PeteB

June 11 2016
 
I cut the frame steps into the port side of the aft deadwood and installed two more sections of the rising wood... and yes those are the two upper most transom pieces dry fitted into place.
 
The Wing Transom and the Filler Transom.
 
I intend to cut the other transom pieces but will not be fixing them in place permanently until I get the Stem Post (at the pointy end as my darling wife refers to it) in place.

Worked on the aft frame steps in the deadwood and stern post.
Finished one side with an error realised at the end... I went too high up on the stern post.
(I thought I was being so careful)
Now I must sleep on how to fix it... I have a couple ideas in mind.

June 5 2016
 
I marked off the various transom steps into the stern post.  Sawed down to the reasonably proper depth (3/32" or 6") then made a number of cuts between, chiselled out the pieces and filed flat and square.
 

 

 
I then cut out a template of the stern frames in side view and laid it over the dry assembly of the deadwood and stern post. Some guide pencil marks were made on the wood but I did trace the wood assembly onto the template so I can properly lay it over again and trace the steps onto the wood.
 
The taper was marked onto the deadwood and the stern post was sanded to the line while the deadwood assembly was sanded down to just outside the line.
 
Presently all is glued together to the keel and set to dry.
 



 
Once dry I will finish the sanding and trace the step locations onto both sides of the deadwood then cut this in.

I started the construction of carriages for 4 pounds guns:

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little progress: the anklet and the cleats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Giampiero very nice work.

What a crying shame - Hopefully the publicity may help find a solution 

Hi Carl,
 
the shrouds and backstays are from flexibel 7-fold zinc-galvanized steel  chord with a total thicknes of 0,3 mm diam.
(normaly used for wire controlled model aircraft). After some weeks they get a bit darker when they oxidize. The ratlines are polyester thread
 
Nils

Update
 
starting foremast ratlines, determining the line thicknesses....
 
Nils
 

 
this gallows is just a little dummy setup to determine the line thicknesses
 
 

 
the shrouds and backstays are from flexibel 7-fold galvanized steel  chord with a total thicknes of 0,3 mm diam.
(normaly used for wire controlled model aircraft)
 
 

 
the turnbuckle srews are the smallest I could find ( M1 left / right thread)
the upper shroud distances are given by the 4 slots in the top`s spreader
 
 

 
the slotrings for deck fastening are soldered at the joint, in order to prevent opening
   
 

 
the ratlines thickness is chosen to 0,2 mm thread in scale (the actual would be ( 144 x 0,2 = 28, 8 mm diam.)

thank you so much for your nice compliment Lawrence,
 
during checking out  the run of the shrouds and backstays with preliminary sewing thread, I just noticed that there should be 6 turnbuckle screws (instead of 5) on each side, so warm up the blackening acid once again....
 
Nils
 

 
 
 

Hi David,
 
no resistance soldering involved. Soldering done by means of mini gastorch and soldering iron. For preparation pls. ref. to scetch.... All will be primered and painted....
 
Nils
 

 
 

Thank you very much Kees and Greg,
 
for the nice words, very much appreciated, and to all who pressed the "likes" button....
 
 
the result of two days deck-planking is the 98% commpletion of the port side, which I´m quite satisfied with. The first planks for the stb. side have been "caulked" at the edges already..., and ready for mounting.
 
Kees,
you`re absolutely right  with "so much to build....."), but I have to go step by step and also try to let my thoughts move ahead, how to do details that still may lay several sequences ahead, so there is time enough to consider alternatives...
 
Greg,
I`m happy that you like it, it`s been on the slipway one year now, and thanks to busy little workers, slowly looking like it should. I`m glad that plating and portholes worked out well enough. In the beginning I had a bit concern, that the resembled riveting may be too prominent, but that provides the nostalgic touch. By doing all this soldering work to date, trust I`m quite practiced in this technique by now.
Thanks for your nice words
 
Nils
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Update
 
Started with the coamings for the promenade decks super structure. It`s going to be a "longer" session. After that the railing will be put on.
On 26th May this project was under way for the first 12 months.
 
