garyshipwright

Yeah John, I'm full of them (it??? ).
 
Here are a couple of pics of the Channels fitted to the Port side :
 

 

 
 
Sheer Rails
 
The Channels intersect the Sheer Rails, which is why the channels had to be fitted first :
 

 
An unusual way to hold the end of the sheer rail whilst the glue dried - clamps were ineffective in this situation, so I've temporarily glued a piece of scrap to the end of the channel :
 

 

 

 
  Danny

Hi Mark.
 
 Just to let you know sir, the French did have sister frames like Hahn did, only they were thicker sister frames. Your right they didn't have cant frames but one and this would have been all the way back at the stern, which I do believe was the fashion frame that connected the stern framing with the last square frame at the aft part of the ship. As far as the spacing have to agree with you, this also was different then what Hahn did and at the moment am unsure of what that is but will take a look in the Boudroit books and let you know. If you need any kind of information on the French ship sir, please let me know. I have quite a few of the Boudriot books and will be more then happy to pass along any info that you may need to help you. I have the L'Amarante of 1741, the La Renommee of 1744, the Salamandre of 1752 and the Boullongne of 1759 which should help you build her in her time frame. Look forward to your new build sir.  
 
Gary

Thank you very much John, Colin, Doris and Popeye .
 
Fitting the Channels perfectly horizontally was accomplished by the use of a couple of specially made "jigs" that sit on the planksheers from one side to the other. Masking tape and clamps hold the jigs firmly in position. The leg glued to the underneath of the horizontal member was measured at the inboard edge and cut square.
 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

More sanding done, yet more to do. While doing this, I contemplated my first attempt at the foremast step and was not impressed. So I ran it through the mill, then gave it a good sanding (does that task never end!!)

 
And am now happier ..... while I was at it I did the first two breast hooks as well,
 
The other thing I have been thinking about is the building of the internal structures, such as the aft magazine. First on the agenda was experimenting with creating the bulkheads.
Starting with a length of tounge and groove floorboard

I cut lengths of 4mm thick strips

Then glued 3 of the strips together

and then ripped them down to 2mm strips ending up with 2mm thick lengths of 3x4mm boards

 
which I then glued edge on to make wider sections, which I then ran through the thickness sander to get them smooth and down to 1.6mm thick.

 
So, a successful few days avoiding sanding
 
Cheers
Rob
 
 
 

Thanks for the comments guys.
 
A little progress..... I have fitted the 3 crutches aft. Each of these was roughly cut based off cardboard templates, then sanded, sanded and finally sanded some more until they fit ok.

There is "air" between the ends of the crutches and the frames which I am comfortable with, however I am considering slipping some planking under them. Next on the agenda is fitting the lower hooks at the bow and the foremast step. I am also experimenting with some wood to build some of the internal structures, so hope to have some progress shots of that soon.
 
So, feeling that I was close to finishing the external fairing and then I could charge (figuritively) ahead with internal work, I took her outside for a bit of a cleanup. Started sanding lightly with a fine sanding stick ... moved onto a rough paper .... ended up using a wood rasp and chisel. Ok then, perhaps there are a few more hours of sanding to go then ...
 

 
I can say that I am happy with my decision to fit the deck clamps and gun ports before doing the external framing, as it has provided a lot of strength to the hull. I have been able to use a powered hand sander and twice knocked her against objects while carrying her outside for sanding without any frames getting damaged.
 
And since I get quickly tired of sanding I started a little side project  (admiral thinks I have the attention span of a gnat)

Cheers all
Rob

Hello all
 
After a long hiatus, I felt guilty enough to pick up some tools and do a bit of work on Blanche. Things have been a bit busy, and will be for a while to come, so I am only doing small bits and pieces for the foreseeable future.
 
When I last posted, I was doing deck clamps and gun ports to stiffen up the hull and strengthen the framing, as I have not yet removed her from the build board for external fairing. As a result, the external side view has not changed much except for the addition of the tops of several frames, and port sills for the forecastle and quarterdeck.
 

