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.

Step by Step... 1. Laser cut cedar brickwork. Lightly sand the char. But not so much that you remove the etched mortar lines. Just a little. Especially on the edges of the pieces. Many have bricks etched on both sides. apply wipe on poly when finished...this is important to seal the wood a bit. 2. Yes its bright!! But this is just the initial steps. I used a red promarker, you can see which color to add the base coat of red to all faces of the brickwork. Also note the two pieces that make up the sides have been glued together. Make sure you have the holes and pieces facing the correct direction. 3. Glue the sides to the back wall. Keep nice right angles. Also add the front piece. This is left a bit long and you will have to trim it to fit. DO NOT glue to the base. This will be done much later in the project. Much, much later. 4. Using weathering powder add some red/brown colors and dark browns to suit. It depends on how weathered you want to go with the fire hearth. You will see this at the end. Spray all the pieces lightly with some matte spray fixative when you are done. 5. This is where the magic happens. You could use white weathering powder but that would also pigment the bricks. You dont really want that. So instead use regular white flour. Brush it on and push it into the mortar lines which are made pretty deep for you. Dont go for a perfect even coverage here. Experiment a little. Push it in the cracks with your finger....pack it in there. Then brush it off the brick faces with a light touch. Experiment for the look you really want...use some additional weathering powders if you want to add soot and ash. Make it a used hearth or a relatively new one!!! Also note the frame on the base was painted black. Dont spray with fixative. The normal humidity in the air will fix the flour in position on its own. It may take a day or so depending on the weather. 6. 1/32" brass wire/rod (not included) were blackened and added as shown above. 7. The hood...laser cut from 1/64" thick boxwood. Glue the shorter back piece on the base first. It should be a at a perfect right angle vertically and centered. 8. Add the two sides. You will need to bevel the bottom to sit flush on the base. 9. Add the front piece...which is taller than the back piece. Note how the front hangs over the the front of the base just a bit. That is done on purpose. It is correct. 10. Finally add the top and front pieces. apply filler to all the cracks and sand smooth for painting. Also build the stack the same way and prepare for painting. 11. Hinges are laser board. Construct them in the sequence shown above...left to right. First add the bottom half of all the hinges. Then the hinge pins are glued along the top edge. Use 24 gauge black wire for that. To finish that up, set the top half of the hinges above the wire. An eyebolt is also added in the center. You can see that in the photos below of the finished fire hearth. There are two of them shown... A beat up used and weathered fire hearth....and a shiny almost new hearth. Have fun with it and weather to your preferred tastes. LOL NOTE....the hearth is NOT glued to the base yet. And the stack is NOT glued to the hood yet. It is best to keep them separate for now.

Ship modelers and comedians!!! LOL

No mistake....just a personal preference. Once the deck is framed and planked overhead, it will hardly be seen. Just a glimpse of it. And it will be a nice surprise of a glimpse.... Yes...one can make it shiny new if they want to. I instead will pretend that my model portrays the ship only one month after launch, LOL. If you use the hearth just a few times it will get full of soot and ash....while the other parts of the ship still look like new. Chuck

Nope…Im not that crazy. The brickwork is laser cut and etched in just six pieces. Its actually much easier to build than a traditional iron stove. Once I lasercut the parts this test mock up only took about four hours. That was after many failed attempts however where each piece had to be tweaked and recut for a better fit. But the last complete mock-up went together really easily. …just a hint of the technique for the brickwork. Ordinary flour was used for the mortar between the bricks once the red color was completed. Its a really neat trick and really finishes everything nicely. I hope you agree. I guess it is still a bit crazy seeing how its a lot of work for an item that will hardly be seen. LOL

Finishing up the platforms with the ringbolts for the scuttle lids. I also made a quick mock-up today of the fire hearth. Unlike the Seawatch books I am deviating from the traditional stove. I have built a lot of traditional iron stoves in my time. Based on the original drafts and on the draft for the similar sloop Fly I am going with a brick fire hearth. The contemporary draft is shown in the photos below. You can clearly see the bricked up hearth. I think it is a much more interesting fixture and its something I have never modelled before. You guys can go either way...its up to you. But I will only be making a mini kit for the fire hearth for the model. This was actually very typical for sloops of this time period and I found a great deal of source info for these. All of the brickwork is lasercut cedar. The hood parts are thin boxwood sheet with laserboard hinges. I will of course have to make another because I didnt take step by step photos. I used a really easy and neat technique to weather those bricks. I will detail that when the time comes. The fire hearth isnt permanently added yet. I will however glue the base onto the platform at this time.

