tlevine

Before you go any farther with the deck, make a mock-up off the model and then apply a coat of finish.  If there is going to be any bleeding, it will show up then.

I have constructed all of the upper deck beams and glued them temporarily in place.  Most of the deck beams are directly above the lower deck beams.  Six of the beams are offset either fore or aft, some for obvious reasons (like a mast being in the way) and others for reasons I am sure I will figure out later.  Once I mark the centerline and carling locations, I will remove the beams so I can finish the lower deck.
 

 
The Swan class had one set of sleepers.  These are large knees that attach to the aft cant frames and filling transoms with 1" bolts.  These are made by cutting out templates to the rough shape and then sanding them to the correct shape.  As they are set at an angle, the two faces are not perpendicular to the sides.
 

 

There are two treenails at each intersection.  As suggested in TFFM, I impressed a dimple in the wood with a very sharp point and then used a pencil to highlight the dimple.  The pictures show the main hatch cover prior to treenailing and the aft hatch cover completed.  They still need to be sanded down on the undersurface to the correct depth on top to match the curvature of the deck.  If I sand some of the treenails off in the process, they are easily redone.
 

 

 

I finished the iron work for the main mast at the thwart.  Just shaping and attach with CA.  You can see the hinge work for the cabinet to the left (too much reflection).  I soldered a piece of brass wire to a thin brass strip,  Then cut pieces to size from the larger sample.  The seats were trimmed and installed for fit.  Then the were taken of for 3 coats of paint, hinges glued in place and re-installed.  Next the knees were trimmed to shape and painted with several coats and installed (along with the mast step).  The knee at the bow needs another two coats of paint. 
Maury

I have constructed all of the upper deck beams and glued them temporarily in place.  Most of the deck beams are directly above the lower deck beams.  Six of the beams are offset either fore or aft, some for obvious reasons (like a mast being in the way) and others for reasons I am sure I will figure out later.  Once I mark the centerline and carling locations, I will remove the beams so I can finish the lower deck.
 

 
The Swan class had one set of sleepers.  These are large knees that attach to the aft cant frames and filling transoms with 1" bolts.  These are made by cutting out templates to the rough shape and then sanding them to the correct shape.  As they are set at an angle, the two faces are not perpendicular to the sides.
 

 

I have constructed all of the upper deck beams and glued them temporarily in place.  Most of the deck beams are directly above the lower deck beams.  Six of the beams are offset either fore or aft, some for obvious reasons (like a mast being in the way) and others for reasons I am sure I will figure out later.  Once I mark the centerline and carling locations, I will remove the beams so I can finish the lower deck.
 

 
The Swan class had one set of sleepers.  These are large knees that attach to the aft cant frames and filling transoms with 1" bolts.  These are made by cutting out templates to the rough shape and then sanding them to the correct shape.  As they are set at an angle, the two faces are not perpendicular to the sides.
 

 

There are two treenails at each intersection.  As suggested in TFFM, I impressed a dimple in the wood with a very sharp point and then used a pencil to highlight the dimple.  The pictures show the main hatch cover prior to treenailing and the aft hatch cover completed.  They still need to be sanded down on the undersurface to the correct depth on top to match the curvature of the deck.  If I sand some of the treenails off in the process, they are easily redone.
 

 

 

I have constructed all of the upper deck beams and glued them temporarily in place.  Most of the deck beams are directly above the lower deck beams.  Six of the beams are offset either fore or aft, some for obvious reasons (like a mast being in the way) and others for reasons I am sure I will figure out later.  Once I mark the centerline and carling locations, I will remove the beams so I can finish the lower deck.
 

 
The Swan class had one set of sleepers.  These are large knees that attach to the aft cant frames and filling transoms with 1" bolts.  These are made by cutting out templates to the rough shape and then sanding them to the correct shape.  As they are set at an angle, the two faces are not perpendicular to the sides.
 

