tkay11

its been awhile since I last posted a update. But I've not been idle. The more I looked at the lower deck and how much it was not squaring up to the shell I removed it with alcohol and chunked it in the waste bin.this time I went thru the pallets at work and milled the wood down to the correct sizes that I needed. As you can see this time it fits well. I took a lot more time this go round. Still have quite a bit more work to do before this deck is finished but I wanted to do an update. I feel better about things now. See y'all later, Mike.

Thank you for all the nice comments, but it is not finished yet. We still have to put the sails on the masts.
 
Here are some photos of me gluing the sides, as well as with the mast assembled and an acorn pirate walking the plank we added to the ship.
 

 
With the mast glued on.
 

 
Acorn pirate walking the plank.
 

 
Isabella
 
More to follow..... we are going swimming as it is hot.

hello giampieroricci.
thank you for your comments.
to make the barrels, I use wedge cut wood and held together with colablanca. mixed with bitumen, so that the connection between the boards is visible.
a greeting. cabrapente

Part 37 – Mast Partners and Beams, Tables and Benches, Viewing Ports
 
It has been a fairly productive few days on Dunbrody.
 
Main Deck Beams
 
First, I made the mast partners and prepped the main deck beams, starting by notching the two beams that have the mast partner attached.
 
                        
 
The two pieces of the mast partners were fabricated and fit in place.
 
                        
 
The assembly was checked against the main mast.
 
                        
 
Then the beams for the side of the main hatch were joined to notches in the beams fore and aft of the hatch.
 
                        
 
The beams for the forward hatch were then prepared.
 
                        
 
All main beams are now ready for installation.
 
                        
 
Tables and Benches
 
Two large tables and accompanying benches were provided for the emigrants, as in this photo from the replica ship.
 
                        
 
The table seems to be built around a pillar or stanchion, but the drawing from the Colin Mudie book shows the tables as free-standing (probably bolted or nailed to the deck).  My assumption is that the replica ship’s tables are a permanent installation, whereas the actual ship had tables and benches that were for one voyage only and were discarded at the end of the voyage, similar to the sleeping platforms and lavatories.  The tables for the model are ‘free-standing’, and measure 8’x36”.  The benches are 6’x12”.
 
The table top was made using a jig similar to the jigs for the lavatory walls.  The table legs were also made in a jig – the difference is that the jig for the legs was designed so that the length of the legs was set by the edge of the jig.
 
                        
 
The legs were sanded to size while still in the jig
 
 
                        
 
When the legs are removed from the jig they are ready for installation.
 
                        
 
A square block held the legs in place as the glue set.
 
                        
 
                        
 
Feet and longitudinal braces were added to the table.
 
                        
 
                        
 
The tables were tested on the ship.  The tables sit on the hatches, and are placed as far from the hold companionway as possible.
 
                        
 
The seats for the benches were also built using a jig. 
 
                        
 
The legs for  the benches, however, were made from a single piece.  8 pieces of stock were glued together using Ambroid glue.  The drawing for the bench legs was glued to this stack, and the leg design was rough cut on the scroll saw and then finished with files.  The stack of legs was then separated in a short bath of acetone.
 
                         
 
A longitudinal brace strengthens the bench legs.
 
                        
 
The tables and benches are completed and ready for installation.
 
                        
 
Viewing Ports
 
Viewing ports are needed on the starboard side of the model, and it made sense to cut these ports out before any of the details were attached to the Accommodation Deck.
 
This was the first time the model was removed from the building board.
 
I was concerned about cutting into the side of the hull – any mistake could be disastrous.  I glued together some of the old discarded frames from the scrap heap so that there was something to practice on.
 
                        
 
I tried several methods of cutting the frames, and wound up using a variety of tools on the ports.
 
                        
 
The cuts were started (where there was enough room) using a diamond cutting wheel on the rotary tool.  The cuts were finished with two small saws – a keyhole saw and a small X-Acto saw.  Final shaping was done with a #00 needle file and a larger  #1Grobet file.
 
