gjdale

Thanks Nigel.  I'll go have a look then.     I'm just very cautious about such things.  Always have been and probably always will be.   Hell, I even paid for the original Leisure Suit Larry game way back when it was pirated by everybody. 

With the frames roughed out it was time to think about how to make the Hahn style jig.  I had success previously with the full hull but had lessons learned for my building style (read accuracy and capability).  So I came up with the following:
 

 
First off, I did copy the base pattern off of the plans but did not go and cut it all out at once.  Lots of small errors compound to very noticeable ones.  So after cutting out the center portion I picked the first frame, centered it over its location then cut out notches for it to fit snugly.  I also fit out pillars that insured the keel was at the exact height and centered over the jig.  So the frame is inserted into its groove, the pseudo keel is put into position and then the frame is pulled up into position perpendicular to the board. 
 
For the next frame I inserted a 1/8" board spacer to define the start point of the frame, then measured as above off of this starting position.  Very close to the plans but tweeked here and there.  So everything is based off of the first frame.
 
Nothing is glued yet (still have to scrape off the remaining templates).  After everything is verified, the frames will be glued and then the real keel will be fashioned.
 
Also need to detail out the face frames of the first and last exposed frames.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

Looking great Carl. Bad luck with the oops, but as you say, we need to put a little of our own DNA into every model we build.

Thank you for all the views, comments and likes. Now on with the show.
 
First things first. Fit the quarterdeck after dry fitting the bulwark. Had to file down the quarterdeck base to fit the deck properly as the holes in the bulwark were not visible through. Instructions state that some of the rigging passes through these holes.
 

 
After the quarterdeck was fit, it was time to fit the keel properly. I had to carve out a channel in the hull for the keel to fit properly. Hard to do without a jewelers vise as the spring clamp doesn't hold the hull tightly enough to keep it from wobbling.
 

 
Had a little boo-boo because of this...
 

 
...but it's not really modelling without a little blood. After this incident, I figured it would be easier to cut the slot with a rotary tool and a 1/40” cutoff disk. This seemed to work OK, but its too bad I didn't have an end mill small enough to cut this slot. Once the slot was cut to depth, I got the bulwark and keel dry fit and Hannah really starts to take shape.
 

 
Also managed to get the Washington family seal on the bottle cap. The crest is in two parts on the PE sheet and had to be glued together. I did this by scuffing up the back of the seal and gluing the two pieces together with medium CA, then repeating the process to glue the whole crest onto the cap. Looks alright, but it's hard to see the eagle on the top of the crest. Might have to paint it a little darker or lighter than the background of the seal just so it can be seen.
 

 
Until next time, comments and questions are always appreciated.

Thanks Augie, Mark, Bob, Sherry and Mike, and once again to all the "likes".
 
Even though it has been a long weekend here this weekend, I'm afraid I didn't get too much time in the shipyard.  I did however, get to collect my new case for Victory.  Even though I haven't quite finished her, I wanted to get her under a cover to protect her from damage and keep the dust off while I finish off the last few bits and pieces.
 
I know I could probably have made a case for a fraction of the price I paid for this (which was a lot!), but I wanted a "frameless" look for this model, so had it professionally made by a local plastics firm (Plastic Creations in Fyshwick for the local Canberrans - highly recommended).  I also decided that rather than use a wood base, I would continue the theme and had a black perspex base made at the same time, with a channel routed in it to accept the "box".  The idea of the black base (which is also partially reflective) was to tie in the black and yellow colours of the ship.  I like the effect.
 
I took a few pictures of it this afternoon, but it was getting a bit dark.  I've shown a couple of pictures here, but they don't really do it justice.
 
Here's one with only what's left of the daylight:
 

 
And here is one with the overhead downlights on. 
 

 
The table that it sits on I originally made to display my Cutty Sark model.  I think the timber is Yellow Stringy Bark if memory serves me correctly.
 
While I had the camera out, I thought I may as well take a picture of the Cutty Sark that has sat proudly in this position (just inside the front door) for many years until usurped by Victory.  This was a Billings kit and was my first serious foray into wooden ship building. As such, it is fairly basic - if only I knew then what I know now!  The case that this one is in I made myself. It has survived four house moves, including from one side of the country to the other and back again.  The only damage it received was to the rigging on one move, which I then replaced and did a better job on.  Even so, when I look at that rigging compared to Victory, it seems ever so basic.  It is now in the lounge room as a "temporary" measure until we figure out what to do with it. A "Viking Funeral" is still on the cards..........
 