Onward and upward!!!

Wonderful model.

The next step was to create the bulkhead on the lower platform. This was laser cut. All I had to do was cut some 1/8" x 1/8" strips to simulate the vertical beams. I just cut them to length and glued them on. Now this piece may not actually fit your model perfectly. There are just too many variables. It all depends on where you placed that first platform beam. It also depends on how you faired the interior of the hull. But I sure it could be tweaked in most instances. If you had to, you could use this as a starting point template to make another. It isnt very difficult to do. This is a picture of the bulkhead glued in position. It is glued on the forward side of that first platform beam. The templates are there to help me during the next step. I will be adding the carlings and ledges. They can be taken right from these templates which are on the plans. Here is a photo of the ledges and carlings completed. These will support the scuttle lids once planking is finished. I plan on planking the entire platforms. I think it will make creating the various cabins a lot easier. Planking is underway with 5/16" x 3/64" cedar strips. I am not too concerned about getting up close to the sides of the hull. Depending on how fairing went, this could sometimes lead to a weird shape along the edge of the platform. So I concentrated on making a nice shape with the outer edge of the platform deck planking since the sides of the hull inboard will not be planked. I am getting close to the side though and creating a consistent shape port and starboard. It will be impossible to see the sides of this planking when done. Once I get this done I will add the metal work (eyebolts with rings) for those scuttle lids. Then its onto the two aft platforms which are done in a very similar way. Also note the two cut-outs for the legs of the riding bitts. The planks were cut so I could slip the riding bits down into those slots...hopefully!!! Somebody asked to see a wider shot of the hull with the depth gauge in position. So here is a picture of the hull all dusty after finishing the planking on those forward platforms. Dont hesitate to ask me any questions.

Lovely paintwork!!!

Thank You...

You can leave them bright but other than that...bulwark red is the only choice for me...as shown on the contemporary model.

I wish I had a foolproof method. I faced the same issues. Multiple scrap pieces and do-overs. The only advice I can give is to not settle and make a new deck beam when one doesnt fit. The plans are pretty accurate but everyone will fair the inside of the hull differently so they are always going to be custom fit. Honestly I just eye-balled the length making them slightly longer to start and then slowly sanded the ends until they fit. Each pass I made slight adjustments to the angles on each end. If I over did it…then I tossed it and started again. Thats what ship modeling is all about…at least for me. You guys didnt see my many do-overs, LOL. If there is any silver lining…I will be completely planking these lower platforms. So the beams wont be seen anyway.

Perfect…You are catching up to me quickly.

Before I can begin placing the beams for the lower platforms, I must make a height gauge first. There are many ways to do this and a system will be very important to have moving forward on this project. Greg describes one method in his books on Speedwell. I have decided to go another way. I prefer to make a depth gauge of sorts. Here is a photo...you folks can of course select any method you prefer. I am fond of this one and such a gauge can be made with readily available scrap strips...Note how the pointer is a separate it to be slipped onto the lower shaft. It is basically a very large T-square. I used 3/32" thick strips but they are fairly wide so they wont bend or flex. The center of the "T" is thinner at about 1/16" thick. The pointer is meant to be slid onto the center shaft of the "T". Everything is squared up and at perfect right angles. Nice and neat. Basically take the measurements from the plans to find the depth of any beams etc. Like the forward platform beams. The underside of the "T" is set flush with the sheer on the plan. Then I mark the top of the platform beam on the center shaft...without the pointer on it. Just a pencil tick mark. Then the pionter is added to the shaft and lined up with the tick mark. The pointer must fit nice and snug so it doesnt shift around. Its a very tight fit on purpose. Then the depth gauge can be brought to the model as shown. Repeat on both sides for each beam end. I am marking the height for the tops of the beams. Find where that beam should be and mark its height on the model. Repeat this process for every lower platform beam end. Then connect the marks to find the proper height for the platform. Basically repeat this on both sides. Hope that makes sense. I am basically trusting that my sheer on the model is correct and even on both sides. I am confident... But if your sheer is off you have bigger problems anyway. No matter what method you choose there will be issues. This is just one method that can be used. I did this for all the lower platform beams which are 3/16" x 3/16" cedar. That is except for the most forward platform which has 1/4" x 3/16 beams just under the stove. Check you plans carefully. The beams have no roundup and are just cut from strip stock. They are carefully measured and shaped to fit snug. Placement is important here. In fact the placement of the first 1/4" x 3/16 beam of the forward-most platform is very important. It is exactly 5/16" away from the beam aft of it on the lowest platform. So a small jig was laser cut to help find its location. This will be provided. It sits on the lower platform beams which went in first. It has laser etched marks to help you place that first beam in position correctly at the right height and the right distance from the lower platform beam. Once all seven of the forward platform beams were in place I tested my placement with the a cutout of the plans. Everything is level and the plans fits pretty darned good. Next up is to add the a bulkhead and some additional framing on these platforms before I plank them. Hope this makes sense... Chuck