Masking tape was used to lay out the lines for the ports, and when I was satisfied with the lay of these lines I marked the frames to be cut with the line and with a large X.
 
                        
 
The central portion of the Hold viewing port was the largest number of adjacent frames to be cut, so this seemed like a good place to start.
 
                        
 
The outside Hold viewing ports were then cut,
 
                        
 
and then the Accommodation Deck ports were cut.
 
I positioned the fittings for the Accommodation Deck to see the effect of the viewing ports.
 
                        
 
                        
 
There will be a little more filing required for the finish of the ports, but overall I’m satisfied with the results.
 
The next work will consist of applying finish to the Accommodation Deck and its fixtures, building and installing the ladders for the Hold companionways, along with safety railings around the companionway openings, and then the installation of the main deck beams.
 
Thanks everyone!

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 169 – Rudder Pendants
 
Another small item of work completed today – the rudder chain pendants.  But first, I made a small modification to the binnacle to give it a larger base and to improve its overall proportions.  The additional base was added as a brass bottom disk as shown in the first picture.
 

 
The rudder pendants, sometimes called preventers, were provided to prevent loss of an unshipped rudder or as a means to operate the rudder from the deck in the rare event of a steering gear failure.  They consisted of chains on either side of the stern, bolted to the hull.
 
I used 30 link per inch copper chain for the rudder pendants.  At 1:72 this equates to 30 links per fathom.  After cutting the chains to length, eyebolts were fitted to the chain.  I am making all eyebolts for the model by spinning copper wire.  The wire is looped over a bent pin hook in a hand drill and the two ends held in a vise.  The drill then spins up the shaft of the eyebolt.  In this case the end link of the chain was first slipped over the wire.  In the next picture the wire (and chain) has been spun and the shaft is being clipped off.
 

 
The wire in this case was 26 gauge.  Most eyebolts on the ship will be made from 22, 24, or 26 gauge wire.  The eyebolt and chain are shown in the next picture.
 

 
Each pendant is anchored to the hull just below the sheer rail at two points, so a second eyebolt was fitted part way along the chain by the same process.  Some 26 gauge wire was then threaded at the other end to make a shackle to the rudder horns.  This is shown in the next picture.
 

 
The pendants were then hung from the stern as shown below.
 

 
The next picture shows some copper-phosphorus solder applied to the shackles.  Silver soldering these this way is a bit risky, but this is what happens when you do not plan ahead.  It would have been much better to have done these shackle connections before the horns were mounted, but this will do.
 

 
The torch flame was kept well away from the wood and at just enough gas to flux the solder on the thin wire shackles.  The next picture shows the finished pendants after blackening with liver of sulfur solution.
 

 
In the picture the rudder is turned hard to port to check that sufficient chain has been provided and rudder movement is not hindered.  Ideally the chain stays above the load waterline at all rudder positions.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 168 – Binnacle
 
"Odds and ends" seems to be the order of the day for the past month or so.  Not the best prescription for a lazy, hot summer.  Too easy to procrastinate.   Big consuming tasks are better.    On these little projects it is first research, then the drawing, then the modeling and photos – one step at a time.  The binnacle is one such piece.  A small part, but to judge by the mess left in the shop, one would think it had been the entireTitanic.
 
It started out as a cherry cylinder, turned to the ID of a brass tube from which two decorative rings were turned.  The next picture shows stage 1.
 

 
The four-paned glazed top was next.  It too, was made from a section of the same tube with the glass mullions filed out on the end as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The solid rod in the tube helps establish a constant depth and prevents the vise from squashing it.  The next larger size tube was used to make a ring to fit around the bottom of the top – shown below.
 

 
Telescoping tube is very handy for making a variety of assemblies.  I try to keep a stock on hand.  The mullions were then bent to the center and the assembly silver soldered.  The parts at this stage are shown below.
 

