Haliburton

Nice start Mike.
 
I've heard conjecture that the kit is a representation of the Burrows, which was one of McDonough's row galleys on Champlain. Arrow was a mis-translation from what I recall from somewhere...

If the deck edge seems a nice fair curve, perhaps the solution is to pad out where needed on the bulkheads to match the deck edge.  Add a shape like this:  (( to the bulkhead and sand back to get a nice curve.

I'm close to finishing my first build and although my sorted wood worked well, I found out later that my company uses a lot of paper (for the CAD machine). And lo and behold they have perfect 24" x 2" tubes that holds the roll of paper.  So they gave me a bunch and I find this is perfect.  I've since repurposed my first idea.
 

 

Here's a look at the deck section after "bending" it.
 

 
However I could not get the edge in line with the edge of the side piece of decking so I cheated. Added a brace to the side piece that will go under the bent corner of the bow piece. They'll be nice and flush that way. A few pix may explain it better.
 

 

 

 
So here's how the decking ended up. All of that will be planked.
 

 
I guess I did not grasp the concept of those false bulkhead pieces. I glued them down for support of the deck not realizing they are really supposed to be the extension of the frame pieces down below. It's going to take a lot of sanding to round all that out. As you can see some of those bottom frame pieces don't even extend out to the edge of the lower deck.
 

 

 
No matter. It all needed some serious fairing up anyway.
 

Thanks very much John(s). texxan5 John, I'm still doing research but will let you know if I end up wanting to go the Proxxon route. Scott

Thanks Per - will check them out. Lots of positive feedback on the site for the proxxon db250 too.

Thanks John, what is the particular sherline model you are using?

Hi Derek and Scott.  Thanks for the response.  I had to put that up on my site as I was receiving 4-6 inquiries a week for items to Canada.  I would put in several hours  working up prices, searching shipping cost to find the best rates only to have 95% of the people raise cain about the shipping, accuse me of ripping them off and resulting in no order.  I'm too old for that.  I  only work on a 4-5% margin, Paypal and credit cards charge me 3%.  I do this mainly as a service for modelers and a little supplement to my Social Security.  My volume is not enough for Proxxon to give me a decent discount.  Anyone from Canada reading this and wanting Proxxon tools should PM me with their desires and I'll work you up a price, just bear in mind that shipping costs are probably double what you think they will be.  Maybe Trump's changes to NAFTA will help remedy this.  There is absolutely no reason for these expensive shipping expenses - either way.  So much for my soap box rant....lol.  Let me know if I can help,
John

Thanks Per - will check them out. Lots of positive feedback on the site for the proxxon db250 too.

Thanks very much John(s). texxan5 John, I'm still doing research but will let you know if I end up wanting to go the Proxxon route. Scott

Thanks very much John(s). texxan5 John, I'm still doing research but will let you know if I end up wanting to go the Proxxon route. Scott

Beginning some work on the interior seating area. The foot braces come first. Nothing too exciting, just a lot of repetition. Cut columns to length, drill holes, insert columns and glue. The only hard part was getting the columns aligned and the same height. Height was easy. I have a stainless straight edge about 12" x 2". I just inserted the columns a little high, set the straight edge on top of them and pressed down.
 
The inset for this step in the plans actually had a measurement! One foul up on the holes
 
EDIT: - 03/02/17 - I'm adding this as I install the benches that go right next to the footrails. As I add the benches which are supposed to be laid right behind every footrail I'm seeing what a bad job I did with these holes. The pairs of holes are off in some places and in other places the starboard holes don't line up with the port holes. This wasn't overly obvious until I began to lay the benches. With the S&P benches inline it really shows when a footrail is not straight. It's not really correctable now. A suggestion to help avoid this would be to drill the holes much earlier. Even before the lower false decks are glued in place. You could tape them together (piece 21 & 22) at the ends and then drill holes thru both at the same time.  TAKE YOUR TIME measuring!! Use a square to mark off each pair of holes. If you have a drill press even better. This should make each row of holes line up better.
 

Thanks Per - will check them out. Lots of positive feedback on the site for the proxxon db250 too.

Thanks John, what is the particular sherline model you are using?

Hi Steve - glad to have you along.
 
Scott - yes a chapter on that also Niagara, Eagle, Jefferson as well as a few of the British boats.
 
Roger - I reviewed Coffins again and it appears the drawings they show don't show the extended cutwater as you said. I wasn't  looking that close before. However the kit design does seem to be closer to Allen than any other row galley or gunboat drawings I have seen.