 
You can see in the reflection of this photo my wife's collection of stuffed animals - they at least are an appreciative audience!
 
Ship's Boats continued:
 
With the limited time I did manage in the shipyard this weekend, I did manage to paint the internal hull of the Pinnace, fit the Risers for the thwarts, and fit the previously made footling.
 

 

 
I'm now making up some gratings to fit, using 1/32" pear stock that Jeff Hayes at Hobbymill made up for me some time ago.  It's the same stuff that I used on the Launch.  Hopefully I'll get that installed next weekend and then be ready to paint the exterior of the hull before moving on to the fittings.
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 102 – Planking and Wales continued
 
With the announcement of the forthcoming book(s) on this model, I’ve got to keep my nose to the grindstone – giving up some of the leisure I enjoyed before making the book decision.  So much to do, so little time.
 
In the first picture the wale upper strake around the stern has been installed.
 

 
All of the wale planks are 6” x 6”.  This first strake transitions in thickness from the 4” common plank thickness.  In the next picture the first full thickness wale plank has been fitted around the stern and is being levelled off with a file.
 

 
Some of this levelling was required on all planking but especially around these curves.  The planks were slightly oversized to allow for this.  This wale plank borders right on the “knuckle” – a transition point in the aft hull shape.  Planking below this will butt into this strake as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The two strakes shown above will be pared down to half width after gluing.  There are chocks between the stern timbers to allow the ends of the lower strakes to be bolted.  Lacking documented practice, I have assumed that these planks would be cut into the last circumferential wale plank as shown below.
 

 
This was the common practice for the ends of planks that butted into another plank where the angle would require excessive tapering of the planks.  Maintaining a minimum of one-half the width and cutting into the margin plank as shown above would permit these joints to be caulked.  This could not be done with a full taper on the planks.
 
Additional planks have been added in the next picture.
 

 
In this picture the surface is being sanded with 220-grit paper in preparation for treenailing.  In the next picture additional strakes on either side have been boiled and clamped in place to dry.
 

 
These planks do not have the extreme curvature of the circumferential planks but do curve up at the ends and twist to follow the hull shape.
 
The last picture shows the starboard planking while the ship was uprighted for some dimensional checks – and for inspection by Christmas visitors.
 

 
A lot of exterior planking remains to be done – down below the waterline on this side and a few strakes below the channels on the port side.  There are about 20 strakes in the wale itself plus some diminishing strakes and common plank below that on this side.
 
  
Ed
 

Thanks all for helping me to sort this out. 
 
Jan, 0,5 mm copper rod scored with a sharp blade made the screw head.
 
Sorry Grant, no way I can make working screws on this scale
 
So that said, the gudgeons are made, again from brass strip and bar silver soldered together and formed to follow the hull curvature. I'll probably use some castello shims to compensate for the missing hull planking. Some adjustments are still needed before I can bolt the gudgeons permanently to the hull. Somehow gudgeon #5 ended up under the transom planking
 
 

 

 
Remco

Thanks very much Bob, Mark, Sjors, Dave, Jeff and Aldo, and also to all of the "likes".  It's been a while since my last post, but only because I was doing more testing, thinking, testing, thinking............
 
Completing the Double Frames
 
Okay, so I decided that I wasn’t entirely happy with my scarph joints, and also that I was over-thinking the Chocks.  Time to revisit methodologies (again).
 
I decided to try Mobbsie’s method of creating the scarph joints, by using a file and the top edge of a vice as a reference plane/stop.  Only problem was, I first had to go out and buy a new vice with a flat top surface on the jaws. The method is really simple.  Having cut roughly to shape on the scroll saw, simply line up the template pattern line with the top of the vice jaws and and file until you feel metal instead of wood.
 

 
Some of the frames require cutouts for gunports/sweeps etc, and these are cut into the frames prior to assembly.  To achieve this, I used a neat razor saw to make some initial cuts before removing the waste with a chisel, and then finishing using the file/vice method.
 

 

 
Time to re-think the Chocks, again……..
 
