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ahb26

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  1. ahb26
    I've reached the point where it is time to start fitting the spars to the hull, so an update is in order. I worked on the boom and gaff first. More metalwork was needed for the boom: the main sheet bail... and topping lift iron. I made up simple jigs to glue the gaff jaws and boom jaws - sheet scraps of the correct thickness with cutouts such that the jaws were aligned on the spar centerline, lined with wax paper. These were also useful for aligning fittings on the spars and holding them steady when attaching the fittings. The gaff gets a cheek block, cleats to secure the peak halliard lines, and a little cleat on the end for the peak lashing. After further work and painting, the mast ends of the gaff and boom (which is upside down) ... and the aft ends. The next post will cover the mast.
  2. ahb26
    Thanks! I am using lead-free solder with a small silver content, and a low-power soldering iron that is just adequate to heat the thin brass strip. The solder is on the thick side (just over 1/16") and it would be easier to work with thinner solder - this stuff tends to form big blobs and it's not well suited for precise work. My files are my best friends.
  3. ahb26
    Congratulations! I have learned a lot from your build as well as others, and I'm inspired to push on with my ECB.
  4. ahb26
    Good point. There is a fair amount of mismatch between what is called for in the plans and the materials supplied in the kit. I think this is an example - they felt the need to supply two thicknesses of brass, and these are the thicknesses they had. In any case, I decided to stick with the 1/64" stock for almost everything. I have made up the three mast bands as well as the single topmast band. I wasn't looking forward to this but it went better than expected, for the most part. We all find ways to hold things in position while soldering. For the upper mast band, I made up a length of wood the same dimension as the top of the mast (didn't want to burn the real thing) and built the fitting on that. Three sides of the square are bent from one piece of brass, and the fourth side soldered in place. This is what I came up with: The solder job was messy but effective: After some filing, I added the ring to hold the topmast to the fitting and soldered it in. It took a lot more filing to get to a reasonable shape. The middle fitting was straightforward since I could simply bend up the square around the correct spot on the actual mast. The bottom fitting was trickier, since I needed to add a flat-sided ring on one end and the spreader bracket and a rigging attachment point at the other. Getting to the point shown here wasn't too bad, but it took me a good hour to get the lug soldered in since I kept messing up the bracket. After all the work and clean-up, I ended up with these: The topmast fits nicely: It was good to get this done but there is so much more to do. I've shaped the gaff and will carry on with getting all the spars ready to go.
  5. ahb26
    Grant, Sea Hoss - thanks! I tapered the short section of mast in my big old drill press. I had to rearrange some things to get the mast into the correct position. I squared and tapered the section above the round taper by sanding it in my small vise. The finished product - I need to shape the topmast as well before I start to build the bands. But in reviewing the instructions, plans, and other builds, I came up with a couple of questions: The instructions say "After squaring the head, cut the tenon for the iron mast band." There are three mast bands, but the only one for which I could cut a tenon is the upper band - thereby setting it slightly into the mast and giving it a shoulder to rest on. The plans don't show such an arrangement, but the drawing in the instructions seems to suggest it. Is this correct? Two thicknesses of brass strip are supplied: 1/64" (.016") and 1/32" (.032"). The plans call for strips .012" thick for some parts and .016" thick for others (including the mast bands). So far I've used the thinner strips for everything I've built, but it looks like I should use the thicker (1/32") material for the mast bands, even though it's twice as thick as what the plans call for...? Any insight greatly appreciated!
