FriedClams

Moving forward I recall my first intent was to work through September and get a deck on.  Funny how we get sucked in more and more.  
 
The first thing is to lay out the deck beams and then figure out openings that will be used for sailing. . I ripped stock to create a supply of deck beams. they are 3/4" by 5/16".  My thought was as before they are deep enough that I can cut them to camber.  I then chose a production method  on a trial basis to see if it saves time. 
  I used the cedar planks to double the shear line and set the deck line fore and aft. Then I laid out the deck beams on an common span same as frame stations of the 1/4 inch scale plans.  Notice the beams have no camber cut and they are notched into the sides.  
 I then added 1/16 "by 1/4" strips, edge to edge on top of the beams and a second to the mid point base on center .  I then carved and sanded the cambers.   It was actually quite fast, but I think not much time saving over cambering all the beams first. I had chosen this method because of the small camber on this boat compared to others I have done.   If I ever do this way again I would delay this camber step until all the RC adjustments were made.   That will be clear in the next sequence. My bottom line is not a great alternate.....camber first!  
 The sub deck here is agian 1/16" birch plywood.  The sections are laid out to allow working one at a time to coordinate revisions in frame needed for RC  
 Here is the first lay out to use the two center hatches for access.  beams had to be moved around. the two sticks could be screwed together through a mid hatch.  The forward end will have a block attached to a shock [ bungee] cord and be pushed way up to the bow.   This makes a loop that goes of a drum winch and controls the sail sheets.   [ not flying, or working jib]  
 here is the other second design for the servo location and sail sheet loop etc. This sheet has the worked out framing changes, and is what I meant about designing the deck.  
 Here I have made the framing for the small hatch opening.  This hatch gives access to the rudder servo.  unfortunately the sharp angle of the rudder does not allow direct connection like most pond yachts where the rudder post is vertical.  
 here is a lesson learned from my marbleheads.  I took scrap 1/16 plywood and laid in a lower deck so the sticks holding sail loop block can slide on it as they are pushed forward from the aft hatch access.  You can also see in this shot the first section of under deck including the small hatch is secured, so this forward section will be made to it.  
 Here is the adjustments to the after deck house opening and the rudder access.  The issue of using flat beams and then adding strips etc. just adds another nuisance step to get these right. One thing to notice here and the previous two photos is the darker color of the interior of the hull.  It has a complete coat of resin to totally seal up the hull.  Also in this photo you can see the internal carving of the 1.5 inch plywood keelson assembly and the block transom to fit the RC equipment and make the inside shape of the transom work.     We are getting to the point where I originally planned to hang up the model for another year.  but I find doing these steps my mind is on the three or four next steps and it gets harder to stop. It was at this time that I decided to use 1/32 decking [not a great decision by the way] and ordered it along with many strips to allow building up the bulkheads.  I started looking at the deck equipment and at this scale knowing I needed to figure out gears and things.....but the masts?  I can make them but where would I put this boat????  You can see the two short dowels sitting in place......???
 
Also for sailing,  the two jibs have sheets that go on outer sides of the forestaysail rigging, so I cannot sail them like other boats with a single loop.  I would need a 3rd Servo and all that logic. Alternately ones leaves them furled or worse choses to shrink them to self tack.   I leave this stage with enough room in the after deck house opening to put a servo on each side and try to do that,   That is the point of this build ....I am building it so it could sail, I am not committed yet to take it that far.  I may not even put in real masts.
 
all for now
 
cheers .
.
.

