tlevine

The NRG Half Hull gave me a much better understanding of spiling. But still requires practice. If done correctly, very little if any clamping is required. 
Edge bending is a method I've yet to try but would like to master both.

It's been interesting watching Olha Batchvarov's build of the Gunboat Philadelphia on YouTube. The planking is different (it's wide sheets of basswood that are too thin to edge bend), so don't use it as a how-to for the kind of planking you're doing. What's been eye-opening for me is how long someone with that much experience takes to get a piece of planking on the hull or the deck just right. It's cutting, checking, sanding, maybe some more cutting, checking, some sanding, checking, sanding, checking, sanding some more, checking, checking again, some more sanding. I know she's more efficient than most people watching her channel. But I could certainly imagine that some who have built that model just glue the pieces in place with a couple cuts and get the model "completed' way more quickly than she does. Expertise makes things quicker. But it's really seemed to me to be a place for lots of patience. Watching her video has helped me realize that I'm not doing something wrong if it takes me a while and sometimes I just need to toss a strip and start over. 
 
The NRG Half Hull model also helped me understand the shapes that pieces of planking have to take. That model uses a different approach in that you cut out the planks from large sheets of basswood to the right size to fit the 3D geometry instead of using long thin strips of wood bent to shape. Edge bending of planks is a different technique. But the Half Hull helped me get a better mental image of what I was trying to achieve by bending planks in two orthogonal directions and the shape I was trying to achieve when fitting a piece onto a 3D hull.

To complete the rudder, we have to add the hinges (pintels and gudgeons).  As is usually the case with me on such iron work, I wont be doing any soldering.   You have heard me say often on this project and others..."Fake it till you make it"...this will be the case for these rudder hinges as well.  To start, paint both sides of the laser cut pieces for the hinges black.  You will be thankful you did later on.

Then glue them onto position on the rudder.  Glue them against the top edge of the slots for them in the rudder.  Note...I wont be creating a working rudder with hinge pins.  For the life of me I dont understand why folks do that at all.  Its not like anyone will be playing with the rudder later.  It will be displayed under glass forever so it doesnt make sense to me.  But if you want to show this you can do so by inserting some 22 gauge black wire into the holes laser cut in these pieces.   My rudder will be stationary but you wont be able to tell any difference once its all done.  Hopefully.  Both sides of these pieces should be flush with the sides of the rudder at this point so sand them flush if you need to.  I have also prepared the hinge strips in advance.  They are 1/16" x 1/64" boxwood strips.  They edges were painted black in advance.  Again you will be doing yourself a huge favor if you do that.
 

These strips were added to the rudder using the laser etched lines as a guide so the correct angles are easily found.   Just let them run off the forward side for now.  Once they are all in position, you can sand the hinges to shape as shown below.  You can also see the top hinge has not yet been trimmed or shaped.   Once completed on both sides, sand the faces of the strips a little, especially if you prefer a thinner hinge strap.  You dont want to make them too heavy.  You can even taper the thickness thinner as they work their way towards the aft edge.
 

Now its optional but this is the time where you can drill along those straps and insert some bolts.  I used 20lb black fishing line.  Then paint the straps black.  You can even apply some weathering powder to these hinges if you want them to look more like metal.  I brushed on a little brown powder although its hard to see that in the photos.
 

 
Here is how the rudder looks all finished up and with black rudder hinges.  Its a pretty effective way to make these and can be done on any model...and you dont even need a laser cutter to do it.
 

With the rudder completed I will start making the married partners for these hinges in much the same way so I can attach it to the model.  But at least you can get an idea of how it will ultimately look.
 

 
 
 
 

Started chapter 10.   The rudder is first thing.
 
The usual treatment for rudder.  It is laser cut and etched on both sides with some lines for the ironwork and to simulate the two parts of the rudder.   The laser char is removed from all edges until its pretty clean.
 
Then the protective strip on the aft side is shaped and glued into position.  But dont add the bolts yet.   In addition, add the protective strip along the bottom of the rudder too. (1/16" x 5/16") The rudder must be shaped first with a taper.  It tapers thinner from the top of this protective strip (1/16" x 5/16") down to the bottom on the aft side.   And from the forward side towards the aft edge as well.  I am sure you guys have seen this before yet so many kit builds still have a massively thick rudder.  The forward edge is also beveled where the rudder hinges will be...again you have probably seen this detail before.  Once the rudder is shaped and I applied some wipe-on-poly, I was able to add the simulated bolts with some 20lb. black line.
 


