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petervisser

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Everything posted by petervisser

  1. petervisser
    Hi David, You are making great progress I see. Looking very neat and trim. Can't wait to reach this stage too! Cheers, Peter
  2. petervisser
    Hi Russ, Splicing the mainbrace is a traditional term in the British Navy for serving out an additional tot of rum or grog to the ship's crew as a reward for extra efforts in a number of difficult tasks aboard the ship. The mainbrace itself was a purchase attached to the main lower yard to brace it round to the wind, but probably has little to do with the saying beyond the fact that hauling on the main brace called for extra effort by the crew. I found the saying in the Oxford Companion to the Sea which is an excellent reference book with tons of interesting articles regarding seafaring history. Cheers, Peter
  3. petervisser
    Hi Russ, Congratulations on the complettion of your Hermione! She is a beautiful piece of work. Although splicing the mainbrace is not compulsory when completing a model ship, it is recommended... Cheers, Peter
  4. petervisser
    Looking mighty fine David. I really like the contrast between the black and the copper. Gives her a real yacht-like appearance which is what the original owner was after. I'm following closely as I am now preparing my own hull for finishing. I'll have to give the coppering video that HOF mentioned a view too.... Peter
  5. petervisser
    Congratulations Vince on a magnificent model. She's beautiful. Time to splice the ole mainbrace! Peter
  6. petervisser
    Hi Dave, Great work on your Cutty Sark so far. I'll follow along and poach as many ideas as I can!😁 Happy building! Peter
  7. petervisser
    Hi Marc, Just catching up on your Cutty Sark log. It's very impressive and I am rather envious of how far along you are. My rigging jobs are beyond the horizon... Anyway, just wanted to say how good your rigging looks so far. And the whole model too. Great work. Peter
  8. petervisser
    After those short planks were applied I could then fit the transom around the stern. The first thing I had to do was make a template which would would wrap around the stern. I found a piece of stiff paper and attached it to the area to be covered. Then I traced the area above the poop deck and under the counter with a permanent marker. When that was cut out I could then trace the shape on a piece of ply with the same thickness as the hull planking. I made sure the piece was oversize so that I could sand it to size once it was glued on the hull. The piece was then bent using the trusty plank bender tool I have. It took a bit of trial and error (two pieces were cut and shaped before I got it right) and then with generous amounts pf glue and a few clamps the piece was set in place. Once the glue cured I placed some dowels as insurance. The the piece was sanded to fit and Bob's your uncle... Here are some happy snaps of the process...
  9. petervisser
    Thanks for asking Popeye, as a matter of fact there is! I have been preocupied with summer and some post retirement work, but managed to sneak in a few hours over the last couple of weeks. Just thought I would share some photos of the progress. The area around the stern is what needed doing next after the majority of the hull planking was applied. I wanted to do this area before completing the gunwales. The length of each plank on the hull allowed me to reach from the bow to the last bulkhead. So I decided to do this and leave the stern for a separate planking application. It seemed to me it would waste less wood and I could decide on a solution of applying a severe bend around the stern. I am aware of other builders installing vertical plank(ettes) around the transom and I thought I might end up doing the same. But in the end I decided to to things a bit differently as you will see by the pictures. The first step was to apply some planking under the counter of the stren so that the transom would cover the ends. Here are a few photos of that process...
  10. petervisser
    Eighteen! Wow, that's incredible. I hope you don't run out of models you want to build. Your build logs are great learning tools for the rest of us. Peter
  11. petervisser
    Hi John, What I like to use is a sanding block to bevel the edges of the bulkheads. I take on two frames at a time and sand in both directions. Check the bevel at each frame with a short length of plank that covers 3 or 4 bulkheads and make sure the plank makes complete contact with the edges of the bulkheads. The sanding block I use is made by Xacto. I love it and have used it for many years for all kinds of sanding work. I use 80 or 100 grit sandpaper for this particular job. A dust mask is also a good idea... Good luck. I hope this helped. Peter
  12. petervisser
    Great job so far Mark. These 3 masted ships with all their rigging are not for the faint of heart. The nice thing about this stage of the build is that it's easy to see some progress each day. But whatever you do, don't try to envision the whole stage... Peter
  13. petervisser
    Thanks Caroline. I haven't seen you around for a while. Glad you're back! Peter
  14. petervisser
    Hi Popeye, The distributer in Richmond B.C. is P.M Hansen. Here's the link: https://pmhansen.esamco.com/ I have ordered from them a couple of times and they gave good service. Cheers, Peter
  15. petervisser
    The planking continues, but I just wanted to show off my new purchase. I happened to find this nugget by chance at my favorite bookshop in town and had to bring it home. It is published by the Royal Museums Greenich and Adlard Coles. It includes information on the history of the tea trade, construction methods during the time Cutty Sark was built, its time under the Red Ensign and Portugese flag and even has Robert Burns' poem, Tam O'Shanter. Lots of great photos, illustrations and drawings. A real gem! I can't believe I was lucky enough to find it. Now back to the hull planking...
  16. petervisser
