EJ_L

Elijah, solid hull models have been planked all the time.  On my model of the Benjamin W Latham, I planked the hull.  In fact the planking was easier since I had a solid surface to glue to.

 
Here is the waterline marker I told you about to give you an idea of what to do.

 
David B
 

Elijah, remember to place your model so that it's waterline is parallel with the board.  And to compensate for the drag.  Plus you are not in a race.  Take your time and enjoy your self as well.  Plus one of the best tools you will ever have is knowledge and how to utilize it.  
David B

Hello again! I guess it is time to consider my mini updates as just the standard update size. I have started my building board and hope to finish it this weekend. Here are a few photos. The construction procedure follows.
Marked the lines where hull templates are positioned.

Marked angle of splash.

I then cut out the keel holder. Next step was to cut an eighth of an inch thick notch into the holder. Did that and drill some holes into the baseboard and into the holder. I used some pegs to set the keel holder in place.


Now I wait. Until next time.

Thanks again Kurt! I am currently at my grandma's house and am not able to work on my ship. I have some great news though, I am now a full member of The Nautical Research Guild! I also received two other gifts.

The book on the left looks very cool, and is packed full of information and drawings. The timber on the right is from Crown Timberyard, and from what I see, looks to be of excellent quality. I can hardly wait to get back at the shipyard, and hopefully I will with time to make a building board.
Until next time.

Elijah:
Good start.  The string idea works well.  You have connected the line on deck and the line along the keel, stem and stern.  You need to make sure that with these lines connected that the centerline at the bow and stern are both parallel.  You can check this by leveling the hull port to starboard and lock in place with some heavy objects on each side so it does not move unintentionally.  Using a square or something else that will sit perpendicular to the table top make sure the line at the bow and at the stern are both also perpendicular to the table top. 
 
A building board would be the perfect way to hold and align the hull while you do this.  I sent you a PDF on building boards and I know your tools and materials are limited but the data will show you how a building board works and you can improvise a similar arrangement.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Kurt

Following chucks practicum, marking the centerline is next. The first thing I did was draw the centerline on deck.

I knew that making the centerline travel down under the boat would be more difficult, but I had an idea. I used some string to define the centerline. It follows the centerline on deck, then it goes down under the ships hull, and comes back around on top, right where the line started!
So far, this looks to be a good idea, but if it isn't, please tell me so. Also, if it isn't a good way to mark the centerline, would you suggests any other ways? I have not drawn the line yet, just in case it is incorrect. Comments, questions, and constructive criticism are welcome.
Until next time.

Hello again! I have realized something… I am a really slow builder ! Please excuse the snail pace of this build log. I (finally) finished getting the hull to the correct length. There is one large dent I will need to correct with a lot of wood filler that I will have to purchase, due to the fact that I don't have any.
You can see it at the bow area. I will have to get to cutting cardboard again for the side templates. Also, I have a new baby brother as of this night, which is super awesome! I hope to have some more building time this weekend as well.
Until next time.

I checked the plans one more time, just to be safe, and concluded they they were in scale. I did this by going on Model Shipways and looking at the kit information. The model should be 13 1/2 inches long when finished. I measured the boat in the plans and it was 13 1/2 inches long. I then started shaping the hull to the correct length. Tomorrow I will finish doing this.
Until next time. -Elijah

I decided not to print out the practicum, but instead I downloaded it to my iPad. I have also run into a couple problems and concerns. The first thing is that the hull templates are too large. In the below pictures, they overlap and the lines don't line up.


They also overlap each other on the solid hull. I thought of three reasons of why it might not fit the hull.
1. The hull profiles are to large.
2. There seems to have been some carving done already.


Or 3. It's a little of both.
I think I will print the side view of the ship in the plans and make profiles from that.

I think I will also play it safe and use the front view to cut side profiles. After I print it of though .

Once I'm done with that I can get to shaping the hull correctly! Any comments, advice, and constructive criticism is welcome! Sorry that this post was kind of long.
Till next time. -Elijah

Thanks Wayne! I have sorted through all the pieces and everything meant to be in the kit is here.
This is at my papa's house and is on the dinner table. This is not a permanent space. I will need to find somewhere though. I will print out Chuck's practicum. I will also update my signature.
Till next time.

