FriedClams

She looks so very good, John!  That last photo really made me smile - a four masted barque in the foreground with the Spirt of Australia in the background.  Quite the contrast.
 
Gary 

Oh, good grief. How heartbreaking that would be! 
 
That main cabin roof was pretty intense modeling, Craig - rather complex geometry. A beautiful model and so meticulously crafted. Thanks for the update.
 
Gary

Thanks very much Harvey... I am still waiting to hear from the Fram museum, but your Gjoa thread is giving me a lot of missing details. You've also built a very nice looking model!
Regards,
Bruce
 

The chain drive on Gjøa thread is here, mostly on page 2: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/34394-gjøa-1872-by-harvey-golden-roald-amundsens-cutter-built-at-rosedahl-norway/page/2/#comments (thanks to all that helped with that puzzle). 
 

Many thanks to all that hit the like button. 
@Jim Lad  Thanks John, really it is a very elegant hull!
@Bedford I had a bit of a hardware issue so suspense to be prolonged for a few days - I suspect the boat will appeal to you as well!
@wefalck I did think about this and I have half decided to leave this out, for two reasons: One is that I do not like the plating which is random with a large curved belt along the length of the hull, such elegant lines deserve better. Second is that I ve been fighting cracks between the planks, I ve already filled and sanded three times but the planks keep moving. Not sure why as the pear I am using is very old and dry, perhaps I have not used enough frames. In any case, the plank lines will show no matter what I do so maybe best to leave it as a wooden hull instead of simulating a riveted steel hull.
 
Ok, some more photos:
 
The hull is now filled, sanded to 320 grit, sealed and sanded lightly to 400 grit - then sealed again and re-sanded to 400 grit. I actually intended to use a blade to scrape the hull but I forgot to do it, it would have been faster. Still, the hull is now very smooth. I ve left the little feet to the hull as they ll help to mark the water line.

Happily, the stern also came out alright


There are several opening to be cut out to the bulwarks as well as some more  work to be done before painting

This is pretty much as far as I ve gone studying the plans and the boat. I need to figure out the stern layout and tiller mechanism, finish the bulwarks and start work on the superstructure (started already, again some happy accidents in my CAD drawings)
 
In the mean time I cleaned and tidied up the shipyard, thought I d share some photos

Sanding station with the new toy, Proxxon MF 70 - not sure what I can do with it but I had some credit with Axminster so chose this.

Cutting/drilling station

Work bench

Take care all
Vaddoc

I hope so, John

I'm sure the other 31 will look just as good, Siggi!
 
John

Hello,
today I started building the oars. First I saw them 4X3 mm and then turned the handle at the lathe. The secnd step is, grinding the rest till nothing is left 😏 , see the one below

Then I saw out the outlines and shape the rest with files and sandpaper. Now only 31 are left.

 

Finished up the main mast port channels. 
 
Rob

Thanks Pat.   I prefer to weather everything……so it looks used and exposed.
 
Rob

Nice work Rob, those channels with the chainplates etc look great.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Had trouble with my browser, had to change it to get this sight to work. 
 
Here are some updates. 
 
Rob

Thank you very much Gary. Paint colors certainly can be a challenge. I think I’m going to wait to see what you choose for Pelican below the waterline 🙂

Thanks, Gary! I'm enjoying trying to make this accurate, even if the sheer variety of ways lanchas were rigged is a bit of a double-edged sword--so many ways to choose from, but at least I have choices.
 
Satisfied with my tests, I made the hanks by wrapping 28-gauge wire around a thin brass tube.

 
The rings are small enough (2mm across) that I could only cut off one at a time, as my wire clipper was too wide to reach any further. I made some extras in case I lose any, they're pretty tiny.

 
To get them on the forestay, I placed them in the tip of my hemostats, used a toothpick to open them enough for the stay to fit in, and then, once they were threaded, used finger and tweezer pressure to squeeze them shut, securing with a tiny amount of superglue applied from a toothpick that I whittled into a thin point. Next up I'll need to add the lacings, and then the sail itself.

 
Before adding the jib, though, I wanted to add the jib halyard, as I thought the seizings, in particular, would be hard to apply once the jib was on the stay.

 
With that added, I figured that I may as well add the other halyards. I tied off the peak halyard not at the tip of the gaff spare, where many lanchas tied it off, but a little further in, so as not to put too much pressure on the spar extension. While I use half hitches for a lot, I knew I needed a different knot here, and ultimately went with a fisherman's bend, which turned out well with the .5mm rope.

 
Adding the throat halyard, which had been made earlier in the process, was a simple step. I wasn't sure whether the gaff halyards should both be on the same side of the mast or on different sides, so I watched a documentary on YouTube about a Lancha regatta in the 1980s ("Regata a un ventisquero," Dir. Domingo Garrido, 1983: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDeTRT64kd8 ) and found, arou d 1:48-1:50, that they were on opposite sides. This was helpful for figuring out how the ropes should run through the double blocks.

 
I'm now having a bit of trouble figuring out how to do the sheet and lifts, though. My impression from photos was that either all the running rigging used the same size rope, or the sheet might use thicker rope and/or the lifts might be thinner. So, to create more visual interest than doing everything with .5mm rope like the halyards, I thought I would do the sheet in .6mm rope, and the lifts in .45mm rope. I attached the sheet with a fisherman's bend again but thought it looked very bulky, and I'm not sure if the .45mm rope for the lifts looks very thin (and makes the bulky knot stand out even more). I'm debating replacing the sheet with. 5mm rope, or using .5mm instead of .45mm for the lifts. In the photo below, the sheet in .6mm rope is at top, then there's .5mm rope, then .45mm (while the lacing is .35mm).

John, she must be really something to see in person.

She becomes more impressive with each new post, John. Very nice. 

Another update. The 'Duchess' continues to grow sails. First two on the mizzen mast. The cro'jack is rigged, the lower topsail merely crossed at this stage, but at least she looks a little more balanced with sails on all three of the forward masts.
 
John
 

Keith and John; As always, my thanks and I'm delighted that she resonates with your eyes.
 
And thank you, ccoyle and gsdpic for your endorsements as well.
 
I think that I'm done for the night...

What a fantastic model, Craig. Beautiful workmanship.  

Just delightful, Craig.
 
John

Okay - Final segment to bring the log current is as follows:
 

Brass foredeck handrails were soldered together from rod stock, laid over a developed pattern for alignment. I cobbled up a wooden bending jig in an effort to keep the bends smooth and the upright posts were coved to fit tightly to the underside of the long rails. The lower ends of the supporting posts were fitted into holes drilled in the forward caprail.  These handrails were deliberately made stouter than scale might require in anticipation of possible rough handling when launching or retrieving TWILIGHT from the water on her working days.  And, as you will notice, somewhen about this point, the cabin tops got painted.

The aft overhang of the main cabin roof was intended to be supported on a pair of main deck-mounted upright posts, which were also braced to the aft face of the after cabin. The assembly of these posts took a couple of tries to get the fussy soldering to cooperate, but with guidance from Ken Forem's book, the task was ultimately accomplished.
 

The port and starboard running light mounts were glued up from basswood (and the outboard faces painted black). The light fixtures are outfitted with the appropriate colored LED's and the assemblies were then affixed onto the permanently mounted after portion of the pilothouse, with wires fed down and inboard in small holes into the upper corners of the house.
 

While the forward removable portion of the pilothouse was lifted away, a mahogany and AYC vertical "trunk" was fashioned (in the location where the originally planned dry exhaust stack for the Gardiner diesel would have risen through the main cabin.  The trunk permits necessary wires for the various R/C switches to be led to the pilothouse roof for convenient shoreside access.
 

Before securing the main cabin roof to the house, the necessary preliminary (hopefully unobtrusive) wiring runs for the stern light and some interior lights needed to be developed.  Additionally, a change in location of the ladder access to the cabin and pilothouse roofs was made from that drawn on the original drawings. The ladder was moved from a position partially obstructing the helm's view to a location at the aft end of the boat.  A rectangular access hole was cut through the main house roof with my usual method and then faced with mahogany trim.  Also visible are: the stern light and flag pole socket, the black-capped top of the (hydraulic) warping capstan and a stout double "H" bitt for the occasional towing opportunities/requirements which might well arise.

The access ladder has been fabricated ( for the fun of it) from hollow rectangular brass  stock, 3/32" dia. tube rungs and closely fitting brass brads. It does still need a pair of handrails for safety before installation.
 
The final 4 photos of this segment will bring us current with TWILIGHT's build to date (7/7/25). 
A fair amount of work remains to be done above the roofs as well as with the finalizing of the topside R/C mountings. I am also hoping to to build the main cabin joinery as removable modules later this year.

Until again, my heartfelt thanks to all of you for following along with the progress of this build. Your comments and suggestions are appreciated and always welcome.
 
Craig

Part the next:
Back to working on the roof panels.

A laminating form was fashioned from scrap blocks to provide clamping positions when steaming and laminating the 1/16" thick basswood layers which formed the main cabin top fascia trim.
 

The cured, slightly over-height fascia was glued and nailed to the outside vertical edge of the cabin top roof. After the glue hardened, the upper and lower edges were then planed to the desired profiles in elevation.  Margin pieces (covering boards) were then glued to the cabin top surface, overhanging the flush roof-to-fascia seam. The outer edges of these covering boards were fair flush with the outer face of the fascia and the upper corners rounded off.  The pilothouse roof was built up in a similar manner.

An access hatch down through the main cabin was necessary and was cut out by first drilling #55 vertical holes at each corner, then scoring the upper and lower skins with a sharp scalpel. I used the fine teeth at the tip of a small pull saw, riding in the scored lines and braced by clamped-on guides to cut through the skins into the spaces between the interior pairs of carlins and beams.  The piece of roof removed was then slightly smoothed up and given upper flanges to serve as the hatch body.
 

The heads of the Anchorfast copper boat nails, which were used to pin the fascias to edges of the roofs, had been set flush and they were now covered by the installation of glued half-round bead trims. These trims will ultimately be painted a contrasting color.

A forward-projecting "brim" was carefully shaped to attach to the lower edge of the pilothouse fascia, supported by small knees. A 1/32" x 1/32" mahogany strip was smoothed to a half-round shape and glued to upper side of the brim at its lower edge to serve as reinforcement.
 

The extent of the deck areas which would receive a non-skid treatment could now be discerned and the finicky task of masking off the rest of the nearby surfaces followed.  After experimenting with a variety of compounds, the best results (to my eyes) at this scale was developed by stippling on this pumice gel. When dried, the the non-skid was given a coat of the Tamiya (AS-26) Light Ghost Grey, which has been used for the majority of the topsides painting.
 

The taffrail was scarfed together from suitable thickness teak stock, using card patterns to define the segments. The glued-up taffrail was mounted atop 1/8" diameter brass tube segments and secured in place with 3/4" long Anchorfast nails driven into pilot holes drilled in the main rail below. Temporary spaces blocks were taped between the two rails to help maintain the 1/2" high rail separation.  The heads of the nails were slightly countersunk and later filled with colored epoxy. Once this was faired smooth, Vicky began brushing on varnish to protect the taffrail.
*************
I will again pause the log at this point to keep the number of pictures in this segment reasonable. The final segment which will bring us current will be added soon.
 
Craig

She really looks first class, Craig. I'm glad the firefighting team was on top of things quickly.
 
John

Beautiful progress, Craig. The winch is a treat. I am so thankful the fire was both catchable and containable and that damage was limited. 

My apologies for the 3-month-long lack of posts about TWILIGHT's build. Work on the model has progressed though, so I will pick-up the tale in mid-April 2025 and, in a couple of installments, bring this wayward build log current.
 

The pilot house lower shape was fiddled with to make a tighter fit to the deck and the electronics were (again) cobbled together to be raised above a probable splash zone. We then traipsed over to some friends' small saline pool for a preliminary "splash test".
The good news was:
 - She floats!
 - She did not turn turtle!!
 - There was no noticeable heel.
 - At this stage of the build, the trim was only slightly down by the bow.
 - The mechanical bits worked as hoped, both in forward and reverse.
 - She did not take on any water.
 
The "not-so-good"news resulted a couple of days later.
TWILIGHT was back in my shop with the cabin sole hatch above the motor room removed while I tested some re-worked wiring runs.  The 12 VDC feed into the ESC (electronic speed control) shorted within the potted portion of the unit and a (thankfully brief) fire resulted.  While the ESC was truly "toasted", the fire was quickly extinguished when I shut off the power and none of the model's structure suffered damage. However, a goodly amount of acidic smoke permeated the interior with an acrid stench.  The next couple of weeks were consumed disassembling, cleaning and reassembling everything removable as well as wiping down as many surfaces as I could get at within the model's interior. I did  install a new ESC.
 
While the fire was a setback, I am very grateful that it did not occur sometime when TWILIGHT might have been underway, out of reach - on some lake or pond!
 
Onward, then:
 Once building could recommence, card template were made for the outline shapes of the pilothouse and main cabin roofs.
 

The main cabin roof was built as a hollow, stressed skin structure (much like an aircraft wing) with 1/16" thick birch plywood for top and bottom skins and AYC for beams and framing.  The roof for the pilothouse was built with similar construction, though without any compound curvature.
 

Blocking for hardware supports and the carlins for the access hatch were fitted prior to gluing down the top skin.

The upper skin had to take on a subtle compound curve and this required various clamps and weight to ensure a tight glue fit along and around the supporting structure.  Once cured, both roofs were were set aside to permit work to progress at deck level.

Aboard the planned full-size TWILIGHT, we had envisioned using a sturdy, commercial-grade fish-boat style hydraulic-powered, horizontal axis anchor windlass, so for the model, the location on the foredeck was given a raised basswood pad.  The windlass was built up from 1/16" plywood, a re-purposed thread spool and with a spare fluted knob serving to represent the hydraulic motor.  The bulwark just to port of the stem was carved out to receive a soldered brass anchor roller assembly.
 

The bulwarks alongside of the main cabin were drilled out and the holes filed to shape in the proper locations for the hawses and scuppers.

With the intent of not making any of these installments overly long, I will break this one here.  More to follow shortly.
Craig