Heronguy

The Essex has been adorning a corner of my desk for the past few months.  Some progress since my last post but not really much time has gone into it.  The rigging of the yards left me unsure how to proceed so I've been just enjoying what is there.  Time to start up again!
 

 

 

 
The most fun getting here has been the "outrigger eyelets" (Aeropicolla term) perhaps more correctly called the "studding sail boom irons" (Mondfeld) or "boom brackets" (Takakjian).
 
I tried 3 different approaches - the wood from the kit, a brass strip bent into shape and soldered, and a brass bar milled on a Sherline CNC mill.  The results were:
 

 
The CNC milling was a nice little learning project;
 
Programmed the g-code to mill the outside the bracket

 
Ran the program on a thick piece of stock cutting only part way through the stock.

 
Drilled the inside holes, then milled off the underside of the stock to free the bracket.

 
I tried I couple of different thicknesses to choose a pleasing appearance.
 
 
Then ran the milling program 3 more times to make the rest of the brackets required. 
 
 
 

My slow and hardly steady work on this model continues.  I have now finished planking the hull.  It went better then expected but far from perfect.  I have painted it and as these pictures show moved onto the next step. The deck will be on soon.
 

Thanks Chuck, not convinced on the "before you know it" part just yet.....
Also thanks for all the 'likes'.
Not much to talk about, I just felt it was time to show some photo's on the progress to date.

The Ship’s Carpenter
D.E. Stockman
Fire Ship Press, 2019
Softbound ($18.99) and Ebook ($8.99) 226 pages
Order:  https://stockmanbooks.com/books
 

 
 
 
Background on the book:
This is first in a series titled “Tween Sea and Shore”.  While it is fiction, it’s based around real ships and real events of the mid-1700’s.    The story centers on Abraham, an English shipyard carpenter and his French love Yvette as they struggle to lead a quiet life amidst the wars of their respective countries in the mid-1700’s.  Abraham leaves London for France to find work, meets Yvette, and falls in love. He returns to London after unfortunate incidents occur and he is forced into the Navy.  From England to France and the colonies, his life and those of other historical characters encounter sea-faring exploits, escapes, victory and defeat as their paths cross.  The story, much of which is based on real-life events, ends with the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759.  A French frigate, la Renommee, connects all the main characters an entwines their lives in it’s wake throughout the telling.
 
Review:  Thoughts and comments:
I must confess that I have read very little naval fiction in the last 10 years or so while focusing on non-fiction although prior to that, I have read a lot.  Having said that, I’m very happy to have read it and feel like I should be reading more again.
The Ship’s Carpenter is very well written in a very flowing pace.  There’s much to be said as the work is very well researched.  I had to refer to Wikipedia and Google a few times to get some definitions of terms and in turn was rewarded by a greater understanding of the period.
The weaving of fictional characters and real persons is very well done and more that once I stopped and sorted out who was who.  While he takes fictional license with conversations, etc. they are well blended into the historical accuracy of the times.
Mr. Stockman has an insight into the times and the lives of those who lived them and blends in fact and fiction very well.   So well, at times I had to stop and think… “fact or fiction?”.  I picked up some things about shipboard life and battle that other works tend to ignore such as during battle, the ship’s carpenters continuously traversed the hold searching for leaks and holes created by cannon shot and effected repairs as quickly as they were able.  It’s these tidbits that were part of the pleasure of reading this book.  I look forward to the next two books in the series.
 
To those who enjoy period naval fiction, this ranks well up there.
 
 
 
 

the planking of the beakhead bulkhead is done. Just need to clean it up a bit. I milled some planks from my 20 year old stash of boxwood. The deck planking is kit supplied. I am using scrap basswood from the bulkhead sheets to use as bow fillers as I am comfortable with this. The stern will be done in the same fashion. 
 
The decision to use treenails or not will have to be made soon. Make em’ or fake em’ that is the question! 
 
Any helpful criticism is appreciated and thanks for the thumbs up!

Just another quick update on the progress so far.
I have finished the planking of the lower counter and am working my way through the planking around the sweep port openings.
The last 2 photo's show the (very basic) jigs I use to pre-bend the planks at the bow and to pre-bend and twist the planks at the stern.
Here are some photo's..
 

I am the proud owner of Toni's Introduction to Planking Kit #1 and, since I've got a little time off during the holidays, I decided to get started.  I started by reading the instructions.  (I've heard that enough times from Kurt to know to start there and it's mentioned in Toni's instructions.  It's good advice and I found, even reading through them, I made at least one error early on.)
 
I mounted the plans to a piece of foam board, as instructed.  Then I laid out the keel, keelson, stem components, deadwood and sternpost on the sheet to understand how they all fit together.
 

Next step is to cut the rabbet.  I'll confess I read this section multiple times and Toni's posts here on MSW, which are slightly different from the instruction manual I have.  I'm hoping I got this part right.
 
Toni says, "Measure the thickness of your planking.  On this model I used 1/32" basswood which actually measured 0.43" thick."  I had to think about that for a minute.  1/32" is 0.03125", quite a ways from 0.43".  Then I measured the planking material in the kit:

I think this is a combination typo and a little dyslexia.  The instruction manual should say 0.034" instead of 0.43".  Doesn't matter.  I figured it out and understand the point.  You need that measurement to transfer it to the keel components, which I did.  I did a little experimentation to make sure I drew an accurate line on those components.  I set my compass, drew a line on some scrap paper and then measured it with the caliper.  I had to do that a few times to adjust the compass properly, but it paid off.