 
Internally, I finished putting in the deck clamps which I had previously started, and repositioned a couple that looked poorly aligned. I have also done the fore and main mast steps, and I think they look ok for a first attempt.
 
First is the main mast step....


 
Then the foremast step......
1st - the rough shaping was done by copying the plans for the frames on which it rests (R to S), and cutting a slab of wood to the shape of the inside of those frames.

 
Then I sanded the block so the fore end matched the inside shape of the forward frame. After that, I used my little mill (Proxxon MF70) to cut the groove for it to sit over the keelson, followed by more sanding and shaping. Then finally I used the mill to create the slot for the mast.

 
The steps, and the hooks and crutches that I will do soon, are all from old Totara wood that was once fence posts and is much darker than the Totara I used for the frames, which was old flooring boards. The keelson is from a slab of Totara, and is a slightly richer colour than the frames. Clamps and thickstuff/planks are Kauri.
 
So that's my catch up as it stands now. Next work will be crutches and hooks, and maybe try and do some internal structures.
 
Cheers
Rob
 

Hello dear friends,
I am pleased, you like my work. Thank you a lot, your words are much appreciated.
 
Another part of Royal Caroline is completed, I have also improved some details at down part of the columns - they are shorter and have better shape. During next weeks I am going to make guns and other crew members.
Best regards and enjoy the pics
Doris
 




 

Thank you Marc and Duff - you're building a Vulture too? I can't seem to find a Build Log of her .
 
Here is the full set of Channels. Now I need to fit them to the hull and make some Standards for them.
 

 
  Danny

Thank you gentlemen for your kind words.
 
Today I will show to the gun ports lids a special detail.
The lids in the area of ​​bugs are doubled for protection from the anchor with planks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
To be continued ...

Thanks again for the wonderful comments and support everyone.
 
One of the previous problems I had was no definitive reference points.  This led to more than a few errors in the heat of battle... err.. building. 
 
I'm adding some things to the frame drawings...  the cutline is being defined as are the wale locations, gunport, and deck clamps.  Hahn defines these on his framing diagram but then suggests that we cut up his plans and use them to mark up the hull...     I'm planning on "nicking" gently the frame at some of these points such as cutline, wales, putting in a nub to mount the deck clamps on, and as before, pre-cutting out the gunport area.   I've also marked the frame drawings with lines at the outside/bottom edge of the build board so I don't make the frames over long.
 
The frame in the pic doesn't have any gunport work but is representative and I still have another 54 frames to do... 

 
Lastly, I've mounted the framing diagram (since it has 95% of the reference points I need) on a piece of Masonite.  When I'm done verifying each frame, I'll glue a strip of wood to overlay the baseboard line.  This will give me a positive reference point when using the EdT Measuring Tool.  Again, I know I had some issues getting the bottom end dead on the line for the base board consistently. 
 
For those who haven't see it, it's a great tool for transferring reference points from plans to the build.  It came from Ed's Naiad build.  Mine is made from boxwood with some brass fittings and a steel thumbscrew.

 

Current part of build
 








 
Enjoy the pics and have a great time.
Best regards
Doris

Other pics:








 
 
I also finished some blocks (they are made of wood on CNC lathe) and placed them on decks according to plans. In the past I made paper blocks but there were problems with rigging tension - some blocks did not hold this tension and became distorted.
 







 

Hello dear friends,
Thank you very much for your kind words, your feedback and praise is a great honour for me! I appreciate your support a lot.
Well, nobody is perfect, I have also various mistakes on my models, but the main thing is, that I love this hobby a lot and enjoy making models. And of course I feel happy sharing this pleasure with you all.

Some details on RC were improved - for example gratings - there was a mistake with correct orientation, so I modified the gratings using strips of foil imitating wood. And another change -  had to shift the upper part of rudder and its wooden pole forward (about 7mm) to place there an iron ring for a tackle. The rudder is still fully functional.






