gjdale

Best wishes for your Chemo results Danny. I look forward to seeing you back at the bench soon.

Thanks again for the kind remarks and all the "likes".
 
After a few weeks of absence from the shipyard due to work and other commitments, planking is at last complete! The remainder of the deck was completed in much the same way as the fore deck, with the hatch being left in place and planked together with the rear deck. The hatch was cut free on completion, the hatch openings and rear cockpit opening cleaned up, and the transom was then planked in much the same way as the sides of the hull. The transom was trimmed flush with the deck, sides and bottom of the boat, and then the decks were given an initial sanding with 80 grit sandpaper. The aim of the initial sanding is to bring the white caulking strips down level with the deck planks. While it was not difficult to do, it did require a little more elbow grease than I’d anticipated. Anyway, here she is as she sits today. The “spare” hatch is in the foreground (in case my two-part hatch doesn’t work out). There’s still quite a bit more sanding to be done before she will be ready for staining and fibre-glassing.
 

 
 

Finished up the chainplates and then added about 180 gun breech line bolts to the exterior of the hull. Now to touch up some paint details; then glue the deck furniture in place and add some of the balance of the hull details. Not sure if I should paint the deadeyes black or not; they look nice as a bright finish.
Here are a couple of images of the finished chainplates and breech line bolts.
 

 

 
Now back at it. 

Best wishes for your Chemo results Danny. I look forward to seeing you back at the bench soon.

Hello everybody...
Another day and some more details.  The shipyard closed just in time to have the eye bolts and rings, the catheads and the belaying pins placed in their racks which were also added today.  A lot was done but there's still a lot more minutia to finish before the masting can begin.  I anticipate that the masts and boom will be part of next week's assignment.  So without further BS here are the photos which were taken right before the gates to the shipyard were closed for the night.
Best,
Jerry

Another photos 
 

   

I do not have pictures for the exact stairs in this model but I am doing them all the same way. Here are the pictures for several stairs I build.
 
Alexandru

Best wishes for your Chemo results Danny. I look forward to seeing you back at the bench soon.

I sanded the seahorses and rounded their edges.  I used pins and epoxy to fix them to the base and gave the base a coat of poly.  All that's left is to mount the guns, cannons and anchor.

Hello again! Thanks for all the comments! I made and attached the cleats. I sanded them, drilled a hole on the center, inserted a wire, cut them to size, painted them, and glued them to the bulwarks. Next up will be eye bolts and hawse pipes.




Until next time!

Now for the next nerve racking adventure, the torpedo net booms. They have 1mm hooks which need to be glued into the hull points, then rigged up. I have only done the starboard side so far and it appears to have gone to plan, but I will have to add the gangways before I can add the net itself which I am still experimenting with for colour. There are brails which also need to be run but I done think I will as they will not be that visible, or maybe I will. It will get very fragile from here on in.

Update
making vents
 
have been producing vents in different sizes these days, the pics show only 39 and there are 39 more to do (total 78)
The time consuming part is to get the radial hole to size of a close fit around the tube for good soldering with a gas torch
I`ve never used my Dremel (and different diameter grinding bits) so much before
 
Nils
 

 
 

 
 
 
 

Hello,
 
The stairway was an afterthought. Initially I planned to just paint black the corresponding opening but then - quite late in the process of building the base - I changed my mind and added it as you can see in the below pictures.
 
To do it, I just dril a lot of holes with a 1/4in bit inside the rectangle delimited by the hatch coamings. Then with a big file and a lot of effort while trying not to damage what was already done I made the hole sides nice and smooth. The sides were painted black and the stair was added in.
 
If you want to know how I actually did the stair, let me know as I have pictures on that process also and I can post them.
 
Regards,
Alexandru

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 175 – Shackles
 
Since I will be away for the next couple weeks, I thought I would cram in one more post before leaving – especially since it relates closely to the last post. 
 
There will be many shackles like those described below in Young America's rigging – 3 dozen or more on the deck and hull, plus many more aloft on yard bands, connecting chains and wire to rope, etc.
 
Shackles consist of  U-shaped iron yokes with screwed bolts threaded into the ends.  They replaced ring bolts, seized lashings and other connectors.  Easy removal of the screwed bolt allowed connections and disconnections to be made easily.  Several shackled eyebolts are shown below.
 

 
These will eventually be installed in the deck, rails, or hull by the method described in the last part – but not until later after the lines have been spliced on at the workbench.  The next picture shows the two parts of a shackle about to be silver-soldered.
 

 
The two pieces are 24 gauge copper wire – same gauge as the eyebolt.  Copper-phosphorus paste has been applied at the joints.  The configuration of the pieces is intended to simulate the horseshoe shape with a straight bolt at the bottom.  The picture also shows an eyebolt embedded in the soldering block ready for attachment of its shackle – not the one shown.  The next picture shows the soldered shackle before trimming the bolt ends.
 