 
 
Now it was time to do a test fit on the model and see how things look.  You want to pay close attention to the height of rudder head.  It will pass all the way through and into the rudder cover on the poop deck.
 
This is why we didnt glue that top on the rudder cover yet.  If the height looks good, you can actually mark where the tiller will be inserted into the rudder head.   See below.  I did bevel the top of the rudder head but it doesnt really matter since this will be all covered up anyway.  After marking for the tiller I drilled part way through the rudder head with a 3/32" but.
 

 
Here is a view from below...everything seems to fit nicely so I can proceed with the ironwork.  Notice how I removed the brace on the build board but left the strips for the keel slot.  The rudder sits in there good and this will be a great help when trying to get those rudder hinges on.  It holds everything nice and steady.   You just have to make sure everything is sittin properly in that slot and pushed all the way down to the baseboard.
 

Milestone reached as this completes chapter 9.  All of the deck fittings except for the binnacle have been completed.   The last fitting was the rudder cover.   Again very straight forward.  All parts are laser cut.
 
To begin you must build the jig.  Just glue the part labeled "jig" on top of the square with the etched outline.
 

Then start adding the sides of the rudder cover.  Start with the back panel.  All corners will be mitered or beveled.  I just eye-balled it with a sanding stick.
 

Work your way forward and then finish up with the front panel.  Remember not to glue the rudder cover to the jig!!!
 
In addition, you can build the lid or top of the rudder cover.  It is in two layers as shown.  But dont glue it on yet.  This wont be done until after the rudder is installed and the tiller is added.  I did go ahead and paint them red however.
 


You can test fit this on deck...but notice the small step behind the rudder cover.   This is the step for the ensign staff.   This must be added first.  I have laser cut a bunch for you as they are small.  You must bevel the back side to fit snug against the transom.   The front side should be beveled as well to sit flush against the rudder cover.  You can glue them in position, but remember not to glue the top on for the rudder cover yet.  If you do ... you will never get that till inserted into the rudder head.
 

But you can sit the top in position and nobody will know it isnt glued on yet!!
 

Thats it...all fittings completed.   To begin chapter 10 I will be making the rudder and tiller.  Fun times.
 

Lots of dust on the model...maybe today I will clean it all up.
 
Anyway...the bowsprit step/Belfry was up next. At this point none of the fittings are glued on deck.   I am not yet sure if I will paint it red or leave it natural.  The contemporary model has it painted red but the paint is so worn and light on that model it all pretty much blends in to everything else.  So I will wait until all of the fittings are made to determine whether I paint this.  I know the heel of of bowsprit inboard will be painted red so I will wait to see if painting the bsprit step red would be too much.
 

 
Here are most of the elements laser cut for the bstep/belfry.  There is a bunch of faking it on this fitting but in the end you wont be able to tall.  First I cleaned these Cedar pieces of laser char.  Dont be shy here.  It will all come off and look clean but takes time and care.  I used some 220 grit and 320 grit sanding sticks and even a sharp #11 blade.   You can see one side of the bstep all cleaned of char.  The other has yet to be cleaned and shaped.   You must finish the top and match the shaped timberhead.  For this a sharp blade was used to make a series of "stop cuts" and then basically carve the two sides that needed shaping.  This was after char clean up.
 
The center where the bowsprit will be stepped was cleaned and assembled.  Note the aft side of the step.  I have inserted a small laser cut square to simulate the tenon of the bowsprit.  Its just easier and cleaner this way.  Leave it standing proud a bit.  The forward side sill has a nice deep mortice for the actual tenon of the bowsprit.
 
Then there were the belfry elements.  This includes a length of twisted square wire.  This will be proved.  Yes this is commercially available.   You must use the plan to shape it which is shown.   Then blacken it.  The other elements are also shown.
 

