Tim Curtis

Well, I certainly have not added much to the build log lately but I have been busy.  I have started going through the punch list, finishing small parts that I was afraid would get lost or damaged along the way.  I also made the cat crown.  I held off on making this while I practiced some more with relief carving.  After the quarter badge I think I have had all the practice I want for a while!  The color difference will go away after a finish is applied.
 

 
There are eight stanchions (hammock cranes) on the quarter deck rail.  These are made of square brass rod with brass tubing silver soldered to the end for the passing rope.  Each one of these is a different height to compensate for the rise of the deck.  Two holes were drilled into the base and bolts were passed through the holes into the rail.  The bolts are actually brass lil pins whose heads have been filed into a flat square.  You can just barely make them out in the second picture.  To facilitate drilling the holes in the rail I removed the quarter rail temporarily.  There is a scale 7" clearance between the quarter rail and the stanchion.  Next on the to-do list is the anchor.
 

 

 

May was very busy, so we barely had any time for modelling. Daria also made some things for a school fair, using a wood pieces that we found in our neighbourhood. They are sanded and finished with Osmo Polyx, both processes were easy enough for her to do. I am a proud dad
First time using bandsaw on her own (with my supervision, of course). Pro tip: avoid cutting pine, this stuff gums up everything - blade, bearings, etc. 

 

 
The model is slowly progressing. It goes well, though it would be nice to have a bit thicker veneer - it is quite thin, need to be very cautious when sanding it. Also, the grain is really out of scale, not much I can do about it.
So far nothing is sanded, sorry.

 
Using blue painters tape instead of clamps, works great!

 
Daria is getting comfortable with a scalpel, learning proper holding angles and pressure. No self-cuts yet
This is her favourite part of the planking process, for some reason. 

 
The current status:





 
Aaand she is off to her grandparents, so the building will resume in the end of August  
 

And the first step (after reading the instructions) is to screw a block into the top of the hull, then mount it in a vise to start carving away the leftover nubs.

Work is now completed on a bunch of items. These include the catheads, channels, hawse holes, pin rails, knightheads, timberheads and the rudder and tiller.
 
The rudder is the kit piece ,shaped and tapered, and coppered on it's lower portion. The pintles and gudgeons are shown by strips copper tape with nail holes punched in. All of the other items are made from boxwood strip,  cut, filed and drilled as appropriate to the various parts. All of the items were glued and pinned to the hull.
 
Bob

Just perfect. You set a standard we all aspire to. What a beautiful ship you have made. 

Cheers OC and Dave
How time flies, I see it has been over a month since I last  attended to Cheerful.
Post 27 (27/05/2018)
The mysteries of the Square Tuck
This involves some intricate framing below the counter, and a job I approached with some apprehension. This may have contributed to my lack of eagerness to return to the workshop.
I basically followed Chuck's instructions but I used some 3mm thick boxwood to form the frames.
Fitting the centre strip and the upper sections along the counter edge is the easier bit; the testy part is the shaped frame that follows the line of the hull and butts against the other two strips.
Having glued the first sections in place my approach was to form a template part out of card to form the basic shape before committing to the real stuff.

9548
Several tweaks of the card template were made before I committed the pattern to a 1.5mm thick piece of boxwood.
The pattern was then transferred to the 3mm stuff.

9550
For the planking inside the frames I decided to infill with a piece of 1.5mm Boxwood sheet before planking so that I could use 3/64" thick strip rather than 1/8" stuff.
As suggested by Chuck the pieces were temporarily glued to the hull for final shaping of the outer edges; the inner edges were then reduced to the 1/8th width before gluing  finally to the hull.

9569
Not quite sure why but my version took six planks of 3/64" x 7/32" Boxwood strip. rather than 5 planks of 3/16" to fill the void.
I suspect that the aftermost bulkheads were perhaps not faired down sufficiently to reduce the Square Tuck area.
I decided to carry on to completion to see how the overall effect suited my eye.
 
It didn't suit my eye  so off came the lower frames and planking, but I baulked at removing the hull planking to re-visit the aftermost bulkhead.
 
The revised arrangement still took six planks for the infill, the difference being the size of the outer segment between the 3/16th and 7/32" width planks.

9732
Having trialled both I opted for the (6) 3/16" planks with a slightly larger outer segment.

9733
This is in a fairly raw state prior to cleaning up.

9738
Not exactly matching Chuck's exemplary version and I cannot say I'm elated with my Square Tuck effort.
 
As Mr Spock might say, It's a Square Tuck Jim, but not as we know it  
 
At this point I will also add the Stern Post as I prefer to work the  lower planking to it rather than add it afterwards. That said the Stern Post will need some tweaking to get a tight fit from keel to counter.
 
Still we press on.
 
