gjdale

Thanks, Keith!  But it wasn't quite finished.  Still a few things to add.  
 
Before I finished up that stern piece, however, I decided to make the balconies that protrude forward of the mizzen mast.



 
 
 
I finished assembling and painting the balconies, but didn't take a pic, so moving on to finishing up the stern.  Obviously, I can't recreate all the detail of such an elaborate piece of work at this scale.  I just try to add as many elements as I can to try and make it look recognizable.  The hanging stern lantern and the 2 other corner lanterns grabbed my eye so I did my best to add them.  Except with the corner lanterns, I decided to make torches.  While the picture of the model in the previous post shows lanterns in both corners of the stern, the movie ship looks like it has torches. 
 
For the hanging lantern, I used the head of a small belaying pin.

 
 
For the torches, I took some of the yellow-painted cotton I had made earlier for my test fireball, glued it to part of a small brass nail, put a piece of thread around it for a base, and inserted it into a hole in each corner of the stern rail.

 
 
 
I also added a small bit of red thread to mimic the drapery shown in the pic.  Here's how the hunka hunka burning love looks with all those pieces in place.  I hope the hanging lantern and torches survive the fitting process inside the bottle!
 

 
 

Thank you!
I too love showing progress for new developments, I think I get just as excited as some of you! I have said many times, I really don't care what others are doing, I never even look or follow anyone else (except Chuck), so because I am not made that way, I am sometimes taken aback when I see certain things from others which appear to be so blatant. Designing these is a very personal thing and each developemnt takes a very long time, you know the exact times you thought of something new, or realised a solution to a particular problem and it works out well. I had assumed other 'designers' must share the same thoughts - so you know instinctively when and what some have used from your own designs for their own product.
It is, this part of the development is hell for me! The worst is yet to come, masts and rigging, just hours upon days upon weeks of CAD work...
 
But, it's gotta be done!
 
OK, here is another drawing (still in progess, doing the cutaway view today), showing the gun deck and upper deck beams, and the main cutaway profile showing lower, main and upper decks.

I am currently working on the CAD drawings for Surprise, these take an absolute age to do - but profiles are almost complete (need to do all these before even starting on masts, yards and rig)
 
But these three views should give a good impression of the hull and detail

Adding the fixed blocks today, it’s pretty simple actually except for the aft one, there’s no covering up boo boo’s with a frieze on this one.
 
lets start with assembling the fixed blocks. 

The fixed blocks come in two halves, you just need to select the one that faces out and assemble the roller and the axle to that half. From  there I sanded the out side down until it almost hits the roller

The idea here is that once we fair the inside of the hull and add the spirketting panels then we can install the other half of the block and fair it down to the spirketting. When faired properly we should be able to see the roller from  the inside as well. I’ll cover this more when we get to this stage.
 
Now onto installing the fixed block half, I started by marking where it goes, it’s important that we place it in the corner of all the structure, it will help in the future when the laser cut panels go in on the inside 
I then traced it with a pencil so I could see where to make Some small holes 

from there I just opened up the hole very slowly and tested the block over
and over again until it had a tight fit.


here you can see it from the inside with the roller in place, this will also help you when fairing the inside, once you get close to the roller you’ll know you’re done sanding!
once it fit well I glued it in place and then carefully flush sanded it to match the hull then covered it up in some wop so it matches the rest of the planking.

the rest of the fixed blocks are pretty easy, they just need to be fitted into laser cut holes in the frieze panels.
i carefully cut the frieze piece free from the hole and glued it down to the top of the fixed block and then opened it up with a #11

Next up is the very elaborate and high-rising stern structure.  The goal is to have something that in some way resembles this:

 
 
The structure causes the stern to be way too tall to fit thru the bottle's neck, so it will be built as a sub-assembly and installed after the ship is in the bottle.  In fact, it will actually be 2 separately built sub-assemblies.   The first will contain the sidewalls and stern wall as well as the deck behind the mizzen mast.  The second will be the 2 balconies and their decking that protrude in front of the mizzen mast.  The 2nd sub-assembly must also be added after insertion because it would get in the way of the main mast when it is folded to stern. 
 
