tlevine

The crosspiece of the bitts is comprised of two different wood species. The fore section is oak and the thinner aft section is elm. Both of these are light-colored species so I did not want a stark contrast between the two pieces. I used pau marfin for the "elm". The crosspiece is attached to each pin with two bolts. The metal work for the bitt will wait until I have a few other metal projects, although the holes to accept the metal pieces have already been drilled.

Gentlemen, thank you for your comments. It was a little fiddley but I am pleased with the appearance. Druxey, I looked at a lot of build logs and did not see anyone else notch the standards. Remco, this was nothing compared to the detail work on your Kingfisher.

The bitt standards are knees that extend anteriorly from the bitt pin. They are let into the deck beams and ledges by 1". I rough-cut the standard and then cut in the notches using the Preac saw with the blade elevated 1" above the table. To make things more interesting, the round-up of the deck needs to be taken into consideration. Also, the deck slopes upward towards the bow but the bitt pin is perpendicular to the water line. That angle had to be cut on the aft side of the standard so it would fit snuggly against the pin. Once I was happy with the fit, I transferred the shape of the standard onto the rough piece and cut it to the correct shape. The edges are beveled. After the starboard standard was fabricated, the port one was made. The pictures show the port standard before and after final shaping. The standards are bolted to the underlying frames. The cable stopper hole is drilled near the intersection of the pin and the floor height. It is 2.75" in diameter. I used a #60 drill bit and then enlarged and rounded over the hole with Swiss needle files. The hole is barely visible in the last photo. The color difference betweeen the pin and the standard is because I put finish on the pin but will be delaying putting any finish on the standard until after the deck has been installed.

The kit supplied metal wire will not accept solder. I used 26g brass wire obtained from either Hobby Lobby or Joanne Fabrics. Since it is coated I ran it through the gas stovetop flame and pickled it in isolation alcohol after forming. I used Tix solder. Stay bright also works well. These are both soft solders which will accept blackening. Take a peek at my build log to see how I made them.

Thank you Robin and Nils. Joe, I rarely put on more than one coat unless the wood is very porous, like basswood. It simply gets to shiny.

Thanks, John. David, I use Watco's Danish Wood Oil. I believe they have changed the formulation since my new can is yellowing the holly much more than did in the past. At this point, I probably would not recommend it unless one is looking for that "old-timey" look.

It has been a few weeks since I made any progress on Atalanta. Last week was the NRG conference in Charleston. I met several MSW members when I was there. It is great to put a face to a name. I have installed the fifth beam-bitt pin assembly. This is a complicated area to construct not only because you are trying to fit a piece which intersects three decks (fore platform, lower deck and upper deck) but also because the sequence of installation is critical for a correct fit. The bitt pin is tapered on three sides as it descends into the hull. The aft side is perpendicular to the water line. Because I planked the port side, the port pin had to be reshaped below the lower deck to allow installation. This will not be seen because of the bulkheads surrounding it. Because the sequence of installation is so important, I will show it step-by-step. Please remember that the pictures show a dry-fit assembly. The first step was to build the beam-hanging knee assembly. The carlings and ledges were then glued up and removed from the model as its own assembly. The lodging knees were made and the mortises for the ledges were cut. These were also removed from the model. Once all the pieces had been fabricated, it was time for installation. The first step was to install the port pin and the starboard lodging knee. I also had to remove a section of the fore-and-aft bulkhead abaft the 5th beam to allow the beam assembly to pivot into position. This was replaced after everything was glued in place. You can see the notches in the bitt pin for the crossbar to be added later. The bitt was pinned to the lower and upper deck beams. The bolts for the lower deck beam are decorative. The upper ones are functional. The beam-hanging knee assembly was then installed. An additional piece of bulkhead planking was cut to fit underneath the beam so there is no gap between the wall and the lower edge of the beam. The starboard pinn was installed next. In the pictures the pinn is slightly off plumb. This was corrected when everything was glued up. The port lodging knee was then installed. Finally, the carlings and ledges assembly was put in place. Finish will be applied to the pin (except at the notch for the crosspiece) but not to the upper part of the deck structure. The bitt standards are long knees which extend forward from the pinn to the third beam. David states that these structures should be notched for the beams they intersect but does not say anything about the ledges and carlings that also intersect the standards. Any help would be appreciated as I have not yet decided how much of the upper deck I will be planking.

Robin, sorry for the delay in responding but I don't get to the computer every day. The dimensions were taken from TFFM. I would doubt there would be much room for storage underneath the platform. These rooms were more like cells than anything else. No natural lighting, no ventilation and no headroom. You would not have been able to comfortably stand erect. Maybe someone else has some insight.

Ed, thank you for the information. I have never worked with copper, except for hull plating. I will probably start playing with both of those so see how they work for me. The cup burr I just bought is coincidentally the type suggested by Remco. I got it because it is described as resistant to clogging. Dan, I have used iron wire in the past but decided it might be too soft. Something else to take another look at. As I am flying in to Charleston, Atalanta gets to stay home. Maybe next year if the meeting is driving distance for me. Look forward to meeting you next week. I'm fairly easy to pick out...one of the only girls in the room! Druxey, I will try hand spinning. I had put them in the Dremel at very low speed to prevent the metal from heating up too much.