Starting again 2016
 
OK it is August this year and I am playing around in between projects.  I decided first to give myself 6 weeks to get a deck on Gerturde and then hang her up again.  Let's see what happens.
 
the first thing to do is to cut off the building board and build her a stand.  This style stand I now use regularly because the straps allow rotation to get gunnels up and free for work and way down the line to put a heel on the boat.[ very helpful while working on rigging]  It is also good for carrying around, setting on the ground etc.  Best of all it allows using up those many cut offs and scraps of lumber in the shop.  
 next step....probably several days later... it is time to cut out the interior molds leaving the strip ribs.  
This removal starts rough and then ends with sanding to get ready to receive a coat of resin.  
 let's see what we have. All the interior is clean and we are ready to go forward.  Here we are visiting Charles Notman while I go sailing in the real Boothbay Harbor One design.  
 Just FYI here we are sailing Bittersweet the real BHOD. You can see now why summer is not a productive modeling season.  
 now we have the real test. I have set up with levels and squares to measure everything before we get into deck design.....and what does one find when this step is added.....the mysterious truth  
I stater scratching my head when the deck dimension was 71.5 inches.  the beam maxed out around just under 14 inches
 
lets see....gertrude is how long?????   135 feet on deck  or....ah   ah   ah..67.5 iches let's see  gertrude is how wide              23.5..................or    ah   ah    ah   11.75  
 
Ok I said I was over my head 15 years ago when I started this.  I made a beginners mistake......I should have reduced the molds for the 1/32 strip ribs and 1/8 planking and say 1/32 fiberglass.   I did not, so I should accept....and admit I am too wide by 2 times 3/16 or up to 3/8........
 
 
The truth so to speak...... if i had scanned an plotted the other set of plans that I bought at the same time 15 years ago it would have been Bluenose.
 
let's see  Bluenose is how long???    143 on deck  or ah .....71.5 inches let's see  Bluenose is how wide          27 feet    or ah......  13.5 inches......add up to 3/8 for my begineer mistake ont he sizing of the forms=    13.78 inches  
 
Bingo...     I am building....a 143 foot boat.   I thought for a few seconds about switching to Columbia.  The other American boat but decided against it.  Let's face it... Nova Scotia  and better Lunenburg created the best and fastest schooner.  She beat the US boats in all matched races except one set.  Therefore I am  rescuing and building out Bluenose
 
 
there you have it 
 
cheers

Hi Patrick:
 
I've experienced a similar 'time-out' from my Dunbrody, so I'm very happy to see you back to work on Shadow.  She's absolutely beautiful - love the lines and love the workmanship.  Welcome back!
 
Frank

Patrick, Shadow is looking really great.

Indeed Patrick, life has this annoying habit of getting in the way of our boat building…congratulations for hitting this milestone, I think the boat looks great, very nice lines.

Hi Bob and Pete
 
Thanks guys  It's great to be back and like you, I'm looking forward to outfitting Shadow's interior.  That should be heaps of fun.
 
All the best.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Looking good Patrick, Nice work, I see that you have become a Mega Yacht builder 
 
Best Regards,
Pete 

Welcome back Patrick.  Even as a bare boat straight from the factory she looks great.  I can't wait to see her dressed up.
 
Bob

Hi folks
 
I'm back! Life's been really hectic over the past few weeks, which has meant that I've had little time for MSW, catching up with people's builds, or working on Shadow. Hopefully, things will ease off so that I can get back to some normality.
 
Anyhow, over the past few nights, I've kinda reached a milestone with Shadow - that being the completion of the construction of the major components of her superstructure. With that milestone behind me, I can now settle down to detailing her interior accommodation and the myriad of above-deck details. Fun times ahead!
 
I hope you all enjoy the photos as much as I'm going to enjoy catching up with everyone's build logs!
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Very, very, very nice progress, Patrick. The superstructure looks great, and I have the distinct feeling the interior will look smashing ...

Made some nice progress this weekend, lots of photos below.
 
Matt, thanks for the kind words! You probably actually think I'm nuts for sticking with the kit materials, but it's an interesting challenge to my way of thinking. Plus, I don't have anywhere near the metal-working skills you do (yes, I know there's only one way to change that). It's too late on the rings, I already glued them in, so we'll just see how that goes. Also, I did use Cog's advice and knotted some small strips beneath the channel blocks; seems to have worked nicely.
 
