petehay

Time for an update, I installed all the deck planking and added the simulated tree nails, also drilled the mast holes. All comments welcome.

Time for another update, I got a decent amount done this time, I installed the stem post, stern post, keel, transom and bulworks. Next I will plank the out side of the transom. All comments wecolme.

Alot of the previous images are missing for me?

Here is what it looks like on the Rattlesnake (prior to permanently lashing it down)

This build log is kind of a late start on the building. I currently have the hull in pretty good shape and about to plank the deck. I'll post a few pictures of the early stages, but it is well underway at this point.
 
Chuck's practicum on it is what drew me to this kit. This is the farthest I've gotten on a sailing ship build to date and intend on actually completing it. I got the kit on sale, as Model Expo prices fluctuate wildly. I'm cheap, so if I find something I want, I'll follow the prices and purchase at what I think is a fair price. It seems like a good kit to work on building skills. Hopefully, others can avoid the mistakes I've made along the way.
 
In the beginning ...

 
 

Here are the three builds I've done so far to prime myself for planking
 
Midwest large skiff: basics of ship modeling concepts: plank on frame, CA glue & how not to glue your fingers to your boat, reading instructions, basic tools, etc.
 

 
Midwest Large Rowing Dinghy, basics 102, introduces multiple planks, yes there are only three per side but technically, that is multiple. If you go by the book, it's also finished natural so you are much more aware of the things you painted over in the skiff.
 

 
Midwest Canadian Canoe, This gets into planking more as it pertains to real ship modeling. The first two midwest kits, the planking is pretty much just glued on before any frames are put in (there is a jig). There are 17, 18 per side on this kit and you must bevel, bend and fit each one. Not quite finished but to far along to start a build thread.

 

 

I have made a little progress on my model. Adding some details like cleats and stuff. Not done yet but getting closer. I am very much so enjoying the process. 

Got the hull mounted up on the stand. First time I've used a pin vise. It's a pretty cool tool. Easy to control. The holes in the keel for the pins were 1/16" and the keel is only 1/8" and it was pretty easy to get it centered and straight. I like this tool. I'm showing a picture of the paint samples that I got from home depot for painting this model. 3 bucks for the can.

I've been too sick the past couple days to do anything on the model, but felt good enough to post these pics. Hull is almost complete now. 

Made a bit more progress.  Have learned a few lessons.
Last (should have been first but I managed to get the pics in the wrong order) pic is the model with the 3d plank on each side.  This was the first one after my adventure with short planks and the subsequent repairs.
 
2d photo is after the 6th plank on each side was installed.  This was the last one that would go on without modification of the planks.  The first thing I tried was steam bending the planks to get some edge set.
 
 The 3d photo is my jury rigged bending jig.  I wrapped the planks in wet paper towels and microwaved them for 3 minutes.  Worked ok for the next two planks, see 4th pic, but I think the next ones will require either more bending or tapering.  Will post my findings at a later date.
 
 A couple of lessons learned so far. 
1.  Don't try to trim the ends of the planks to fit exactly.  Leave a small feather edge to overlap the stem and after everything is glued down come back and trim/sand to shape.  The last two pics are the un-trimed ends and the ends after rough sanding to shape.  Final shaping will be done when I sand and finish the outside of the hull. 
2.  pin the planks to the forms very tightly.  The have a tendency to lift up as you go down the line gluing the planks together. 
3.  Use lots of cloths pins to hold the planks in alinement with the one below.  If you don't little bumps and hollows develop.

After the strips were dry, they were cut to their final size and glued into place.

I got all the thwarts installed. I also took the liberty to depart from the plans furnished in the kit.
With the C.W. Morgan undergoing major repairs there are many independent boat builders  furnishing new whale boats for the bark. Like many boats the whale boat isn't a "cookie cutter" craft.
 
With this in mind and using one of the whale boat sites ( Beetle)a building on the internet I decided to use a different version of the steering oar brace. It looked more substantial then the one shown on the Erik Ronnberg pattern. One problem I had was the size to make it. After making two of different sizes I settled on the one shown in the images.
 
Also in the kit is no provision for a mast and spar rest after the sail gear is lowered. This U shaped chock is located on the stern just to the stb. side of the loggerhead.
 

 

 

 

 
Most of the boat itself is finished. Now all I have to do is construct , improvise and install all the various whale hunting craft. A kit in it self.
 
S.os
 
 

Thanks Bob and Dan. To be honest I think that the photographs flatter the model. I can see all the mistakes, I just make sure that it doesn't show in the photos But if you look carefully, you will find them!
 
Anyway, this will be my last update for a few weeks. Tomorrow, I fly out for work I managed to get started on the rigging, but I had a rather busy evening so I only managed to complete two shrouds.
 