  6. ahb26
    I had previously made up the stem plates but had not installed them. I decided it would be best to attach fittings to them before installing, rather than trying to do it after the fact. I only have one photo, showing the final state of things: The bullseye on the upper plate is a hollowed out small deadeye - that will secure the jibstay. (I made up two similar fittings for the bowsprit end of the bobstay, for future use.) The bobstay chain is attached to the lower plate with a shackle. This is not the chain that comes with the kit - it's a slightly larger link size (about 19 links/inch) that I had on hand. Easier to work with. I don't intend to parcel and serve the lower part of the bobstay. Finally, after much delay, I came to grips with the windlass and its handles. I made up the handles from brass tubing and toothpicks. With the handle and pivot mechanism assembled, painted and attached to the bowsprit-pawl bitt, I glued it and the windlass bitts into place and ran thin black wire as links. So this leaves me with a few little things to do on the hull: anchor, main sheet horse, and oh yes, I forgot the windlass pawl. I'll get around to them eventually, but now it is on to spar construction. The bowsprit is mostly done, but I think I will defer installing it until the other spars are also ready to go.
  7. ahb26
    Slowly poking away at things over the last month, I've completed most of Stage 4 - Hull Details. I'll cover progress in a couple of posts. First up was chainplates and deadeyes. On past models, I've used cast-metal chainplates; this was my first attempt at building them from scratch. Drilling the brass was tough until I found a good drill in my collection. It's broken with only about 3/8" of the fluted section remaining, but that actually reduces the bend and makes drilling easier. Hope I don't lose it. I would have preferred to solder the pin where it exits the wire loop, but couldn't devise a way to hold everything tight, not burn the deadeye, and not solder the wire to the chainplate. So I used a short piece of aluminum tube, crimped to hold everything in place. I also made up shackles for the topmast backstays. All installed and painted. (Oddly enough, the real Emma C. Berry at Mystic Seaport does not seem to have a separate plate for the topmast backstay - it simply connects down to the aftmost shroud chainplate.) Next up was the rudder. I previously shaped the rudder and glued it to its post. I painted it but decided to skip the copper sheathing indicated for the rudder post and sternpost. The brackets that wrap around the rudder post and attach to the sternpost required more drilling but were straightforward to install. With the rudder in place and the hull mounted on its temporary base, I decided a long-overdue bench cleanup was in order. But knowing me, it won't last.
  8. ahb26
    The pins are about 11/16" long and fully engaged with wood over their entire length. They are a pretty snug fit, no wiggle at all, so I don't think they are likely to wear their holes larger.
  9. ahb26
    After putting it off for too long, I finally got around to arranging for mounting the model. I wasn't able to find suitable stanchions, but I did find a post that suggested making up mounting pins from hardware-store steel rod. I bought a length of 1/8" rod - too large to use as-is since the keel is only 5/32" thick. With my drill press, an assortment of files, and patience, I created reduced sections 5/64" in diameter: The pins differ in length by 1/4" to allow for the drag in the keel. Spacing the pins at about 5-7/8" gives the correct drag angle. I inverted the hull on a sturdy box, positioned such that the waterline was level, and secured it with rubber bands. I drilled the front mount hole to go through the keel into a floor frame; the rear hole is in a taller section of keel. This was a nervous moment but all was well. The pins slide right in. To test the mount, I drilled a piece of scrap hardwood as a surrogate base. The holes need to be drilled to the same depth and the pins bottomed out, to get the correct height. Very pleased with the results. The waterline looks good and the hull is straight up and down when viewed endwise. I guess the chainplates are next. That should be interesting.
  10. ahb26
    Still chugging along. My retired life includes volunteering at a local non-profit two mornings a week, mostly moving furniture that has been donated and that we distribute to people in need. That just started up again in the spring following the pandemic. I also have a part-time job as admin assistant for our local land trust. That generally takes very little time but we just completed helping out with a major land acquisition, which kept me busy. Finally, I've been learning to play the ukulele after years of failing to learn to play guitar - yeah, it's "just" a ukulele, but at least I can make progress with it. The ship modeling fits in with the rest. After much delay, I shaped the transom trim ring, painted it a brighter yellow than the rest of the trim, and glued it on. I masked off the area above the ring and painted that yellow also (three coats to cover the black). The masking worked OK but required some touch-up after this photo was taken: I didn't use the lettering that came with the kit, and didn't want to deal with getting and applying gold rub-on lettering. I made up the lettering in Photoshop and ended up saving it as a PNG and importing it to MS Word to resize and print (printing directly from Photoshop resulted in broken type). I was able to match the color of the trim ring reasonably well. I eased into the metal work with the stem plates - then took on the bowsprit bands. After several failed experiments, I made up the band with one "ear" included. I soldered that joint, then butt-soldered the other ear. The key was gluing a notched stick to the base to hold the band steady. Still tricky, but do-able. Thanks for the continued support and encouragement!
