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But Greg, you know that planking was done correctly.  Isn't that all that matters?

Beautiful work, as always, Remco.  I hope nothing else "needs" rebuilding.   

Greg, Mark, thank you.  Druxey, I felt the same way until I was rummaging through a pile of wood and found a piece of holly marked "save for deck planking". The color is a little darker and will be a much better match.  So, time to remove the new decking and install the new-new decking.

Anyone who would try and turn the crank ought to have their hand severely slapped.  Maury, looks great.

I held off on fabricating the brake pumps because of their fragility and small size.  I know I will lose them so they will be made when I am ready to install them.  My approach to the rhodings is not quite prototypical.  Because they are black and the axletree is also black, detail is difficult to see, so I went for ease of construction.  The rhoding on the main jeer bitt is a simple brass strap that has been cinched around the axletree and glued to the bitt.  There is a spacer block between the main topsail sheet bitt and the rhoding.  The spacer block is wood that has been shaped and painted black.  The rhoding is another brass strap.  I have drilled the bitt to represent the bolts holding the spacer block/rhoding assembly.  In the picture these have not been blackened yet.

I put together another short length of chain and inserted it into the port pump tube.

There are two athwartship bulkheads aft.  So far, everything on the starboard side has been left open to highlight the structure.  I am changing course and building the bulkheads port and starboard.  I am toying with the idea of furnishing these cabins.  First, stubs of deck planking are laid to support the bulkhead. Then, card templates are made.  The bulkhead will be made sandwich fashion, with outer wood planking and a "meat" of template. There is a big color difference between the old and new planking.  All this planking came from the same sheet of holly.  The rest of the planking was installed in July, 2014 (page 29 of this log).  Since I will not be  permanently installing the bulkheads for some months, hopefully the colors will blend together.

Looks great Maury.  Gosh, it's been awhile since I inspired anyone!

Thanks, Bob.

Thank you gentlemen.  I hope to get the rhodings  and brake pumps made this weekend.  

Robin, just to make sure he didn't creep back into sight, I snapped off his feet and threw him into the brink.  Thank you Druxey, Mark, David and Maury.  And thank you everyone for the likes.

The final assembly is complicated by the fact the the height of the axletree must exactly fit the opening in the cistern cover, both in height and distance from the midline.  I had to remake the stanchions twice (and in one case, three times) to get the perfect fit.  The outer leg of the stanchion is inserted into a hole drilled in the hatch coaming.  The inner leg is secured with a bolt.  In the photos the metal looks unevenly blackened.  In real life it does not look blotchy.

This is one of the rare times I used CA.  I was concerned that the Elmer's Yellow would not hold the metal.  Once everything was secure, the chain was glued into the outer pump tube and then draped over the wheel assembly.  The port assembly turns; the starboard does not.  You can also see the pump dale sitting next to the port cistern.  This is a straight-forward box with a tongue to insert into the side of the cistern.  Since I have not decided what I will eventually do with the ordinance, I decided not to install it onto the cistern.

Now that everything is secure, I will make and install the rhodings.

Bob, the fittings look great.  I love how you used the low temperature Stay-Brite to snug up the top bracket.  Did the two solders blacken the same or can you see a color difference where you added the fillet of Stay-Brite?

At first glance, the pump brake is an imposing structure with its multiple right angles.  Add to that the need to make the port and starboard brakes look alike. The axletree is made from five segments of 1.5" brass wire.  The vertical connectors are fabricated from 3" square brass rod which has been drilled to accept the axletree segments and shaped with files.  The various pieces were silver soldered together except where the long segment inserts into its fore connecting rod. This allows for fine adjustments in length during the final installation.  Don't forget to insert the wheel!

I am lucky enough to have Admiralty Models' PE set for the Swan class and this includes the wheel components and links of chain.  This is assembled like a bicycle chain, alternating double and single links.  Brass wire was inserted through the holes and the ends peened to secure it.  The picture also shows other components of the PE sheet.  After blackening, the chain look great in person but terrible on camera so I only am showing a top view to demonstrate the linking process.  

As a next step, everything is temporarily assembled to check for gross mistakes.

Gosh, guys, it's nice to be missed.  More pics today or tomorrow (having computer issues).

It has been a long time between posts but I hope to make up for that over the next month.  There is always so much to do in the summer that there is not much time for sitting inside and breathing in sawdust.

For months now I keep "hearing" robin's not-too-complementary comment about my lazy sailor.  Of course he was right and so he has been evicted from his bunk and set off to work somewhere where he cannot be seen.    Since his bunk is no longer occupied, I have rolled and tied it to match the other two bunks.  

I went back to the plans and David's drawing and reworked the cistern cover.  It looks much better now.

The pump axletree is supported at the ends by support brackets.  Most of the Swan class ships used wood standards but Atalanta's plan show a metal bracket instead.  These are bolted to the hatch coamings.  These were made with 1.5" brass wire and tubing.  The parts were then silver soldered.  I have left one end long; this will be inserted into the coaming.  I assume there is a bolt on the underside of the coaming.  They will be blackened.

Let me add my congratulations as well.  Your build is an inspiration to us all.  Hopefully, in a few years my Swan class will be able to hold a candle to yours. And now to check out your tutorial on the axletree and winch. 

That garboard strake is the key and yours look great.  

Thank you, John.  And thanks for all the likes.  Maury and Danny, I agree with both of you.  I will be sanding it down before final installation. Overhead stowage of the pump dale between the beams makes sense to me Druxey.  I will probably install the port side dale.