Moving along...the step is now completed and drilled with simulated bolts.  Once again these were black fishing line (30 lb).  Note the laser etched seam which should go on the outside if each side piece...dont mix up the side pieces when assembling.  I also drilled the holes for the wire belfry.   That wire was blackened.  The stock for the bell was completed at this time.  Some laserboard elements simulate the ironwork.  I glued the top on first and then the two faces.   Some 24 gauge wire was inserted into the ends of the stock.  But you can attach this to the wire frame anyway you wish.  I knew it would be a challenge to drill through the frame for most so once again this is simplified.  I just filed some slots on the inside of each frame of the twisted wire at the height needed. I used the plans to establish where.  These tiny grooves were enough of a slot to slide and glue the belfry stock in position.  Its pretty secure.   Its not under any pressure so it should be safe and secure.
 
Before doing so however, I added the handle to the top of the bell stock.  I just bent it according to the plans.   I used 22 gauge blk wire.  You can add a tiny length of rope if want to.  I have decided not to as they always seem to hang left or right or curl up and that annoys me.  The bell was simply glued to the underside of the stock.   Then it was glued within the frame as described.
 

 
There is a little bit of cleaned up needed as my fingers must have been dirty.  But this is the result.
 

 

And finally shown on deck but not glued in position yet.  The companionway hood is also not glued in position yet.  No hurry with that.  This completes the fcastle deck fittings.  Now we start the gun deck fittings.  Ignore the dust!!!
 

 
Comments and questions are always welcome!!!
 
Chuck

Pillar production continues.
Tenons are milled on one side first and then hand trimmed in places where keelson is at an angle

Marking up pillar locations on the keelson is a bit tricky. First I tried to make a plumb bob, but it's not easy on that scale, can't make it heavy enough to stretch the line consistently.
So instead I use a carefully aligned gantry to find a vertical line along the side of the beam.
A familiar jig has notches to offset the mortise from the side of the beam, and by flipping the gantry around I make sure it is symmetrical.

As always, it gets tricky around the edges  

Now I can cut pillars to final length. Measuring with a caliper and then subtracting the beam thickness ended up unreliable where the keelson is angled, so I made that jig instead. A groove helps with keeping it straight and adds a bit of necessary friction.
Once positioned in the mortises - gently press on the beam to compress it to fit. Measure it with a caliper and scribe a line on the pillar, easy

 
Trimming each pillar to final size took a while. I did not dare to mill it directly to the line, so every pillar was slightly oversize (0.3-0.5mm), with hand chiseling and a lot of dry fits.
Pink Ivory is very hard to trim with a chisel, takes a lot of force sometimes, and can split on you if you are not careful. Got a pretty deep finger cut when trimming these pillars, luckily avoided getting blood on the model But my chisel safety definitely improved afterwards! 
 
But it is a very satisfying feeling when finally the pillar sits just right - the beam is not rocking side to side, but also has zero vertical bend no matter how much weight you put on it. I was surprised how flexible the beams are, even if made of boxwood 4.2mm thick!
The Admiralty ordered a load test to ensure the correct installation of such a critical element. Test passed with flying colours! 😎 

Final result, all the beams are dry fit in their final positions and dimensions. 
Careful markup and fine tuning paid off - good alignment in both dimensions, no gaps, I am happy!

Now I can take time making them pretty - add chamfers, sand and finish.
It is a bit of a puzzle how to install them later on. I am planning on gluing them only to the keelson, even before the deck is installed.
I hope that pillar tenons would poke right into the beam mortises with ease, I chamfered the edges to simplify it.
Keeping them off the model for too long will be risky, I want to use them as height limits when gluing in the carlings that might affect the deck curvature.
For now I am too scared to glue anything really, the pile of "completed, but not yet installed" parts just keeps growing  
 

Thanks Tony
 
A bit more work done this week - I have made the 2 beds.  One is for the Master of the ship and the other for the Master Gunner who was on board when Le Rochefort carried its cargo of gunpowder.
 
I made the recesses in the door and the lower part of the bed in the same way I made the door into the cabin.  I just like the way this method looks when finished.

Next was the cupboard walls and the base of the bed


The pair of beds and the bulkhead with hinges and handles fitted.

The parts now fitted into the hull - it's the fitting that takes the longest time just trying to get a tight a fit to the hull as possible.



So I'm pretty sure that once I've made the hatch surround, fitted the beams and made the carlings that will be the quarter deck finished.  Those tasks will be my next jobs.
 
Cheers Mark

It is hard to go wrong with anything from Vanguard.  Harpy is a nice looking ship.

It is hard to go wrong with anything from Vanguard.  Harpy is a nice looking ship.