 

I have constructed all of the upper deck beams and glued them temporarily in place.  Most of the deck beams are directly above the lower deck beams.  Six of the beams are offset either fore or aft, some for obvious reasons (like a mast being in the way) and others for reasons I am sure I will figure out later.  Once I mark the centerline and carling locations, I will remove the beams so I can finish the lower deck.
 

 
The Swan class had one set of sleepers.  These are large knees that attach to the aft cant frames and filling transoms with 1" bolts.  These are made by cutting out templates to the rough shape and then sanding them to the correct shape.  As they are set at an angle, the two faces are not perpendicular to the sides.
 

 

I have constructed all of the upper deck beams and glued them temporarily in place.  Most of the deck beams are directly above the lower deck beams.  Six of the beams are offset either fore or aft, some for obvious reasons (like a mast being in the way) and others for reasons I am sure I will figure out later.  Once I mark the centerline and carling locations, I will remove the beams so I can finish the lower deck.
 

 
The Swan class had one set of sleepers.  These are large knees that attach to the aft cant frames and filling transoms with 1" bolts.  These are made by cutting out templates to the rough shape and then sanding them to the correct shape.  As they are set at an angle, the two faces are not perpendicular to the sides.
 

 

I have constructed all of the upper deck beams and glued them temporarily in place.  Most of the deck beams are directly above the lower deck beams.  Six of the beams are offset either fore or aft, some for obvious reasons (like a mast being in the way) and others for reasons I am sure I will figure out later.  Once I mark the centerline and carling locations, I will remove the beams so I can finish the lower deck.
 

 
The Swan class had one set of sleepers.  These are large knees that attach to the aft cant frames and filling transoms with 1" bolts.  These are made by cutting out templates to the rough shape and then sanding them to the correct shape.  As they are set at an angle, the two faces are not perpendicular to the sides.
 

 

I have constructed all of the upper deck beams and glued them temporarily in place.  Most of the deck beams are directly above the lower deck beams.  Six of the beams are offset either fore or aft, some for obvious reasons (like a mast being in the way) and others for reasons I am sure I will figure out later.  Once I mark the centerline and carling locations, I will remove the beams so I can finish the lower deck.
 

 
The Swan class had one set of sleepers.  These are large knees that attach to the aft cant frames and filling transoms with 1" bolts.  These are made by cutting out templates to the rough shape and then sanding them to the correct shape.  As they are set at an angle, the two faces are not perpendicular to the sides.
 

 

A belated thank you to Kevin and Tom.  I was out of town for the holiday weekend.
 
The hatch gratings come next.  The gratings are made of two different types of slats.  The athwartship pieces are thicker and are notched to accept the thinner un-notched fore-and-aft slats.  These thicker slats rest on the coaming rabbet.  The notches are 0.05" wide and 0.025" deep (scale 2.5" x 1 1/4").  Let me tell you my grating construction technique.  First cut stock for both types of slats.  Cut individual thick slats approx. the length required.  Glue their side edges together with PVA to form a multilayered sandwich.  This way, when the notches are cut you can be guaranteed they will match.  I deliberately keep one end ratty and the other end neat for polarity.  Set the saw blade to depth of the notch.  In this photo the kerf width is 0.045" but the width does not matter as long as it is thinner than the width of the slot. 
 

 

 
When I was building Hannah I made a grating jig for her at 1:36 scale.  I knew I would want a 1:48 jig at some point in the future and made one then, gluing the two jigs back-to-back for stability. 
 

 
To make the notches, place the jig over the blade and pull the jig gently away from the blade.  Secure the fence.  This defines one edge of the slot.  Cut the slot into the sandwich.  Then release the fence and push the jig against the blade.  Secure the fence and cut the other edge of the slot.  Move the jig over to the next position and repeat the process until done.  Be sure to add a few extra rows of slots in case your measurements are a little off or a piece breaks off during final shaping. 
 

 

 

 
Soak the sandwich in isopropyl until the pieces fall apart from each other.  Clean off the glue residue and they are done.  The same jig can be used to hold the notched slats in place while the thinner slats are glued in place.
 

Thanks, Mark.
 
