Fernando E

Good evening eveyone
 
day 17 fitting frames 8 to 26 
this morning i managed a better clean up of frames 8 to 26, and made a decision (right or wrong) to go ahead and fit them, the elastic bands keep them in place whilst the glue sets, they have been pinned to strengthen them, the yellow lines are just highlighting the fact that frame 14 is not fitted,  as it needs to be remade, no fairing of internal timbers has been made, other than removing the laser char,

Yeah, it's very challenging

https://cafmodel.com/products/hms-granado
Coming soon
Le coreur is done and we're starting a new project
Our mortar ship La salamandre is temporarily unavailable for sale due to copyright issues, so we are ready to start a new mortar ship.
I started to design this kit in 2013, but his ribs were too complex, so he was stranded later，After years of experience, we feel that we can continue now。


This is a model photo of the museum



 
This is the final state of design in 2013
 

Good evening everyone
 
Day 16 keel and frame cleaning and test fitting
 
not much to say, another 4 hours sanding, and cleaning ribs, tonight i put what frames that have been made in place, about 50% need more sanding to allow them to fit correctly




 
 

good morning everyone
Day 15 keel and frame cleanup
 
about 6 hours work, and 20 frames are looking a lot better

of the 50 odd full frames about 3 are cleaned up and the keel is ready to accept them,  all the forward 1/2 frames are cleaned up, but still to be angled to fit in the jig/keel,
I hope to have most of the cleaning up done in the next week,
i am at present working out if best to work forward or go aft 
reasons are
1 apparently the the stern timbers are awkward to fit whilst in the jig, 
2 if  working from fwd it will have to be from frame 2, as I am unsure of the space the Hawse timbers require, (all a learning curve)

good evening everyone
 
been away from the build couple of days, i found myself and the wife baby sitting her daughters chickens, we survived that but i had an accident, i fell asleep in one of their recliners (the daugters, not the chickens), woke up raised the seat back up and heard that sickening sound of breaking glass, yep my ipad had fallen down the side, and yes it is well and truly broken
 
day 14 Hawse Timbers
 
i was going to write how poorly i am doing this build, yes it is no where as good as others, but i am realy enjoying it
the keel is made up, but i certainly made a mess of it taking it to pieces to do the rabbit line, 
the Hawse timbers  are made up, but i may have taken to much wood off, and i see no possible way that they are going to fit, by the time frame one goes in 
the cleaning up continues, and the house smells of sanded cherry wood, 
 
Hawse timbers assembly

 
 

Good evening everyone
 
day 12 keel and frames
 
i have made up 13 frames this morning, but i did start at 0400
 
I think i have about 10 left to make, plus the cants and the stern timbers
 
the keel needs to be taken apart to do the wabbit line, all in all im happy with the progress made, even managed to clean two of the frames up
 
Thinking ahead, how would i go about in putting internal decks, as i have no plans, would i need a milling machine?
 
in the photos the frames are just sitting on top of the keel

good evening everyone
 
day 10 keel and frames
 
so far 24 full frames and 6 half frames have been completed, some of them are still under weights to keep them flat
 
today i attempted to clean one of the frames up by scraping, it turned out ok, but still loads more to do and i have to find a way to do inside
 
i may have to take the keel apart, as i have forgotten the rabbit line, i would sooner do it now than after the frames are in
 
 

good evening everyone
 
Day 8 keel and frames
 
thank you for the comments and likes, very much appreciate,
 
well the bar was open today and everyone was very good at social distancing, wel to be honest no one turned up so me and dobs hit the popcorn

 
im think i have made a mistake, but cannot find one, , im not 100% sure of myself to have got it right first time
15 frames are made up, of which two are under weights, also the keel was extended today
in the photo the frames are just resting on the keel
 
