren Allan.....That draft is for the English ship and much earlier. This is the American Brig....1806. Those pieces dont look too bad too me. Maybe a bit more fairing but its hard to say. This photo looks pretty darn good either way.

Continuing with the lower platforms...there are two aft platforms. They are framed exactly like the two forward ones. Mark out the heights for the frames etc. I wont go through the step by step and instead just mention the a couple of noteworthy things. There is another jig that helps with finding the height and position of the first beam on the upper platform. Dont throw it away after using it. It will come in handy later. Note that the mizzen mast partner is laser cut for you. Its a little longer on the forward and aft sides so you can adjust its position over the mast step to match the plans. Just as with the forward platforms...use the plans as templates to help fins the proper positions of those ledges for the scuttle openings as well. Using them as templates helps so much and really help you see the final product. Now that the framing is done, the next stage is to plank the lowest platform. Once again the templates of these really helps. Everything is laid out on them. Note how the deck planking hangs over the forward beam. The planks also run over the aft beam as well. Use the string to keep everything lined up down the center. It was hard to keep everything focused in this last picture because the camera wanted to only focus on the string....but here I have attempted to show the templates positioned down the center line. They fit perfectly. I will be back with more pics after the planking is done and I start to cut some beams on that after-most platform for the stairs... Its just busy work for a while getting the planking done. You should keep these templates because it will make life very easy when it comes to laying out all those cabins later in the project.

To finish up chapter 4 and the forward platforms, the breasthooks were made. There are two of them. These are laser cut for you in two halves. Its just easier to work with them this way. I usually shape one half and lightly tack it in position. Then I shape the other half and fit it in next to it. At this point they can both be removed and joined together. Do a quick sanding to refine everything and add the bolts. The bolts are 30 lb. black line. The lower breast hook has etched bevel lines because the side that fits against the frames needs to be beveled. Its just a start because everyone's model will be slightly different. Lastly..to finish off this chapter I made the riding bitts. Like the fire hearth, this wont be glued in position yet. But its good to have at the ready. We will need it before framing out the rest of the forecastle deck later. So the cross beam is laser cut for you. Just clean it up and shape to suit. I just used some needle files, etc. The uprights are basically made from 5/16" x 5/16" strips. Measure against the plans and shape the tops to suit. Use the plans as a guide. Nothing earth shattering with these. I will paint the riding bitts red above the gun deck. I used the plans to determine where that break would be. Here is what it looks like after being painted and test fit. Note the string...this is good to get in place now too. Its glued lightly to the center of the stem and then taped to the top of the stern post. It will help guide you when setting fittings along the center line. It helps a lot!!! The fire hearth and riding bitts have been set aside for safe keeping. Next up chapter 5 which will take care of the aft lower platforms and a few other odds and ends.

The figure is off scale for the model but looks really good just with the fire hearth. So I made a mini diorama of sorts to display on my desk. I used the old second hand aged stove, LOL. Its one of Chris' figures as you would recognize.

Indeed you are correct. The humidity will take care of it. Its best not to spray that. After a day or so it gets fixed on its own. I forgot to mention that. Chuck

Thanks guys. Yes I could make this a mini kit. I just dont have enough brass rod at the moment. I have to source more of it and then I could make a small base for it like I did for the Winnie stove. Chuck

Nicely done!! That looks really good.