B.E.
04/06/2018
 
 
 
 

Rest of pictures:

I just finished the port side platform clamp. The clamp was held in place with Wolfcraft clamps which can go deep into the hull. After gluing the aft end of the clamp, another balsa template was used to set the position of the forward end of the clamp.

You'll notice that I have been fairing the exterior hull. For the most part it is done. Just need to do a bit more work at the stern. Also, I left a 1/2" or so of extra thickness at the top timbers. After the Forecastle deck clamp and stringer in the waist are attached I will final sand the top timbers to an even thickness along the hull.



Mike

Returned to the fore mast and did a few more ratlines . . . now there are 16 on each side, so I guess that must be close to halfway to the futtock  stave >>>

Since I had fitted the main mast futtock shrouds I wanted to rig the topmast shrouds, but the crosstrees and bolsters would have to be in place first.
Being only about 2.5mm thick, I couldn't see how I would be able to make the crosstrees from a single piece of wood. So I attempted to make my own 'plywood'.  With the bandsaw I was able to slice thin strips of only 0.63mm from a piece of Makore >>>

Four of these strips glued at right angles to the others produced plywood of around 2.5mm. As I'm not very artistic, and not trusting my ability to draw these crosstrees to be identical to each other, I copied and scaled a drawing from a book and glued that onto the plywood >>>
The milling machine ensured that the 6 holes were perpendicular as well as being in the exact spots >>>

The bandsaw released each of the strips >>>
The blanks >>>

 . . . and fitted >>>

and with the shrouds >>>

Two Burton pendants also hang from the topmast platform. I only just spotted them in Petersson's rigging book before I rigged the shrouds.
 
I don't know about anyone else, but I get a bit weary of all those brutal close-ups, so here's how Leopard looks right now >>>
B.T.W. ~  that's just a 'working cradle' that Leopard is sitting in for now!

New Pictures of the Chebece.
Karl
 

 

Hello and thank you for your comments!
 
the decks are now treenailed and sanded
 



Regards
 
Alex

This looks like a great kit.
I am currently building the MK Phoenix (plus) and finding it a superb quality kit for a great price.
It looks like the Avos will share many of the same strengths.
Thanks for the historical info about the design of the model, and its relationship to the english cutter Arrow. That's really helpful.
 
Tim

Bit more progress. Fore topsail set with all lines fixed in place, including cluelines, buntlines, lifts, bowlines. Topgallant in place but lines not set.

Bit more progress. Fore topsail set with all lines fixed in place, including cluelines, buntlines, lifts, bowlines. Topgallant in place but lines not set.

Bit more progress. Fore topsail set with all lines fixed in place, including cluelines, buntlines, lifts, bowlines. Topgallant in place but lines not set.

Bit more progress. Fore topsail set with all lines fixed in place, including cluelines, buntlines, lifts, bowlines. Topgallant in place but lines not set.

Next  I have created an iron sling for the lower yard on the foremast.  Davis says this is likely  to have been used rather than a rope sling after about 1820 (in his Ship Model Builders Assistant). Its just a bit of blackened brass wire, and a chain, and a home made hook. 
 

Have been slowly plodding along on my Scottish Maid.
Here are a few things that have happened.
 
Firstly, here is my first attempt at a Cranse Iron, which I will use on the lower yard on the foremast. I don't know how to solder, so it is made with a few strips of brass, some brass wire and a brass pin and a bit of CA. The armof the iron rotates but not quite as much as it should!

Glenn,
 
Just discovered your splendid enhancement of this kit.
Wonderful attention to accurate details.
And fantastic sailmaking.
 
Love it.
 
Tim

I agree. Great job.
Transom looks like a hard job done well.
Tim

I agree. Great job.
Transom looks like a hard job done well.
Tim

Love your build. Love your wonderful attention to detail.
Ratlines seem to have just right amount of slack....beautiful.
Tim

Wow! Something else. Monogrammed letters on the whole row of buckets. These are things I have not seen before. Staggering.
Like a hidden treasure suddenly coming to light.
I am sure there is a museum somewhere who would love to have it.
There is a wonderful model in the Melbourne museum of the Cutty Sark, which a local man spent his whole adult life making, and so the museum has put it on display.
I feel this model also deserves the same treatment.
 
Tim

What a wonderful daughter you are...helping your Dad with his hobby.
I pray that you would have great patience with him. Bless you.
 
Tim

Wow! Something else. Monogrammed letters on the whole row of buckets. These are things I have not seen before. Staggering.
Like a hidden treasure suddenly coming to light.
I am sure there is a museum somewhere who would love to have it.
There is a wonderful model in the Melbourne museum of the Cutty Sark, which a local man spent his whole adult life making, and so the museum has put it on display.
I feel this model also deserves the same treatment.
 
Tim