It is hard to go wrong with anything from Vanguard.  Harpy is a nice looking ship.

I didn't know how to make the draught marks on the bow; I had the idea of using old lead alloy printing type that I had used to cast the guns. This is the result, still to be finished.
 




 

Making the hood for the fcastle companionway it is pretty straight forward but you have to be careful to align the sides properly before adding the top planks.
 

 
It is all laser cut.  Here are the pieces.
 

The two thick squares are crucial to its fit when completed. They are laser cut slightly wider than the coaming.  You need to sand the sides until the square is a nice press fit inside the coaming as shown below.
 

Then you can glue the two squares together to form an "L".  This "L" is the proper width if your squares were a nice fit in that coaming.   Then clamp the two side panels to them so you can start gluing the thin cover boards to it that form the roof.  The one thing you must be sure of when clamping the sides onto this fixture....dont glue it to the fixture!!!  Its just used to properly align the two sides the correct distance apart.  In addition, the two sides are no the same height. One side is longer than the other....the starboard side is longer.  This is because of the deck round-up.  So when clamping them to the fixture you must make sure the top edges are lined up and even.  See it below in relation to the squares on the mat.  The bottom edge shows each side being a different length.  But the top must be squared up and even.
 

Then start gluing the cover boards onto the sides.   One at a time.  But as you proceed, you must bevel the side as you are placing them on a rounded shape.  But dont over-do the bevel.  You dont need too much.
 

When you are almost done with the boards, the last final board is laser cut wider and at an angle to compensate for the bottom of the hood being at an angle.
 
When its all done you can sand the sides flush which were slightly longer than needed to clean it all up.   Then its time to test its alignment on the model.  It sits on top of the coaming...not within the coaming.   Look at it from dead on and from the side.  Make sure its straight and vertical and leaning to one side when viewed from the bow.   Make sure it is not leaning when viewed from the side.  You can sand the angle of the bottom of the hood to adjust any leaning.  Once satisfied, move onto the next step.
 

Now its time to cut small lengths from a 1/8 x 1/64" strip.  This is glued half onto the inside of the hood with the other half forming a nice lip.  This will be inserted into the coaming when done.  It should fit perfectly if your two squares and fixture was the correct width.
 

I am guessing that this hood was portable and removable.  So you dont even have to glue it in position if you have a good fit.  You can leave it natural or paint it bulwark red.  Its your choice.   I have painted it red to continue following the look and color scheme of the contemporary model.  The seams and joints and nails do show through after painting it but its very subtle which I prefer.  Mine is not glued in and it will prove useful as I may be removing it from time to time as it may get in the way of doing other work up there.  Now onto the bowsprit step....and belfry.
 

Work continues on the model.  I am working on the hood for the fcastle hatch currently.  But I realized I hadnt yet posted an image of my new workspace for building the actual models.  This is probably the largest work bench I have ever had.  Its actually a ping pong table.  LOL
 
BUT its a pleasure to have such a large uncluttered surface to build on top off.   Speedwell at 3/8” scale is a very big model but it looks puny on my bench.
 

 
Oh and these new and inexpensive LED lights from Amazon are a real treat.  I have them on the forward side of the table and they can be manipulated in so many ways.  Its also very bright (up to 6000 lumens) and can be adjusted in intensity and other colors etc. 
 
In addition I have about 30 green cutting mats many are large and many are small.   I bought these for when my local club members come by for a workshop.  So everyone gets a cutting mat.   But in the meanwhile I can cover the whole front side of the space to keep everything safe and clean.
 
So now I can start being productive on my models again….until I am
compelled to beat my high score in pinball.  Which isnt that high actually.
 
Chuck

Speaking of wood imperfections - I was visiting the Naval Museum in Karlskrona (the naval base city in the South of Sweden).
It had a fascinating bit of naval archeology on display - parts of the hull of an Age of Sail ships (1678 and 1717) excavated in the area.
I did not realise how massive these timbers are in person! Impossible to convey on a photo, but these knees are a size of an adult human and likely heavier. 


The famous hull cross-section drawings look much more impressive when you can touch them...

Speaking of the wood grain - note some knots and imperfections, as well as a non-ideal grain direction in the knee. 
Here is the deadwood - also far from the prime cut of a tree. That was the real life, a crude build reality rather than a work of art. Unfortunately knots and grain do not translate well in scale... 


