tlevine

The ship is very nice. The background story is amazing.

Thanks everyone for the comments and the likes. One thing I forgot to mention is that the "glass" on the binnacle is mica.

It really depends on personal preference. For example, some builders prefer water-based and others prefer oil or spirit based. Your best bet is to look at some of the builds and pick out your preference in appearance. Then try it out on some scrap to make sure you like the look. On my Atalanta, for example, all of the wood is finished with Watco's except for the holly on the lower hull which is clear flat dope. In particular, look at the difference between the deck planking and the lower hull... They are both holly but have totally different appearances because of the different finishes applied.

Discount Campus is who I purchased my mill from.

I ordered my Sherline mill from an authorized retailer for significantly less money. The name escapes me but it was somewhere on the East coast. The advantage of buying direct from Sherline is the advise you will receive to guide your purchase. Don't forget, the accessories will cost you at least as much as the mill itself, so plan your purchase accordingly.

The plans do not show a binnacle but the contemporary model does. I decided to build one. The binnacle was made out of pear and is glazed with mica. I toyed with the idea of putting a compass and lantern inside but for the time being I have left it empty. The "sliding" door on the back is tack-glued so I can remove it later if I decide to make them. The binnacle will eventually be attached to the deck with ropes via two eyebolts in the deck. I have shown it in the correct position just abaft the mizzen mast. The chimney is turned brass and will be kept bright. The tiller has also been reinstalled...correctly.

It has been a while since my last posting, not for lack of working on Atalanta but for a lack of acceptable results. The next items to make were the rails surrounding the stairway. There are four iron stanchions supporting a rail on three sides. The aft two are shorter to compensate for the angle of the quarter deck. My first thought was to turn the stanchions. There is a ball top and a flared base. Sounds simple enough... I tried every imaginable rpm and feed rate and universally the piece snapped off before completion. I looked at Dan's Vulture log and he stated that he was able to turn the stanchions. Suffice to say, after way too many hours of frustration, I gave up. On to Plan B. I used segments of brass tubing threaded on to the correct diameter brass wire for the ball and flare, silver soldering them in place. Then I hand-filed the appropriate shapes. Two of the stanchions have a single eye soldered on to them and the other two have a figure of 8 so two rails could attach to them. All told, this deceptively simple part took almost 8 hours (otherwise known as an entire weekend). The upper capstan is temporarily positioned and the cleats have been installed.

There are several copies of Anatomy of the Ship: Victory for sale on Amazon. Don't forget Longridge's Anatomy of Nelson's Ships and McGowen's Victory. I found all three of them indespensible when I built my Mantua Victory.

That boat is fantastic. I like the idea of only planking one side.

Thanks Druxey. Michael, its is as he said. It is too difficult for me to create the rail with the holes for the timberheads in the exact correct location so they were cut off on the port side and will be added later. The final height for the frames is not exactly right a this time. I was afraid, considering the lenghth of time for construction, they would get damaged. They will get their final trim when I am closer to the end of the build. Please keep in mind that I frequently travel to work for a week at a time. Atalanta gets to travel with me in the back seat of the car so anything protruding from the top or either end is at risk of damage.

Elijah, the iron work is all brass strip which has been silver soldered and then blackened. The bolts in the rudder are brass wire.

Thanks for the likes, everyone. Druxey, thank you for catching that. I inserted the tiller into the rudder for the picture, as you noted, upside down. Greg, I plan on making the binnacle and may even show the capstan with the bars inserted.

