garyshipwright

Hi Bob. Our prayers go with you and may God watch over you and keep you safe during these trying times. Gary

Hi Bob. Our prayers go with you and may God watch over you and keep you safe during these trying times. Gary

Making the yards - Main yard - Grande vergue
Before starting to make the yards, I made myself a planing jig in advance, inspired by Ed Tosti's build report for the clipper "Young America" in the MSW, as shown in the drawing below. Rotating and locking clamps allow lumber of various widths and lengths to be fixed in place for machining, especially with a wood planer. 
 
To make the main yard, I prepared a drawing with dimensions based on the plan by J. Boudriot.

 
The next two pictures show how the holding device mentioned at the beginning of the report can be used in practice. 
It performs valuable services in the manufacture of yards. For example, a wooden strip with a V-shaped groove was clamped in place. A square timber inserted in this way can easily be planed into an octagonal timber. In this case for the main yard and later for the leeward spars. These timber blanks are then much easier to machine on the lathe. In addition, they are used to roughly preform the octagonal areas of the yards or studding sail booms. 

   
With the following pictures I illustrate the further processing steps in the yard production. 



       
In contrast to the main yard, the studding sail booms are much more delicate logs with diameters of 3.7 to 2.2 mm, which had to be machined. So that this succeeds also without breakage, I built for this with simple means a small steady rest. With this I can bring small ball bearings for round timber with diameters of 1 - 10 mm into position for support. In the meantime, the small tool has already proven itself very well. 

On the last picture you can see the first results.

 
To be continued ...

 
 

Finished !
 
The final moments on the desk.  That's it she's done!
 

 
Display Case
 
I decided to buy a case instead of making one, mainly because what I was planing to make was going to be around the same price.  This case is really nice, definitely worth the price of $250 CAD.  It is from a company called AcrylicJob, they do custom cases of almost any size with plexiglass of several thicknesses. This one is 23L x 10W x 20H. 
 

 
I decided to display her in the bedroom since there was nothing on top of the dresser and my Union Jack needed some support. I'm not a very good Canadian it seems. 
 

Rigging complete
 
Now she's almost done,  only need some rope coils and to attach the swivel guns.  Some touch ups are needed like gluing down some of the fuzziness on the rigging with 50/50 Pva and doing a final dusting before being put in a display case.
 

 
Rope coils
 
I've been making lots of rope coils and not liking them.  The one that I did manage to make and like is on the belaying rack right now. It's a bit small so I'll keep at it until a satisfactory result comes along.
 

Lanyards
 
I've followed the instructions for this and It's not really shown how they should be tied off. I just guessed when tying the lanyard for the main stay. I think I'll have to look at some other builds to get my bearings.
 

 
Here she is in the natural light on top of my kitchen table that's in the middle of getting some new stain. I should take more outdoor photos because the difference is amazing!
 

Standing Rigging
 
Working on the backstays then I'll work on the forestayes. I've been putting "lashings" on almost everything as simple knots just look ugly and out of place. I've run into a bit of a snag in the second picture. I don't really know if I belayed the rope right and what to do with the end of it, make a pool of rope on the deck or make a hoop of pope around the cleat? I should have bought a book about this rigging business. The instructions are lacking in this regard and make it seem like all the rigging can be done in an afternoon... maybe I'm over thinking things.
 

 
Mouse
 
I made the Mouse with a small piece of dowel, glued it on and wrapped it with fine black thread. Not quite the shape I was looking for but it will do fine.
 

Rigging the Shrouds
 
Instead of tying a knot around the deadeye I used a tight lashing that could be shifted to get the right positioning. I used 1mmx5mm lime wood strips with pins in them for holding everything in position. Not quite sure how else to do it really.
 


 
Yellow Ochre at last!
 
My snake arrived and with it the paint set and some extra paints I bought. The Snake kit I received was amazing, so much stuff and the wood strips were smooth and well milled but I'll save the rest for its build log. I plan on giving my mast and bowsprit a splash of yellow Ochre to take down the awful yellow/orange I currently have. It is quite off putting at the moment. Another option is that I could take off the yellow with paint remover and use the walnut stain I got with my delivery. Decisions to be made.  
 

 

 
 

Hi ChrisL.  If I had to make a choice over what mill I would still get a Sherline .  It really depends on how deep your pocket's are. They have a 14" Deluxe 8- direction Milling Machine which has a 15" extended Column upgrade, believe the cost was 1500, for the base package. They have a lot of accessories to fit all of your need's.  They have a tilting angle table, Manual Rotary table Milling vise, and a rotating base to hold the Vise.  Digital Readout to help you with the precision on your cutting. A sensitive Drilling attachment that you could also add. Works great when your using very small bit's so you don't break the bit's. It sort of lets you get a feeling of what the bit is doing. Of course it all comes at a price but I brought mine over the last few year's to help with the cost of it and have not regret it. You could go to their site, make a list of what you might need to get started and they  will give you a package deal. Once you get the base package, what ever that may be then you can get the accessories you really need and not have to put out a chunk of money. You can do that over time because you are buying a tool for a life time. Also If you purchase their lathe get the 17 inch one,  you can use  the mill accessories on the lathe which would cut down on the cost of the accessories. 

