gjdale

A little more work at the stern gets me closer to finishing it up.
There was a little bit of clean up needed around the lower counter and then the frieze and moldings below it were added.
Also the rest of the cove pieces were installed and outer fish/dolphin figures added.
 

My first card model of a boat. I'm spending time between two homes, and Pegasus is too awkward to shuffle from home to home, so I needed a model to build at home2. A card model is highly suitable as it is compact, needs only a few hand tools, doesn't need painting other than touching up edges and is almost mess free.
 
Chris Coyle's descriptions of his card models and his tutorial on building the torpedo boat, tipped me over the edge into what he has called the abyss. 🥴
 
So, what model. I certainly didn't want a complicated one to start with, the torpedo boat was tempting, but while browsing various websites I came across one that grabbed my interest. It is a 1:100 scale model of a Murray River (Australia) paddlewheeler - the Alexander Arbuthnot.
 
This boat was built in 1923 and worked towing barges laden with logs to the Kroondrook sawmill on the Murray River. The mill was owned by Alex A himself after whom the boat was named. The boat worked until the 1940s but then fell into disrepair and sank. It was later raised and restored and now operates day cruises from Echuca on the Murray.
 
The kit is one published by "World of Paperships", and comprises six printed sheets, one sheet of optional laser cut parts, five pages of instructions, one page of diagrams and one page of general info about the vessel.
 
The designer's advice of scanning (or copying) the six printed sheets to provide backup in case of mistakes was followed.
 
Photos of the build are sporadic as I often forgot to take them.
 
The hull bottom was cut out, folded and the bulkheads glued in place.
 

 
 

 
My first experience with using PVA on a card model. Interesting. The big advantage of using PVA was its quick grab time, just holding parts together with fingers for a minute or so was sufficient. The big disadvantage of using PVA was its quick grab time, the chances of repositioning anything is essentially zero.
 
And so to my first mistake. Some of the bulkheads were very, very slightly mispositioned. This became apparent when I started to glue on the hull sides. Not normally a problem with a wooden model, but almost impossible to correct with a card model. So, out with the backup copies and start again.
 
The second attempt. The hull bottom with the correctly placed bulkheads and held down on a sheet of glass by thin masking tape. The designer recommends to do this to keep the hull from warping in the early stages of construction, though he suggests paste not masking tape.
 

 
The main deck, shown here on the sheet, was doubled and glued to the hull.
 

 

 
The paddlewheels were constructed using the parts from the laser-cut sheet.
 

 
The hull with part of the superstructure, the two paddlewheels and the supports for the boiler. The image is upside down, and I have no idea why. 😬
 


Cheers

Post Forty-eight
 
Gallery – Part Three
 At this point I have to attend to forming the Finishing piece.
Not an easy task I think with multiple angles and subtle curves. No comforting pre-worked piece from Chris here unless you include the blocky patterns that make up the piece.

On this detail from the  original Admiralty plans the finishing piece sits just forward of the wale end with the forward edge following the angle line of the Berthing.

1586
Gallery detail from the beautifully drawn plans by Chris Watton.

1601
Part 29 which is the top of the finishing piece is effectively the floor of the gallery so a frame is required to sit atop this to replace part 45a as the bottom fixing point for the Berthing pattern.
 
Confused yet? I know I am.🤔
 
A Boxwood frame is made to replace part 45a.

1591a
The frame is pinned and glued into place.
The block Finishing piece is held in place tight against the part 45a frame to ensure a good fit.
 
Shaping of the Finishing piece can now begin
A bit tricky deciding where to start with the shaping, and how to hold it during shaping.
As it happens I didn’t find it too difficult on either count.
 
The blurb indicates  leaving the back edge of the piece untapered, sanding the forward part to a fine edge.
The back edge needs to be bevelled downwards to follow the  aft edge concave curve of the wale.
 
I start by sanding the back edge of the piece to match the aft curve of the wale.
Fortunately the mdf is soft so is easy to form. The biggest danger is getting  too enthusiastic and take too much off or damage the shape.
 