Building the cabin,  you guessed it, involved overcoming flaws in the kit. First, the kit only provides fore and aft bulkheads to build the cabin around, with only very thin planking to wall it in. That seemed like a bad idea to me. So I added longitudinal bulkheads to provide a solid surface all the way round.
 

 
The same problem exists for the roof, which again they expect you to plank in with no support. Uh uh. So I added some roof braces.
 

 
Of course, the height of the shoulders on the kit-original bulkheads didn't match, so that the fore bulkhead was higher than the after bulkhead. So I sanded a camber into the fore bulkhead to accomodate this, figuring it was probably a realistic choice anyway. I also started adding windows and planking.
 

 
After some trial and error I got the whole cabin built and planked. So little extra wood is given in this kit that I literally finished this with nothing to spare. I couldn't have afforded to break one single piece. I think it came out nicely, although one part of the roof planking is slightly cockeyed. It's only visible to the camera lens under harsh light, though. I like how the color balance came out, I wanted to cabin darker than the deck so it would stand out.
 


 
Now for another kit problem. The pre-cast mounting ring for the carronade has two pegs underneath that are meant for holes in the deck. No problem, right? After all, those holes are pre-drilled in the plywood underdeck, so all you have to do is plank over them, file them open, and mount the ring. Yeah, no. I didn't think to pre-test the fit of the ring until now, and sure enough one of the holes was way off. One hole was right where it should be to mount the ring dead-center on the deck; the other was over a diameter too far outboard. I had to measure and drill a new mounting hole. Below left,  you see the ring mounted properly, with the original factory-drilled hole in its horribly visible location. Below right, you see how I decided to handle this: I just filed a couple of wood scraps to look like some kind of step or brace against the ring. They'll vanish into the clutter of the deck once the model is complete, and only a serious naval historian would wonder what the heck they're for (and that person would already realize that this model is not museum-quality).
 

 
Finally, I mounted the rudder. More CA glue leaked around the edges of the iron bands than I would have liked, under the right light there's some annoying glistening along the edges. But under most conditions it's not noticeable and I think the rudder looks nice overall. I also mounted the tiller. The kit-drilled tiller hole didn't come close to matching up with the angle of the rudder, so I just cut off the rudder post and shaped a new tiller post that I glued to the top of the deck instead. No one will ever now but you, gentle readers.
 

 
I have to say, it's been really fun adding all the deck detail, this thing is starting to feel like a real ship build. I hadn't intended it to turn out as it has so far, but now I'm liking the shades of bare wood and the simple black iron fittings. I've given up on trying to match this to any specific plans or ship, it's evolved to just become a fun personal model. Thanks for reading.

Just getting caught up on things after(and still) a very busy year. Thanks for the kind plug by the way.
 
You are on a great path with this build by adapting things with a less than helpful instruction list. I had to rely on learning from others and my own errors, tossing the instructions to the wayside. I ended up taking a look at as many USRC's as possible, regardless of the tonnage, to get a 'feel' of what was done during this period. Then I made things to 'look and feel' right.
 
My hat goes off to you to use what's provided in the kit. The castings were, well, crude and not to scale. I found it easier to use real dimensions for each item and scratch build them all. Today with the use of computers, the dimensions often are different in real life than from the plans. So I would imagine back then as well, shipbuilders made it work and changed things here and there.
 
I would suggest to not glue the rings in yet. When you start rigging it's easier to hold the blocks and loosely run the rigging through them. Then they can be glued down and tighten the rigging once they're set. I like cog's drawing of attaching with a baton, another way could be to whip the rope to the underside of the channel. This should make it large enough to hold it in place and not look too bulky.
 
Excellent job!

Maybe this:
 

I've been working on rigging the first blocks to the deck fittings; I decided it would be better overall to do this before installing the rings. It's been easy to hold each ring in a clamp, tie the block on & glue it in place, then insert the ring into the deck. This way if I make a mistake it isn't already attached to the model. Below are the first six block/ring assemblies in place around the foremast's hole. These will be in tension vertically once rigged, so I don't care how they lay about for now.
 