The next items to make were the hatch coamings.  I chose to model them in cherry for the contrast.  The gratings will be in boxwood.  They are composed of four pieces (two fore and aft coamings and two athwart head ledges).  The coamings have a rabbet to accept the grating.  There was no rabbet on the coaming for the ladderway.  On the real ship they would interlock with a tailed half-lap joint; I made a simpler half-lap joint.  The head ledges curve to match the round-up of the deck.  Rather than making the entire assembly off the ship and then sanding in the curvature, I glued the head ledges directly onto the beams.  There is not that much round-up so pre-bending the wood was not necessary.  Once they were dry I installed the coamings and cleaned up the joints. 
 

 

 
At the corners, the edges are rounded off to the deck level only, leaving a 90 degree corner from the beam to the top of the decking. 
 

 
Each head ledge is secured with three bolts.  I did not have any brass wire with me so I dyed a bamboo treenail black to simulate the bolt.  Treenails secure the coamings.  I spaced them approximately every foot.  The treenails are also made of cherry.
 

Well guys, after finally getting all the gun deck ports cut in and the framing of the gun deck done I went to work on the out side of the hull installing the main wale. Montagu main wale was four strakes of 8 1/2 inch thick planks, with the upper two being locked together and the bottom two being locked together. When I mean locked together am talking about a hook anchor type of plank. Peter Goodwin shows this in his book but I also found to primary plans of it one being the Elizebeth and ,Montagues. I like Elizebeth wale and also her other planking that Montaguplanking is taken after her. Being that I don't have any ideally of which type was applied, felt safe following her's. Now when it came to the thickness of this planking I decided to do it in two layers both being applied hook anchor type planking. Doing the first layer like this gave me a chance to practice before I layed the outside layer and once it was done,it was dyed black and given a coat or two of wax. I wanted a black wale but didn't want to mess with ebony and one can not tell the difference when you look at it with ebony laying next to it. Another one of those interesting items that was fun to do.






 





 



 

A belated thank you to Kevin and Tom.  I was out of town for the holiday weekend.
 
The hatch gratings come next.  The gratings are made of two different types of slats.  The athwartship pieces are thicker and are notched to accept the thinner un-notched fore-and-aft slats.  These thicker slats rest on the coaming rabbet.  The notches are 0.05" wide and 0.025" deep (scale 2.5" x 1 1/4").  Let me tell you my grating construction technique.  First cut stock for both types of slats.  Cut individual thick slats approx. the length required.  Glue their side edges together with PVA to form a multilayered sandwich.  This way, when the notches are cut you can be guaranteed they will match.  I deliberately keep one end ratty and the other end neat for polarity.  Set the saw blade to depth of the notch.  In this photo the kerf width is 0.045" but the width does not matter as long as it is thinner than the width of the slot. 
 

 

 
When I was building Hannah I made a grating jig for her at 1:36 scale.  I knew I would want a 1:48 jig at some point in the future and made one then, gluing the two jigs back-to-back for stability. 
 

 
To make the notches, place the jig over the blade and pull the jig gently away from the blade.  Secure the fence.  This defines one edge of the slot.  Cut the slot into the sandwich.  Then release the fence and push the jig against the blade.  Secure the fence and cut the other edge of the slot.  Move the jig over to the next position and repeat the process until done.  Be sure to add a few extra rows of slots in case your measurements are a little off or a piece breaks off during final shaping. 
 

 

 

 
Soak the sandwich in isopropyl until the pieces fall apart from each other.  Clean off the glue residue and they are done.  The same jig can be used to hold the notched slats in place while the thinner slats are glued in place.
 

There are two treenails at each intersection.  As suggested in TFFM, I impressed a dimple in the wood with a very sharp point and then used a pencil to highlight the dimple.  The pictures show the main hatch cover prior to treenailing and the aft hatch cover completed.  They still need to be sanded down on the undersurface to the correct depth on top to match the curvature of the deck.  If I sand some of the treenails off in the process, they are easily redone.
 