 
I noticed that McKay's book shows both the foremast and mainmast with sheaves, so I installed the sheaves.
 

 
This picture shows rigging thread as supplied by Model Shipways (below) and Artesania Latina (above). Note the MS thread is slightly shiny and has no fuzzies. I suspect that it is synthetic fibre, maybe nylon. In use, it is more difficult to handle than the AL cotton thread - knots want to come apart, and it doesn't form compact, tight knots as easily. But I suspect that in the long run it will look better.
 

 
The bowsprit holder has been painted and installed. McKay shows the bowsprit holder mounted on a plate running down the side of the keel, but I think that my solution looks nicer.
 

 
The bowsprit is secured at the rear end simply by tying it to the foremast.
 

 
This is my method for rigging deadeyes. Again, I have not seen it described in MSW or anywhere else. This method uses no jigs. The major advantage is that it allows you to adjust both length and tension easily and perfectly. This is how:
 
1. Prepare the deadeye thread - CA one end (to make it stiff and easy to pass through holes), and make a stop knot on the other end.
 
2. Loop the upper shroud around a deadeye and secure with an alligator clip.
 
3. Rig the thread through both deadeyes loosely.
 

 
4. When the deadeyes are fully rigged, tension the thread by pulling them one by one through the holes. When fully tensioned, check the tension of the shroud and the length of the deadeye. When checking the tension, also make sure that the rake of the mast is correct AND it has not been pulled laterally. You will come across these possible scenarios:
 
4a. IF the deadeyes are too long AND the tension of the shroud is insufficient, you need to tension the deadeyes more.
 
4b. IF the deadeyes are spaced correctly but the shrouds are insufficiently tensioned, release the crocodile clip and add more tension to the shrouds.
 
4c. IF the shrouds are correctly tensioned but the space between the deadeyes is too long, release the shroud alligator clip and feed back the exact number of mm you need to shorten the deadeyes by. The deadeyes will become slack - re-tension them and they should be the correct length.
 
4d. IF the shrouds are correctly tensioned but the space between the deadeyes is too short, release the shroud alligator clip and pull up the exact number of mm you need to lengthen the deadeyes by. Feed the thread back into the deadeyes to lengthen.
 

 
5. Once you are satisfied with both deadeye spacing and shroud tension, tie a knot under the alligator clip and secure with a dab of white glue.
 

 
6. Complete the seizing.
 

 

 
Looks pretty good doesn't it! I'm going to make this Launch so beautiful that Bligh would have preferred to sail in this thing than that breadfruit carrying ship full of mutinous ingrates!
 
And that's it for now. I have to say good-bye to my wife, my home, and my little boat for a few weeks while I fly out to remote Australia. Well, not so remote - it has a beautiful beach There are worse places to work!
 
(edit) ARGHHHH I forgot to make and install the thwart knees before I Tung Oil'ed the thwarts!!! I can still make them, but ... what glue will stick to Tung Oiled thwarts? CA? PVA? Help please!

Quick update on my Sakonnet Daysailer build. Not much to report, I just finished making the sails so far.
 

Small update for those following.
 
The hull is now almost complete. I mounted the thwarts and chose the angle of the masts today. This is how I did it:
 

 
The most horizontal part of the ship is the middle floor plank, so I put a spirit level there and adjusted the height of the stand until it was level.
 

 
I was then able to align the masts, using the door frame (not in the picture) as my vertical reference.
 

 
I mounted the rudder with the pintles and gudgeons. I know of the problems others have been having with it (Meredith burnt a cake because she found it exceptionally fiddly), but I had no problems. It might be because my kit includes different pintles and gudgeons ... other build logs mention having to fabricate it out of brass strip. Not so here, mine came pre-bent and pre-drilled. However, the pre-drilled holes were a little off so I ended up fabricating my own anyway.
 
For trouble-free mounting, try what I did - mount the gudgeons to the rudder and the keel. Make sure they are aligned properly. Then mount the pintles onto the gudgeons, then slide the rudder into place. Once in place, pin the pintles securely.
 

 
These are the shrouds I made using my really poor soldering skills. At least I didn't blacken the deadeyes by burning them!
 

 
This is how I align the deadeyes prior to rigging. Pin the deadeye to the hull, then thread some rope through the deadeye. Pull the rope tight against the point where the shroud attaches to the mast, then CA the deadeye in place.
 

 

 
Ready to begin standing rigging tomorrow.

I have also done more work on the hull.
 

 
These are the rear seats. The kit would have the side seats resting on top of the thwarts. I preferred the look of all the seats on the same level, so that's what I did.
 

 
This is the grating as supplied in the kit. It looks rather cheesy, and I can not find any reference to the grating in AOTS: Bounty or any other source I have on hand.
 

