gjdale

Your detail work is just stunning Johann. It never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Lovely work on the tops Danny. Had you considered using Chuck's method for mass producing blocks?

Nicely done Sjors. The re-dos were clearly worth it.

Lovely work John.

Some great shots to finish off Mobbsie - she really is a monster! Clearly, you need to move into a bigger house with more display room and a larger workshop.

Very nice Dan. I'm sure your plan for display (pedestals etc) will look fabulous.

Gil, I used the MicroGlaze from Micromark on my stern/quarter galleries when I re-did my stern. I was very happy with the results (and it's really easy to use too!).

Congratulations Sjors on an excellent build. Time to celebrate with an adult beverage or three! Looking forward to seeing Aggy finished soon too!

Joe, I've just spent a most enjoyable hour or so reading through your log. You're doing an excellent job on her and I particularly enjoyed reading your techniques and tips on painting. Thanks for sharing so much.

Great progress Bob, and I'll bet it feels good to get that "tedious" bit behind you. I reckon you should have a crack at a framed/planked boat. With your skills, I bet it would be a beauty.

Thanks for your answer Mark. I may have to give this a try myself. Of course, I'd first have to build the sled I've been promising myself for months!

I like your use of the table saw / sled arrangement for cutting the end joints Mark. Do you feel this is more accurate than using a disc sander?

I'll just add my voice to the chorus of praise Rusty - a very fine looking planking job indeed.

Thanks Mike. Grab a drink and some popcorn and come on over to the darkside.

Congratulations Jack on a truly superb build. Your Admiral should be one very happy lady! Now, celebrate completion with an adult beverage of your choice, and then (after an appropriate pause) get cracking on your Bomb Vessel Cross-section. Any update on your timber order from Jeff, or is it still first week of December anticipated delivery? I would recommend doing a few trial runs of both keel and frames with some scrap wood while you wait!

Mike, Nice progress. A disc sander would be a very worthwhile investment for you. It is probably the single most used tool in my shop. Very useful for shaping outside curves on frame pieces, as well as squaring off ends as you're trying to do now. You can sand any angle and/or bevel on small parts too. It's a hugely versatile tool and will save you many hours and lots of frustration. I can highly recommend the Byrnes disc sander, but others like Proxxon would no doubt be very good as well.

Thanks Jack - the way things are going at the moment, you'll be a month ahead of me in to time!

Thanks Mark, It's a special part with a left hand M6 thread. I was talking this through with Mobbsie on Skype last night and showed him the schematic of the parts/assembly. We agreed that I may in fact be able to manufacture my own replacement part if Carbatec can't come through. The most difficult part of the process will be finding a LH M6 die to cut the thread. Plenty available on line, but buying one locally could be a challenge! The other issue is access - that will be a challenge too. Hopefully, I could manage through the access hatch, but it will be tricky. Stripping the machine down to do this will be a major undertaking, to be avoided if at all possible!

Thanks guys! Alan - that's a very generous offer and one that I may well take up, depending on how things go tomorrow. Tony - you got it in one - the concrete jungle! Sjors - much as I'd like to take up your offer, unless you're springing for the airfare mate, I'm afraid it's a non-starter.

Sjors, The chocks go with each join of the futtocks that make up the frame. There are five components to each frame, and hence four chocks required per frame, two large and two small. With a total of 22 frames (counting the double frames), that makes a total of 88 chocks required. Then there is the allowance for the occasional loss to the space-time-continuum between the modelling desk and the floor, and of course, the odd re-do of a frame here and there. So I just made lots.

Looking fabulous Danny, despite the challenges of taking pictures in the caravan!

Thanks Mobbsie, Mark and Marc, and all of the "likes". Continuing on: First Frames - continued The frames pieces were placed over the pattern pieces and clamped in place to a scrap piece of pine board while the pieces were glued on the butt joins. Once these had dried, the chocks were fitted into place and after the glue had dried the chocks were first trimmed close using the scroll saw, and then finished on the oscillating spindle sander. The final step was to put the whole frame through the thickness sander for a couple of light passes to clean them up and bring them down to the finished size of 1//4” thick. On first glance these look okay, but on closer inspection you can see that the joints around the chocks are not very good. As is my way, I pondered on this for a day or two, and then went back to my references (yeah, the ones I should have consulted in the first place! ). In reading both Antscherl (The Fully Framed Model - Vol 1) and Tosti (Naiad Frigate - Vol 1), I discovered that while both used slightly different methods for making and installing the chocks, the one thing they had in common was that the chocks were fitted to one side of the futtock scarph first, and then the second side (from the other futtock) was fitted. It seems pretty obvious in hindsight, but I guess that’s why it’s called hindsight……. Yep, nothing for it but to re-do the frames (again)! Chocks A little more pondering, and I believe I have come up with a mix of methods that should work for me. The first step was to “standardise” the chocks. A quick check through the drawings/patterns revealed that all frames have two sizes of chocks, and these sizes are consistent through all of the frames. The larger chocks have a base of 12mm and the smaller 8mm. I measured the angle at the apex of the chocks and it too is consistent at 18 degrees either side of the centreline. As I now had the necessary details for mass production, it was time to well, mass produce………….. I first cut a series of ‘stock’ pieces (12mm and 8mm wide) from a 3” wide sheet of 1/4” pear, cutting across the grain so that in the finished chocks, the grain would run along the length of the chock. I then set the angle on the mitre gauge of the Byrnes disc sander to 18 degrees. As this angle is not one of the pre-set angles available, I used a digital protractor to set the angle and locked it in. Each side of the end of the stock piece was sanded on this angle, forming an apex along the centreline. I tried to be very precise by marking lines various, but in the end discovered that the Mk 1 eyeball, calibrated with the aid of the Optivisor, gave just as accurate results. The chock was then sliced off on the Byrnes table saw, and the process repeated until I had a pile of lotsa chocks. Here’s what 136 chocks in two sizes looks like: I then went on to re-cut the frame pieces, and that is when a major set-back occurred. Just as I was cutting the last two pieces on the scroll saw, what appeared at first to be a simple blade breakage was subsequently discovered to be the sheering of a 6mm bolt in the Drive Link Assembly. After a half hour on the phone with a very helpful service guy from Carbatec, I’m still not sure of the way ahead. He is going to call me back on Monday to let me know if they can get me the replacement parts to repair the machine. It’s not going to be an easy job either, but the Carbatec guy told me I was going to need to “man up” and strip the machine down to do the job myself! (my wife laughed uproariously at this suggestion - go figure………… ). It looks like progress will be halted indefinitely while I get this sorted , although I may use my original frames for some further ‘test-bed’ work. Currently thinking through the issue of whether or not to show additional fastenings (bolts) in the double frames (as per AOTS) or stick with the simplified representation shown in the plans. Currently leaning towards adding the extras - some nice examples of this on MSB by both Spanien and Migue. The questions is, what size would be appropriate for these bolts? (grateful for any input here) I'm thinking of using copper wire as it has the advantage of being able to be blackened in situ using Liver of Sulphur, as has been demonstrated many times by EdT. I have some wire that is 1/32" thick (about 0.8mm), which at 1:48 scale equates to an actual diameter of 1 1/2", so I may give this a go on the "test bed" to see how it looks.

Nice to see an update Wayne - she's looking great!

Great to see you back in the shipyard Gary. Your posts are always such an education!

Lovely addition of detail Gil. It's these subtle additions that make your build really stand out.