 

 

There are two treenails at each intersection.  As suggested in TFFM, I impressed a dimple in the wood with a very sharp point and then used a pencil to highlight the dimple.  The pictures show the main hatch cover prior to treenailing and the aft hatch cover completed.  They still need to be sanded down on the undersurface to the correct depth on top to match the curvature of the deck.  If I sand some of the treenails off in the process, they are easily redone.
 

 

 

A belated thank you to Kevin and Tom.  I was out of town for the holiday weekend.
 
The hatch gratings come next.  The gratings are made of two different types of slats.  The athwartship pieces are thicker and are notched to accept the thinner un-notched fore-and-aft slats.  These thicker slats rest on the coaming rabbet.  The notches are 0.05" wide and 0.025" deep (scale 2.5" x 1 1/4").  Let me tell you my grating construction technique.  First cut stock for both types of slats.  Cut individual thick slats approx. the length required.  Glue their side edges together with PVA to form a multilayered sandwich.  This way, when the notches are cut you can be guaranteed they will match.  I deliberately keep one end ratty and the other end neat for polarity.  Set the saw blade to depth of the notch.  In this photo the kerf width is 0.045" but the width does not matter as long as it is thinner than the width of the slot. 
 

 

 
When I was building Hannah I made a grating jig for her at 1:36 scale.  I knew I would want a 1:48 jig at some point in the future and made one then, gluing the two jigs back-to-back for stability. 
 

 
To make the notches, place the jig over the blade and pull the jig gently away from the blade.  Secure the fence.  This defines one edge of the slot.  Cut the slot into the sandwich.  Then release the fence and push the jig against the blade.  Secure the fence and cut the other edge of the slot.  Move the jig over to the next position and repeat the process until done.  Be sure to add a few extra rows of slots in case your measurements are a little off or a piece breaks off during final shaping. 
 

 

 

 
Soak the sandwich in isopropyl until the pieces fall apart from each other.  Clean off the glue residue and they are done.  The same jig can be used to hold the notched slats in place while the thinner slats are glued in place.
 

A belated thank you to Kevin and Tom.  I was out of town for the holiday weekend.
 
The hatch gratings come next.  The gratings are made of two different types of slats.  The athwartship pieces are thicker and are notched to accept the thinner un-notched fore-and-aft slats.  These thicker slats rest on the coaming rabbet.  The notches are 0.05" wide and 0.025" deep (scale 2.5" x 1 1/4").  Let me tell you my grating construction technique.  First cut stock for both types of slats.  Cut individual thick slats approx. the length required.  Glue their side edges together with PVA to form a multilayered sandwich.  This way, when the notches are cut you can be guaranteed they will match.  I deliberately keep one end ratty and the other end neat for polarity.  Set the saw blade to depth of the notch.  In this photo the kerf width is 0.045" but the width does not matter as long as it is thinner than the width of the slot. 
 

 

 
When I was building Hannah I made a grating jig for her at 1:36 scale.  I knew I would want a 1:48 jig at some point in the future and made one then, gluing the two jigs back-to-back for stability. 
 

 
To make the notches, place the jig over the blade and pull the jig gently away from the blade.  Secure the fence.  This defines one edge of the slot.  Cut the slot into the sandwich.  Then release the fence and push the jig against the blade.  Secure the fence and cut the other edge of the slot.  Move the jig over to the next position and repeat the process until done.  Be sure to add a few extra rows of slots in case your measurements are a little off or a piece breaks off during final shaping. 
 

 

 

 
Soak the sandwich in isopropyl until the pieces fall apart from each other.  Clean off the glue residue and they are done.  The same jig can be used to hold the notched slats in place while the thinner slats are glued in place.
 

There are two treenails at each intersection.  As suggested in TFFM, I impressed a dimple in the wood with a very sharp point and then used a pencil to highlight the dimple.  The pictures show the main hatch cover prior to treenailing and the aft hatch cover completed.  They still need to be sanded down on the undersurface to the correct depth on top to match the curvature of the deck.  If I sand some of the treenails off in the process, they are easily redone.
 