 
I therefore cut up some spare wood and fabricated myself a replacement. This hasn't yet been glued in, it was a rough fit for the photo!
 

 
I added a wale, then masked it off and painted it yellow.
 

 
Gunwales added! All the other build logs seem to use the same method to clamp down the gunwales while waiting for the glue to dry. I had plenty of chopsticks on hand, so that's what I used.
 

 
The masts have been completed (L-R): maintmast, foremast, bowsprit. The bowsprit has been finished as per McKay. I calculated it at 82% the length of the foremast. In this kit, the foremast is 32cm, so the bowsprit works out to be 26.2cm.
 

 
Everyone seems to have a different method for aligning the gunwales. Mario (Cap'n Rat Fink) assembled his on the plans, then lofted the entire thing on the model. I didn't like that idea, so I came up with this. After I glued in the gunwales, I masked off the gunwales and levelled off the bow gunwale cheeks. After a good sanding, these were re-stained. They are now beautifully flush.
 

 
A number of build logs on MSW have also commented that the rear gunwale cheeks are too short. Not mine - mine dropped in perfectly after I shaved off half a mm. This is the completed rear of the boat, with the rear thwart, the backrest, and the completed gunwales.

Repeated the other side except I traced out a template of the completed plank more or less so that I could form it a bit better.
I didn't get any pictures of the second forming but it was exactly as before.
 
Here's how she sits for now awaiting some bevel sanding for the rest of the hull planking. I'll also do the finish painting on the underside of the cockpit areas next.
 
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I may try and fit the bow a little better. I'm not quite happy with the alignment yet.
 

 
And I scored a whole box of coffee stirrers that have a great profile and grain for the cockpit benches. I'll have to see how they take to the gel stain I have planned.

Final update...I finally finished my build early this morning. The sail and rigging work was the most fun of all I think. Thanks to all of those who followed and commented on this build. It was a great project and I learned a lot about sails and rigging and now feel confident enough to finish my Constructo brand Albatros build. Be sure to check out my YouTube picture show of this final update.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU_aV7NoC90
 
                 

Bob,
The Grand Banks Dory was my first scratch build. In fact it is my first completed boat. I just completed it last week.
I used the plans from the Shearwater site but built it half size at 1:24 scale.
http://www.shearwater-boats.com/doryinst.html
I am going to try to attach a photo taken with my iPad - not the best quality but I'm pretty proud of this little guy.
Pete

Thank you, Bob and Michael (and the lurkers who don't comment or even hit "like" from time to time  ), for your continued interest and support.
 
 

 
Where I am; moving ahead with spars, hull, carriage and wheels.
 
 

 
Photo montage of assembling an eighteen spoke wheel. Clockwise from upper left:  fixture and pattern, and the spoke cut-off station; calculating, cutting and fitting the first three spokes to the same length is important as it makes fitting the rest much easier; fitting some of the intermediate spokes allows the builder to visually check spoke spacing and make adjustments as work progresses; fitting more spokes in the spaces - half way done with this wheel; hurrah, one spoke left; two eighteen spoke rear wheels (1.060 in. / 27mm dia.) and two fourteen spoke front wheels (.860  in. / 22mm dia.) fabricated and ready for a little paint touch-up, further detailing and mounting on the axles.
 
 

 
Close-up of the two piece hull posed for a photo with axles and other carriage components. Strips of black construction paper were glued around the rims to replicate the shrink-fit iron tires. Carbon fiber pins (.020 in. / 0.5mm dia.) were glued into holes drilled through each wheel hub into the ends of the axle to reinforce the glued connection. The black strakes at the sheer line are glued in place; three more (on each side) to go. They seem to take more time to prepare than the wheels did.
 
 

 
Macro of Fore (to right) and Main masts, tops and topmasts. The tops were fabricated from .015 in. x .030 in. (0.4mm x 0.8mm) plywood strips.
 
 

Dave
 

I woke up early this morning (about 5 am) and just got finished planking Keel 3 (8 pm) there were breaks in between . and managed a basic fairing of the Hull. There is  tumblehome that starts just aft of the fish wells so the top planks are basically untouched untill  the deck is on, so that it (the tumblehome) can roll over the top . Here are the results

Today on Keel 1 , I started doing the finish work, installing the cleats, Center Board Rod,Samson post, Oar locks and the Trail Boards. I then Painted the Trail Boards Flat White and did some touch up work, Now Shes off to the Masting shop. Here are the results

Hi Pete in Portland here is a pic of the cleat on the bowsprit

Could you post a close up of the cleat on the bowsprit?
Pete in Portland

How are you doing the cleats? I, too, dislike those supplied with the kit.
Pete in Portland