 
There will be relatively few of these standalone shackles, so this was for demo only.  The next picture (apologies for bad focus) shows the soldering setup for an eyebolt-attached shackle.
 

 
The embedded eyebolt must be kept clear of the solder paste so the parts will swing freely.  After soldering, the shackle must be rotated so its bolt passes through the eyebolt allowing the rope or other line to connect to the horseshoe loop. This rotation has been done on the pieces in the last picture.
 

 
The loops on these shackles at 1:72 are about 6" (.08" actual) diameter.
 
Next topic: Whisker booms.
 
 
Ed
 

Next, the awning stanchions. This is pretty much the last of the onboard rigging and makes it all very busy.

There always needs to be a ships cat

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 174 – Eyebolts
 
There are about 5 dozen eyebolts to be mounted on the deck and rails.  These are eyebolts to which rigging lines, mostly for tackles, will be secured by hooks.  There are another 3 dozen or so to which lines or chain will be shackled.  Since the shackles will be non-working, these latter eyebolts may not be permanently fixed until the lines are attached, mostly by splices and thimbles, block straps, seized ends or chain links.  Making these connections in place is not an option for me so the connections will be made before the shackle eyebolts are fitted.  The unshackled eyebolts, however, may be installed at this time.  The rigging drawings necessary to place these are complete.
 
I made the 60 eyebolts in about an hour by the method shown below.  They were made by spinning 26 gauge copper wire.  The eyes are about 5" O.D.  The first picture shows the tools and raw material.
 

 
The hand drill is fitted with a hook made from a pleating pin.  A slightly larger diameter hook is also shown and was used for the shackled eyebolts that will be described in a later post.  For convenience I used the Unimat® vise set up as shown.   A short piece of wire is bent and the ends secured in the vise.  The next picture shows an eyebolt being spun.
 

 
The amount of spinning becomes a matter of judgement.  The next picture shows two sizes of eyebolt.
 

 
The smaller size to the left was made from 26 gauge wire.  All of the deck and rail mounted eyebolts are 24 gauge, 5" O.D.  The next picture shows these blackened using liver of sulfur.
 

 
The bolts all have the same diameter shafts, with some variation in O.D.  However, all these were deemed acceptable for use.  The O.D. at 1:72 scale is about .07".
 
Holes were drilled for a slip fit with some friction.  After drilling the eyebolt was dipped in medium viscosity CA and pushed into the hole with pliers.  The next picture shows four of these around the fore mast.
 

 
There is, of course, a slight twist to eyebolts made by this method, but at this scale I felt it was acceptable.  Apart from the ease of making these, they also have advantage of eye strength without soldering, and gripping strength in the holes.
 
The next picture shows some of these in the main rails, in the outer binding strakes, and around the mizzen mast.
 

 
There are also several bolted through the channels and several around the poop rail and outer deck strakes.  There are a few on the exterior of the hull but most of those will have shackles attached.
 
Another pre-rigging chore completed.
 
Ed

Hello Everybody..
It's been a few days since I have reported my progress with this interesting kit, Bluenose.  When I last reported what was going on I was beginning to build the wheel box which I completely screwed up and build upside down.  I thought about making revisions in order to use what I spent a few hours on but eventually decided to make a new one. There were a few other smaller pieces (bits, boom crutch, "unidentified object") which I finished and then it was time to make the monkey rails.  This part of the build took a lot of time because painting the rails was difficult.  Now there are several other "deck details" which need to be completed such as eye bolts and rings and the ship's boats before the masts and booms are made.  In the meantime here are some pictures of the deck as it is at this time.
Best to all,
Jerry

Sjors:
You hit on the solution for those who dislike rigging.  I did so many repair and restorations that I said 'no more (extensive) rigging" and now I tell the guys that my latest tug boat had a lot of rigging - TWO flag halyards!
Kurt

Hi All,
 
400 hours into the journey.  I have spent the past two-weeks doing rework on the top timbers as well as addressing some other quality issues.  Overall, I am happy with the progress, but am frustrated by the little mistakes that caused the rework.  Somewhere along the way, the scale of my drawings was converted to "fit page" as opposed to "100%".  This caused the top timbers on frames 1-6 to be too short.  Ugh.  Its only off by 3/8th of an inch, but that matters to me.
 