    Hi Popeye, Yes, it's Obechi wood that I am using on the hull. Just like every other Billing kit I have done. Keeping with tradition...🙂 I purhased a couple of bundles from a Billing distributer over in Richmond, near Vancouver a while back, knowing that the "mahogany" supplied with this older kit would not be suitable as it was pretty dried out and brittle. I also have an ancient Danmark kit that will get the same treatment one day. Yes, the fitting kit was a great find, but I hope the shop survives. There's nothing like going into a brick and mortar store and seeing for yourself what you want and need and inspecting it before you buy, just to be sure that it's right. Cheers, Peter
  17. petervisser
    Now for the "glue-age". I have been using good ole carpenters glue of late. In the past I was using super glue, but with the lumber I'm using, it wasn't bonding consistently. I make sure that all the surfaces get a dab of glue, especially along the seams where they meet along their lengths. You don't want any flex between them because it will cause unsightly cracks when sanding the planks smooth and subsequent painting. Lay the plank up against the bulkheads once all the surfaces are glued and tap the pin nail into the bulkhead to hold it in place. I leave the glue to cure overnight and then remove the pin nails. I replace these with wood dowels which sand down nicer. There, that's the first band of planking done. Lots of steps but this is one area I want to get right. A smooth hull is a happy hull as mom used to say...
  18. petervisser
    Further to my last post on planking, the next step is shaping the plank. For this I use and X-acto knife and sanding block. This produces lots of dust so I make sure to wear a dust mask. Gotta keep those lungs pink! Once the planks are to the correct shape, I bend them using an electric kettle to steam the bends and twists. The next thing I do is to lay the plank against the bulkheads again to determine where exactly they will sit. Things shift a tiny bit once the plank is bent. Then I mark with a pencil point where I want to drill a tiny pilot hole for the pin nail that will hold the plank in place while the glue dries. When all the holes are drilled, the pin nails are partially inserted into the plank. This save lots of fumbling when the planks is ready to go onto the bulkheads...
  19. petervisser
    Hi All, Just thought I would include some of my planking techniques in my build log. This has to be the biggest show stopper for lots of first time builders. I know it was a huge hurdle for me when I started out. But now I have a system that although pretty multi-stepped, produces consitent positive results. The first thing to do is mark the plank along its length where it will meet the bulkheads. This is done at every bulkhead of course... I like to then take the little T-square and place the bulkhead position across the full width of the plank. Next, step is to take the proportional dividers and measure at each bulkhead the width to be filled by each plank. That measurement is subsequently transferred to the plank at every bulkhead interval. Then simply join the dots and there you have the shape of the plank along its length.
  20. petervisser
    Hi Popeye, Thanks for looking in. As far as I can tell, it's important that the battens follow their natural curve for the length of the hull, and not the deck. Believe me, I tried to run the first batten along the deck but it did not look natural. I then fiddled with it for a long time and settled on the final position which did not follow the deck. We'll see how it all plays out when I start the planking which will hopefully start tomorrow! On another note, my model shop is shutting down here in Victoria after a bunch of decades. The owner is finally retiring and selling his shop. It's sad to see it go because I love going in there to buy my glue and any bits and pieces I need. I bought a fittings set for a Billing Spanish Galleon which also had some Bluenose fittings (?) for 50 bucks. It has stuff in there that I know I can use down the road. You just can't do that on the interwebby... Cheers, Peter
  21. petervisser
    I have always admired this model and you have done a FIRST RATE job in building it. Fantastic Zappato! Peter
  22. petervisser
    The last task before planking the hull is placing the battens for the final planking. I spent lots of time doing this and I hope it turns out.
  23. petervisser
    I also decided to prep the pin rails before planking the hull. The kit is pretty old so I don't want to use the original wood. I cut out the pin rails from the sheet provided and used them as templates. Then the pinrails were shaped and sanded.
  24. petervisser
    Over the past couple of weeks I have been back at it on my build. I decided to do lots of prep work before tackling the hull planking. First I laid down all the deck planks. No small task on a model this size. Once they were all in place I removed the string between them so that I could sand down the planks some more to get a smoother finish. I will replace the string once I am ready to laquer the decks which will be done when the hull planking is complete. Here's a picture of the deck planking completed.
  25. petervisser
    Hiya gents and thanks for the warm welcome back. In answer to your question Popeye, there was nothing serious happening to keep me from the workshop. Just an overabundance of work during my last year with the coast guard. We have been short of personnel and I was filling in here and there to help make up the numbers. It was worth it in the end however, and now I can scale it back in a big way and finish my time on leave. Once work ceased in September, my wife and I took some well deserved holidays (road trip to Oregon and a Panama Canal cruise) and I am now settling into semi retirement. I say semi, because I have taken on another job here in Victoria, as launch master aboard our pilot boats here. It is part time relief work so I should manage a decent amount of time in the workshop. I am looking forward to completing the Cutty Sark and there are a number of models on this site that are giving me inspiration. However today is "putting up the X-mas lights" so I better get to it... Here is a picture of my new rides.

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