-Dallen

And some more:
 
Installing knightheads( 3 x 3 mm) and top timbers
 

 
There are waterways to be installed, mine kept splitting on me so I spread some ca on them to strengthen them, and as you can see it bled though to the good side. Time to make new ones.
 

 
Then I decided rather than cutting out notches for all the top timbers in the waterway and going through more frustration I will install them on top of the waterway so..............
 

 
then I decided it was time for a change...the windlass. This was made from cherry turned on the lathe what you see here is the fourth attempt, I also replaced the supports and made them from cherry also.
 
This showing the filed down nail used to make the holes square. This is an idea I got from DocBlake.
 

 
Gluing .5 x 1 mm strips onto drum
 

 
The finished product, still needs one or two more coats of wipe on poly. The fancy ends are inspired by B.E.'s cathead decoration on his Pegasus

 
Thanks for stopping by
 
 

A little update:
 
Grates for ship's stove, just brass rod ca'd together
 

 
The pieces for stove
 

 
Completed, added handles and hangers. The pot is a flattened out penny with brass rods soldered on for handles
 

It would be great if I could persuade folk to bend planks (by steam or dry heat) so that they would be shaped to 'sit' nicely along the hull without need for 'persuasion' by screws, clamps or other devices of torture!

It's totally relative to the overall. For instance I started out with NO scale craft tools. So after machines, laser cutter and books....and since this is my first build it is costing me nearly 8 grand to build the Triton Cross Section. But with capital outlay already invested, the per project cost will come down ....eventually. I don't drink, smoke or party so that helps. I have friends that spend much more than that a year in bars. The satisfaction is worth it.

You cant use auto trace...its just not accurate.  It also creates too many nodes in your lines.  Unfortunately there are no shortcuts and these "quick-fix" auto functions are just a way to do the job quickly and rather sloppily.  The only way you will be able to really do an accurate job is to import the image and trace over it while making corrections yourself.  Then as Druxey said, use diagonals and waterlines to fair and correct your traced lines.   It is a very time-consuming process but its the only way you will be sure its correct before you start making sawdust.
 

 
I usually import an image and scale it to whatever the scale is I am working on...say 1:48.  But others find it easier to make the drawing full size so they can use the real measurements from Steele or a builders contract.  I use Corel Draw X8.  It works great and once you become proficient with using the dozen or so tools and functions needed it goes well.  You can use small tricks and methods to speed up the process.  I have taught several people over the phone how to use CD and in person.  I can usually get them to the point where they can work on their own with good results in just a few hours.  But they must understand lofting and fairing and ship design before they start using the software or the lack of architectural knowledge usually does them in.  Its easy enough to learn the software....much more difficult and time consuming to learn and understand how draft frames and proof out and fair your lines, along with adding all of those important details not shown on an original draft or simple plan original.
 
In the image posted above for example, you can see the original draft I will begin drafting and tracing over.  Also added to the workspace is an image of a similar contemporary model.  This is also scaled up to the same size as the draft.  Rather than flip back and forth to a photo on a different file or on paper, having the photo right above my work is an excellent and convenient reference.  I can quickly examine the contemporary model for features not shown on the draft or incorporate and design my parts to mimic those on the model.  For example, I can quickly use the model to design the joints between the stem and keel to closely mirror that models construction because its right above my workspace and not shown on the draft.
 
I usually have many more draft copies and photos in my workspace than shown here but this is how I work up a set of plans....once at a pont to fair the frames or correct inaccuracies in the draft I can hide those images while I create my own half-breadth plan or whatever third view I need to prove out my lines.   I use waterlines and diagonals to correct my frames while creating my own Half breadth view from the body plan and sheer plan I traced.  
 
Chuck

Hello All,
 
I am having a different problem.  For my current build - an extensive modification of Heller's Soleil Royal - I have been hand-drawing a scale field, or outline that matches the moulded profile of the kit's lower hull and upper bulwarks, which I will be using to save the time of a full scratch-build.
 
I sketched in one, each, of various repeating elements and a few specific ornamental details that were easier to draw by hand, in order to match the kit parameters.  On the advice of several members, here, I intended to digitize the pencil drawing and import it into Corel Draw, where I could trace over what was there, and add in all of the other missing details.  Ultimately, the objective is just to see what all of my additions and subtractions will look like in relation to each other, and to make it easier to layout the complicated frieze of the upper bulwarks, which would be a nightmare to do by hand.
 
Today, I digitized the paper drawing onto a flash drive in JPEG, PDF and PNG file formats.  Here is my hand-drawn plan in PDF format. For whatever reason, the site would not allow me to upload the JPEG drawing, here, and I don't even know what a PNG file is, but I was able to upload the PDF:
 
20170102130746616.pdf
 
Everything was going perfectly well until I came home tonight, ready to download Corel 7, only to realize that most early versions of Corel are not compatible with Mac computers.  Corel makes a very current CAD software that is Mac compatibile, but I'm not sure I need CAD software for what I'm doing.  I'm not lofting frames, or in any way trying to create a three-dimensional hull shape.  I just need a compatible 2D drawing software that will allow me to import, re-trace and manipulate the various ornamental elements that make up the ship's decoration.  I'll also be dropping the main and fore channels down to the upper, or main deck and will need to draw in the mast locations and layout the shrouds, so as not to interfere with the guns.  This drafting exercise is really just about laying things out so that I can be sure that everything lines up nicely before I start cutting things away.
 