  11. ahb26
    Thanks! Slow progress this month, with a lot of other things happening. I continued work on the cabin trunk and it is now lacking only a stovepipe. It took a while to figure out how to build the arched companionway cover. I cut the pieces for a framework: and made up a jig to hold everything in place while glue set. Then it was fairly straightforward to plank over the framework. I added small vertical strips along each side edge. I also built the scuttle coaming and hatch: I built the doors and painted everything inside and out. Here it is, placed (not glued) on its coaming: The windlass was also a challenge. I thought and researched about attaching the whelps (my nautical vocabulary grows by the day) and decided to try CA. I stuck the sanded whelps on some masking tape in order to stain them, then scraped thin lines on the windlass where they needed to go. The CA gave me just enough time for positioning. They seem quite firmly attached. After more painting and gluing on the purchase arms (again with CA), it was time to enclose the axles in the two parts of each windlass bitt. I had previously done a lot of filing of the axles and the bitts to ensure the barrel could turn freely, but wasn't sure how I would hold everything in position while gluing the parts together. Eventually I stumbled on this Rube Goldberg setup: A trial fitting. I am still thinking about how (and whether) to build the handles. So here is the state of play... The plans indicate the wet well gratings should be "oiled" but I thought I would try them with anti-fouling red - I can always turn them over, but I think I like the red accent on what otherwise is a light beige-to-yellow deck. Much done, but so much left to do! This project has taught me to be patient and take one thing at a time. All the small steps will add up in the end.
  12. ahb26
    Funny you should ask. I have considered it, have in fact done it. Building the cabin has been enjoyable - more so than painting. I started with the corner posts (tried to "notch the posts over the coaming" but that wasn't happening) and sides. My cut-off clothespins came in handy. The framing, with all the little mortises, went pretty well. There were a few places where I probably should have mortised the beam ends into something, but didn't. Planking the roof on the fully-covered side was straightforward. I planked enough on the open side to define the companionway and the inner edge of the scuttle, then partially planked around the scuttle. That leaves enough open to see the bunk, although it's dark in there. (I cannot imagine being belowdecks on this boat in bad weather, with nothing but a lantern for light...) I may fix the companionway doors in the open position and the sliding cover also open, to improve the light and view. I'll keep working on the cabin but probably start on the windlass and metalwork as well. I don't do a lot of multitasking - working on another part of the model while paint dries, for example - but it's a little too easy to become obsessed with one item, like the cabin, and forget that there's much more to do.
  13. ahb26
    Grant, Moab - thanks for the kind words. Taking a cue from Yves (see post 99 on this page) I decided to use the old style mooring bitts instead instead of the bitts mounted on the bulwarks. One reason was that the cap rail overhangs the aftmost stanchion by a significant amount, so much so that I would have needed to cut a hefty notch in the cap rail. That did not appeal to me, and I like the simpler look of the older bitts. I measured out from the centerline along a beam to what looked like the right distance and marked the deck. Was this going to end in tears? I had visions of a drill bit shredding the deck but I went up by 1/64" increments with no drama, stopping well short of the 3/16" dimension of the bitt and continuing with a file. On the open side of the deck, I framed an opening for the bitt as I imagined it might have been done. On both sides, a notch cut into the bottom end of the bitt engages a frame. Another construction project was the buffalo rails. Naturally, my wife asked me why they are called buffalo rails. The Web is mute on the topic. I found one on-line glossary of shipbuilding terms that at least contained the term and defined it thus: An American term. A short decorative bulwark on the fore deck of motor boats and extending from the stem each side. Also called a fashion piece in the U.K. and a monkey rail in America. So we remain ignorant of the term's derivation. I am currently painting the cap and buffalo rails, and touching up the areas that need it. Next big task is the cabin.