Nothing complicated about the build process - just carving and sanding a number of tiny pieces and fitting them together.


 
 
 
Test fit of the first piece.

 
 
Once I was happy with the fit, I added the side railings, curved stern railing, and some other things to give a hint of the stern area decorative elements from the real thing.  Also, you can see that I did a bit more carving to the descending side wall to make it look more like the real thing.


 
  
 

Probably...I am thinking of doing something new with this capstan project...and the internally stropped blocks.
 
There are a lot of folks who have 3d printers and a laser cutter these days.  So I am thinking about doing a group project here at MSW and releasing all the files.  Then doing a tutorial on how to assemble the project and color the pieces.   But yes I will also mfg all the parts for folks who dont have that equipment.  Or who knows...maybe one of the group will to do that.   As I get closer to retirement I am trying to concentrate on teaching and mentoring rather than just making money.   So the Capstan Project uses a lot of laser cutting techniques that folks still dont use.   I dont know why.  Like laser cutting on both sides of a piece etc.
 
And 
 
So many parts these days are available as 3D printed parts but they have to be painted or dyed.   The internally stropped blocks need to be painted and its no different.  But many folks dont know how to make parts look like wood quickly and easily and make them look realistic.  I have to tweak the blocks to make the sheave slots a bit wider which means a day of CAD corrections but these worked out great.   I think making the stl files available and then talking about washing and curing and then finishing the parts would make a great online class.  It takes just a minute to properly paint these blocks.  So many people offer 3D printed wood parts that dont look anything like wood.  So this class would at help.   The three blocks in the foreground were finished just this morning in about 10 minutes.   The original untreated 3D prints are behind it.  It makes a world of difference.   Then we would graduate to the Capstan project...
 
The capstan project would make an excellent group project for any local club...I am hoping that at least one or two members of each local club might have the equipment and could possibly make a dozen kits for their own clubs.
 
But that is just a pipe dream at this point...
 
What do you guys think?
 
 
 

Planking didn't go as planned but I got it figured out for the most part. It isn't pretty but it works. I really struggled with the planks being so wide in this kit. Im used to them being 5-6 mm wide not 10+ mm wide. 
 
The keel and stern intersection were rough with the curve and the spacing. I used my hot round iron and water to steam and curve the piece and with some hand twisting and clamps to hold it in place. 

 
As I got to the middle section I realized the last few planks might be rough. The method for making the previous planks didn't really work anymore so I started measuring the space left and dividing it between the number of planks left. This seemed to work. I did resort to using brass nails from another completed kit to help hold planks down. I have not had success with dowel or toothpick nails in the past and since I would be painting the hull i figured why not use the simpler option of the brass nails. 

 
The last two were hardest as you lose places to clamp and I didn't want to use nails on such thin planks. So I pulled out my rubber band stash and used scrap plank sections that had some taper on them so I could snug the planks up while the rubber band gave the downward pressure. 

 
Here is quick view of it done and letting the glue dry.

 
Today I completed an initial sand of the entire hull then applied a thin player of wood filler on the high spots and filling in the low points and gaps. I'll let it dry tonight and then start more serious sanding later this week depending on whether my furlough status continues or not. 

 
Happy building everyone!

Finally found time to finish designing internally Stropped Blocks that will be 3d printed.
 
I am not the best at CAD and as a few you know about me...I literally design most of my stuff using Tinkercad.   I outsource the complex stuff but anything that can be done with this free program meant for kids 8 to 12 years old....I am there.
 