 
Improved gratings




 


 

Hi all, back from my holidays again .
 
Channels
 
I've made the Foremast Channels and the Stools that are fitted just aft of them. They are tapered outboard from 4 1/2" to 2 3/4" (real size) on their bottom face. There are two swivelling ringbolts in each channel - they fit through a small plate on the underside which I made from thin brass shim material and blackened :
 

 

 

 

 
I've cut into the Sheer Strake for added support on the inboard edge. This is only a dry fit so far :
 

 

 
To align the slots for the Shrouds I rigged up a dummy mast and used a piece of thread to ensure they wouldn't foul the gunports and sweep ports. A molding will be added to cover the shrouds after they are fitted. The dummy mast is vertical, not on the angle it seems in the pic (the ship itself is tilted a bit ) :
 

 
  Danny

Thank you Pat, Mark and Crackers.
 
 
Compared to the bar pins, quite an easy one - the Capstan Pawls. These prevent the capstan from turning back, they were very simple things that were pushed into place with the foot of the sailor nearest to them. Later ships had more complex arrangements.
 
These were made from a piece of 1/16" square brass, filed down to 1/32" for most of their length - they step up to full height on the end that locks into the capstan whelps. They are held in place with a 3/4" bolt. Note how one pawl locks into place whilst the other is almost halfway across a whelp - this gave them two bites with a smaller rotation between.
 
I've also made the two for the upper capstan with these.
 


 
That concludes the work on the capstans for now - all that's left is to fit them, which I'll do after I've placed the Guns in this area (I'm still waiting on the barrels before I can start on them).
 
Next job will be the Rudder and associated works.
 
  Danny

Thank you John and Brian.
 
Here's #2 - about 10 minutes worth, including blackening. It's the one on the left in pic 4 and looks even better than #1, so I'm going ahead with all 15. Am I going crazy ??? :D  :
 




 
  Danny

OK, I took Druxey's challenge after all - here's a prototype REPRESENTATION of a Bar Pin and "Chain" which took me about half an hour to make. I used 0.2mm (blackened) copper wire wrapped around a 0.25mm drill bit for the "chain", and made two "eyebolts" from the same wire :
 


 
And here's an approximation of how it looks by the naked eye :
 

 
I'm going to do another one using a simplified method (no actual Pin and Bolt, just one curled wire). If I can get it down to 5 minutes each and they look OK I'll do all 15. Stay tuned .
 
  Danny

Thank you very much John, Janos, Doris, Amfibius, and Adeline - I'm glad you all appreciate the effort gone into this piece. It's been a heap of fun building it .
 
Almost finished with the Capstans - I've fitted all the bolts. There are 10 brass ones (they should be iron, but I've used brass so they can be seen) in each reinforcing ring, as well as the 0.35mm holes for the bar retaining pins. The pics with the sidecutters give you an idea of how small these "bolts" are - the last one to be fitted is lying on top of the drumhead in one of the pics.
 
I've used blackened brass "bolts" for the remainder.
 
 





 
  Danny

Here you go Janos - both capstans with an Australian 5 cent piece in the foreground. For those of you who don't know, it's our smallest coin with a diameter of 19.25mm :
 


 
  Danny

Thank you Janos. I'll use a 5-cent piece on my next lot of pics   .
 
Capstan Bars
 
They'll be about the LAST things fitted but I thought I may as well make the Capstan Bars while I'm in that mode. There are 15 bars in total (5 on the lower capstan and 10 on the upper) but I'm only going to fit 6 or 7 to the top one and none on the lower - I want to show off the square holes in the drumhead on the starboard side.
 
The bars are 8 feet long. They have a 3 1/2" square tenon on the inner end to fit the hole in the drumhead. Then they step up to a short 3 3/4" section, and round off and taper to 2 5/8" at the outer ends.
 