  14. ahb26
    Previous post, should have said "when I was quite young." Big milestone - the cap rails are on. In the end it wasn't too difficult, but I spent more time worrying about the task and trying to figure out how to do it than actually doing it. First I cut and installed the lashing rails, which was straightforward. I glued together the cap rail sections: I decided to glue the two sides of the rail together before installation. I wanted to make sure the bow ends were exactly where they needed to be on the knightheads - didn't want to get into the situation where one side was glued in and the other side was in the wrong position. Attached the bow end with PVA to give myself time to micro-position everything: I was concerned about getting the proper overhang of the rails on the bulwarks, so I made up an alignment tool. It's made of 5/32" scrap, which is the width of the rails. The tab that goes on the outside of the bulwarks has a 1/32" shim to give the correct overhang. The tab for inside the bulwarks is there to hold the railing in place. I applied CA glue to (usually) two stanchions, then positioned the railing in the tool and pressed it down onto the stanchions with the outer shim against the bulwarks. It worked very well. I had no problem with the rails being the wrong shape - nothing, anyway, that resisted correction. As others have discovered, the supplied transom cap is a little too narrow. I also had a significant arch in the top edge of the transom that I had to sand flat and parallel with the cap rails, as best I could. I decided to widen the part in the hopes I might be able to use it rather than cutting a new one. After much fettling and trial fitting, I came up with something that is probably better than I could do making it up from scratch, and glued it in. There is still some cosmetic work left, but I'm really pleased to have this part of the build behind me!
  15. ahb26
    Soldering... When my father was drafted just before WW II, the Signal Corps trained him to be a radar technician - he eventually became a sergeant in charge of a radar platoon. When he was quite young, he taught me how to make a proper electronics solder joint and how to recognize a cold joint vs. one that had been properly heated. I made a number of Heathkits growing up, culminating in a color TV, so I had lots of practice both with discrete component wiring and circuit boards. It has been a valuable skill over the years. This kind of metalwork soldering is new to me but the principles are the same. I read in some post here that we don't need silver solder for this work but lead-free solder with slight silver content is superior to solder normally used for electronics work, and doesn't require temperatures beyond what a normal iron can produce. I've been using it and like it.
  16. ahb26
    As a relative novice, I'm somewhat reluctant to share techniques I've "discovered" because most of what I think up has surely been thought up many times before. I'll puzzle over a problem, probably recall something I've seen on MSW that inspires me to work out an approach, think about it for a while, and try it out. Thus it was with the rings on the hawse pipes and mooring chocks. I offer the following in the hope that it will be of use to someone. My Bowdoin kit included cast metal "hawse lips" but for ECB, I was on my own. I saw a post that showed them made up from wire, so that was a start. I have a quantity of thin (just under 1/32") copper wire left over from another project. I wound some wire around a 9/64" drill bit: and cut the resulting coil into rings, then aligned the ends. Fortunately, I learned how to solder at my father's knee, so there was no difficulty soldering the joint with lead-free solder: Once soldered, I squeezed the rings into the appropriate oval shape (shown in the foreground above), then flattened them slightly in a smooth-jawed machinist's vise. This process was greatly aided by precision wide pliers, especially useful for the ovaling step: Once made, I had to get them glued on in the correct alignment. I foresaw a lot of frustration trying to get them in the right position before the CA set, but then I made a simple alignment tool, just a U-shaped wire, that would locate the oval-shaped rings correctly in the oval-shaped hole. I have to say, this worked a treat for the mooring chocks (shown here). The hawse pipe, on the other hand, is drilled at a severe angle to the bulwarks at the bow, and the wire tool wouldn't work. I was able to put a little CA around the edge, enough to tack the ring in place, then work additional glue around the ring to secure it. The glue is a little sloppy, but all this will be painted and should look OK in the end.