Soft hands, small strokes, and constant fit checks are the order of the day.

1619(2)

1608(2)
Shaping in progress.
 
This is one of those tasks that is difficult to describe, but hopefully as you get into it you start to see the shape emerging and get an appreciation of where to go.

1634

1631

1627
The Finishing pieces are glued to the hull and frame 45a.
The final finishing of these pieces will be done once the  Berthing pattern is in place.
 
A seat of ease will now be added to the Portside gallery.
 
B.E.
06/12/21
 
 

Thanks for following along....
 
More paint... the black this time.  Needs a few touch ups but I'm pretty happy at this point.   Now to sort the red and blue at the top of the hull and how to work around a few "gotcha's" like not paint where things like the channels need to be and the issue of the decorations going under some various bits.
 
Here's photos as she sits at the moment.

It seems that time has gotten away from me again! Thanks Bob and Tom for your kind comments and for all of the "likes". On with the show!
 
Hatch (P/N 102)
This is the trickiest part of the build to date. It is made so by the joinery for the hatch, with the Coamings and Head Ledges being joined by “tailed half-lap joints”. This means that the joints are angled in two planes. It took some time to get my head around these joints, and after a few failed attempts I had to walk away for a few days before trying again. Then I got distracted with other tasks around the house and suddenly it was a few weeks before I got back to it.
 
The key to success here is accurate marking out. To make the first half of the joint, measurements were taken from the drawings. I found my set of set-up blocks most useful for this task, along with a marking knife. The pencil was only used to go over the knife lines to improve their visibility. 
 

 

 
The second half of the joint must be marked directly from the first half, and this is the most difficult part. The method I finally succeeded with was to mark a pin prick with the marking knife to correspond with all four extremities of the first half of the joint. Then it was a case of using a ruler and the knife to “join the dots”. Cutting the joints was achieved with a razor saw and a full size, very sharp chisel. By keeping away from the marked lines initially, I was then able to pare to the line with the chisel and make any minor adjustments for a good fit.
 
I got so engrossed in this process that I forgot to take any progress shots. Here is an example though of the joints cut, showing the angles in two planes. This picture is actaully of some “rejects”.
 

 
Once I had satisfactory joints in all four corners, they were glued up and the rabbet pieces cut to size and fitted.
 
The sides of the hatch are vertical for the bottom half, and then taper inwards by one-half inch (actual size). Rather than using a sanding block to achieve this, I used a marking gauge to define the extremities of the taper and then used a block plane to remove the excess material. I used my home-made mini Moxxon vise to hold the piece while I planed the sides, coming in from both ends to avoid breakout on the cross-grain joint.
 

 
Here is the finished Hatch, ready for installation of the grating.
 

 
The grating was then carefully adjusted for a snug fit. I found I needed to sand just the slightest amount off each side of the grating. It was then glued in place and the top surface sanded level with the hatch sides.
 

 
  
I was contemplating how to mark out the positions for the fasteners, when it hit me that the answer was staring me in the face. I simply cut out the scale drawing of the grating and taped it over my grating. I then used my home-made needle point scribing tool to mark the positions.
 

 
Once the pattern was removed, a pencil lead was twirled in the holes and the surface sanded lightly.
 

 
And finally, here is an overview of progress to date:
 

 
That completes all the “easy” part of this build. Next up we commence some lathe work with building of the Capstan body.
 

The white is looking good Mark - well done.

I think you’ll find a HUGE interest in a POF kit Chuck. An offering of the quality you have produced with everything you have done  so far will be head and shoulders above anything else available on the market today. Add to that your approach to building and documenting as you go (as in Winnie), and I think you will have a real winner on your hands.

Thanks for the all the input and references folks.  After doing a little followup on my own of course, I spent yesterday upgrading the coamings, battens, and hatches.  Obviously a much better result. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The white is looking good Mark - well done.