I have not had much time to work on Atalanta lately. I got suckered into restoring a friend's tourist quality model. We have all heard the story... "Dearly departed Dad loved it so much and it reminds me of him." Unfortunately, dear dad had no compunction about smoking in the same room with it or spilling a beverage over it. At least the local hospital auxilliary will get a nice donation as payment for my effort. The deck has been scraped down and two coats of Watco's have been applied, separated by 24 hours between coats. The shine is because I was not patient enough to wait until tomorrow to take pictures. Next on the agenda is the steering apparatus. I actually was looking forward to making a ship's wheel. I have never made one and this was one of my driving reasons behind purchasing a mill. On the plans there are faint pencil markings for where the wheel was placed. These markings were obviously not part of the original design. My guess is that a wheel was installed when she refitted and coppering in 1778. There is also a model (not on display) at the Royal Museum Greenwich which definitely shows a tiller. So, a tiller it is. I made my tiller of a less extreme angle than shown on the model. The end of the model's tiller looked like it was almost five feet from the deck. I made mine to end just above waist level to facilitate handling. The model also shows a cabinet built around the rudder head. This definitely was not on the plan so I am leaving it exposed. I spent too much time making that rudder head look good to cover it up unnecessarily. The tiller is made of castello with a knob of pear. Looking through the RMG collection of tillers I found everything from what looked like a 4x4 to a fancifully carved piece of art. I did a simple embossing of the sides. The top was left plain.

Don't forget the sea birds calling, as well.

Looking great, Ben. It is amazing how these woods change color over time, even with a finish applied.

Since you have the plans, start off by determining your scale. Once you have done that you can determine the frame thickness from the plans. Do the plans have the frames drawn out? If so, make copies in the correct scale and draw in your floor and futtock lines. Now draw out the individual parts, cut them out and lay them out on a 2" or 3" wide board. You will have to do this eventually anyhow. You can now determine how much framing wood is necessary. Do the same thing for the deck beams. There will be enough scrap to cover carlings and ledges. How much planking are you going to put on? As a rough gauge, I would buy 3 times the surface area you are covering. This will allow for splining rather than edge bending. Thickness is also determined from the plans. As for color, it comes down to aesthetics. Do you prefer blonde, pale yellow, light brown, darker brown or pink? That translates into costello, pau marfin, pear, apple or swiss pear. Holly can be any color from dishwater blonde to stark white. Any wood will darken when a finish is applied, so take that into consideration. And different finishes will affect the wood differently. For example, look at the decking on my Atalanta and compare it with the hull planking. Both of these woods are holly but they came from different suppliers and had a different finish applied. Do yourself a favor and avoid ebony. It's just not worth it for the hassle. There are so many ways of getting black wales that are consistent in color. Check the various scratch logs for suggestions. You could also brouse the various scratch logs for color combinations you like and send a PM to the builder asking what they used.

Excellent video, Kenny. I decided not to sand the tops of the frames initially to prevent them from getting banged up. I still have not sanded down the tops on the side that is to be left unplanked. On the planked side I cut off the timberheads and will install them separately. For me, it would be too difficult to cut the openings in the rail accurately enough if I left them in place. Dan did the same thing with Vulture, I think.

I tried holly treenails on a sample and found two things: they were harder to draw than bamboo and once the finish was applied they darkened because of the end grain and were not appreciably lighter than bamboo. Regardless, your build looks great.

The planking looks great. Why not treenail the holly? I used bamboo treenails for the holly hull on Atalanta and they break up the sea of white.

Thank you everyone for the likes and the kind comments.

I made a companion for the opening in front of the mizzen mast. The walls were made in a laminated fashion using two layers of castello and mica for the glazing. In order to provide some contrast, the roof is pau marfin. The dark line in the aft portion of the hatch is figuring in the wood. Nothing will be glued in place until after the deck has been installed. I have partially planked the quarter deck in the same fashion as the forecastle deck (a center plank flanked by two rows of decking). These planks taper from fore to aft.

Although the instruction sheets are copyright 1976, the kit is much newer. I built the same kit in 1986 and had to cut out all the bulkheads from a printed sheet of plywood. It also did not come with copper plates at that time. I agree with Lou, the plans are extremely inaccurate. Get Longridges book. I also replaced most of the fittings, with scratch built items because of their inaccuracy and size.

Great job on the planking. I wish I had your patience to only install one or two planks a day.

Welcome back, Remco. I've missed your updates.

I don't know about historically accurate but if you want that holly to stay white-white finish it with clear dope. That is the advise given to me by David A. and it worked wonderfully. After a year there is not a hint of yellowing.