  17. ahb26
    Life has gotten busy recently but I've tried to do a little something on ECB each day. I've reached the point where I can paint the bulwarks in preparation for adding the cap rail. To do that I had to add some bits and pieces. I added the doublers at the bow, extending them to the bowsprit as described previously. Looks OK from the sides: but from above you can see the adjustment, including a shim between the starboard knighthead and the bowsprit. I also drilled the hawse pipes (tricky), installed and drilled the doublers for the mooring chocks, and made and installed the rings at those locations. More on the rings in another post. I noticed on the plans the outline of a fashion piece at the stern, but no details on how to make it or mention in the instructions. However, the photos in this post show it clearly. I made up something similar: And of course, there has been a lot of sanding, filling, adjusting etc. I've started fitting the cap rails but I want to get the bulwarks, especially the insides, painted before the cap rails go on.
  18. ahb26
    Slow progress, but the port bulwarks and the knightheads are almost done. I took more care when installing the port stanchions to maintain alignment, including small shims at the base of some stanchions to counter an inward lean. I still had to add thin wedge-shaped shims to the outer surface of a couple of stanchions, but overall, the stanchions were more fair than on the starboard side, and the bulwark strakes laid down very nicely. As I did on the starboard side, I installed the port strakes before gluing the knightheads in place. In hindsight, I think this was a mistake. The planks obscure the alignment of the knightheads and make it difficult to fit the full bowsprit. I used the stub, which didn't give me a full picture of the situation. When I was able to see what I was doing and fit the bowsprit, I found that the front edges of the knightheads were too vertical and too far aft. Also, the bowsprit didn't quite align with the cutwater. I had to sand the edge of the port knighthead to get the bowsprit to line up, leaving a gap on the starboard side. If I had it to do over, I'd try to install the knightheads earlier on, possibly while installing the covering boards, to assure proper alignment. Fortunately, I have yet to install the hawse doublers - I should be able to extend them out to hide the gap and give the appearance of correctly angled knightheads. That and the cap rail will hide my sins.
  19. ahb26
    Thank you for the suggestions. I arrived at the same conclusion: that it is better to wait until the bulwarks are in place to trim the knightheads to size and and glue them in position. (In fact, it may not even be necessary to glue the knightheads into the covering board and hull; gluing the bulwark planks and cap rail to the knightheads should secure them.) I did remove a substantial portion of the knightheads below the deck level to allow them to sit at the correct angle. I marked the scuppers on the scupper strake, cut them out, and installed the strake. The three light-colored clothespins have been trimmed to provide a squared-off clamping surface. The two thinner strakes were next. I am installing the bulwarks at a height of 3/8" instead of 5/16" to avoid having to trim 1/32" off one of the strakes. There is some unevenness between the two thin strakes and a thin gap in some spots, which I have filled. With the knighthead still unsecured, I also trial-fit a bit of left-over bowsprit: It looks like this will work out. I think I will need the full 3/8" bulwark height at the bow, to allow the cap rail to clear the bowsprit. So now to do the whole thing again on the port side, hopefully applying lessons learned on the starboard!
  20. ahb26
    Paul, Maury, turnagi - thanks for the kind words. I took a good deal of time installing the first stanchion, but then I got the hang of it and the rest went pretty quickly. The little wedges are key to holding the stanchion tight against the inside surface of the hull planks. However, getting them fair was another matter. A few leaned in too much. I was able to break them loose (being able to reach up under the planking was a help). The alignment of the outer edge of the hole in the covering board with the inner surface of the planking is critical, and for these stanchions I needed to file the hole slightly to get them to line up. That solved the problem. However, I've discovered another problem and I hope for some advice. I inserted the knightheads that I made previously into their slots and found that the knighthead leans out much more than the foremost stanchion. There's no way for the upper bulwark planks to run fair from the stanchion onto the knighthead. I cut the knightheads to the pattern shown in the plans, and have sanded the outer surface (that bears on the inside surface of the hull) quite a bit already. It appears that I need to make the knightheads shorter (less material below the covering board) to get them to line up. Have others encountered this?