 
The cap was then sawed off the tube.  I did not want to leave the top without glass but making and fitting small panes like this is well beyond my ability, so I decided to make a small Plexiglas® prism to fit inside the brass top.  In the next picture a rod is being turned to the diameter of the wood cylinder.
 

 
A four sided prism was filed at the end of this until it fit well in the brass top.  It was then polished using Micromesh® sticks, followed by buffing – shown below.
 

 
The assembly was finally glued together using small droplets of thin CA.  The final piece is shown positioned on deck in the next picture.
 
 
 
I guess the two rudder pendant chains will be next.
 
Ed

I've also taken this opportunity, before the hull is completely enclosed, to do a final check fitting of my improvised 'mast holders'. I've drawn a circle in pencil on the masts just above the false deck, so when the time comes I'll know when they've made a snug fit all the way down.
 
Also, the model is really starting to look better and better with the masts in.

I agree with Druxey. But let's have a hypothetical to see if that helps any further.
 
Suppose you were to dismantle everything, start all over again, correctly place the scarf, etc.
 
Then, a few weeks down the line, oh no! You find yet another mistake of the same order that only you have noticed. AAAARGH!
 
Would you then yet again dismantle the whole thing and start again?
 
I don't think I have ever seen any build without a booboo somewhere. But indeed, yes, some people do go and start again -- but generally once lots of others comment on the difficulty, or when it makes future progress impossible.
 
Then you have to think about how accurate it all is. Was that treenail 0.01mm out? Are the frames exactly spaced as the original? (Well, no, they're the wrong size to start with since they're at scale, and you then worry you can't get the grain to scale, and you haven't seen how the original plans were interpreted fully).
 
Of course, only you can decide on your level of acceptance, and, as others have said, along with the great unlikelihood of anyone else ever noticing whilst standing in awe at the beauty of your craftmanship.
 
Tony

I've built some small stuff, and tried out different methods for coppering the hulls. When drawing the planking pattern of the decks, I decided to follow in both schooners the pattern of La Topaze (based on the contemporary model in Paris. The plan of La Mutine shows more, even narrower planks). 
As a historian I have to deny that the plan of La Mutine is "proof" of her actual appearance. Proof would require corroboration sources, such as a "devis d'armement", a document that describes dimensions and details and is part of the contract with the builder. I don't know whether the archives of Lorient dockyards survived WWII, but that's where such a document would be. 
But I think it can reasonably be assumed that her appearance as shown in the Atlas du Génie maritime, an official publication, could pass the scrutiny of critical eyes at the time. There are details open to interpretation or even missing, but in general it should be correct representation of a schooner of its type. For my project, thats enough.
 
Here's what they are looking like at the moment:
 

 

 

 

 
The pattern on  the plank over Mutine's capping rail was laser printed after I found paper of the correct colour. As always, several attempts had to be made...
 

 

 

 

 
The copper tiles are made from self-adhesive copper tape. In France, they were bigger than in England or Holland, and in 1:64 they are 25 x 8 mm. On a french ship, you start at the stern a bit above the waterline.
Cheers,
Gregor
 
 
 

А little more... Here's a decorative element may be installed on the side Board.

Thanks for such a nice note, Gregor. It was really great how you, Dirk and Kester shepherded and guided me through the various stages. I learnt a lot also from the various discussions you had between yourselves about the finer points of historical interest.
 
I had no idea at all that I had been a motivator for you to build the Sherbourne!
 
Tony

Apparently the bulk of those who buy wood model kits give up once they find how much time it takes to get their heads around the various challenges they come across once they start.
 
This is the reason why the advice often given is to start with a small kit that has lots of builds on this or any of the other various ship building fora -- that way it's very hard to go wrong, and there's lots of support from others to help you over the difficulties.
 
So the advice given here to buy both kits sounds pretty good to me as well.
 
You may well find that once you get your teeth into the smaller build you'll enjoy it far more than you might have thought. A great deal of the fun is just figuring out how to do the next step.
 