I am doing a test printing today.  Many of my parts are made using TinkerCad and one of these days I will do a tutorial.   If you want to make parts for 3D printing and dont know real CAD like me....give it a try.  You can do about 80% of everything in this program.  You can add as much detail as you have patience for.  You will of course have to paint the metal parts black...or not.  Its up to you but its still a lot easier than building my other internally stropped blocks.

 



And below is another project I have been playing with.  No limited edition for this but it will be a nice group project for my club.  We have since completed the battlestation project and so I am now working on our next project.  Working pawl mechanism and all.  All of these parts also made using just tinkercad.  All of the hard parts are no designed and completed.  

Thank you to everyone for the kind comments and the likes. 
 
 I've decided the barge size will be approximately 30 x 100 feet. It will be a simple barge without any dredging equipment as seen in the photo below (the barge stern, towboat bow) and will be pretty rough in appearance. I think creating realistic dredged material will be the most challenging part of the build.  

 
  It just keeps gettin' uglier. 
 
   Keith

Congratulations on completing yet another fine build Keith. I look forward to your next.

Congratulations on completing yet another fine build Keith. I look forward to your next.

Congratulations on completing yet another fine build Keith. I look forward to your next.

Thank you for the comments and likes.
 
 
 This ugly Hard Coal Navy towboat is done with the exception of a couple of spots I noticed in the photos that need to touch up but that's  only a matter of a couple of minutes effort. 
 
 The deckhand has taken his rightful place. 

 
 I like this view because the skipper can be seen in the pilothouse.

 

 

 

 
 When the boiler's firebox in cleaned out the clinkers and ash are flat nose shoveled over the side. 

 
 I have extra chain in the winches but won't know how much until the barge is lashed.

 

 
 Thank you so much for your support and for taking the time to follow this journey.
 
   Keith

I started with the lower most forward piece. Marked off the chamfer to fit to the stem post on both port and starboard pieces. Shaped the first one.... pretty good.
Shaped the second one... darn it, I did the inside rather than the outside. Made a new piece and did it correctly.
Tried to bend them with a new 30W large round head bender... wouldn't work.
Tried wetting it and then bending with the new tool... still wouldn't work.
My guess is 30W is inadequate heat for the thickness of the part.
I soaked them in boiling water and clamped them onto the frames.
I'll use my soldering iron barrel tomorrow to put that little bit more bend to them to seat properly.

 
A member of our club gifted me a Areopiccola bending head but it doesn't fit my irons.
The irons have a small threaded hole
The Areopiccola head is 10mm diameter and split to slide into a barrel with a 10mm hole.
I need to find a soldering iron that will accommodate it. With adequate heat it should work.
 

Hi everyone, This is Donna with Model Machines. I have not had inventory of the 4" 24- and 36-tooth carbide blades for our Byrnes Table Saw for several months and I apologize.  I know everyone has been scrambling trying to find blades so I hope this helps.  For those that are interested, I now have both the 24- and 36-tooth carbide blades in inventory and available to order on the website.

Donna

A tiny bit of progress，
 
As you can see, using some new technologies makes this complex POF ship model relatively simple. Even if you’re a beginner, with just a little practice, you can assemble a decent complex model by yourself. And if you’re an experienced builder, it will save you a lot of time—maybe even years.

I’m moving all my equipment from the garage to a new space, so I’ll pause updates for about two weeks.
 
This’ll be my new studio, but it’s still a woodworking shop right now.


I think this will help me develop some projects better.

She's my hunka hunka burning love, Keith!
 
 
 
The next task is to try and create something that resembles the railing on the bow.

 
 
I went to a dear friend's wedding in Philly last summer and they were handing out little fans because the temps were a bit warm.  The 90 degree weather felt like a nice fall afternoon for me but I took a fan anyway.  Then I noticed the ribs were made of super-thin bamboo, so I kept it knowing I'd find a good use for it.

 
 
 
The ribs are 0.4mm in thickness which I thought might work well for the railing.  For the 2 curved portions of the railing, it's way too small and frail to try and bend, so I took a diamond crusted grinding bit and gently carved it to shape.  It's shaved down to about 0.5mm in the 2nd pic below.