  21. ahb26
    My experiments with the Minwax PolyShades varnish were promising. The first coat soaks in and acts as a sealer. After a day or more, a light sanding with 400 grit paper takes off the slight roughness and results in a very smooth, hard surface. The second coat produces slightly deeper color and, somewhat surprisingly, no sheen (this is a satin, not gloss, varnish). I went ahead and put two coats on the deck. It hasn't dried completely but it feels smooth enough that I may just leave it as it is without sanding. I like the way it highlights the plank seams and butts. I also finished painting the bowsprit and I've started fooling around with the gammon iron. But the next big task is the bulwarks!
  22. ahb26
    The BlueJacket mast hoops I bought for use with my Bowdoin were similarly fragile. I think I broke and repaired about half of them before I was done. I didn't add sails but I did add lines to mimic the edges of the sails, and tied the line to the hoops.
  23. ahb26
    Been a while since I checked in. Again, thanks for the kind words! I have completed the deck as far as the center line of the boat. It's a lot easier than hull planking but still requires all the precision I can muster. A couple of in-progress photos: and the current state of affairs: The deck has not yet been sanded. I'll do that and think about how much more - if any - decking I want to install. This is how the boat looks from the open side: I like this look, to the extent that I might even cut away part of the cabin, but I also need to consider putting a few planks out from the center to frame the hatches. I assembled a test strip of decking (off the boat) to test finishes and edge treatments. There isn't much to choose in appearance between shellac and wipe-on poly, once they have been sanded with fine sandpaper. I bought a small can of Minwax "PolyShades" Classic Oak Satin, and will experiment with that on some additional test areas.
  24. ahb26
    It's decided then, deck first then bulwarks. But I've been working on some other items first. I did a bit more work on the bowsprit, but it's not yet ready for prime time. Before I installed the coamings to the deck framework, I made up two hatch covers - then glued on the coamings (including the cabin coaming, not shown). I've glued in the two ladders as well. To further delay the start of decking, I tackled the trail boards. I cut the boards from 1/32" sheet, steamed and bent them, and cut tapered moldings for the edges. After painting them, I made a copy of the printed sheet bearing the trailboard carving (as well as the lettering for the boat's name and port) to trial-fit into the space between the moldings. It wouldn't go at 100% but would at 90% with a little trimming. I was all set to glue them to the hull and cutwater but decided to check the photos and plans one last time - a good thing as I discovered that the gammon iron is installed under the trail boards. So these will remain off the boat for now.
  25. ahb26
    I have made progress here and there, mostly I think in order to delay the next big job. I think that will be the deck, and I have a question for your collective wisdom. I have never laid a deck with individual planks on anything, let alone on beams. I've read some posts on techniques for laying decks, butt shift patterns, simulating caulking, finishing etc. However, I don't know whether I need to edge-glue the planks or if is enough simply to glue them at the beams. I've seen that one way of simulating caulking is to edge-glue the planks with darkened glue. Another is to rub one edge of the plank with a pencil; will this show up if the planks are not edge-glued? More fundamentally, will the deck sand up well if the planks are not edge-glued? I didn't edge-glue the hull planks and they sanded up OK but not perfect. I've also gone back and forth on finish, and have come down on leaving the wood natural. I plan to do any rough sanding needed, then seal the deck with one or two coats of dilute clear shellac prior to final sanding - this creates a very smooth but not glossy surface. Thanks in advance for your advice!

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