 
I also assembled and installed the channels, which led to an unresolved problem. Each channel has a regular deadeye attached to a chainplate, then a block that's supposed to be tied to the channel. See below.
 

 
The problem is,  the instructions just say to tie this block to the channel, and show what looks like some kind of small stopper knot beneath that would hold the block in place. But the hole in the channel is way too large for this; the size knot it would take to keep this block in place under tension would be almost as big as the block itself, and would look ridiculous.
 
So my problem is, how do I fix this block in place? Do I somehow tie a small scrap of wood onto the line to act as a stopper? Do I try to CA the line to the underside of the channel? I've been having trouble searching for an answer to this on MSW and elsewhere, as the search terms are so vague. Any ideas?

It depends on the accessability of the rings. If you can do it afterwards, I would go for that option for the blocks won't bother you while mounting the rings. If it is very difficult to attach the blocks after gluing the rings, I would try mounting them beforehand
 
When drilling through the rail, it just depends on the visibility of the underside. If it is merely a question of the pins protruding underneath, cut the pins to the required length ... I cannot imagine  the opening in the underside of the rail to be visible ...
 
It is after all a model, so you've got some leeway with these things

I have been working on the deck fittings.Below, you see the deck with all holes drilled for the metal fittings (rings, bits, etc.):
 

 
And here you see most of the fittings test-placed (unglued) to get a sense of the deck's layout. Many of these will have small blocks; I'm trying to decide whether I should tie those in before gluing down the fittings, or afterward.
 

 
Another source of annoyance in this kit: these metal fittings have "pins" meant to fit into the deck holes, but many of them are too thick or long. For example, the stanchions which will hold safety lines have pins nearly the width of the rails, as shown in the blurry photo below. I've drilled smaller pilots holes, but am reluctant to drill any wider for fear of splitting the rail. So I may have to file down all these tiny parts to fit proper holes.
 

 
I've also had this problem with the plates and other hull fittings; their pins are so long that holes drilled in the rails would go right through. As it is, I've been desperately careful drilling pilot holes sideways through these rails without poking through. So I've been spending lots of time filing down the pins on these fittings to be narrower and pointier so I can drive them into the wood and have them hold more securely.
 
It's been very fiddly work but I think it'll come out ok. As this is the first rigged ship I've ever attempted, I don't know if this kind of thing or normal, or unique to the Corel kit. 
 
Are there any thoughts on whether to pre-rig blocks to the rings, or do it after gluing the rings in? Anything else I should be considering at this stage?

Yes, Carl, you're right; I bought the kit with the full intention of making do with what it contained, and learning what that was like. I think it's been a good experience teaching me more about different wood types and quality, which can only be learned by experience, really.

That's typical Corel hull wood ... sooner Corel wood. I'm not impressed with their planking types either. But you bought a kit not to replace all plank type woods, did you?
 
Nevertheless a nice result for the poor quality wood you've been working with

I've finally finished the hull planking, and am fairly pleased with the outcome. I decided to give "accurate" planking at the bow a shot after all, and with much trial and error produced an acceptable result:
 

 
I really don't like the planking wood provided in this kit. I don't know what it is, I think something tropical, but it's very coarse-grained and splits really easily. It does not take bending well; over and over again as I tried to apply even a gentle edge-bend after thorough soaking, it split length-ways rather than take any curve. But I persevered and finished the hull with virtually no wood to spare.
 
I had tried to apply Chuck's no-soak bending method, using a hair dryer, but this wood wouldn't take it. I had to soak each piece and gently bend it, often repeating this several times, to get the curve needed, and I think I broke two or three for every successful piece. But I really do think it came out reasonably:
 

 
The stern was, of course, more straightforward, but I used this side to continue practicing proper stealer use. I kept all my joints on a strict pattern and restricted almost all of them to real bulkhead locations. The result is fairly pleasing to me. The camera, of course, highlights every slight gap between planks, but none of that is visible from more than 6" away in person.
 