 
 
The vertical sections of the railing were pretty much specks that were difficult to pick up and put in place even with my finest point tweezers.

 
 
 
Here's the railing in place..

 
 
 
It's here where I realized I should not have painted the hull yet.  It was a varying mix of 4 different colors plus some thinner to get the look I wanted, but now I needed to match it and unfortunately, I didn't pay much attention to how I mixed things earlier.  So I did my best to get a match.  I will have the same problem when I build the tall, rising back end of the ship.

 
 
 
 
 
    

I began fairing the inner hull, as mentioned earlier, the bow needs to be done first in order to install the beak head beam and finish the channel wales. 
I began by cutting all the extension reenforcement hoops out with a small excel saw blade. MDF cuts like butter so this goes quick


from here I faired all the bulkheads down to the first hance piece. I faired enough of the bow aft of the beak head bulkhead beam that I won’t have to worry about coming close to that area then I finish fairing the inside. 


Now I can complete the channel wale. But before I finish that I moved onto finishing the lower garboard strake plus an additional one. With this complete I could finally add some WOP to the remaining portside hull and frames. Moving on to finish the portside gunports now and finally the last strake at the channel wale.

Thank you to everyone for the comments and likes.
 
 
 The handrail is finished and with that the heavy lifting for this ugly duck is done but I still have a couple of days adding the final details. After just four months the push boat portion of this build log is almost done and then it's onto making the barge.   
 
 I've answered all the initial port side questions as best I could and I'm pretty pleased with the results. In the beginning the port side blank spot had me intimidated but as I added known elements the port side mysteries slowly revealed themselves.
 
   
 

 

 

 
 I wish I could take credit for meticulous planning the pump placement where everything would fit like a glove but that's not the case. I placed it where I thought it should go but in truth it's much more of "even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then". 

 

 
 Thank you for your support and for following along.
 
   Keith

Thank you all, your support means a lot! ☺️

Deck framing preparations
Here is the "final" deck layout that I settled on. Knee shape is quite approximate and would be refined on the model, but the carlings are all in their final spots. Ledges are omitted for clarity, but they would be placed on the top and middle part of the deck, leaving the bottom one fully bare. Depending on the visuals I might add the bottom row of carlings later on.

If anyone can spot any mistake - please let me know before it is too late!
Always a difficult decision point for me - what colour scheme to use for the next phase of the build?
I want some contrast, but not too much. 
After hours of scrolling through amazing build logs here on MSW as well as photos of classical models - settled on the following palette:
Carlings: boxwood, same as the beams. Lighter boxwood would represent the "heavy" timbers of the deck.
Lodging knees: light pear, non-steamed.
Hanging knees, beam arms: Swiss pear, steamed (darker variety)
Ledges: have not decided yet, will try cherry. Something dark, but not black. Hope cherry is not too grainy for these tiny pieces.
Here are the wood sheets planed to thickness and sanded. I will likely keep it unfinished, and use finish only for the top decks that might be touched.

Next is milling the stock for carlings. It took too much effort for pillars, so trying to refine my technology.

Ideally I just need a proper thickness sander, but I don't have one (or a space/time for the DYI variety), so was curious if my Proxxon FET table saw can do if I treat it with some love and care? Any tool shines better if you actually spend time tuning it..  
At least the fence angle needs to be adjusted to avoid pushing wood into the blade (or away from it), it does make a difference!
First was trying a slitting blade with 1mm kerf and no set. It leaves a fairly smooth finish, but tends to burn the wood and is harder to control.
Switched over to the regular carbide tipped blade which has an effective kerf of almost 2mm. Sounds wasteful, but it is easier to control, so fewer planks would end up in the scrap bin.
No burning, but the blade marks are slightly more visible.
Close-up of test pear strips cut with both types of the blade, the surfaces are quite different:

I do not have a proper "thin strip jig" that acts as a bump stop on the other side of the blade, but this saw also has a micro-adjuster that I have never tried before. Fiddly to use, but once you get the hang of it - it actually allows to move the fence quite precisely. 