At the end of the day, they are just numbers so it doesn’t really matter which you use. Where it does make a difference is in tooling - for example a mill or lathe, which will have their lead screws calibrated in either one system or the other (your choice on purchase). In that case, you may need to convert from one measurement system to the other, but then again, if you have a digital readout it again just becomes a matter of dialling in the the right number. 

The white is looking good Mark - well done.

Humidity seems stabilized and I've filling, sanding, checking, rinse and repeat seemingly forever.  But, the white is done. and coated with two coats of flat clear.   Needs a bit of touch up in a few places but that will wait until I'm done with the black just in case some gets pulled up with the tape removal.  I did notice some areas where the tape didn't fully seal and one where the tape dipped a bit low... I'll fix when I do touch ups.  So, I'm taking the rest of the day off to let everything sit and then attack the black wales and down to the waterline.   I'll probably do the blue on the gallery windows but I may hold off on that.
 

More work on the aft decorations.

@giampieroricci
Thanks for the recognition.
I admire your work as well.
I would also like to thank everyone else for the many LIKES.
 
Continuation: Mizzen topgallant and mizzen roayl shrouds
The shrouds on the royal mast on my corvette have a model scale of 0.25 mm. The following picture shows a prepared shroud with integrated thimble (ø 0.9 mm) and the counterpart for the lanyard lashing, which is attached to the end of the crosstree of the topgallant mast.
  

In this context I show again the thimbles I used on this model, which are made of blacked brass. The smallest thimble has a diameter of around 0.9 mm.

 
The mast trucks that were stupidly glued in place by me when building the topgallant masts are of course extremely cumbersome when laying the shrouds and stays. It is very problematic when attaching the stay collars with the integrated thimbles. So I tried to carefully remove these mast trucks again. This worked quite well for the fore and main mast. With the mizzen mast, on the other hand, it did not work with the best will in the world without causing damage. As an alternative, I therefore tried to install the collar for the lifts of the mizzen royal yard directly on the model, which ultimately succeeded with the help of a corresponding device.

   
I tried the first variant with a rope ø 0.35 mm for the collar and with thimbles ø 1.2 mm. The dominance of this collar on the royal mast top bothered me and seemed immeasurable to me. So I started another attempt with a rope ø 0.25 mm for the collar and with thimbles ø 0.9 mm, which now suits me much better.

 
So the next picture shows the completed standing good of the mizzen mast, starting with the crosstrees.

  
Which means I can then move on to the main mast to attach the royal stay and shrouds there too. I have already prepared the royal shrouds for the main and foremast with other corresponding rigging components as shown in the last picture.

 
Up soon …

Post Forty-seven
 
Gallery -Part Two
I have replaced  the middle  gallery pattern (Part45) with a replacement Boxwood Frame.

1528
The lower pattern (45a) and its lower slot sits too high to represent what would be the floor of the gallery so this too will need modification at some point.
 
The problem is compounded by the later insertion of another filler piece (45c) between the middle and lower parts 45 and 45a which would block off the gallery opening  below the window level.
Parts 45c and 45a provide the formers against which the berthing pattern (159) is glued below the window pattern.
 
I concluded the issue could be resolved by doubling the depth of the middle frame to incorporate what would be part 45c.
A frame was cut to match  Part 45c which was glued to  Frame 45.

1561
The  combination frames pinned into place.

1565
The part 45a as shown here will not be fitted.

1573
Before fitting, the frames will require bevelling to suit the fit of the Gallery window pattern and Berthing pattern.

1570
To create a gallery in this style effectively means working from middle/bottom up rather than middle/top down as per the kit instructions.
 
Fitting a seat of ease is required to be done before I fit the gallery window pieces and gallery top, but after the finishing piece is installed, as this will provide the floor. Any painting/varnishing of the gallery interior will also need to be done at this point.
The finishing piece comprises  four parts (29,45b,46)

1580
To assemble the finishing piece I used double sided tape to secure part 29 to the hull, it effectively runs along the top of the Black strake below part 45a the slot for which can be seen.
The other parts were  glued to part 29 insitu on the hull. The lowest part of the finishing piece follows the angle as indicated by the yellow tape.