 
I've been working on this hull for so long now that it's going to feel strange to change focus and start on other aspects of the build. I'm hoping to start putting more time in again; the last few months have been especially busy between a vacation, the start of a new job, and the always-busy fall season on our farm. If winter ever arrives here in Missouri (it's still over 80 F), this build will start progressing again.
 
Thanks for checking in on me.

Thanks, Glenn. I haven't stopped this build, I promise, it's just been a very busy stretch for me. I think I'll be able to post an update next weekend, showing what I've been up to on the port side planking.

Looking good Cathead. The stealers look perfect!

Well, as my approach to this kit evolves, it's becoming something quite different from what I initially intended, but also something quite interesting in its own right.
 
I've planked the starboard side following the "go with the flow" approach, allowing the kit-supplied planking to curve as it desires. It's obviously not accurate, but it was good practice for fitting planks, and I think it came out nicely overall other than the un-prototypicalness of it. Certainly the vast majority of viewers here will never know the difference; Mrs Cathead cooed when she saw the results. There are two noticeable errors: a couple planks which didn't quite seat properly near the bow, and a notch at the keel where I screwed up cutting out the notch for the display stand.
 



 
This was my first attempt at using stealers on any model, and I think it worked well at the stern. I had considering painting this side if the planking hadn't come out well, but after sanding and oiling it, I think I like it this way. I never intended a natural-wood model, but as that's what it's evolving to be, so be it.
 
The next step is to decide whether to finish the port side the same way for consistency, or to order a few sheets of wood to try my hand at spiling an accurate run of planks. This would look strange from head-on, but as it won't be displayed that way, it may not matter, and may even be a point of conversation to be able to display two different planking approaches at once.
 
I have time to think about it, as we're about to depart for vacation in Boston and Maine. I'm looking forward to visiting the Constitution, and hopefully dropping by BlueJacket in Searsport, ME. Thanks for reading.

Some progress to show. I continue to fill out the details in the ships boats. Here I have added the floors, benches and thwarts to the two cutters, and the floors and foot rest to the gig. I am working on the thwarts and stanchions for the gig, and the gunwales for the cutters. I should have pictures of those soon.
 

 
I also was working on the martingale for the bow sprit. I added the bulls eyes by seizing them to some line, wrapping the line around the leg of the martingale, tying an overhand knot, and holding it with some thin CA.
 

 
I then added the lanyards by seizing a piece of line through one bulls eye, wrapping the lanyard three times through the bulls eyes, then seizing the end around the wrapped line to hold it.
 

 
I added the blocks and eye bolts and other hardware to the cap and here is how it looks on the bow sprit.
 

 
How do you like my high tech dust cover for the hull? It is just an opened up grocery bag, but it actually works pretty well. It is very light and comes on and off easily, so I don't worry about damaging anything when I put it on.

Thanks Popeye. Nothing real special here on the bow sprit, there are just lots of pieces to make. Since this is such a prominent piece of the ship, I am trying to be a little more careful. Here are the pieces with some white paint on them.
 

 
I continue to make up the three ship boats. I finished painting the insides and outsides with white paint. I had a little bleed through of the white under the masking tape on the rails in a couple of spots, but I was able to scrape and file the paint off. I added the outside rub rails on all three. For the gig, I was able to CA glue one end down then slowly bend it around, gluing with wood glue, then more CA on the other end. For the two cutters, the curve at the bow was too much for this technique, so i soaked them and clamped them on the boats to set the curve, then glued them down with wood glue.
 

 

 

 

 
I then added the keelson and floor boards to all three boats, and the platforms and mast steps to the two cutters.
 

 
I am going to stain the rails and the interiors at this point before adding the next layers of stuff, so I can get to it all.
 

Love that pic. Do you know the name of that painting...artist? Where can I get a large scale image of it. Would make a great background pic!