Not long ago, I updated my OS to 10.11.6, El Capitan.  I'm a complete novice to computer drafting of any kind and am looking for something that is relatively easy to learn and use.  I'm frankly overwhelmed by the volume of drafting software, which seems more sophisticated than what I need.  All suggestions are welcome.
 
Thanks,
 
Marc

Most likely you are dealing with a copy of a copy of a copy and as such nothing is likely parallel or straight. I found the best thing you can do is establish your perpendiculars, the correct length, breadth and depth of your ship and scale your plans to fit as best you can to those parameters. You'll then need to make some assumptions and educated guesses, create you own water lines and diagonals and make the best of it. In the end your plans will be fair and workable.
 
Warning... with CAD there is a danger of wanting make everything supper accurate and super fair. Little deviations here and there can slow your work down to a crawl and drive you mad...lol.

If you can used the 3D, lay out the frames in position, and draw (in DesignCAD) a curved line along them at a fixed height. If the frames are correct, the line should be smooth in all directions, if a frame is out of line, draw the curve skipping it, and see where the correct point should be.
 
Below is, hopefully, an example. Why do this rather than a physical model? I can scale this to any one desired, and after I do I can used the parallel function to put in the lines taking account of the hull sheeting thickness I will be using.
 
Picture 1: The 3D frames with a waterline drawn. Note that the lines run along each other, except at the bow area frames.
 
Picture 2: A top side view: Note where the lines diverge.
 
Picture 3: A close up of the areas. The blue and red lines where the first and second attempt at laying the lines. Note how they bulge at the second and third frames, from the right. The green line is after I redrew those frames, with the corrected distance from the keel at that waterline. Here doing a model would be close enough for you to get an idea, but look at the next shot.
 
Picture 4; The before frame drawing of the hull lines. Note where frame 28 goes into the curve on one line and comes out on another line, and they don’t meet in the middle!
 
Picture 5: The before and after hull lines. The fore frames line up fairly well, but look at the aft frames! The original drawing was not even close!! The waterlines were run as in the previous pictures, from the transom to the stem, with a lot of iterations in between.

The view that you shown includes water lines drawn parallel to the keel, station lines perpendicular to the keel and buttocks. Assuming that you have at least one more view (a plan view or a body plan) you have sufficient information to reconstruct a lines plan.
 
Start by preparing a table of offsets- x,y,z coordinates measured from the centerline for water lines and base lines for buttocks. Then plot them and pass curves through them. Whether by hand as I prefer to do or by CAD the process is the same. Your body plan (frame shapes) may be plotted from your other two views. Your curves may not pass exactly through all points and here is where some judgement on your part is required to produce "fair" curves with intersections that match exactly in all views.
 
Keep in mind that a definitive lines drawing that exactly portrays the shape of a known vessel is an illusion. Five naval architects making five lines drawings from the same table of offsets will produce five slightly different drawings because of the fairing process described above. The important thing is to make a drawing that accurately portrays the vessel's characteristics.
 
Roger

Probably redraw using a grid for the reference and known distances you can glean from the drawings. I would start with the cross sections at the station lines first. When using a 2D cad program your Y coordinate will be the Z component later so work in the NE quadrant of your grid so all coordinates will be positive. When you get done, your new drawing if created using full scale numbers can printed at any scale you need. I'm doing something similar but took my cad into a surveying software package that will create contour lines. Had a power serge and computer needs some professional help before I can finish. The contour idea I am beginning to wonder if it is worth the trouble, an inexpensive 3 D program may be the wiser choice. You can fuss and rotate, re-scale, stretch or whatever and always wonder, redraw it.
jud

Hi Mike
Had a look at the one you bought off Ebay and it looks a bit different from the StewMac base. The first thing that struck me was in the appearance the StewMac item is polished Al with Decals etc. which made me look a bit further and if you compare the two photos below you can see that the beam that holds the Dremmel is a different shape  - StewMacs is an oval shape at either end and the Ebay one is more square -  It could be its a knockoff and not machined to the same spec as the reviews of the StewMac base are all very good.
 
First the StewMac base

 
Next the Ebay photo

 
also just noticed the milling on the Ebay adjusting screws is pretty basic as well. 
 
So your warning is still timely don't buy the Ebay one .- for what its worth - cheers Pete

Got this tool today: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132022884833?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Do not buy it. The height adjustment is crap, it floats by itself due to the vibration, so you need to carefully hold the height adjustment knobs. That makes the depth not very accurate, if that is important. 

Pete, I should have added that for what I was doing at the time, the Micro Fence base was far better than the Stew Mac base, for me.  But I know many luthiers are completely happy with the Stew Mac base.  It was simply a personal choice rather than a hands down overall better choice.  I wanted the plunge feature to the point I convinced myself I needed the plunge feature.  That kind of convincing oneself can be costly.    
 