 

 

There are two treenails at each intersection.  As suggested in TFFM, I impressed a dimple in the wood with a very sharp point and then used a pencil to highlight the dimple.  The pictures show the main hatch cover prior to treenailing and the aft hatch cover completed.  They still need to be sanded down on the undersurface to the correct depth on top to match the curvature of the deck.  If I sand some of the treenails off in the process, they are easily redone.
 

 

 

A belated thank you to Kevin and Tom.  I was out of town for the holiday weekend.
 
The hatch gratings come next.  The gratings are made of two different types of slats.  The athwartship pieces are thicker and are notched to accept the thinner un-notched fore-and-aft slats.  These thicker slats rest on the coaming rabbet.  The notches are 0.05" wide and 0.025" deep (scale 2.5" x 1 1/4").  Let me tell you my grating construction technique.  First cut stock for both types of slats.  Cut individual thick slats approx. the length required.  Glue their side edges together with PVA to form a multilayered sandwich.  This way, when the notches are cut you can be guaranteed they will match.  I deliberately keep one end ratty and the other end neat for polarity.  Set the saw blade to depth of the notch.  In this photo the kerf width is 0.045" but the width does not matter as long as it is thinner than the width of the slot. 
 

 

 
When I was building Hannah I made a grating jig for her at 1:36 scale.  I knew I would want a 1:48 jig at some point in the future and made one then, gluing the two jigs back-to-back for stability. 
 

 
To make the notches, place the jig over the blade and pull the jig gently away from the blade.  Secure the fence.  This defines one edge of the slot.  Cut the slot into the sandwich.  Then release the fence and push the jig against the blade.  Secure the fence and cut the other edge of the slot.  Move the jig over to the next position and repeat the process until done.  Be sure to add a few extra rows of slots in case your measurements are a little off or a piece breaks off during final shaping. 
 

 

 

 
Soak the sandwich in isopropyl until the pieces fall apart from each other.  Clean off the glue residue and they are done.  The same jig can be used to hold the notched slats in place while the thinner slats are glued in place.
 

Thanks, Mark.
 
The next items to make were the hatch coamings.  I chose to model them in cherry for the contrast.  The gratings will be in boxwood.  They are composed of four pieces (two fore and aft coamings and two athwart head ledges).  The coamings have a rabbet to accept the grating.  There was no rabbet on the coaming for the ladderway.  On the real ship they would interlock with a tailed half-lap joint; I made a simpler half-lap joint.  The head ledges curve to match the round-up of the deck.  Rather than making the entire assembly off the ship and then sanding in the curvature, I glued the head ledges directly onto the beams.  There is not that much round-up so pre-bending the wood was not necessary.  Once they were dry I installed the coamings and cleaned up the joints. 
 

 

 
At the corners, the edges are rounded off to the deck level only, leaving a 90 degree corner from the beam to the top of the decking. 
 

 
Each head ledge is secured with three bolts.  I did not have any brass wire with me so I dyed a bamboo treenail black to simulate the bolt.  Treenails secure the coamings.  I spaced them approximately every foot.  The treenails are also made of cherry.
 

Thanks, Mark.
 
The next items to make were the hatch coamings.  I chose to model them in cherry for the contrast.  The gratings will be in boxwood.  They are composed of four pieces (two fore and aft coamings and two athwart head ledges).  The coamings have a rabbet to accept the grating.  There was no rabbet on the coaming for the ladderway.  On the real ship they would interlock with a tailed half-lap joint; I made a simpler half-lap joint.  The head ledges curve to match the round-up of the deck.  Rather than making the entire assembly off the ship and then sanding in the curvature, I glued the head ledges directly onto the beams.  There is not that much round-up so pre-bending the wood was not necessary.  Once they were dry I installed the coamings and cleaned up the joints. 
 

 

 
At the corners, the edges are rounded off to the deck level only, leaving a 90 degree corner from the beam to the top of the decking. 
 

 
Each head ledge is secured with three bolts.  I did not have any brass wire with me so I dyed a bamboo treenail black to simulate the bolt.  Treenails secure the coamings.  I spaced them approximately every foot.  The treenails are also made of cherry.