Mike, I will definitely check out that book you mentioned. I'm guessing it will give some mention of the Hamilton and Scourge.

Hi Mike, I've been looking at this one too and agree it's pretty neat. I'm going to follow along if that's all right. There is one other build of this on the site and there is a build log on modelshipbuilder.com that might help. Scott

Hi Mike, I've been looking at this one too and agree it's pretty neat. I'm going to follow along if that's all right. There is one other build of this on the site and there is a build log on modelshipbuilder.com that might help. Scott

Mike,
 
I looked at Chapelle's History of the American Sailing Navy and History of American Sailing Ships as well as Coffins of the Brave to see what I could find. The US Navy did build several two masted lateen rigged "row galleys" in the very late 1700's and early 1800's. Some of these fought in the war of 1812, on the Chesapeake and on Lake Champaign. Gunboats also fought on Lake Ponchatrain but I don't know which design. As noted above the galley Allen was excavated on Lake Champlain and another on the Chesapeake near Badensberg, MD. An archeology report for the MD gunboat is available on the Internet.
 
I could find no design (Chapelle) or archeology report that represents the model that you are building. The long head and protruding stern platform are anachronisms. The American gunboats were double ended.
 
It would appear that the kit manufacturer either copied a Mediterranean design or imagined one and called it an American gunboat for marketing purposes.
 
Roger

Mike, I will definitely check out that book you mentioned. I'm guessing it will give some mention of the Hamilton and Scourge.

Hi Mike, I've been looking at this one too and agree it's pretty neat. I'm going to follow along if that's all right. There is one other build of this on the site and there is a build log on modelshipbuilder.com that might help. Scott

Hi Mike, I've been looking at this one too and agree it's pretty neat. I'm going to follow along if that's all right. There is one other build of this on the site and there is a build log on modelshipbuilder.com that might help. Scott

Couldn't wait any longer on this one. It is an odd creature to say the least. I learned about this type of boat while researching Niagara and the goings on at the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. They have an interesting history.
 

 
The kit is pretty minimal. A lot of wood without much metalwork. From a quick glance things don't look too bad. The main instructions with all the illustrations is in Italian of course. There is an English version but it refers to the figures in the Italian instructions so you really need to have both opened. The plans show decent details about the build but NO MEASUREMENTS. Very odd.
 
 The first task at hand is to drill the mast holes in a piece they call the centerboard. They supply a little jig so that you can drill the holes at the proper angles. That's assuming you can drill a hole straight down. Good thing my drill has a bubble level in it. So I got thru that.
 

 

 

 
Now for the frames.
 

 
Here's a weird one - frames go on the keel right?  NOT! The flat side of the frames are glued to the centerboard. You have to center them and make sure they are perpendicular. I marked up the centerboard and that turned out not to be a big deal. So the first 11 frames are on.
 

 

 
Next are two end frames glued to the end of the centerboard. The instructions say that the flat side of the frame is supposed to be above the centerboard surface. How much? That's when I noticed there were no measurements.Turned out to be 5/32"
 

 
 
Added the undersurface for the lower deck
 

 
Began planking the lower deck.
 

 

 
Odd as it is, I still think this is a cool looking build. As you can see things are moving along well. Just what I needed - a build that won't take years to finish. 
 
03/11/17 - I have decided to add a few notes here regarding things that I have turned up during the build. Hopefully this may make it easier for a future builder. A couple of things today:
1. As you are building out the lower deck - planks, foot rests, benches,etc. - color and finish them at that time. It will get progressively more difficult to access them later. Same thing for the upper deck.
2. The instructions say to plank first then install the stem and stern post. In hindsight I will disagree with this. I would follow a more normal pattern of installing those pieces and the additional step of cutting a rabbet. I've found that the ends of the planks just kinda lay on top of the pieces. They don't integrate like they would with a rabbet cut all around the hull.
3. If you decide to do #2 be sure to make and install the gudgeons and pintles for the stern post and rudder before the stern post is installed. Don't let the gudgeons extend too far back on the stern post else they will keep the stern post from sliding all the way into place.
 
 

If you are applying epoxy in your basement, be cautious about ventilation when applying and possible sources of ignition (water heater/furnace).

If you are applying epoxy in your basement, be cautious about ventilation when applying and possible sources of ignition (water heater/furnace).