I've only just completed my first build and it's been a joy from start to finish even though I had initially wanted to make a different model when I started. I did set out, though, with the idea that the first model was principally to develop a range of skills and to see whether I would like the hobby.
 
It also very much depends on your personality. If you are determined to see it through, no matter what difficulties spring up, I would think you'd be able to tackle any model -- especially if you have lots of others building the same model so you can share solutions and advice. I wouldn't worry about achieving 'perfection' -- there's not really any such thing -- as long as you've enjoyed doing it.
 
It's just that sometimes you have to stick at it through some frustrations until you find that overcoming the frustrations is part of the fun!
 
Good luck!
 
Tony

Congratulations and many thanks, Tony - I couldn't agree more with your conclusion. Every Sherbourne builder will make his very own version, learn a lot in the process and will be all the richer for all the valuable discussions with his fellows.
As you were one of the motivators, back on MSW1, for me to pick up a Sherbourne kit, I very much enjoyed following your log here, and the discussions we had. I always admired your drive to learn every aspect of model making, and do everything by yourself. And not only that: By explaining how you achieved your results (and not hiding your errors) you have shown that a beginner can build a very beautiful model that will get a place of honour in his home.
I wish you much pleasure with your next project.
All the best,
Gregor

MODEL COMPLETED!
 
OK, there’s lots I haven’t added. Such as: the full and correct rigging for the 3-pounders, perhaps the lids for the gunports, rigging the catheads, deck furniture, flags, horsehoes on the stem, waterline marks, clew lines, leech lines, bunt lines and a whole lot more that all you experienced builders will note immediately.
 
There’s also a whole lot that is messy, imprecise or badly finished (I still groan over the blocks).
 
BUT … I’ve achieved what I set out to do: to dip my hand into the waters of wooden model boat building, obtain a grasp of the various dimensions of the hobby, and pick up some of the various skills needed to continue with the hobby. These have been done with enormous pleasure at every step of the way. In particular I have loved the variety of challenges that had me puzzling for days until I was able to find some way of dealing with them.
 
In fact, and perhaps oddly, I have slightly less pleasure in having arrived at the end than in the enormous pleasure I have had in dealing with particular parts. Something that really did please me, for example, was finding out how to make and use gravers to turn the brass swivel guns.
 
All the same, my wife likes it! I wanted to give the model away to a local library or shop, but she’s demanding we keep it – at least until my next build is over.
 
WHAT I HAVE LEARNT
 
Now that I have finished the Sherbourne, I thought it a good point at which to summarise for the benefit of other newcomers what I have been learning as a result of starting this hobby.
 
Keep A Build Log!
 
Most important, perhaps, is the enormous value of keeping a build log. Doing so forces you to review your progress methodically and at the same time helps you to learn from others as they comment on your progress and guide you where necessary. I also wanted to use my log to help other beginners who may be puzzling over how to manage various stages: my steps may provide a few more options for them to consider.
 
Start with a simple kit of a small ship!
 
The Sherbourne kit really is an excellent kit for a first-time builder such as myself. Should I have wanted to, I could have just proceeded with the kit parts and plans as supplied and finished the whole thing in about three months. However, as it is based on plans in the UK’s National Maritime Museum it tempts those who want to go further and make it more like it might have looked in the 18th Century.
 
Don’t be scared: take the plunge and build your own parts!
 
A review of all the other far more expert builders who were and are tackling the Sherbourne showed lots of different possibilities, and I quickly realised that every modeller was making a unique creation of their own. I was gradually drawn in to making modifications of my own as I realised that I might be able to make various parts myself when I observed others doing so.
 
It started with the rudder, pintles and gudgeons. Then deck fittings – the hatches, companionway and pumps. Then I realised I might have a bash at making the gratings a bit better. Then I took on the cannon, belaying pins, rope, masts, bowsprit, yards, jeers, windlass, blocks, anchors, swivel guns, boom crutch, hooks, sails, rudder coat, yard horses, foresail horse and, to my great surprise, a Perspex sheet for the waterline stand.
 