Thanks Grant and Chris. Druxey, the cup doesn't get clogged from the wood dust?

All the superlatives have been taken. Amazing work.

Great to see you back with KF. Your joinery is lovely, as always.

Well, a few days has turned into a few weeks. I received my cup burrs. They do a nice job of smoothing the ends of brass "bolts". There are several sizes available, depending on the gauge of the wire. I purchased my from Widget Supply, a company that sells hobby supplies. While on the site I found a great sanding devise, a 1/2" disc sander for the Dremel with several grits. I used to get these from Micromark, but they stopped selling them last year. The disc sander is perfect for outside tapers and when you want a less aggressive sander than the drum sander. I have no connection to the company, simply a pleased customer. I have installed beam set 4. Notches have been cut into the bulkhead walls for the carlings and ledges. I am much happier with the bolt head on the fore mast partner after rounding them up and painting them. Blackening was not possible in situ and I was pleased with how it turned out. The hole in the deck aft of beam 5 is for the pin of the bit.

Looks great. I presume you will mast the "scratch" one?

Now aren't you glad you ripped out those planks? Looks much better.

Richard, there are two issues here. First, which woods are best suited to model building? Second, which wood species look good together and (maybe) simulate the appearance of the prototype? As far as the first question...any reasonably hard wood with minimal grain will work fine. There are many builders who insist basswood is fine to use for hull planking. Personally, I prefer to use hardwoods. They cut cleaner, sand better and are more resistant to minor damage during the building process. They, however, are more expensive and do not take paint as well as basswood. Pear, swiss pear, costello boxwood, pau marfin, holly and satinwood come to mind for the lower hull planking. For the wales and upperworks, wood with natural color (apple or cherry) or dyed/stained wood gives a nice contrast. Check out the build logs or the gallery for a palate you find pleasing and contact the builder to find out what woods were employed.

I have ordered the cup burrs. Anything has got to be less annoying than filing and shaping the ends of countless wire "bolts". In the mean time... I attempted to force the brass wire out from the back side with minimal success. I filed the ends flat and then shaped the ends by pinching them in a needle nose pliers. I decided to paint the ends. In order to prevent paint from damaging the wood surface, I applied a coat of finish first. I used thick acrylic hobby paint and daubed it onto the ends of the wire. Two coats were applied. This paint is the kind used for arts and crafts, not the paints that we normally use in model building. I needed something thick so it would not run out on to the wood. The appearance is much better. Pictures in a few days.

I have not tried a cup burr. I usually round them off with a file but apparently forgot to do so with this batch of bolts. I am going to try and improve their appearance by filing them flat and then painting the shiny end or possibly removing and replacing them.

The hand is mostly healed so I was able to get a little work done this weekend. The fore mast partner is located between beams 2 and 3. Unlike the lower deck, the fore and main partners on the upper deck are complicated affairs. The carlings are let into the beam from below but stop one inch below the top of the beam. Fore and aft cross chocks are mortised into the carlings and the beams. Finally, the four corner chocks are mortised into the cross chocks and the carlings. The cross chocks have a round-up to match the beams. A total of 32 bolts hold this assembly together. Sorry for the picture quality but these were taken before I finish sanded and cleaned up the assembly. The blue discoloration is from the droplet of blackener I put on one of the bolts that was damaged during insertion. I put plain water on the area later and it is not longer a problem. The completed assembly is glued to beam 3 but dry-fit to beam 2. The brass wire will keep the assembly in place as I make the knees and carlings. You can see that the blue color is gone. I have started work on the beam 3 assembly. The lodging knees are attached to the beam but everything else is simply press fit in place. I was lucky enough to have bright sun to take pictures in. Yes, I know, light overcast is best to prevent shadows. But sunlight picks up gaps and other irregularities better. You can see the difference between beam set 2, which is finished and glued and beam set 3 which is still in the "rough" stage.

My preference would be for a serving machine. The reason for this is that I already own an OSS and even though it is designed for macro-carpentry I would be hard-pressed justifying a replacement. I guess that's the same reason I still use an ancient Dremel table saw with an Accurizer!

Thanks for your concern, Druxey. The hand is pretty swollen today but I don't think there was any permanent damage. And right now, the culprit wants to play "squeeky-toy"!

Thanks, Jim. I was hoping to have pictures of the fore mast partners this weekend but I hurt my hand (actually I made the mistake of breaking up a dog fight and ended up the only casualty). Next weekend...

Dan, your problem results from the run of the planks near the bow. Take a look at the first page of my build log to see what I mean. If you need some additional pictures, let me know and I will take a few to illustrate the point and send them to you.

Alex, the metal parts I am more likely to step on, especially if they are sharp!

Lots of great ideas. Thanks everyone. As far as cleaning... As I am the "admiral", if I make a mess the only person I can complain to is myself. I try not to let it get too out of hand but if you get something crunchy in your dinner and it looks like a carling, oh well.