Had a little shock yesterday when I was a bit uncautioius in turning around, standing sidewise of the modeling table, and by mistake knocking my arm against the foremast from half back stb. side. This overstressed the shrouds and backstays so much that I probably shall have to replace these.       , the mast stayed straight.  Will be some fiddely repair work, but it could have come even worse, was my thought ...., anyway that`s an event that drops one`s attitude to zero for the moment
 
Nils
 
 

 
the middle gap in the front of the promenade deck has been closed
 
 

 
here the contours of the super structure can be seen (mahagony)
 
 

 
here the deck is started with 2 mm wide and 0,8 mm thick pine stripes (pencil caulking of the plank edges)
 
 

 
the promenade deck will have the same appeal as the forecastle- and the waist deck

Thanks Patrick,
 
have now leart "by heart" to more more carefully .......
 
Am now studying fitting out of promenade deckhousing windows, doors, portholes, stairway to upper and lower decks, etc......
 
Also made a prototype of the boat`s davit with tapered (stepped) ends, from 2mm down to 0,8 mm diam. The upper end is 1,5 mm and anealed and flattend at the end and bored for the davit block (boat-tackle)
 
Nils
 

 

Amitious is not the phrase I am thinking of at the moment. Nils.  In the future I would like to try my hand at a model of the USS United States at my normal scale.  And I am saving everything you are doing.  I wil shamlessly use your methods to build it.  Your log should be a book on how to build a 20c ship.  I merely just save it and drool every now and then.  
David B

What a crying shame - Hopefully the publicity may help find a solution 

I came across this youtube documentary dealing with a Swedish New build of a East Indiaman “Gotheborg” that sank in Gotheborg Harbour on her return home from China in September 1745. Divers recovered artifacts from her cargo between 1986 -1993 but almost all the structure of the vessel had decayed.
 
The documentary follows the building of a replica ship from the selection of 200-year-old oak trees for mast sections, knees etc by traditional, hand-made carpentry, foundry and blacksmith work, and the making of 1.964 sqm hand-sewn linen canvas sails and 20 tons of hand-made hemp ropes.
 
Before posting I did a check of the forums and found Tadeusz43 excellent post packed with fabulous information and photos of various period ships including many of the finished Gotheborg but it didn't include the following video links which I hope will be of interest to others as much as they were to me.
 
Each part is about 15 mins. - Cheers pete
 
Pt 1
https://youtu.be/w04CpOl94Sc
 
Pt 2
https://youtu.be/LNwGpNLQb1M
 
Pt3
https://youtu.be/Lp7ox8u7Kas
 

I came across this youtube documentary dealing with a Swedish New build of a East Indiaman “Gotheborg” that sank in Gotheborg Harbour on her return home from China in September 1745. Divers recovered artifacts from her cargo between 1986 -1993 but almost all the structure of the vessel had decayed.
 
The documentary follows the building of a replica ship from the selection of 200-year-old oak trees for mast sections, knees etc by traditional, hand-made carpentry, foundry and blacksmith work, and the making of 1.964 sqm hand-sewn linen canvas sails and 20 tons of hand-made hemp ropes.
 
Before posting I did a check of the forums and found Tadeusz43 excellent post packed with fabulous information and photos of various period ships including many of the finished Gotheborg but it didn't include the following video links which I hope will be of interest to others as much as they were to me.
 
Each part is about 15 mins. - Cheers pete
 
Pt 1
https://youtu.be/w04CpOl94Sc
 
Pt 2
https://youtu.be/LNwGpNLQb1M
 
Pt3
https://youtu.be/Lp7ox8u7Kas
 

I came across this youtube documentary dealing with a Swedish New build of a East Indiaman “Gotheborg” that sank in Gotheborg Harbour on her return home from China in September 1745. Divers recovered artifacts from her cargo between 1986 -1993 but almost all the structure of the vessel had decayed.
 
The documentary follows the building of a replica ship from the selection of 200-year-old oak trees for mast sections, knees etc by traditional, hand-made carpentry, foundry and blacksmith work, and the making of 1.964 sqm hand-sewn linen canvas sails and 20 tons of hand-made hemp ropes.
 
Before posting I did a check of the forums and found Tadeusz43 excellent post packed with fabulous information and photos of various period ships including many of the finished Gotheborg but it didn't include the following video links which I hope will be of interest to others as much as they were to me.
 
Each part is about 15 mins. - Cheers pete
 
Pt 1
https://youtu.be/w04CpOl94Sc
 
Pt 2
https://youtu.be/LNwGpNLQb1M
 
Pt3
https://youtu.be/Lp7ox8u7Kas
 

Hi friends,
 
construction mistake removes,
some accesories there made.
Karl

The joints came out great Frank.

Part 4 – The Keel Assembly
 
Dunbrody’s Keel, as measured from the construction plan, is 14 inches square.  There is a rabbet that starts approximately 5 inches down from the top of the keel.  Below the keel is what the plans call a False Keel, which has a breadth of 14 inches and a depth of 9 inches.
 
My reading of the Crothers and Desmond books shows that typically a False Keel is installed to protect the keel from damage due to grounding or striking an obstacle, and as such is relatively thin at 1 – 4 inches, is installed in a fashion that would allow it to be easily replaced, and has only simple butts to join its components.  The depth of Dunbrody’s False Keel seems to be much larger than expected, and the construction plan shows the parts of the false keel joined by a nibbed scarf joint. 
 
I’ve found several items in Dunbrody’s construction that are very different than the construction described in the Crothers and Desmond books.  I’ll point these out as I go along, but my intent is to reproduce the Dunbrody plan as far as possible.
 
The keel at 1:48 would be .292 inches, or a little over 18.5 64ths.  To simplify the model construction, I’ve reduced this to 9/32.  After milling some appropriate lumber I needed to mark a centerline on the keel and found this to be fairly difficult with a pencil and ruler.  I had seen a woodworker’s centering device that consisted of two outside rods with a pencil in the middle, all equidistant from each other.  I made a miniature of this using stiff piano wire as the outside rods and a medium needle as the marking device instead of a pencil.  Drilling the holes at the correct distances was fairly easy using the calibrated wheels of the milling machine.
 
                        
 
I also needed a way to cut the rabbet.  Since the sectional model is the middle of the ship the keel is straight and flat, so the rabbet will be the same throughout the model.  I decided to use a scraper type of device similar to what Ed shows in Young America.  I drafted the profile of the rabbet in TurboCad.
 
                        
 
I then pasted this profile onto a piece of 18 gauge stainless sheet and cut the shape of the rabbet cutting tool using a jewelers saw and files.
 
                        
 
Before cutting the rabbet, though, I needed to create a hooked scarf joint in the keel.  I drafted the pattern for the hooked scarf and used a glue stick to paste it to the wood to be cut.
 
                        
 
This being my first hooked scarf, there was a lot of trial and error, and the scrap box started filling up.  As part of making the joint, I needed to set up a clamping arrangement that would ensure the two pieces of the keel stayed straight and level while being glued.  I used a straight piece of aluminum stock as a straight edge, and clamped this to a piece of ¼ “ plate glass as a flat base.  I then used an arrangement of clamps that would keep the keel tight against the straightedge and the glass surface, making sure that the joint itself was properly clamped.
 
                        
 
The nibbed scarf of the False Keel can be seen in the background, awaiting gluing.  I decided to work on the nibbed scarf of the False Keel at the same time as the Keel’s hooked scarf.  The following photo shows the end result for both joints.
 
                        
 
When I was reasonably happy with the joint on the keel I fastened the joint using the bolt pattern described in the reference books and then cut the rabbet.
 
                        
 
In prior builds I’ve always neglected to address mounting requirements until the end of construction, and then have run into difficulties getting a mount that is secure and attractive.  I decided on this build to use the approach from both Naiad and Young America, which is to use mounting bolts that attach to nuts that are embedded in the False Keel and then covered by the Keel.
 
The size of the False Keel limited my choice of threading, so I used 4-40 nuts.  Even this nut size was too large to comfortably embed in the false Keel, so I filed the nuts square to reduce their size and to simplify the cutting required for them.  The following photo shows an original 4-40 nut and the two that were reduced to square.
 
                        
 
Since the mounting bolt needed a shoulder to prevent it from being run too far into the False Keel, I decided to center drill a ¼-20 threaded rod, and to solder an appropriate length of 4-40 threaded rod in the hole.
 
                        
 
This is satisfactory at present, but I think I’ll replace the bolt with a one-piece bolt with two different thread sizes, as in Ed’s work.  The false Keel was then mounted on the shipway.
 
                        
 
                        
 
This was followed by gluing the Keel to the False Keel, effectively hiding the mounting hardware.  I used spring clamps to ensure that the Keel and false Keel were properly aligned, and pins to secure the joint from the top.
 
                        
 
This completed the installation of the Keel Assembly.
 
                        
 
In the next post we’ll start discussing the construction of Dunbrody’s frames.  It will be a few days before the next post – company arrives tomorrow to enjoy the beautiful Arizona weather, so the shipyard will be closed for a few days.
 
 

Part 3 – The Model Shipway
 
Before beginning construction on the model, I needed to build the platform to support the ship during construction – the Model Shipway.
 
I used a 12x24 melamine shelf for the building board, mounted some 5/8x5/8 rails under it, and added felt feet to save the surfaces it would be on.  A centerline was scribed down the center of the Shipway.
 
            
 
This shelf is only 21/32 thick, so it is not thick enough to support the normal ½” T-track.  I was able to find shallow T-Track (3/8”) from Lee Valley, along with T-Nuts specifically configured for these tracks.
 
            
 
            
 
A scaled drawing of the frame configuration of the sectional model was needed for the Shipway.  I developed this using TurboCad Designer (a 2D CAD program).
 
             
 
There will be 52 frames in the sectional model, arranged in frame pairs or framesets.  The 26 framesets of the sectional model are represented by the different color lines.  The green line is the forward face of the forward frame of a frameset.  The red line is the aft face of the aft frame of a frameset.  The black line is the junction of the two frames, or the middle of the frameset.
 
It can be seen that the frames are very close to each other – not the usual ‘room and space’ that we would normally expect.  The sided dimension of the floor of each frame in a frameset is 8.5 inches, making the frameset 17 inches at the floors.  The space between frames is only 5+ inches, or 0.11 inches at 1:48 scale.
 
The drawing of the frame configuration was printed on 11x17 card stock (I found 100 lb card stock that my printer was able to handle).  After it was trimmed to the appropriate size, 9x15.5, I aligned the centerline of the drawing with the centerline of the Shipway, then glued it to the Shipway using Krylon 7010 spray adhesive. I coated the drawing with Krylon Preserve-it to protect the drawing (I learned of these products from Ed’s Young America book, and they’re excellent).
 
I constructed two types of fixtures for the Shipway, as shown in the following photo (the keel is already installed in this photo, but more on that in a later post)
 
            
 
The fixture in the middle of the Shipway will be used to align the individual frameset during installation, and will also serve as a clamping base to secure the frameset while the glue is curing.
 
The gantry-like fixtures at each end will be used to hold a string stretched between them as an aid in centering the frameset.  These strings are laid in notches in the cross-piece and have been centered over the centerline of the drawing.  The centering string and its weights can be seen in this view of the Shipway.
 
            
 
The next post will address making the keel and mounting it to the Shipway.

Here two massive renders ... up to three days rendering each on a computer with 8 cores:
 

 

Animated figures aboard really make a difference! Good stuff, Magnus.