All of this came about as a result of the wonderful support from other modellers on the forum, as well as lots of reading, research and visits to museums to inspect contemporary models.
 
Skills that come your way when you try
 
Of the many skills I have been picking up, those that pleased me most have included:
 
* Accurate sawing with a table saw
* Using a Proxxon mini-drill and converting it to use as a wood mill
* Turning with a wood lathe (masts, spars, ebony cannon)
* Using a metal lathe to turn brass swivel guns (a Taig/Peatol) and making gravers to do so
* The value of a disc sander
* Silver soldering with a really basic butane torch
* Blackening brass
* Understanding ship plans
* The value of a software CAD programme (TurboCAD) to trace plans and draw up my own to make particular parts (e.g. cannon)
* Making my own stains for rigging and wood
* Sharpening and honing
* Cutting and welding Perspex sheet and rod.
 
Don’t be worried that at the end of it all your skills are not as good as others!
 
Of course my ability with these skills is nowhere near as good as very many other modellers on this and other fora, but the point of my drawing up this list is to point out to those who are starting a wooden ship kit for the very first time that you may well be surprised at how rapidly you can take on skills which at first seem impossible.
 
Even more: by taking on some or all of the new challenges you discover how deeply and broadly rewarding this hobby is in maintaining and generating learning, and in figuring out how to overcome new challenges. It’s far better than computer gaming (in my opinion)! Better still: the process of learning continues endlessly, no matter how high your skill set is!
 
So it’s with the wonderful understanding that I’ll be learning a great deal more, and encountering a whole new range of challenges, that I’m now organising myself to start on a new level – how to make frames with the Triton cross-section that is so generously supported in this forum.
 

 

 

 
Tony

ANCHORS
 
As usual, I had thought I might be able to make the anchors from the kit parts, but the moment I tried to fit the wooden stock I found (as have so many before me) that the channels cut in the stocks are too wide for the shanks. So I had to make my own stocks. I used a pear offcut I had and dimensioned it using the dimensions given by zu Mondfeld in his book Historic Ship Models.
 
I drilled 0.5mm holes for the bolts, used 0.5mm brass rod to fill them, and touched the ends with undiluted brass blackener to blacken them.
 
As is the norm, I used 1mm black cartridge paper to mimic the iron rings round the stocks.
 
For the puddening of the ring I used black polyester thread, using CA glue to hold the first part in place on the ring.
 

 
STOWING THE ANCHOR
 
After a short discussion elsewhere on the forum, I decided I’d stow the anchors as for sailing (since the sails are up and the model is on a sea of Perspex). I followed Harland’s diagram (Seamanship in the Age of Sail) and used a simple stop in the catheads to hold the rope for the stock end.
 

 
Interestingly I had been puzzling about the use of two eyebolts shown on the plans for the kit placed in the deck just aft of the windlass. I decided that one of them would be perfect to hold one end of the rope for the crown end of the anchor.
 
The following pictures show how the anchors are stowed.
 

 

 

 

 
That's it. Next up: reflections on completed model.
 
Tony

SWIVEL GUNS
 
I really didn’t like the swivel guns supplied with the kit. At first I thought I’d just keep the kit barrels and make my own swivel mounts (which I did, earlier on in the build – see within entry #100 at http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/335-hmc-sherbourne-1763-by-tkay11-–-caldercraft-–-scale-164-a-novice’s-caldercraft-sherbourne/?p=117947). I thought I wouldn’t have the skill to turn my own barrels on brass, but in the end, seeing as I bought a really cheap Taig lathe on eBay, I reckoned it would be a good opportunity to learn a new set of skills.
 
The first step, of course, was to make the right tools for the job – notably gravers. There are some excellent tutorials on the web on how to make gravers, so I bought some 3mm square HSS lathe bars, some wooden dowel and set up a sharp pointed graver for the square cuts and a rounded graver for the smooth barrelling.
 