 
And here is the rudder next to it:

Sorry for the offtopic, just wanted to share.
It's not often you get to see such structural pieces are on display, and not yet another salvaged cannon that museums like so much!
 

Now back to the pillars!
Pink Ivory put my planing jig to the test. It is not easy to work with - burns when sawing, very prone to tearout, one must be very careful with the grain direction at all times. That made it unrealistic to plane multiple blanks in one go without messing up grain the direction.
The other downside of that jig is the requirement to keep the plane straight, without rocking it side-to-side (this photo is exaggerated to illustrate the point).

But in the absence of a proper thickness sander it gets the job done, cheap and silent

I decided to cut real mortise and tenon joints into the pillars, mostly to help myself with the alignment. I doubt I can drill precise holes join them with a pin, and without some mechanical help to ensure alignment - gluing those together without making a crooked mess would be impossible.
Mortise would allow for some adjustments in the very end - if I need to move the end of the pillar a tiny bit - I will just shave off one side of the tenon!
And you can't imagine how satisfying the dry fit is, it is held nice and tight without any glue!

It is hard to make such a tiny mortise deeper than 0.5mm though (due to the angle of the chisel), but it is enough to firmly register the beam in place.

To help mark up the mortises I made a small styrene jig. It has a friction fit to the beam, a bit lower than the beam, and scored marks align with the centerline marked on top of the beam:

On the underside a square opening is centered around these scored marks, and the chisel fits nicely in it. Not much pressure is required to mark it.

But then I overestimated the strength of the beam, cracking it all the way through along the grain imperfection A clumsy builder can break even a boxwood beam!  

Luckily the crack is quite clean, so should be easy to glue back like it never happened.

I was trying to imagine the process of marking up the deck inside the hull. Even with carefully prepared notches in the deck clamps it's not an easy work - the downside of Hahn's method is that working deep inside the hull always feels like a surgery, working through an narrow opening on top.
So I decided to make my life easier and do it off the model instead  Luckily that hull has a very modest tumblehome, so getting it in and out is geometrically possible.
Beams are spot glued to boxwood strips and the entire deck would be assembled on them. Later strips would be removed using some alcohol or water. It would require a bit of a cleanup, but much easier overall.


It fits perfectly into all notches, very satisfying! Now I can work with it

The deck has a very gentle curve along the hull, so I will take care to glue carlings and ledges on the model to avoid loosing that curve.

I am actually in a comfortable position with my inventory so I could start spending time working on the model again.  I cant tell you how good that feels.
 
I am not doing any heavy stuff yet...but its a start.  I had time to finish rigging those last four cannon on the port side.   That alone was a great thing to have completed. That actually finished up chapter 8.
 
Its a good thing because chapter 9 is where the real fun begins.  Its basically all about those fun little deck fittings.  So I started slow..
 

 
There are four ladders to be built.   Two leading to the poop, and two leading to the fcastle deck.  These were made exactly like the others we have made for speedwell.  Everything is laser cut.  I just cleaned the char and assembled them.  One note however...because of the deck roundup, the ladders leading to the poop deck need some tweaking after being built.  The bottom of each side was left a tad longer so you can sand the inboard side shorter.  You will need to do this so your ladder doesnt slant when you place it against the bulkhead.  You want it vertical with the columns of the bulkhead behind them.  So that inboard side will need its bottom edge shortened slightly.
 
Its the little details.
 

Here is the shorter ladder up to the fcastle deck...and you can see the guns that I finally finished rigging.  Those are my Swiss Pear color 3D printed blocks used for the guns this time.  I switched them out to try both colors.  I think I will fully rig her with the Swiss Pear blocks now that I see them on the model.

In addition, I also finished the stack for the fire hearth...I had built this a while back when I made the fire hearth but it must have gotten lost during the move.  So I made a new one...I will also include those parts in chapter 9 in case anyone loses theirs as well.  Nothing difficult here...fake it till you make it.  We wont be using a real coaming here.  Its just a laser cut boxwood square basically.  Sand the char off and apply some WOP.  Then center the hearth stack where the laser etched reference is and you are finished.  I also knocked off the top edge all around this simulated coaming.  No hard edges for me!!
 

Here is what the stack looks like on the model.   
 