FWIW, before I got the Micro Fence base, I removed the Stew Mac base plate and made a larger plate out of lexan so I could see what I was doing better and to span the side rails I made for the inlay routing.  That helped a lot but I had already sold myself on the plunge base as a "necessity".

Here's just a quick note about using Dremel bits.  For depth of cut, don't exceed 1/2 of the bit diameter in a single pass, because chip clearance problems and breakage are much more likely to occur.
 
Other than that, I've always thought that Dremels were pretty weak.  But for fashioning very small parts they may be acceptable.  I've always wanted to try a Foredom shaft-driven tool or a pencil/micro air grinder.  However, a quality 1/8" pencil air grinder is not inexpensive ($100s), and the cheap $27 grinder at Harbor Freight gets poor reviews from experienced persons.  

Looks good too thanks for the heads up on that for the future - I bought the StewMac specifically to be a poor mans mini Router Table for frames and that sort of work that won't take up a lot of bench space and I don't see me having to alter the depth during use so think it should do the job for a while - Cheers Pete

Great! Really shouldn't need too much other than a plate it could be screwed to with a 9/64" bur shaft hole and you have a very good mini router table, but I'm sure the members here can come up with something cool and unnecessarily complicated and precise. One of my favorite reads was of a guy who spent I don't even know how long, weeks of work at least, turning a standard good quality 7x12 mini-lathe into an insanely precise device over its entire operating range so he was pushing out past .0001" in accuracy for no other reason than he could. I love that guy, I laughed the whole time I read it. I can't quite be him, but I understand the mindset.

Hi Vossiwulf
Thanks for your heads up I just ordered mine today - Anyone else that was interested they are in stock and shipping now.
 
Cheers Pete

Druxey, I have had really good results in the past with a drop of this stuff on a small pad of Matt Board.
 

 
It is a good plexiglass polish, and the liquid carrier gets absorbed into the card and softens it a little leaving the polishing compound a little thicker on the surface. It would not surprise me if this is not made from either of the two materials you mention.
 
I will add another foot for the mini sander so that I can maintain the same level of control and pressure that I have been achieving with the sanding pads.
 
Michael

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year, and thanks for all the support and positive feedback on this project so far.
 
I have been working away at filling the paint damage with just paint I did not want to use any different types of material other than the enamel paints over the wood and restored metal.
 
A couple of shots to show this progress.
 

 
Just a small bit left on the black where the almost 1/8th inch deepest gouge was. Once it is filled I will paint over the repaired area and then polish the surface to bring it to the same level of finish as the rest of the black on the side, to blend in the edges.
 
Michael

A little more progress today I did modify the procedure a little now I am using a drop of water in a saucer to wash off the sanding pad. A couple of new pads with some added thickness glued to the T section using styrene strip which was then rounded on one edge. 
 

 

 
I have started to sand down the area under the lip of the main deck using this new pad.
 

 
I am also using a new small jewelers saw cutting V block with a couple of 8x32 thumb screw to hold the parts it is set up to also cut into the end of dowels up to 3/8 diameter. The picture shows one of the new pads being shaped with the jewelers saw. The thumb screws are really helpful for this sort of task.
 
The screws are threaded up through the wood and locked up to the wood, this allows for the thumb screws to be loosened and tightened without the screws falling out the bottom or having to hold them while making adjustments.
 
 
 
Again thanks for all those who have been following and pressing the like button
 
Michael

How do you eat an elephant?......"Start chewing on the toe!"
 
I cut out my first piece. Excellent laser cuts except for one vertical. I had to cut it myself since the laser didn't go all the way through. 
 
I've got to stop and paste together some templates provided, then figure out how to use them.
 
Very little warping, but I put the piece under a flat piece of glass to make it perfect.

Hooray!!!  My kit arrived via USPS from Model Expo.  Outer box a little beat up but kit is okay.
 
I have to admit this model ship building is an addiction. With no kit to work on I was pacing the deck looking for things to do. I even contemplated tweaking my Connie that has been dormant for almost two years.
 
I'll spend some time checking the inventory  against what's in the box.
 
Then I will read the very, very comprehensive instruction book. It looks like the most detailed instructions I have ever seen in a kit.
 
The 1:1 drawings look very detailed.
 
Compared to the lack of instructions and drawings from that banned kit of the HMS Surprise, this is heaven.
 
 

USS Syren plan

For you history buffs, the USS Argus was instrumental in winning a major battle in the Barbary Wars in the early  1800's under President Jefferson. Marine Lt. Presley O'Bannon was the Marine commander aboard the USS Argus and was the hero of the Battle of Derna that gave birth to the first line in the Marine Corps Hymn..."to the shores of Tripoli". O'Bannon was awarded the Mameluke sword by the restored prince of Derna, Tripoli and the Mameluke sword was adapted by the USMC for all officers to wear during formal ceremonies to this day.
 
The Argus gave artillery support during the battle and helped turn the tide of battle. These Barbary Wars were the equivalent of fighting ISIS today.

I've ordered my Syren too.  See you in the shipyard!
 
Doug