Hi Giampiero  Nice job good sir and will be a outstanding piece on a outstanding ship. Who know's you might want to build a second one and put it under a glass dome to show off your work. Gary

Hi Giampiero  Nice job good sir and will be a outstanding piece on a outstanding ship. Who know's you might want to build a second one and put it under a glass dome to show off your work. Gary

The construction of a height adjustable workbench for 45 euros.

 
 

some small advances. This galley stove is keeping me very busy!
 

Greetings MSW.    I am back after completing Chuck's Confederacy scratch after a 7 year build finished in 2016.  (he did give me some cheats on the figurehead and some sculptures....)  She is an incredibly designed kit - I learned a ton - and ironically it was built in several apartments while single with nothing but a crappy Delta scroll saw and an old Preac table saw, along with Xacto knifes.  Jeff Hayes perfectly milled wood helped a ton !  And then I got married and my twins were born which slowed down everything in 2013. 
 
I have always wanted to build a fully framed French ship and collected a full library of Ancre subjects (the 74 Gun Series, Monographs of the 74 timbers, Commerce de Marseille, and La Renommee).    So  after buying a house in the suburbs - I built out a workshop.  I gathered the necessary tools over the past few years -  Byrnes Table Saw, Thickness Sander, Disc Sander,  Proxxon Mill, Proxxon Planer, Wood River spindle sander and a Dewalt full size table saw to reduce my flitch of pear wood to usable size.  I have also collected Lie Nielsen chisels and its Lee Valley Sharpening system.  
 
So it seems I can't fail right ?  
 
I did...
 
Call it being a Dad of young twins or just sheer intimidation.  I could not complete the stem for La Renommee to my standard so I quit.  I then decided - maybe a simpler subject would work - so I began construction on La Jacinthe in 1/32 scale.  Not only did I have issues with consistency of enlarging the plans (thanks FedEx/UPS store) - I grew bored with its construction - I have already successfully completed several plank on bulkhead models. 
 
So I returned to the enlarged plans that Delacroix sent me for Le Gros Ventre in 1/36 scale - a noble subject - with nice lines, simpler sculptures and yet a serious challenge.  I have heard from several members on this forum that building fully framed in larger scale is easier...
 
So here is the start of my build log - it will be messy showing all of the mistakes in order to build a fully framed model.  Here are my results after 2 months of work - the last photo showing my useable parts.

Greetings Group,
 
I restarted this build in earnest beginning of August and have completed 20 frames (roughly 1/3rd of the total frames).  The frames have not been sanded or bias added, simply assembled (each frame is 12 parts and stacked) with some extra "fat along the bold line of the frame patterns.  
 
I carve out early a couple hours early 430 AM - 630AM before the kids go to school and my day starts - has been working really well so far !

After 2 months of consistent work - 63 frames are cut and assembled and ready for sanding/bevels. One partial stern frame remains to be assembled later.  I need to tweak both the stern keel parts to make sure everything fits snug and re do bow parts part h and i.  Then to cut the rabbet.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Happy Labor Day group.  Quick update - halfway there - 32 frames of 64 completed (each consisting of 12 parts).  I am very happy I bought a flitch of Pear back in 2017 as the price has doubled and framing consumes quite a bit of wood at this scale.  

Hi Mike and outstanding good sir, she is a beauty. Now that you have her finished what's your next model going to be?  Also I noticed that you have some paint on you work bench and was wondering what they are. May come in handy getting some for my Winchelsea. Look forward to your next build good sir. Gary

Small update:
I got the checkered floor glued down tonight, I wanted to go with a black pattern but keep it a little more subtle so I kept the light squares just plain AYC with WOP. , I am almost
finished with the margin planks, a little bit of clean up some sanding and then off to the hatch coamings!
JJ
 

Thanks Fred, I've been getting little bits of time here and there to get work done. Sounds like you’re running wild on yours!
 
Last week I got cabin panels in along with the last double strakes, a single nice coat of red and it came out well. I had to do some minor wood filling to make some lines disappear before paint. The captains cabin panels went in pretty well with very minor adjustments.
 
Ive got the starboard spirketting almost complete, I spent some time tonight making sure my deck clamps were lined up as close as possible before I glued them on. I measured from multiple points as well as confirming with the eye test, using laser etched lines on the subdeck as a reference. This visual reference will be the final judge once the deck beams are in place. I’ll get them sanded tomorrow and start the panels before finishing the last few strakes.

Congratulations, Chuck, on a job well done and may you next one be just as good if not better. Look forward to seeing it and have enjoy watching your Winchelsea come to life.  Gary

Congratulations, Chuck, on a job well done and may you next one be just as good if not better. Look forward to seeing it and have enjoy watching your Winchelsea come to life.  Gary

got my last frame installed yesterday and the chocks (spacers) today.
Will start sanding Monday or Tuesday and cut in the doorways.
 

Congratulations, Chuck, on a job well done and may you next one be just as good if not better. Look forward to seeing it and have enjoy watching your Winchelsea come to life.  Gary

Congratulations, Chuck, on a job well done and may you next one be just as good if not better. Look forward to seeing it and have enjoy watching your Winchelsea come to life.  Gary