Hello, this will be my build log of the Model Shipways Phantom New York Pilot Boat. Some things about myself: I got this kit for Christmas. I am thirteen and don't have a very high budget for tools or other things. My parents are divorced, so I will have to bring my kit back and forth. Fortunately, my papa (father) has a good amount of tools at his house. I do have some tools at my mama's (mother) house which I am currently at. My work space is also a little small, but it is a small boat . I will now start counting and sorting all the pieces. Have a Merry Christmas and I'll be back!

No, they probably used widely spaced frames of not so thick timbers, and only thick enough plank to keep the water out.  Had they used large enough timbers, etc. to defend against 24 pdrs., the brigs would have been more deep of draft and poor sailers as well.  The British had up to 24 pdr. guns and carronades on Detroit and Queen Charlotte, which were the main opponents Lawrence (where Dr. Parsons was stationed) faced.  When Niagara engaged those two closely, her 32 pdr. carronades made quick work of them, presuming a similar lightness of frame and plank.  32 pdrs. would be the main armament of anything 74 guns and up.

That's a good point Joel. I had not considered the British big boats to have been similarly constructed. I figured the lesser grade materials was due mainly to the hurried construction. No time to find nice big oaks and more time to dry the wood. But as you point out, had they done so, they may have never got out of the harbor.
 
It's all so interesting!

A good read regarding the hurry and the resultant shortcuts they took can be found on the Texas A&M site. It is Dr. Kevin Cirsman's thesis on the Brig Eagle. She was also built by the Brown Brothers. THe site also has a plethora of great period information available for free from the various published Nautical Archeology dissertations. The dissertation link is http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/abstracts/crisman.htm

Mike,
I have seen and done a couple of different solutions to bulkheads crossing hatches depending on whether or not the lower deck is detailed out or if it is just a "dummy" deck.
 
The easiest is if it is just a "dummy" deck with no details. Simply remove anything that would be visible to create an opening for the ladder and then blacken everything in so that you gain the appearance of descending into a dark hold. This is very useful for the lowest decks that are often covered up with more decks or in solid hull construction.
 
The harder way happens when the deck you wish to descend to is to be detailed. Now you have to modify the framing to accommodate the hatch. The details on how to do this vary from ship to ship as the building process varies. Also this can depend upon how visible that deck is. If you cannot see the framing below the deck then just build the opening and frame it in to appear as though the correct framing is in place. If you intend on the lower deck to be visible than researching framing plans for that ship or similar construction is a must. I would start looking at cross section models as they often times have a ladder going down and should provide a good start as to how they were framed.

Very nice planking! She's looking great!

A full day of planking has ended on a high note in that so far my layout seems to be working. So far I am very happy with the way it is looking and it is quickly on it's way to being the best planking job I've done to date. I still have a long way to go so the ultimate verdict is still a long way out but, if things continue to go like thy have, I believe I will have a nice looking hull.
 
One tool that has been a huge help is a triangular needle file. To get the planks that go over the widest curves on the hull to lay flush along their edges I have been going in and angle filing the underside of the previously laid plank so the new one can slip under it and close out the joint. See the pictures below. This is keeping the joints nice and tight so hopefully I will not need any filler on this 2nd planking.
 
I still have not done much at the bow yet. The couple of strakes that have reached there have turned out good though. I will be focusing on the bow area in the next few days as I gradually make my way forward.
 
Also, I know some of these pictures are not the best. I am using my phone to take these progress shots as that is easier than clearing off the table and setting up the good camera and background boards for nicer photos. I will take some of those when I hit a bigger milestone, say when half the hull is planked. I will definitely need to clean up all the sawdust then anyway!

Well I have started the lower hull planking. I'm using Mahogany for this area. I have sectioned off portions of the hull and after determining the number of strakes that will be needed, (22 in this case) I have divided out each section to determine the widths of each plank. My widest is 5mm tapering to 3.5mm at the extremities. After doing some reading I have learned that a plank should not taper to less than half the width which would be 2.5mm. At 3.5mm I am good with 1mm left to play with if I did something wrong with my layout, (which is quite possible).
 