Here’s the latest method, and this really seems to work well.  First up, getting a good, neat butt join between adjacent futtocks is essential, along with scarph joints that meet evenly at the butt join.  This is achieved using the file/vice method and test fitting, filing, test fitting until satisfied. Once happy with the butt/scarph joints, I used double sided tape to hold the lower central futtock in place over the pattern, placed more double sided tape over the locations for the remaining futtocks, and then placed some glue on the mating face of the next futtock before placing it in position hard up against the first futtock, where it is held in place by the double sided tape until the glue dries.  This process is repeated with the remaining futtocks until the frame (minus chocks) is complete.
 

 
The chocks were then made by cutting a piece of stock to roughly the width of the chock space and then finessing with the Disc Sander until a neat fit in to the chock opening was achieved.  Note the “handles” on the inboard side of the chocks.
 

 
The chock ends were then shaped on the Disc Sander until a neat fit was obtained, at which point the chocks were glued in place.  Because of the neat fit, and the frames being held in place on the tape, no clamps were required. This had been problematic previously as clamps tended to throw everything out of alignment as they were tightened.  Once the glue had dried, the frames were removed from the templates, the chock “handles” trimmed close on the scroll saw, and then finished off on the spindle sander.  Here’s what a completed frame looks like, with almost invisible joints….
 

 
Once the method was worked out, completing the remaining double frames went very smoothly.  All five double frame pairs have now been completed.  Here are a few progress shots:
 

 

 

 
That's it for now.  Off to Sydney to visit family for a couple of days and then it's on with the single frames, which should be relatively easy (famous last words)......

Gun assemblies.
 
My version of Surprise, based on the Master & Commander books, carried 24 x 32 pdr carronades on the main deck and 14 x 18 pdrs on the forecastle and quarterdeck as the main armament with a couple of 9 pdr chase long guns. At this stage, I'm not sure where the 9 pdrs live, there seem to be a couple of spare gun ports on both the upper deck, the forecastle and at the stern, maybe they were moved around as needed. Possibly it's up to me to decide where to put them.
 
The carpentry shop has been in full production with carriages for both carronade sizes being produced.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Kit for 32 pdr carronades. The kit carriage forms the basis for the slide in the final assembly.
 

Trickiest part of making up the slide, slicing the carriage longways to reduce the height. (Yellow lines = 25mm grid)
 

Steps involved in changing from the kit carriage to the finished slide. The lower part of the carriage is fabricated from balsa and ply.
 

Progress so far.
All 32 pdr components have been shaped and painted, detail painting still to come. 18 pdr carriages partly shaped.
Most of the 32 pdr barrels have been blackened and colouring of the 18 pdr barrels has started.
 
 

Hello all,
 
Shaped the hull today. Took a little bit of time and patience to get it right, but I'm still not satisfied with how it turned out. Oh well, maybe next time.
 


 
Installed the quarterdeck support and maindeck PE...
 

 
… and superstructures.
 

 
Amati recommends painting the areas under the superstructures a flat/matte black to give some depth to the openings. I think it looks good.
 
Until next time

Thanks Ben, will do, as long as my kidneys behave

Thanks very much Bob, Mark, Sjors, Dave, Jeff and Aldo, and also to all of the "likes".  It's been a while since my last post, but only because I was doing more testing, thinking, testing, thinking............
 
Completing the Double Frames
 
Okay, so I decided that I wasn’t entirely happy with my scarph joints, and also that I was over-thinking the Chocks.  Time to revisit methodologies (again).
 
I decided to try Mobbsie’s method of creating the scarph joints, by using a file and the top edge of a vice as a reference plane/stop.  Only problem was, I first had to go out and buy a new vice with a flat top surface on the jaws. The method is really simple.  Having cut roughly to shape on the scroll saw, simply line up the template pattern line with the top of the vice jaws and and file until you feel metal instead of wood.
 

 
Some of the frames require cutouts for gunports/sweeps etc, and these are cut into the frames prior to assembly.  To achieve this, I used a neat razor saw to make some initial cuts before removing the waste with a chisel, and then finishing using the file/vice method.
 

 

 
Time to re-think the Chocks, again……..
 