I want to reinforce some of the ideas on what I would do better on next time.  I have posted most of these already, and, they are worth remembering:
1. Make your top timbers at least a 1/4 taller than required.  This allows you the wiggle room, as well as a place to put your spacers and not have to worry about messing up the actual frame.
2. Make the chocks from the same wood as the frames.  I replaced five frames that had the chocks sanded through.
3. Leave plenty of meat on the frame when installing chocks - this will come back to haunt you.
4. Consider building this ship in 1:48 scale to take advantage of all the small details.
5. Install the chain plate filler pieces as you go.  They are a permanent part of the ship and can aid in stabilization of the frames.  You also will need fewer spacers.
 
I plan to replace the top timbers on the s/b side 1-6 and then add treenail and bolt details this week.  I will then do a final sanding of the outside hull and then install the ribbands.  I really wanted to get her cleaned up before I show her at NRG next month, but will not rush to do that.
 
More next Monday.  Best, G

Thanks John!
 
Finishing the planks with some sandpaper, mini scrapers and xacto blades. The mini scrapers were surprisingly useful!
Covered the frames with the masking tape to avoid scratching them accidentally:
 

 

 
Final result, with tung oil applied.
 

 

 
The exposed side of the hull would be left as is (with deck framing, of course), things like breasthook, fore and mizen mast steps, etc - would be cut in half with one side omitted. That is to avoid obstructing the view through the hull.
If something will need to be glued to the finished side - will use treenails and/or monofilament. Or epoxy.
But hope it will not happen

Build Day 38. 
3 hours.
117 hours into build in total.   While waiting for my GIT-ROT epoxy to arrive from the post with still a few days to go, I spent some time to get the radio control connections in place, together with invaluable help of a friend who is very handy in electronics. Now after the photos and testing with dry-fit everything works. I am able to speed up the propellers with one channel, rotate the servo (which will feed the rudders) with the other channel and even turn the front light leds on and off. Next job will be to fit them in the boat after applying the epoxy inside the hull.   Here are some details:   wrapped the battery with velcro and secured with staples. This way it will be possible to install it in any orientation in the boat (either on narrow face or on wide face depending).     The battery connector was a different type than that of the electronic speed controller (ESC), therefore I had to cut if off and install a compatible one (red cut-off piece is the old one which came with the battery):     Then I strengthened the connectors to the motors with real solder and heat-shrink tubes. Previously I had just squeezed them with a pair of pliers but it was apparently not good enough. They are solid now:     Receiver: The "yellow-red-brown" set going to ESC and the "white-red-black" set going to the servo.     The ESC:   I noticed some more available slots on the receiver and decided connect the LED wires to it (in the below photo the "red-blue" pairs, one for left headlight and one for the right). So no need to hook them separately to the battery. The switch at the back belongs to the ESC. ESC is the only component which is connected to the battery (the others get the energy from the ESC, depending on how much it delivers), so its switch turns the entire circuit on and off.      Well, this is all for now. I will post more photos of course, once they are in place. But first I still have to wait until the epoxy has arrived.   Thank you for watching, /Aydin

Thanks again for the kind remarks and all the "likes".
 
After a few weeks of absence from the shipyard due to work and other commitments, planking is at last complete! The remainder of the deck was completed in much the same way as the fore deck, with the hatch being left in place and planked together with the rear deck. The hatch was cut free on completion, the hatch openings and rear cockpit opening cleaned up, and the transom was then planked in much the same way as the sides of the hull. The transom was trimmed flush with the deck, sides and bottom of the boat, and then the decks were given an initial sanding with 80 grit sandpaper. The aim of the initial sanding is to bring the white caulking strips down level with the deck planks. While it was not difficult to do, it did require a little more elbow grease than I’d anticipated. Anyway, here she is as she sits today. The “spare” hatch is in the foreground (in case my two-part hatch doesn’t work out). There’s still quite a bit more sanding to be done before she will be ready for staining and fibre-glassing.
 

 
 

Thanks again for the kind remarks and all the "likes".
 
After a few weeks of absence from the shipyard due to work and other commitments, planking is at last complete! The remainder of the deck was completed in much the same way as the fore deck, with the hatch being left in place and planked together with the rear deck. The hatch was cut free on completion, the hatch openings and rear cockpit opening cleaned up, and the transom was then planked in much the same way as the sides of the hull. The transom was trimmed flush with the deck, sides and bottom of the boat, and then the decks were given an initial sanding with 80 grit sandpaper. The aim of the initial sanding is to bring the white caulking strips down level with the deck planks. While it was not difficult to do, it did require a little more elbow grease than I’d anticipated. Anyway, here she is as she sits today. The “spare” hatch is in the foreground (in case my two-part hatch doesn’t work out). There’s still quite a bit more sanding to be done before she will be ready for staining and fibre-glassing.
 

 
 

Thanks Don,
 
Yes, definitely a gloss finish - fibreglass/resin, two more coats of resin, then several clear coats of high gloss varnish, and then polished as shiny as I can make her! The bottom will be a gloss copper paint.