I started by laying the garboard strake first. I decided to start from just forward of mid ship and work aft and upward. I will come back to plank the forward portion later. Next I measured out 80mm lengths for the individual planking. This would come out to be about 8 meters or 26 feet on the real ship. I'm sure this is probably too long of length for an actual plank but I think it looks good on the model. If anyone knows what an average plank length should be I would be interested to know.
 
I've also had to curve and taper the planks as needed though nothing too extreme yet. I've tried to show this in a couple of pictures but as the shape is minor it may be hard to see.. As I've laid each strake I have set the starting plank back 20mm from the preceding strake's edge.
 
So far I think it is coming out right. At least I'm still on track with my plan..... 

Here are some more progress shots. Finished the upper planking on the port side over the past week. I still need to trim up some of the over hanging planks and sand everything smooth but she is together. Now it's time to attempt the lower hull. I've been putting this off as I still struggle with planking this area with all the curves and size changes. I've been reading up and watching videos for tips and practicing so I am as ready as I will be. Just have to keep telling myself to go slow, draw it out first, measure twice cut once, and if it starts to look wrong stop and see what is going on. I find I will stay focused on a small section and lose the over all perspective. That always leads to planking that may look great in a section but is doing something crazy elsewhere.
 
Wish me luck fellow ship builders! I will keep the log updated with how it is going.

A lot of progress has been made in the past few days. I have been very fortunate to have been able to dedicate so much time to this build at 158 hours as of tonight. Not counting research, studying plans and reading some really wonderful articles and other build logs. I would love to dedicate more time but as much as people at my job love seeing progress pictures they are not yet sold on the idea of paying me to build ships.
 
So here she is. I have topped out the 2nd planking on the starboard side and have started the final shaping of the hull at the stern. Now to duplicate this on the port side.
 
 

Mike,
I have seen and done a couple of different solutions to bulkheads crossing hatches depending on whether or not the lower deck is detailed out or if it is just a "dummy" deck.
 
The easiest is if it is just a "dummy" deck with no details. Simply remove anything that would be visible to create an opening for the ladder and then blacken everything in so that you gain the appearance of descending into a dark hold. This is very useful for the lowest decks that are often covered up with more decks or in solid hull construction.
 
The harder way happens when the deck you wish to descend to is to be detailed. Now you have to modify the framing to accommodate the hatch. The details on how to do this vary from ship to ship as the building process varies. Also this can depend upon how visible that deck is. If you cannot see the framing below the deck then just build the opening and frame it in to appear as though the correct framing is in place. If you intend on the lower deck to be visible than researching framing plans for that ship or similar construction is a must. I would start looking at cross section models as they often times have a ladder going down and should provide a good start as to how they were framed.

Just checked my notes.  Dr. Usher Parsons calls that space variously 'cockpit' and 'wardroom'.  He also says the deck is at about the water level.

If you postulate the picture Keith posted, but with the two gratings running fore 'n aft, you can blacken the center plate, remove one grating and have a ladder running next to the plate, running F&A.  If you choose to show your vessel in a peaceful configuration, you could use canvas 'hoods' to help keep the rain off a 'ladderway'.  I prefer that term as 'companionway' is so inclusive.
On Niagara, there was a cabin aft, probably a lobby area, where one would enter from the deck, and, forward, a larger space, a saloon or common area.  This is where the wounded were brought during the battle.  Some of the companions/gratings used on the replica and shown on the model I suspect were not on the original, particularly those surrounding the capstan.  Also, a 'skylight' would likely have been merely a grating left without its canvas covering.  This was the case with Bounty, that had all those plants in the cabin.
The options only expand the more you look into some of these things.

These are grates from HMS Victory. I took this picture when I was in Portsmouth a couple of years ago.
 
As you can see, the grates can be lifted up. But the coaming is fixed.

The grates just sat there... 
 
Ladders... what Henry said.  
 
If you consider that they were up close and personal in an artillery duel.. you're right about brutal.  But casualties, percentage wise were relatively minor compared to land battles.  When you get into the American Civil War, it was even worse.