 

good evening everyone
thank you for comments and likes
 
Day 6 keel and frames
i have a little routine going on now
all the frame parts have been identified and bagged


doing a few at a time they have been removed from the frets and the ends have met the bench sander
as required the required plan is found and frame built up
 
so far 6 have been completed
the top two in the photo are going back uder the weights as they are just out for the photo

good evening everyone
 
day 5 keel and a frame 16
well after a slow start, i am getting a bit more confidence now, i have made a few mistakes, and as a result the gaps look wider than they are due to sanding with paper and not the bench sander as a result the edges are rounded off, but surprisingly it is all very tight and square

 
i looked through the wooden bulkhead sheets and picked number 16 at random
looking through the drawings i identified all frame 16 parts, as they possibly have a couple of bits from the previous frame (15) and possibly from the next(frame 17) and marked with item number

all mating surfaces went against the bench grinder
 
Parts A and B were separated

found the corresponding paper plan, tracing paper laid on top and secured

all B items were turned upside down, 
 
in this case item B4 was secured to the tracing paper with UHU glue stick, the rest of B items had wood glue added to mating edegs and again had UHU added to keep them in position 
 


 
then all A items were laid on top in a overlap

weighted for a couple of hours

 
 
 

day 4 keel assy
 
well i made a start, all the ummm;s went out the window, and well two pieces have become one  and lots more looking like they will fit ok, sanding by hand is not working for me as it is rounding off the edges so i will use the desk sander tomorrow in the garage
 
 
 

day 4 keel assy
 
good evening everyone
 
where do i start
all the keel pieces have been glued and have set
i have tracing paper over the plans held in position
 
but i now need to make it all fit,
do i make up the false keel as per the plans, mark it off and build upwards, i presume like a real vessel,
Everything is over sized lengthways by about 1mm, i presume i hand sand it down to remove the burn and slight angle from laser cutting, 
 
yes im concerned i am going to mess it up
 

Day 3 frame completed, started keel
 
i never realised just how many items make up the keel, and each item is made up from 2 half 
 
i bought some recommended glue titebond quick thick it is not so wet as my normal PVA glue
 
the two half's are glued back to back after having a very light sanding 
 
the plan sheet has been covered in tracing paper to protect it, and allows me to put the items in a rough position, as they need to be sanded, to square the ends off 



one of the boats will be put away tomorrow

Nice work Antony....very impressive.
 
Cheers..........Fernando 

Knowing when to stop
 
My tendency with all things creative is to keep doing "one more thing" until I've made a mess of it. The good news is, I'm going to break that habit with this model. I struggled a bit with the decision to not include the sail on this boat but after spending some time with and without my paper mock-up in place, I decided l much preferred the sail-free look. I may revisit that at some point in the future but for the moment, this build is officially done. Thanks to everyone who took the time to drop in, have a look, make encouraging comments and show interest in general. It's much appreciated.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

A few more small things and a little history
 
As I mentioned early on in this log, I picked this boat because I had become aware of ancestors who served on whale ships out of several New England whaling ports and aboard many ships (including the Morgan). I wanted to associate this boat with a specific ancestor and the ship he sailed on. Given the 1850-1870 general window for this particular style of boat I went with the Adeline which he was aboard in 1856. I don't have any information as to the design of the ship's flag but found enough examples from other ships active during this period to make an educated guess. I don't have any proof that whaleboats flew any type of marking pennants atop their masts or individualized their waifs to sort out their kills from those of other boats but given the level of activity during this "peak" period it doesn't seem too far-fetched. Regardless of historical evidence/accuracy, my boat flies Adeline's colors! 
 

 

 
Once weathered and displayed, these should add a nice pop of color/interest.
 

 
I ended up making the center board from 3 individual pieces rather than the single piece die-cut offered in the kit. The plans also show a lead weight inserted into the middle board which I made from Sculpey clay. I'm assuming that these center boards had to have had some kind of reenforcing structure (iron rods running from top to bottom through each board?) unless there's some kind of fancy nailing/joinery that could hold boards together end-to-end like this. These things must have undergone a lot of stress beneath a tacking boat. 