I drew lines on both the outboard and top edges.  (This is something Toni didn't say to do, but it made sense to me.  It the angle is supposed to be 45°, then you need to know both sides of the right triangle to get the hypotenuse right ... right?
 


I have just a couple of observations.  First, scraping the char off the components is a necessary task, I know, but I would urge people to take their time with it.  I could have used power tools to do this or gone after it with some really coarse sandpaper, but I used the back of an old X-Acto blade as a scraper.  It worked great and I didn't risk damaging the components.  It took a little longer than other methods, but I think it was a good call.
 
For cutting the rabbet, again, I could have used power tools for that.  I decided not to and I'm glad I did.  (Toni designed this kit to be done by people without access to all that stuff, so it's not necessary.)  I used the X-Acto blade again and then some sanding sticks to finish it off.  That worked very well and, although it took a while, the results were better than I think I could have gotten with power tools.  Small planes would have worked too.  I tried to use mine, but found they were a little too aggressive and thought if I used them I might inadvertently take off more wood than I wanted to.
 
And no project would be complete without some errors.  Even though the instructions are very clear about how far aft to go with the keel rabbet -- Figure 10 shows how far to carve it -- I still carved it all the way aft.  I corrected that right away by gluing in some scrap wood and returning the keel to a square profile.  Best thing about a wooden ship model: there's nothing you can't fix.
 
Here's the final product.
 

Now on to the frames.

Per the instructions, "the slots on the keelson were laser cut approximately 1/16" too shallow to help prevent breakage of the basswood keelson while making the rabbet."  So I need to deepen them that 1/16" which will bring the distance between the bottom of the frame and the rabbet to about 1/16".
 

Off to the next step!
 
 
 
Dan
 
 

Received my boxwood carvings today from Jack.
 
They are even better in person!  
 
These are truly works of art!
 
Shawn

My laser machine arrived Friday, so the weekend was spent sorting out new workshop, which still needs finishing. However, I did use the machine, and I am very happy with the cutting and quality. I have cut another 12 complete sets of Alert parts (pearwood version), and parts fit together perfectly. It was one of the better machines on offer, though, with a top quality laser tube that's made in Germany. 
 
I did one set of Speedy 3mm MDF with part numbers laser etched in each part, and this seems to work very well. As I am no longer having to pay for a sub contractors time, I can now do this.
 
Still a lot of learning regarding the laser etching side though - tried a Speedy deck and completely nuked it! Still, I am very pleased I made the investment.

I’ll look forward to sharing experiences on this project. Slow is my mantra as well. It should be fun.

I thought that if I could stiffen the bulkheads without putting in spacers that I could get on with the fairing of the hull.  I decided to try out using a pin nailer to attach scrap strips along the edges of the deck level on the bulkheads.
 

 


They are quite easy to pry up after I'm finished.  They seem to have provided the effect I was looking for so I have started fairing the hull.
 
 

The lower deadeyes are installed.
 
Each was wired with a small eyebolt that attaches it to the main rail.
 

 

Closer view of the rabbet in keel-keelson

 
and at the stem

I found the final frame (H) was harder to position since it has very little glueing surface.

I decided to attach frame Gb 1st then use it to support frame H.
 


I'm hoping the position of the frame is close enough to correct.  I suppose the planking will prove that one way or another!
 
 

The lower deadeyes are installed.
 
Each was wired with a small eyebolt that attaches it to the main rail.
 

 

I found the final frame (H) was harder to position since it has very little glueing surface.

I decided to attach frame Gb 1st then use it to support frame H.
 


I'm hoping the position of the frame is close enough to correct.  I suppose the planking will prove that one way or another!
 
 

I found the final frame (H) was harder to position since it has very little glueing surface.

I decided to attach frame Gb 1st then use it to support frame H.
 


I'm hoping the position of the frame is close enough to correct.  I suppose the planking will prove that one way or another!
 
 

The lower deadeyes are installed.
 
Each was wired with a small eyebolt that attaches it to the main rail.
 

 

I found the final frame (H) was harder to position since it has very little glueing surface.

I decided to attach frame Gb 1st then use it to support frame H.
 


I'm hoping the position of the frame is close enough to correct.  I suppose the planking will prove that one way or another!
 
 

The lower deadeyes are installed.
 
Each was wired with a small eyebolt that attaches it to the main rail.
 

 

The lower deadeyes are installed.
 
Each was wired with a small eyebolt that attaches it to the main rail.
 

 

Looks great.  Only the first run of kits have the bulkhead issue.  Please remember that I have never designed anything before and what looks correct on paper (or CAD) does not always translate perfectly when dealing with a laser cutter and different versions of the same software.  As soon as there are five builds started we will set up the group build.

good to see your making progress on her........very nice looking ship  

Great, thanks for answering, I need to buy one.

Hi I've  ordered the motosaw a couple of days ago, as I thought it was good value. From what you've done with it I'm pleased I did. Just waiting for it to arrive. Thankyou. 
Winnie is looking good, great job!!