I started by cutting the square bars on the table saw. Then I made a little jig from a pine block to sand the inner step all to the same length and depth - this seems like "overkill" but it made the job very easy :
 




 
Then I made another jig to turn the other end into an octagon. This also started the "rounding" in the right position, and also gave me a good grip on the bars whilst sanding :
 


 
The one on the right is still square, the middle one has been "octagoned", and the left one is finished :
 
 

 
I finished off the tapering and rounding by holding the bars flat on my sanding sheet board and using a sanding stick. Here are the first four :
 

 
  Danny

Thank you John and Grant - you ain't seen nuthin' yet .
 
Next trick was making the Chocks. The five lower Lower Capstan ones are 3 3/4" thick, the six lower Upper Capstan ones are 3 1/8" and both sets of upper chocks are 2" thick - keeping them separate was a trick .
 
The chocks taper inwards and are also bevelled for the scarphs. The upper capstan ones have a slightly different angle to the lower ones. I started by sanding one edge on the Byrnes disc sander using both the angle gauge and tilt table. Then I cut them all to width on the Byrnes saw using the angle gauge for the other edge, and freehand sanded the bevel into each one :
 

 

 
Then I glued the Whelps and Chocks to the Barrels :
 

 

 
 
I left all the chocks oversize on the outer edges at this stage. They will be turned down to size in the next stage :
 
 

 

 
  Danny

Thank you very much for the kind comments Eric and Frank .
 
Continuing on with the Capstan, the next job was to finish shaping the Whelps. Looking from above they form a wedge shape, with the outer edge 2" thicker than the inner. To cut these angles I made a wedge-shaped block of scrap timber which I lightly PVA'd to the underside of the piece that I'd Milled the faces to. I cut one edge on all 11 pieces, then I used Isopropyl to remove the wedge, let the alcohol evaporate thoroughly, and glued it back to the opposite side to cut the other angle :
 

 

 

 

 
After cutting them all to length I set the saw blade to protrude just 0.25mm above the bed. I carefully marked the positions of two of the Chock Scarphs in one each of the Upper and Lower Whelps (there is a slight difference in them), set the fence to the first cut and did all of them. Then I reset the fence for the other 3 measurements and cut all the remaining ones :
 

 
The two on the left in the pic above have only been cut on the saw. The two on the right have had the Mortices cut into them. I used a #11 Xacto to cut the angles - they were quite easy to do, owing to the saw cuts.
 
Another pic showing the wedge-shapes of the whelps :
 

 
  Danny

Capstans
 
The start of the Capstans. There are two of them - the Lower Capstan on the Upper Deck, and the Upper Capstan on the Quarterdeck above it. They are joined together between decks to work as one. I'm using English Box for all the components - some of them are quite small and require a very good timber.
 
The Lower Capstan Barrel has 10 flats milled into it to take 5 Whelps, and the Upper Capstan has 12 flats and 6 whelps. I decided to turn and mill both together for ease of setting up. They will be separated between decks for installation purposes.
 
I used the Dividing Attachment on my Sherline mill to cut the flats :
 

 

 
Then I turned down the centre portion :
 

 

 
I've also started making the Whelps. The ones for the Upper and Lower Capstans are of different sizes, there is also a corresponding difference in angles. I'm also using the Mill to cut the angles, with the aid of the Tilting Table :
 

 
  Danny

Counter Timbers
 
And now for something more interesting - the Counter Timbers. These are the timbers that go between the Stern Lights (windows).
 
They are each made from two pieces of timber scarph jointed together and taper toward the top both fore-aft and athwartships. They also converge toward the top to "meet" at a point at about the height of the Mizzen Crosstrees :
 
 

 

 
 
They are supported near their tops by the Quarterdeck Transom, which has a rebate in it's front edge to accept the quarterdeck planking. At this stage the transom still needs to be faired on it's lower outside edge :
 
 

 

 

Upper Deck Treenailng
 
More of the same - Treenailing (yawn  ) :