 
I was surprised to find that with really sharp gravers, cutting into the brass was almost exactly similar to cutting into wood on a wood lathe. As a result, I was able to cut 8 barrels in a couple of days using the plans for the swivel guns from the AOTS book on the Cutter Alert. Luckily the swivel mounts I had made were exactly the right size.
 
Something that struck me was that it would be easier to cut the handle of the swivel gun at the same time – rather than soldering on a rod at a later stage. This way I’d be able to bend the handle after heating it with a butane gas burner.
 

 
It took me a little while to figure out how to cut the holes for the trunnions in such small barrels (roughly 1.5mm diameter), but I hit on the plan of making a jig from an epoxy putty (Milliput) and leaving a 0.4mm thick piece of wood on which to lay the end of the barrel so that the trunnion hole would run vertically across the barrel.
 

 

 
Unfortunately my attempts at blackening were not great – it may be that my blackening agent is now too old), so I ended up painting them (much to the dismay of my wife who thought the brass finish was beautiful). Much as I would have liked to keep the brass finish, it wouldn’t have been in keeping with the rest of the model and the ebony barrels of the 3-pounder guns. The sad thing is that the black paint on the barrels adds a layer which blurs the sharp edges of the rings and the detail.
 
Still, it’s probably a bit better than the kit barrels and I did learn a whole lot about turning brass with gravers!
 

 
Next up: Anchors
 
Tony

Apparently the bulk of those who buy wood model kits give up once they find how much time it takes to get their heads around the various challenges they come across once they start.
 
This is the reason why the advice often given is to start with a small kit that has lots of builds on this or any of the other various ship building fora -- that way it's very hard to go wrong, and there's lots of support from others to help you over the difficulties.
 
So the advice given here to buy both kits sounds pretty good to me as well.
 
You may well find that once you get your teeth into the smaller build you'll enjoy it far more than you might have thought. A great deal of the fun is just figuring out how to do the next step.
 
I've only just completed my first build and it's been a joy from start to finish even though I had initially wanted to make a different model when I started. I did set out, though, with the idea that the first model was principally to develop a range of skills and to see whether I would like the hobby.
 
It also very much depends on your personality. If you are determined to see it through, no matter what difficulties spring up, I would think you'd be able to tackle any model -- especially if you have lots of others building the same model so you can share solutions and advice. I wouldn't worry about achieving 'perfection' -- there's not really any such thing -- as long as you've enjoyed doing it.
 
It's just that sometimes you have to stick at it through some frustrations until you find that overcoming the frustrations is part of the fun!
 
Good luck!
 
Tony

Apparently the bulk of those who buy wood model kits give up once they find how much time it takes to get their heads around the various challenges they come across once they start.
 
This is the reason why the advice often given is to start with a small kit that has lots of builds on this or any of the other various ship building fora -- that way it's very hard to go wrong, and there's lots of support from others to help you over the difficulties.
 
So the advice given here to buy both kits sounds pretty good to me as well.
 
You may well find that once you get your teeth into the smaller build you'll enjoy it far more than you might have thought. A great deal of the fun is just figuring out how to do the next step.
 
I've only just completed my first build and it's been a joy from start to finish even though I had initially wanted to make a different model when I started. I did set out, though, with the idea that the first model was principally to develop a range of skills and to see whether I would like the hobby.
 
It also very much depends on your personality. If you are determined to see it through, no matter what difficulties spring up, I would think you'd be able to tackle any model -- especially if you have lots of others building the same model so you can share solutions and advice. I wouldn't worry about achieving 'perfection' -- there's not really any such thing -- as long as you've enjoyed doing it.
 
It's just that sometimes you have to stick at it through some frustrations until you find that overcoming the frustrations is part of the fun!
 
Good luck!
 
Tony

Más

Más

Thanks a lot, everyone, for the likes and comments. I can now feel I've made a contribution on the forum after the learning I've had from you all.
 