Here’s the latest method, and this really seems to work well.  First up, getting a good, neat butt join between adjacent futtocks is essential, along with scarph joints that meet evenly at the butt join.  This is achieved using the file/vice method and test fitting, filing, test fitting until satisfied. Once happy with the butt/scarph joints, I used double sided tape to hold the lower central futtock in place over the pattern, placed more double sided tape over the locations for the remaining futtocks, and then placed some glue on the mating face of the next futtock before placing it in position hard up against the first futtock, where it is held in place by the double sided tape until the glue dries.  This process is repeated with the remaining futtocks until the frame (minus chocks) is complete.
 

 
The chocks were then made by cutting a piece of stock to roughly the width of the chock space and then finessing with the Disc Sander until a neat fit in to the chock opening was achieved.  Note the “handles” on the inboard side of the chocks.
 

 
The chock ends were then shaped on the Disc Sander until a neat fit was obtained, at which point the chocks were glued in place.  Because of the neat fit, and the frames being held in place on the tape, no clamps were required. This had been problematic previously as clamps tended to throw everything out of alignment as they were tightened.  Once the glue had dried, the frames were removed from the templates, the chock “handles” trimmed close on the scroll saw, and then finished off on the spindle sander.  Here’s what a completed frame looks like, with almost invisible joints….
 

 
Once the method was worked out, completing the remaining double frames went very smoothly.  All five double frame pairs have now been completed.  Here are a few progress shots:
 

 

 

 
That's it for now.  Off to Sydney to visit family for a couple of days and then it's on with the single frames, which should be relatively easy (famous last words)......

Looks like you have found a method for Chock making and fitting that works well for you.
It took me a couple of different ways before I found one that I was comfortable with and gave good results.
 
Looking really good Grant.
 
Ben

Lovely work on the treenailing Nigel. Sane is highly over rated!

Lovely work on the treenailing Nigel. Sane is highly over rated!

Good afternoon all
 
WORK IN PROGRESS
 
after three attempts i got the main mast nearly finished, looks a bit wonky , (because it is), still to pin the pieces together
 
then a quick trip into the sunshine, although the sun is quite low and throwing all the settings out on the camera
 
hope to have everything sprayed the right colours within a work or so

Nigel.. I'd give my Right Arm to be Ambidextrous ...       
 
Eamonn
 
PS I'm one of those 'Ambi's' too.. 

I felt the need to post some pics to celebrate the completion of the gundeck 'treenailing'.The aft section still needs sanding smooth and I will then apply a coat of thinned poly to protect the deck during future work.A rough count up shows well in excess of 3000 fixings Some sanity has been retained thanks to the music of Vangelis and Hans Zimmer
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Looking good Mark. Gotta agree about the Swiss Pear. I'm using it for the frames in my cross-section build and its a real joy to work with.

Great job Grant !!!!
A few others finished !
A few more now.....
 
Sjors

Absolutely skilled crafting Grant . She looks the bees knees.
 
 
David

Wow.. excellent joinery.  I'm smiling over those frames.

A system well worked out mate, the doubles are looking real good.
 
Well Done
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie

Lovely looking work Grant.
 
Bob

With the holidays (and the family flu) in the rear view mirror I finally spent some time in the shipyard.  I finally got all ten frames rough cut out.  No bevels yet (after they are installed in the jig) and the face frame sides will have futtock join pieces with trunnels added.
 

 
You can see one of my Christmas gifts from the kids - 1:48 scale plastic figures.  They are Air Force ground crew figures, so some modifications will need to be made, however I really liked the look of them on the full Druid.  Nice to see the figures fit so well.  They will be all over the cross section: climbing, cleaning, firing - you name it.
 
Next up is to cut out the base jig to hold these frames inverted (the Hahn method).  Hope to pick up the wood tomorrow.  You can also see the other big gift from the family:  Volume IV of the Swan books - AWESOME!
 

 
BTW:  I picked up this sanding belt cleaner bar and it works fantastic.  I would highly recommend.  It basically brings the sandpaper back to like new.  The top of the spindle sander hasn't been treated, below it has.  Simply push it against the running drum whenever it is starting to gum up.
 

 
In other news:  The full Druid has been invited to another Art Showing for January in Lowell, Michigan.  This will be followed by a request for a business to host for another month.  Tremendous positive feedback.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark