Tigersteve

Its not really the case.  The Winnie is already designed and finished.  Its all about just building it now with maybe some minor tweaks.  No heavy lifting needed.  This one on the other hand is such a new concept for me since I never built a fully framed anything.  I could have gone the same easy route that most go and just do a hahn style project but that is nothing new at all.  So the brain challenge drafting and designing these elements as developed by David Antscherl is just as much fun as building the Winnie.  I am very grateful that it isnt the full hull.  Once I finalize the three slightly different frame design concepts for these three different styles of frame I will be in good shape.  Then its just rinse and repeat......and I only have one more left to tinker with......
 
Today at my shop the guys all came over and I handed out some laser cut frames to them so they can build them at home.  You missed that today but next time you come I will give you a few.  Its great having a bunch of testors  ready and available so I can watch them assemble my crazy contraptions while I observe any problem areas that might prop up.  So far so good.   I believe Larry will be building this prototype alongside me and I will be getting him started in a couple of weeks......its a huge help with the entire process  and fun for me to watch.  Mike brought his Winnie too!!!  Which looks great.

There will be three different types of frames.  All with slight variations of my frame design concept.  You have seen the first which is the typical square frame.  This second type which are are only four or 5 have shifted top timbers....or bent top timbers.  It is built very similar to the last frame I described and will be described in full in the instructions.  It is shown below with the bent top timber. The other thing you might notice in this photo is the laser etched notches on the frame for the port sill and lintel framing.  This should make adding the port sills easier although if you would like to, you can adjust the notch shape so it looks more like the traditional fish tail shape you see and expect.  It all depends on how much realism you want to add depending on your experience.  The other interesting pieces are the two notched registration strips that will span across the top of all the frames.  I didnt see this on other fully framed projects and I thought it would be a nice addition.  This is going to be very different than the stylized framing ala Hahn.
 

The third and final frame style will be those that are broken with a space to accommodate the gun ports.  I will be designing it so they can remain in one piece until after you insert the port sills and lintels.  This will make more sense after I show pictures.  This last version of my frame concept will be up next so I want to finalize the testing and get it done soon.
 
You can see the bent frames and "broken or split" frames in this 3 d rendering.  I am working from aft towards the bow so the next two frames will be those broken frames to accommodate the gun ports
 

 
 
 
Chuck

HI ALL
I DECIDED TO REDO THE WATERWAYS TO INCLUDE A SCARF JOINT RATHER THAN A PLAIN BUTT JOIN.
THE SHAPE OF THE WATER WAY WAS ATTAINED WITH A PROFILE SCRAPER FASHIONED FROM A STANLEY BLADE.
CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF BEING FITTED.
 
CHEERS FOR NOW....MICK

I've now done two further steps in the framing process.
 
First, I added bracing between the bulkheads toward their outer edges. These were done with 1/4" square basswood strip .Tedious, but not very difficult. I also boxed in the mast mounting slots.
 
Next, I added the false deck. The kit has a thin plywood piece with slots to fit around the bulkhead extensions. I found this unwieldy to work with, so I cut the deck into six sections, and fitted and mounted each separately. The slots required some adjustment to get a good fit, but that went smoothly. 
 
With the bracing and deck in place, the structure is surprisingly rigid, and ready for fairing, which I have begun.During the fairing process, I will also have to shape and add the bow and stern blocks.
 
Bob

Happy Saturday Everyone,
I've made a little progress over the past week, without too many problems. I've strengthened the bulkheads with some blocks. I used an old dowel I had lying around. (Now it looks like a Maris Stella kit.) And I added the blow and stern filler blocks.


This is nothing in either the instructions or the plans that indicate the shape or size of the stern filler blocks, so I had to infer their shape based solely on this photo in the instructions. It's literally the only reference provided:

It took a great deal of time to get the bulkheads all level and even. The fairing itself isn't too bad on this model - the bow is not rounded, but rather comes to a point and the stern is a very gentle slope. But getting them even was a big job. The fact that there are many of them is helpful in some ways, but their proximity to each other also tends to amplify any differences among them. There was a great deal of paring and shimming required, but in the end I think I've got a pretty smooth result.
 
The false deck was cut quite accurately and was easy to fit, which surprised me in light of some of the issues I've already run into with this kit.
 
Below you can see the first plank in place in preparation for the upper planking.
 

The upper planking for this kit entails a thin strip with the gunports and oarports pre-cut. The instructions give distances from the false deck to the top of this bulwarks plank at each bulkhead. You pin it in place, draw a line across it at the bottom from the inside, and cut it to fit. The ports are all cut a bit small. You glue frames on the inside of the strip for both the gunports and oarports and then open them to their final size. The instructions would have you add these frames after the strip is in place, but I chose to add them first, which I thought makes it much easier to locate them properly and open them cleanly. This process takes a bit of fiddling, getting them all more or less the correct distances apart, the right position up and down and trimming down bulkheads to accommodate them, etc.  
 
I contemplated the idea of scrapping these strips altogether and framing in the ports individually, as some others have done with success. However in the end, I decided I could make these strips work quite well, especially after I decided to add the frames before installing the strips.

So next is adding the upper bulwarks strips and then framing them on the inside to accommodate the inner bulwarks planking.
 
Thanks for the likes and following along. Have a great weekend. After a staggering amount of snow this winter, we are now in a warm spell - temperatures above freezing for over a week, and most of the snow melted. This sure helps shorter the winter a bit and I have always preferred looking at my snowblower than using my snowblower.
 
David
 

Resumption of work on the hamstrings of foal.
Face retouching of the cariatide davit holder

Glad I found this log! Nice work. 
Steve

What kind of wood are you using for planking?
Steve

What kind of wood are you using for planking?
Steve

Thanks guys. Jonathan I have not thought much about how to transport the models, but I will document the process which should be in July or August. I am thinking of making a crate for the Constitution using the cradle that it is in now. Some of the other models I will transport in their cases, but those with cradles I will take out because in the past the cradles have proved to not provide enough support.
 
I have been working on the running rigging at the bow, mostly the jib and flying jib lines - halyards, downhaul, tack, and sheets. They all meet at the block that would hold the top of the sail, and all are belayed at belaying pins.


I have also been working on the spanker gaff and boom in the rear of the ship. I added the gaff using small beads for parrels, and rigged the peak and throat halyards. I haven't tied these to the belaying pins yet.

I have also been getting the spanker boom ready to install. I added the lines for the topping lifts and the outhaul line with its associated tackle.

I'll add the parrels and install it next. I have also added the sling and jeer lines to the three masts getting ready to mount the lower yards. I lashed the slings to the yards while they were still on the bench, so as soon as the lines with the triple blocks are all installed, these will be installed.

Thanks for watching and have a good weekend.

I forgot to mention that and wasnt about to take another video.  But its not for the ends.  Its for when you do larger ropes.  Like the 2mm stuff.   It may have more of a tendency to unwind slightly.  So instead of just running some water down the rope after its laid up....I like to make a weak and very thin solution.  I mix some white glue or even titebond in the cup of water....its still very watery and then run that over the rope.  Once dry....no worries about unraveling. 

Nice tutorials Chuck. You mentioned glue in the first video, but didn’t use it. What is the glue for- the ends of the rope?
Steve

Dz, I have had a lot of success blackening copper parts on wood without staining the wood using liver of sulfur solution.  I use copper for that reason.  I have also had success blackening brass on wood using a product called WinOx, but have not used that very much.  I have described this method in many posts on this and the Naiad build logs on MSW - and in more detail in the Naiad and Young America books.  This does not work using the blue selenious salt agents.  The liver of sulfur solution neutralizes quickly so does not leave reactive products on the wood.  The wood must be clean and free of metal dust or that dust will blacken and leave smudges on the wood surface.  This can be difficult on items like spars where there are a lot of parts and a lot of handling when fitting bands and other pieces.  In this case I try very hard to keep the wood clean, prefinish it to seal the surface before adding metal parts.  I then brush the liver of sulfur solution on the entire yard and put the black areas under running water immediately as they blacken.  When completely dry I finish the yard assemblies to seal the black metal. You may see the results on the yards in the pictures that were all done this way.  I am currently using wipe on satin polyurethane to finish the yards.
 
Ed

No...I used to dye the rope and use DMC like everyone else.  But I stopped doing that really quick.  Now I get all of my thread from Ireland.  I have it custom dyed in large batches.  Its a commercial source.  There are plenty of custom thread making companies out there but you need to order a whole heck of a lot with each batch.   Its much more expensive than just buying a ball of thread off the rack.
 
Its my closely held secret as it gives me the edge over other scale model rope makers.  When they dye rope...like I did way back when,  its tough to get consistent results.  Although every batch I get might vary slightly in color, it is much better to do it this way.  Saves a whole a bunch of time too.
 
Chuck

Maybe you should only supply a link to the downloads to buyers of the ropewalk? At least the Chinese will have to actually buy one before they pirate it . It might slow them down a day or so .
 
  Danny

Beautiful work as usual. The amount of work on the yards/spars alone is so extensive. Amazing!
Steve

I have worked on the first planking of the transom & counter.
I started with the counter. Then I applied some black acrylic color inside the interior of the windows cavities.
Inspiring of the method described in the addendum that has been written by John H. Earl, I made a jig to cut three planks for the planking of the transom.
So I could keep a consistent curve for all the planks using this template. I copied the profile from Detail 2-J on Plan Sheet 2 and cut this template from a scrap piece of wood.  I used this piece as a guide to cut out each plank from a large sheet of basswood of the proper thickness. The line drawn in the center of the planking material enabled me to glue each time the piece in the good position so the curve would be the same on each plank. The plank at the top is intentionally larger. It will be cut at the right size when the second planking will be performed.
Finally, I cut the four holes for the windows and glued them in position. The windows should just protrude a little from the first layer of wood in prevision of the final layer of walnut. They should be at level when the second layer of planking will be done...
I need some sanding before begin this next step...

The extension of the bulkheads have been slowly reduced at the width of 3/64". I used my proxxon to achieve this job.
The waterway was glued on the false deck using epoxy glue. When the glue has dried, I noticed that in two places, a small gap remain between the false deck and the waterway... I put some filler to be at level... You can look this on the last picture.
I decided to fill the space between the outer black strake and the waterway. I don't want that we can see a hole through the scupper.  I protect the waterway with a piece of Tesa blue tape and carefully fill the gap with some wood filler ('Pate à bois' from Libéron, walnut color).
When it was dry, I painted the space with black acrylic color.
Now come some more interesting job. I prepare the 1/16" spirketing plank. I decided to use two pieces. One at the bow and the second with the scuppers. The first piece was put in hot water and then bend. For the second, I made a photocopy of the plan and using a small rounded file, I carefully cut the scuppers using the plan as guide.
The two pieces were glued in place and I just paint an undercoat of red acrylic color to have some idea of the final result.
I will now work on the transom & counter...

Thanks Druxey.  I intended the scale to be small so as to allow me to fit at least 8 hull models/designs on the plaque.
The plaque must be large enough and small enough to accommodate the half models, descriptions of them and a characterization of the particulars of why hull models were used and to demonstrate the varied size of clipper ships being built during the clipper era and be able to comfortably find a wall space.
Thanks for your fine comments and interest.
 
Rob

And that's how one achieves a perfect joint! It all start's with a perfect pattern.
Love watching you work, Amalio.

Hello,
 
and many thanks for your likes.
Today I finished the wales. That was harder as first thought and the next days I need to get the notches out of my thumbs, from pressing down these stubborn strakes  
 

 

 

 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 269 – Fore Upper Topsail Yard Parral 2: Ironwork
 
In the first picture the wood yoke has been glued to the octagonal flat on the aft side of the yard.  One of the bands that reinforce the connection of the yoke to the yard has been fitted and the other is shaped but awaiting attachment.
 

 
All "iron" fittings on the yard are copper, to facilitate later blackening with liver of sulfur solution.  The uninstalled band shown in the picture was shaped around the yard and yoke.  It includes a short overlapping tab that will be used to through-bolt the band using a copper wire bolt.  In the next picture one of these bolts is being inserted through a drilled hole at the base of the yoke.
 

 
The short tab is located on the underside of the yard – out of sight.  The copper wire shown was next clipped just above the surface on both sides of the yoke and peened to form a tight connection.  The next picture shows the upper side of the banded parral.
 

 
The next picture shows the underside of the yard/parral and parts of the hinge/clasp that will hold the yard to the mast.
 

 
To simulate the hinge/clasp fitting, short lengths of wire were drilled to accept copper wire pins that will slip into holes in the parral.  The wire pins were soldered into the holes.  The piece on the left has been filed to shape.  These assemblies were then silver soldered to the half-circle band as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The picture shows dividers that were set to the spacing between the pins and used to mark the bands on either side of the circular yoke opening.  The above two pictures also show simulated leather lining in the opening.  This was made from dyed heavy paper glued to the wood.  In the next picture the spaced holes are being manually drilled to receive the long copper pins.
 

 
I drilled these manually to avoid disturbing the boring setup on the milling machine described in the last part.  There are never enough tools.  The last picture shows the completed parral except for blackening and fitting of the lining on the hinge/clasp.
 

 
Copper wire bolts have been driven through the arms of the yoke into the yard to simulate those used originally and to provide additional strength.  Next, the rest of the ironwork on the yard will be added.
 
Ed

Interesting. I’ll follow. 
Steve

Today I started on gun port framing. I had previously checked the laser marked guidelines on the bulkheads against the plans to verify. All checked out OK. I used a strip of 1/16 x 1/8 x 36 balsa to align the bulkhead marks,check the run of the sills and mark the outboard face of the bulkheads. I found it was easier to use balsa as it formed a curve better than basswood.The sills were trimmed to the correct length and marked in sequence from the aft forward. The false deck was also numbered at their corresponding place between the bulkheads.

When I started to lay the sills,I found it hard to establish when the sills were level as the curve of the deck and bulkhead were confusing my trifocal eyes. The only way I could see overcoming this was to make sure my building bench was perfectly level. I then made sure the ship was level in its building jig. I used a couple of small levels on the beakhead deck and other points to check this. I shimmed the upright supports of my jig to get it spot on and then clamped them.

I then aligned  each sill with the bulkhead marks,used a 2" level  to lay each sill in place. Each was leveled and aligned as I went forward. I can now use spacers to put the lintels in place and know and they are laying parallel and level to each other. As an additional check I made a small gauge from thin brass with a mark scribed at 1" which I could fit between the slot in the false deck and the bulkhead and double check the position of top of the sills.



 
 
 

I  will start on the lintels tomorrow.....