Peter: Next is the Triton cross-section which I'm planning, having started the keel parts and obtained the plans. Glad you like the stand!
 
Dirk: You've been a huge inspiration to me with your own Sherbourne and other builds, so your kind words are very much appreciated.
 
Tony

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 167 – Helm Details
 
So, it has been a month since the last post – seems longer.  Not a lot of modeling being done this summer, mostly just odds and ends getting ready to start masts and rigging.  This week I made a replacement for the first wheel and added the bell to the rudder head enclosure.  First the wheel.
 
I wanted to make two improvements to the first wheel.  I wanted to add turned spokes to replace the simpler hand filed spokes on the first version shown in earlier posts.  I also wanted to downsize the section on the rim to make it lighter and less clunky than the first.  One of the turned spokes is shown in the first picture next to the belaying pin.  The picture shows the four sizes of spindle turned pieces on the model.  A different turning method was used for each.
 

 
The largest is a turning of one of the 8" beam support pillars.  The rounds on these were turned with a shaped tool.  To its right is a 4" fife rail, turned with a single pointed tool.  At the far right is a 2" belaying pin, turned from a round brass rod using a hardened steel filing guide.  These are the smallest turnings so far.  There are 300 of them on the ship. The methods used for these three turnings were described briefly in earlier posts. 
 
The wheel spokes were turned using a simple filing guide and fine files as shown in the next picture.
 

 
Because the 2½" spokes are so small and fragile I made the first set of European Boxwood.  The final set used in the wheel were turned from .032" cherry heartwood square strips.
 
Making the hub/rim was described earlier.  In the next picture the new wheel, with spokes installed, is being parted off in the lathe.
 

 
The final cherry wheel is shown in the next picture.
 

 
The bell is a simple brass turning drilled for the rod shown inserted below.
 

 
The bracket for the bell started out as a rectangular brass section.  In the next picture it is being shaped and polished.
 

 
The last picture shows the new wheel and bell mounted on the rudder head enclosure.
 

 
The wheel was finished with a small amount of polyurethane, instead of the wax finish I normally use.  So far, none of the deck has been waxed because there are still many rigging attachments to be made.  The enclosure itself is only temporarily fitted on pins and will be stored away until much later.
 
Ed

Thanks a lot, everyone, for the likes and comments. I can now feel I've made a contribution on the forum after the learning I've had from you all.
 
Peter: Next is the Triton cross-section which I'm planning, having started the keel parts and obtained the plans. Glad you like the stand!
 
Dirk: You've been a huge inspiration to me with your own Sherbourne and other builds, so your kind words are very much appreciated.
 
Tony

For planking these boats I use my favourite Privet, as the planks are under 0.5MM in thickness and have to cope with a fair amount of bending.  I know that Privet isn’t available commercially; however any hard, very close grained timber that can take the bending will work.
 
I usually plank boats like this with the planks a little over scale width.  What we want is a good look for the boats as much as strict scale, so the over-width planks work well in this context.  The width of each plank is easily decided by measuring around the girth of the proposed boat and dividing by the number of planks you want.  In the case of these boats, I opted for a wider sheer strake so that I could fit a rubbing strake, as you’ll see later.
 
Each plank will need to be shaped to fit and also chamfered along its lower edge and at the ends, if the planks are to fill well. 
 
The garboard strake is obviously the first one to fit.  Being the first plank on, it won’t need chamfering along its length, but will need the chamfering at the ends.  The chamfering of the ends of the planks helps them to fit neatly into the rebate of the stem and stern post and also helps them to bend into the adjoining planks at the ends.  Be careful in cutting the planks to length as they need to be a really good fit in the bow and stern rebates.
 
The garboard strake can be made from a straight piece of timber, but it will need some pretty extreme bending at both ends, as can be seen in the photos.  I find that the garboard is usually the only strake that needs to be steamed or boiled to allow the extreme bend to be put into it.
 