If I need 4.0mm piece - I move the wheel to 6.0mm and with a blade kerf of almost 2mm I do get consistent 4.1mm thickness (with, say, +/- 0.05 tolerance). Not too bad for a saw that is not really designed for that kind of precision!

They are 0.2mm oversized, leaving just 0.1 on each side to remove saw marks and any imperfections
Boxwood carling blanks straight out of that saw, with no touch-up / sanding / scraping:

Then some very careful planing in my thicknessing jig, taking care to not take too much material. 

I was worried that strips would fall on a side and I will end up with parallelograms instead of squares, but with the narrow face of 2.5mm and a crisp edge it was not an issue, they were standing upright.
Now I have a bunch of blanks ready. They are straight, smooth and satisfyingly square in all directions and with dimensions down to +/-0.02mm! I did not expect to enjoy it that much   

After getting through a multitude of terribly sunny, warm and blue sky days where I just had to force myself to sit out on the back patio, then having yet another health issue I am dealing with, I finally got down to the shop today.

I have my lower guides spot glued and clamped so I’ll be ready to go.

I have all but one of the main wale pieces dry fitted on the bench. The one piece needs to be remade. It is not perfect, but I am aware of my capabilities/limitations and can recognize when my “good enough” has been reached.
 
Now to get that last set remade and start getting them on the model!

On to the mast and yards.  Again I start with bamboo toothpicks since I have to drill small holes for the pull threads and the shrouds.  Here are the mast sections.  I already hinged the lower masts using a crude version of the hidden hinge method that I borrowed from @John Fox III.  I've covered that in several previous build logs so I won't go into detail here.
 

 
 
 
For the mast tops, I take another bamboo stir stick and shave it down to about .5 mm and square off the sides.  Then I carve out a hole in the middle, drill tiny holes for the upper shrouds, and cut them to shape.
 

 
 
 
Here are the masts fully assembled.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The port side planking is complete. Played around with some WOP on the Hawes pieces. Going to start on the garboard strake tonight. 

Today I completed the first of two strakes below the main wale. I began with a laminate pear wing transom, this is added to the bottom of the chaser wing transom. First I trimmed up the lower counter so that the bottom is just at the top of the wing transom I then removed the bottom of the outter stern frame with a small razor saw, I then sanded what was left of it flat with a small stick sander
the laminate for the bottom of the transom is 3/64” and laser cut

Go ahead and clamp the piece in place and test fit a few times, it needs to be up against the inner post nice and tight. The outter edge of it is not as much of a concern as it will have planks covering it.

once satisfied with the fit I just coated it in pva and clamped it down. I also used
some small wedges on the outside to help with the bond. Once dry it can be block sanded down to match the other transoms, once completed it’s hard to tell it’s even there. There will also be a molding covering the original piece so you will really only see the laminate piece anyway.
Now you can begin adding the first strake, I just started from the front and tapered the plank to fit the printed guides.

I find it much easier to close up those tricky planks that terminate at the counter by leaving a gap open on the plank just before the last one, after that last plank is fitted then it’s just an easy run between the two ends


Once completed a small filler piece was added between the plank and wale, it’s not really necessary as it will be covered by scraped molding but I did it anyway, I saw it done on a contemporary model. 
Im going to add one more plank after this one and that will be all. But you can see the completed laminate piece compared to the one on the stbd side. 

if you look up the slots for the stern framing are now covered and the gap is closed up between the two transoms as shown in the drawings.
Next up is the garboard strake plus 1, gunports, counter frieze, sternpost and chap 2 is complete.
 
JJ

A bit of progress,


The appearance of the filling timber after assembly