Time to work on the pumps and cistern.  I had previously rough-shaped the hexagonal pump tubes and left them long for final shaping later.  There are four tubes that terminate in the cistern and in front of them are the two hand pumps.  Each of the tubes was cut to length based on the drawings in TFFM.  They were bored for insertion of the pistons later.  They have been dry-fit into their openings in the deck and main mast partners.  The nozzles for the hand pumps point 45^o aft.  I did not have any metal supplies with me this week so they will be finished and permanently installed later.

The cisterns are relatively straightforward.  They are essentially boxes with two vertical side and two canted sides sitting on legs which are wider in the front than in the back.  There is a slot outboard for insertion of the pump dale and holes in the bottom for the pump tubes.  The outboard feet are taller than the inboard ones to compensate for the thickness of the mast partner.

There is a removable cowling which covers the pump wheel and chain assembly.  I have decided to make the port cowling and leave the starboard cistern uncovered to demonstrate the wheel and chain.  They still need to be detailed and I have not decided whether to show the pump dale.  Where would it be stored when not in use?

The cisterns are temporarily set in place behind the main mast.  There are a lot of structures in a very small space. 

Thank you Remco and thanks to everyone for  the likes.  Maury, he's a lazy piece of you-know-what and I can't get him out of his hammock.  Actually, I had to remove some of the ledges to install the jeer bitts.  I never liked the colors so he is going to receive a new paint job.

Work has reared its ugly head again and left me very little free time for modeling.  I finally was able to devote a few hours to Atalanta over the weekend.  Moving aft, the next items to fabricate are the main topsail sheet bitts (mtsb), the gallows cross-piece and the main jeer bitts (mjb).  None of these items will be permanently installed until later to prevent inadvertent damage and to facilitate installation of the pumps and axletree.  

The mtsb consists of two bitt pins, the bitt cross-piece and the gallows cross piece.  The pins are secured to the upper and lower deck beams with bolts and there is a score for the upper deck beam on the fore face of the pin.  There are also scores in the fore face for the insertion of the cross-piece. This is also bolted to the bitt pins.  Finally, there is a sheave in the pin just below the cross piece, along with a cheek block.  The top of the pin has a decorative panel as seen on the plans.  These were made by adding vertical and horizontal strips of wood to each side of the bitt and then tapering them to give the appearance of a beveled panel.  A pin was placed in the top of the bitt to secure the gallows cross-piece.  You will notice that the lower ends of the bitt pins for both the mtsb and the mjb are different port and starboard.  This is because the port side is fully planked and the starboard side is left open.  I did not want to damage the lower deck planking during their installation.

In TFFM, David gives three examples of typical gallows cross-pieces.  I selected the one with the ogee edge as anything fancier is beyond my carving capabilities.  At this point the piece looked too plain and I recalled how nice Remco's looked so I decided to try and give it a decorative edge effect. Using French curves, I first drew in the shape of the carving with pencil.  I knew some of the lead would end up in the depth of the cut and make it stand out better.  Next, I used the tip of a dull #11 scalpel blade (also with the French curves) to start outlining the carving.  Once there was sufficient depth, I switched to the tip of a triangular file to widen and deepen the cut.  All of the edges are chamfered.  Finish was applied to the gallows cross-piece but not to the bitt pins and it was pinned in place.  The bitts will be given a finish after they are permanently installed.

The mjb is similar in construction to the mtsb with a few exceptions.  First, the cross-piece attaches on the aft face of the bitt pin, not the fore as in the mtsb.  Secondly, the top mortises into the lower side of a quarter deck beam.  I made a card template of a quarter deck beam to set the exact height of the pin.  Finally, on Atalanta, the pin narrows above the cross-piece.  

I think mine we replaced 3 times!  Although one of those it was the dog's fault.

Erik, as you peruse other build logs you will find that most of us are PVA-people or CA-people.  Several years ago I almost exclusively used medium viscosity CA.  I could move along more rapidly and the only clamps required were my fingers.  But if you make a mistake, acetone is required for debonding.  It also is brittle (if you use it on rigging).  PVA does not get absorbed into the wood the way CA does so if you apply a clear finish there is less chance of glue stains on this very thin and porous basswood planking.  If you let the two mating surfaces become tacky, it takes much less time for the bond to strengthen.  In case of mistakes it debonds with isopropyl alcohol, which is much safer to work with.  When I build the longboat, the only times I used CA was when I was gluing the planking into the stem rabbet.

I use an old X ray view box as my light table.  With everyone switching to digital, they are relics taking up room in a lot of doctor's offices.  In my hospital, they are being thrown out  whenever an area gets repainted.

Maury, there would be a cant (sill) into which the bulkhead would fit.  In my case, I will make edge pieces rather than rabbet out a cant.  These will be installed after the bulkhead is permanently installed, after the forecastle deck is completed.

Robin, thank you for your comments.  Everything you say makes total sense and I remember the discussion from Dan's build.  However, when in doubt follow the plans.  Atalanta's deck plan from the NMM show the double doors in the location I have constructed.  So either there was a "doggie door" built into the bulkhead for running cable or else the bulkhead was removed as it would be in a combat situation.

Thanks for keeping me in line, Druxey!  Now how do I slip in an Abbot?

There has been very little time lately for modeling but I was able to build the forecastle bulkhead.  In keeping with the rest of the model, I only made the port side and mid-portion of the bulkhead.  I made this up with a center core of basswood sheet.  Costello was then applied to both sides of the basswood to represent the bullkhead and doors.  The edges of the center panels are sanded down to simulate a floating panel.  At this magnification, I must admit that some of the edges look a little rough but when you look at it installed, it really looks ship-shape.  The hinges are brass photoetch from Admiralty Models.  The window is glazed with acetate.  I will not install this until the forecastle beams are permanently glued into place.  Once installed, I will add the edge piece that intersects with the hull and the deck cant into which the bulkhead inserts.