And here is an overall shot of the progress to date although I have some paint touch-up to do and some dust clean-up.  But its really nice to making some progress again.  Next up I will be finishing up the fcastle deck fittings.
 

Tops:
 

Ok I feel compelled to share this story with all of you.  Just when you think you have seen it all…
 
I have had customers who were so cheap and dishonest but this takes the cake.   And he WAS a member of this site.  
 
This guy bought a crap ton of one size of rope.  Literally a hoard of it which I hate.  18 packages of .030 brown rope which takes a long time to make and costs a pretty penny.  This Guy is building an Occre kit which I hate as well.  They literally put only two sizes of rope in a kit which is garbage.  So instead of buying a handful of many more different sizes to rig his model he insists on following the crappy kit…Instead of figuring out what the proper sizes should be.  
 
This happens a lot with Occre kits which wipes out my inventory so nobody else can buy that size until I make more which takes time.  I had a guy do that yesterday with .012 tan rope. 
 
Anyway…I digress.  So this guy contacts me and says he bought the wrong size and wants to return it all for the next smaller size.  A pain in the butt but OK…no problem.  
 
But he insists that I mail him the correct size right away and not wait
till I get the return.  OK…I will actually do this for folks I know but luckily I said no this time.
 
So today I get his return package of rope.  Can you believe that this guy took the time to coil up and switch my rope for what I can only suspect is the crap that came with the Occre kit.  He literally restuffed my packages …all 18 of them and thought nobody would notice.  
 
look at this…LOL…can you guess which rope is real syren stuff and which is the crap he tried to return?  Some people are evil…it was not a good master plan.  Its not even a close color to my rope. 
 
well…no more soup for him.
 

A quick update. I finally installed all of the upper deck lights, with the red cover plates holding them in place with the help of a little LockTite Extreme glue. This was necessary for bonding the plastic window frames to the wood, giving a few minutes repositioning time to settle everything in the right location. I had considered using superglue, but it has no leeway with repositioning time.
 
I placed mica behind the frames for the glass. It was easy to cut, and as thin as the windows ought to be in scale, greatly facilitating the construction details.
 
Chuck's laser cut window frames look fantastic! Thanks so much, Chuck.
 
I still have to construct the architectural columns in the centers of the red cover plates, and I am showing here some paper placeholders for later carvings.
 
But I have decided to move onto the balcony for now, which will probably be the most challenging part of this build. It has open fretwork between stantions, and the whole thing is a serpentine curve, as seen in the original 1760 model (here the fretwork is carved out of a solid blank; they are open in the second model which I assume is the intention of the model shown here).
 
Mark
 

 
Chuck already laser cut the fretwork for the side panels, as seen best in the last photo below the curved top window. This again shows the beauty and delicacy of Chuck's work. this same pattern will hopefully run across the balcony, and then around the quarter galleries at the same level.
 
 

I went a little further with the masts:
 





 

Sorry for the late reply.  I have the plans and can photograph them and send them to you if you would like.  They say Copyright 1971.

Hi all
 
Back from our lovely holiday and straight back onto Le Rochefort
 
I'm now working on the crews quarters below the quarter deck and have started with the bulkhead which has a double entry door.  This is quite a feature on this ship so I want to get it as good as possible.  I started by making the shiplap planks that form the walls which I then glued together to make the actual walls.


Next was to look at the doors themselves - I usually just get a solid piece of wood and then mill out the features to make them look like doors.  In this instance I thought that I would try a new exercise for me and make them from individual parts and include all of the relevant joints as they possibly would have been made originally.    Each frame is made of 5 pieces which then require 4 inserts in each door.

Milling out the rebates to fit the 0.7mm inserts

Sorry I should have taken more pictures but here are how the doors turned out.  Assembling the parts actually proved to be one of the hardest parts.

Next I needed to make the door frame uprights which have 2 rebates cut into them and also the base rebate that the walls slot into.


It all took a little bit of fettling to get all of the parts to fit correctly but I'm just about there now.



I did have one issue and that was with the door frame uprights which stopped the whole assembly from sitting flush with the beam.  This maybe because I miss read the drawings but to get around this issue I cut some rebates into the beam which actually makes the whole thing stronger and more stable
 

It's all still a work in progress but I'm getting there with this particular part of the build.
 
Mark