Also, before fitting each plank, draw an overlap line along it.  You can’t see inside the boat to judge the amount of overlap on the planks, so a line drawn on the previous plank will help to position them correctly.
 
Once the plank is bent to shape, put a dab of glue on each frame plus along the edge of the plank and at the extreme ends and hold it carefully in place until the glue sets.  I find it helpful to glue only half of each plank on at a time.  It takes longer, but it helps to position the planks accurately.
 
Work back and forth on each side of the boat planking both sides evenly.  After the garboard strake, each strake will probably need to be cut to a curve to fit easily – you don’t want to force the planks into position.  On the boats for the Herzogin Cecilie, I found that the planks needs a curve cut into them of from one to three MM as the planking progressively went up the hull.  In the case of these boats, there was no ‘reverse curve’ in the planks at the turn of the bilge, which can usually be expected in clinker boats.
 
Remember to chamfer off the bottom edge of each plank to give a good tight fit against the preceding plank and, naturally, don’t rush – a clinker boat will only look right if the planking is even along the length of the boat on both sides.
 

 
Don’t worry too much about excess glue getting on the planks – they can easily be cleaned up later with a fine file, so long as you’re using a good, fine grained wood.  Here is one of the lifeboats with the planking completed, but showing it ‘warts and all’ before clean-up.
 

 
And this is what it looks like after just a quick, rough clean.
 

 
With the boat still on the plug (for rigidity), clean up the planks, keel, stem and stern posts and file them down to their correct thickness.  Also at this time fit any outboard features such as a rubbing strake.  On these boats, the rubbing strake (not present on the launch) helped to strengthen the bare hull, which is a little fragile.
 

 
Once the external work on the hull is complete, the boat can be removed from the plug.  Simply cut through the frames at the top of the planking; cut through the stem and stern posts just above where their final height above the gunwale will be and then down between the posts and the plug (to free the glue) and the boat should simply pop off its plug.
 
Here is a work boat with the planking completed and ready to come off the plug, with the second one just freed from the plug.  You can see the film still in the boat that’s just been freed.  This film will just pull out of the boat, except for any spots where glue has leaked through, in which case a clean-up with a sharp blade will soon fix it.
 

 
Once the boat is off the plug, the internal finish will vary greatly depending on the type of boat.  These boats were fitted with floor boards and thwarts together with side benches for the lifeboats.  Remember to paint as you go, as some internal parts will be impossible to reach once they’re fitted out.  In the case of these boats, I painted the inside of the hull before the floorboards were fitted so that they would be white beneath the flooring.
 

 
Another trick (not photographed) is to make the thwarts slightly thicker than scale and then chamfer any visible edges to make them appear to be scale thickness.  This will give a little more strength to the thwarts, which need to be solid enough to keep the sides of the boat in shape, as double ended boats tend to try and collapse towards the centreline.
 
Another point to make life a little easier is to fit way oversize pieces as the gunwale capping, not worrying about anything but having them cover the top of the gunwale and frames and fit together neatly.  Once thy have been glued down they can easily be trimmed back to their correct size – much easier than trying to cut and fit small curved pieces of the correct width in the first place.
 

 
Finally, with the other three boats having been delivered, here are the launch and the work boats complete and ready for delivery to the model of the barque.  I had held back the launch as we’re showing the barque as she was when she was just departing from Port Lincoln, South Australia, on her last voyage in 1936 and the launch will be depicted as having just been stowed on the forward skids and still with the little outboard motor attached.
 
By the way – a note on the grab lines around the lifeboats and work boats.  This scale is really too small to show the tiny ringbolts used on the full sized boats for becketing these lines, so what I do is to drill a series of small holes along the side of the boat under the rubbing strake and simply glue bights of the line into them.
 

 
John
 

Photo Time Woo Hoo !!
 
This is some of the completed blocks .. I will make Hooks out of the eyes at the ends before final assembly .. The eyes/hooks have been chemically blackened... Oh and the Future Admiral made the 3rd set of them   
 
All The Best
 
 
Eamonn