Work has started on the interior. Not much in this initial step but it was good to get started again. First up was to add the limber strakes. In the photo below you can see the completed limber strake below the keel. This was made up up three lengths. Above the keel you can see the 3 lengths not yet glued into position. They are laser cut for you and are 3/32" thick. There is a laser etched rabbet which runs along the inside edge. Each of the three lengths were first sanded free of laser char. This included carefully sanding the rabbet more or less. But it doesnt have to be completely clean. This will be completely covered up in some areas with the lower platforms anyway. But do your best. You might also notice the little ….long, triangular pieces called Limber Fillers for lack of a better term. They were glued to each limber strake ahead of time. They are at the extreme ends fore and aft. Dry fit all three lengths in position first. This is important. Make sure they are lined up with the correct frames. You can take their positions on each end from the plans. The center limber strake was added first. The ends are 5/32" away from the keelson. So it was just a matter of taking a scrap piece of wood 5/32" thick to use as a spacer when gluing it in position. This is shown below. Once again...make sure you position it in the correct spot and use the plans to find which hull frames this should line up with. Its good practice because so many items moving forward need to placed in the correct spot...the hull frames are a great reference to start with. Once the center segment was glued in place the two end sections followed. Make them the same port and starboard of course. But you may also wish to pre-bend these before you glue them in position. Especially at the bow and stern sections. There is a little bit of twist to these and it is always better to not force them. It is so much easier to pre bend and twist so no forcing of the limber strakes will be needed to get them to sit flush against the frames. With the limber strakes completed, the mast steps can be assembled and installed. I would also note that I didn't bother treenailing the limber strakes because it will just not be seen. But you can do that if you feel compelled. The mast steps are laser cut in three layers to make life easier. Glue up the three layers first and remove the laser char. Once they are nice and clean, check their fir over the keelson. You should get a nice tight fit and the sides should fit snug down on top of the limber strakes. Note how the outside edges of the mast steps follow the shape of the limber strakes. You should sand them as shown in the photos and plans. The main mast step is shown below. You can clearly see the three layers. Dont worry about the char in the mortice for the mast. Leave that as is. The main mast step also has little wedges fore and aft as you can see. These are laser cut for you. They were glued into the correct position on top of the keelson. This is important!!! place the mast step in the correct place or your masts placement will certainly become problematic. A small length of 3/64 brass rod was used as the pin to "lock in" the little wedges after I glued them all in position. A look at the mizzen mast step...no issues here other than the fact that the sides of the mast step have more shaping here. They also follow the outside edge of the limber strakes. I have not applied any finish inboard at all up to this point. I actually might not apply any finish. I will wait to see how things develop first. An overall view of the mast steps and limber strakes. I will not be adding the limber boards, choosing instead to follow Greg's construction and to simplify the building process. "Less is more" when you leave the framing visible below the wales. You wont want to see much stuff between the frames when you looking at the outside of the hull. It could start to look sloppy with too much interior details and glue showing between the frames. So I will follow the style as outlined in the Seawatch books for the most part. Next up the forward lower platforms!!!

Looking great Mike....Just remember that the lower edge of counter is flush with the square tuck after planking. Chuck

No but any moderator can. What do you want to move. chuck