1558(2)
Finishing piece assembly, Starboard side.
Note the angle of the two lower pieces(46) of this assembly.
 Shaping and fitting these will be the next task.
 
B.E.
04/12/21
 

In the last 2 photos, inclination of the wall can be noted... the doors, not yet installed had to be opened towards the inside, impossible to open towards outside.

I think you’ll find a HUGE interest in a POF kit Chuck. An offering of the quality you have produced with everything you have done  so far will be head and shoulders above anything else available on the market today. Add to that your approach to building and documenting as you go (as in Winnie), and I think you will have a real winner on your hands.

At the end of the day, they are just numbers so it doesn’t really matter which you use. Where it does make a difference is in tooling - for example a mill or lathe, which will have their lead screws calibrated in either one system or the other (your choice on purchase). In that case, you may need to convert from one measurement system to the other, but then again, if you have a digital readout it again just becomes a matter of dialling in the the right number. 

It seems that time has gotten away from me again! Thanks Bob and Tom for your kind comments and for all of the "likes". On with the show!
 
Hatch (P/N 102)
This is the trickiest part of the build to date. It is made so by the joinery for the hatch, with the Coamings and Head Ledges being joined by “tailed half-lap joints”. This means that the joints are angled in two planes. It took some time to get my head around these joints, and after a few failed attempts I had to walk away for a few days before trying again. Then I got distracted with other tasks around the house and suddenly it was a few weeks before I got back to it.
 
The key to success here is accurate marking out. To make the first half of the joint, measurements were taken from the drawings. I found my set of set-up blocks most useful for this task, along with a marking knife. The pencil was only used to go over the knife lines to improve their visibility. 
 

 

 
The second half of the joint must be marked directly from the first half, and this is the most difficult part. The method I finally succeeded with was to mark a pin prick with the marking knife to correspond with all four extremities of the first half of the joint. Then it was a case of using a ruler and the knife to “join the dots”. Cutting the joints was achieved with a razor saw and a full size, very sharp chisel. By keeping away from the marked lines initially, I was then able to pare to the line with the chisel and make any minor adjustments for a good fit.
 
I got so engrossed in this process that I forgot to take any progress shots. Here is an example though of the joints cut, showing the angles in two planes. This picture is actaully of some “rejects”.
 

 
Once I had satisfactory joints in all four corners, they were glued up and the rabbet pieces cut to size and fitted.
 
The sides of the hatch are vertical for the bottom half, and then taper inwards by one-half inch (actual size). Rather than using a sanding block to achieve this, I used a marking gauge to define the extremities of the taper and then used a block plane to remove the excess material. I used my home-made mini Moxxon vise to hold the piece while I planed the sides, coming in from both ends to avoid breakout on the cross-grain joint.
 

 
Here is the finished Hatch, ready for installation of the grating.
 

 
The grating was then carefully adjusted for a snug fit. I found I needed to sand just the slightest amount off each side of the grating. It was then glued in place and the top surface sanded level with the hatch sides.
 

 
  
I was contemplating how to mark out the positions for the fasteners, when it hit me that the answer was staring me in the face. I simply cut out the scale drawing of the grating and taped it over my grating. I then used my home-made needle point scribing tool to mark the positions.
 

 
Once the pattern was removed, a pencil lead was twirled in the holes and the surface sanded lightly.
 

 
And finally, here is an overview of progress to date:
 

 
That completes all the “easy” part of this build. Next up we commence some lathe work with building of the Capstan body.
 

It seems that time has gotten away from me again! Thanks Bob and Tom for your kind comments and for all of the "likes". On with the show!
 
Hatch (P/N 102)
This is the trickiest part of the build to date. It is made so by the joinery for the hatch, with the Coamings and Head Ledges being joined by “tailed half-lap joints”. This means that the joints are angled in two planes. It took some time to get my head around these joints, and after a few failed attempts I had to walk away for a few days before trying again. Then I got distracted with other tasks around the house and suddenly it was a few weeks before I got back to it.
 
The key to success here is accurate marking out. To make the first half of the joint, measurements were taken from the drawings. I found my set of set-up blocks most useful for this task, along with a marking knife. The pencil was only used to go over the knife lines to improve their visibility. 
 

 

 
The second half of the joint must be marked directly from the first half, and this is the most difficult part. The method I finally succeeded with was to mark a pin prick with the marking knife to correspond with all four extremities of the first half of the joint. Then it was a case of using a ruler and the knife to “join the dots”. Cutting the joints was achieved with a razor saw and a full size, very sharp chisel. By keeping away from the marked lines initially, I was then able to pare to the line with the chisel and make any minor adjustments for a good fit.
 
I got so engrossed in this process that I forgot to take any progress shots. Here is an example though of the joints cut, showing the angles in two planes. This picture is actaully of some “rejects”.
 

 
Once I had satisfactory joints in all four corners, they were glued up and the rabbet pieces cut to size and fitted.
 
The sides of the hatch are vertical for the bottom half, and then taper inwards by one-half inch (actual size). Rather than using a sanding block to achieve this, I used a marking gauge to define the extremities of the taper and then used a block plane to remove the excess material. I used my home-made mini Moxxon vise to hold the piece while I planed the sides, coming in from both ends to avoid breakout on the cross-grain joint.
 

 
Here is the finished Hatch, ready for installation of the grating.
 

 
The grating was then carefully adjusted for a snug fit. I found I needed to sand just the slightest amount off each side of the grating. It was then glued in place and the top surface sanded level with the hatch sides.
 

 
  
I was contemplating how to mark out the positions for the fasteners, when it hit me that the answer was staring me in the face. I simply cut out the scale drawing of the grating and taped it over my grating. I then used my home-made needle point scribing tool to mark the positions.
 

 
Once the pattern was removed, a pencil lead was twirled in the holes and the surface sanded lightly.
 

 
And finally, here is an overview of progress to date:
 

 
That completes all the “easy” part of this build. Next up we commence some lathe work with building of the Capstan body.
 

I think you’ll find a HUGE interest in a POF kit Chuck. An offering of the quality you have produced with everything you have done  so far will be head and shoulders above anything else available on the market today. Add to that your approach to building and documenting as you go (as in Winnie), and I think you will have a real winner on your hands.

At the end of the day, they are just numbers so it doesn’t really matter which you use. Where it does make a difference is in tooling - for example a mill or lathe, which will have their lead screws calibrated in either one system or the other (your choice on purchase). In that case, you may need to convert from one measurement system to the other, but then again, if you have a digital readout it again just becomes a matter of dialling in the the right number. 

Thanks Bob,
 
It’s more difficult to describe than to do. Once you can visualise the completed joint and keep that straight in your head, marking the joint extremities on the second half of the joint is just a matter of being slow and methodical, and triple checking everything before cutting. If the marking out is correct, the joint will be a pretty good fit straight off the cut/pare. If the marking out isn’t accurate, you can end up chasing your tail for quite some time trying to get a good fit. In another log, Druxey suggested practising this joint on some scrap wood first. Good advice - my scrap wood just happened to be additional actual stock…….😉

Thanks Bob,
 
It’s more difficult to describe than to do. Once you can visualise the completed joint and keep that straight in your head, marking the joint extremities on the second half of the joint is just a matter of being slow and methodical, and triple checking everything before cutting. If the marking out is correct, the joint will be a pretty good fit straight off the cut/pare. If the marking out isn’t accurate, you can end up chasing your tail for quite some time trying to get a good fit. In another log, Druxey suggested practising this joint on some scrap wood first. Good advice - my scrap wood just happened to be additional actual stock…….😉