Mast, mast rigging and line tub rope:
 

 

 
The dowel provided for the mast was warped like the others in my kit so I used a 1/4" piece I had in my scrap box. I'm not 100% sure what species the wood is but it took a lot of sanding to get it thinned and tapered to match the plans. Drilling holes by hand took time as well. On the bright side, it's perfectly straight.
 

 
I made my "wooden" mast hoops with paper. I have a limitless supply of paper sample books from 35 years as a graphic designer and take advantage of the various textures and weights to make all kinds of things. After applying my wood paint job I added a 50/50 wood glue/water mixture to stiffen and protect them.
 

 
The shrouds are one long piece with a served hoop in the middle that slips over the top of the mast and rest on the shoulders. 
 

 
The shrouds/stays (not sure which, if either, is the correct term?) run through the thimbles and back up to a loop that's spliced into the line. Everything is tightened with a slipped hitch later. I made my mast hinge hardware less bulky than the photo-etch provided in the kit simply because the reference photos I've looked at seem to indicate something more subtle. I knew I was going to bang it up a little and paint to a wrought iron finish so photo-etch wasn't going to work. The hinge hardware and the oar lock inserts are also paper, same as the mast hoops. 
 

 
A better look at the mast rigging. 
 

 
Adding the lovely Syren rope to the line tubs. The stuff in the kit is awful.
 

 
I made sure to place the tubs in the boat to be sure the line was entering and exiting in the correct positions. The tubs will be lashed to the thwarts so making sure those lanyards are positioned correctly when everything is finally staged is important. 
 
 
 
 

Tools of the trade:
 
First, I have to say that being back to the office for two weeks and the wasted time of a long commute has really thrown a wet blanket on my build progress. Nonetheless, I do have more of the progress I made while happily working from my home bench for nearly three months. 
I really enjoyed making the various bladed tools for this kit once I figured out I could do a better job with wood than the photo-etch parts included in the kit. I don’t own a soldering iron (yet) so other than getting one and taking a crash-course on how to use it, I didn’t have much of a choice. It was also another chance to try my hand at miniature carving.  
 

 
I'm not sure what species of wood this stuff is, but I really like the way it carves. I think I may have salvaged it from old mini-blinds. You never know when something that nearly went to the trash will be perfect for something down the road.
 

 

 
I went with what I considered the most iconic harpoon shape. 

 

 
I used wood for the metal shafts as well. 
 

 

 
The lance and harpoon almost ready for paint. All that's left to do is refine the transition from shaft to blade. 
 

 
And finally, a reasonably believable finished product.
 
 
 
The curved piece on the boat hook is the only metal I used on these items. I still need to "sharpen" the harpoon blade with a little dry-brushed steel. 
 

 
All of these items tend to lose their realism when singled out and studied carefully but as details of the whole I think they do their job.
 

 

 
I also made a grapnel from the same wood as the other items. I made a "metal" bucket from paper to add something visually different than the coopered bucket in the plans. 
 
 
 

Time to modestly make my number with you all.  
I have been lurking , awestruck, for several years; but feel a build log coming on
 
A little about myself: 
retired Mech.  Engineer living in the (locked-down) edges of Melbourne lifetime aeromodeller and boat modeller main boat interests are scale sailing, so even when building a scale model ship my mind (for want of a better term) will be wondering about ballast and sail control
veritably I have a lot to learn, not least about the practical details of posting of this forum
 
I have read large numbers of build Logs on the forum, and notice the helpfulness, patience and darn good advice offered, so I want to get my toe in the water
 
I need to learn How to size and post pictures, how to caption them, if this is possible.
 
Andrew

I've been building plastic models on and off for many years, but in the last couple of months as I've been following Youtube channels of other model makers, I started watching wooden ship videos.
 
I live in NJ and own a small computer store here. Gamer. Chef. Pro wrestling. Music. Movies. Eclectic tastes.
 
 
(apologies if this is a little long, but I wanted to explain where I'm at with my present projects)
 
 
Although I never thought much about them in the past, it seems like something interesting and challenging to try. I especially like Occre's products and customer support. I contacted them and they recommended a starter set (the Polaris) so I pulled the trigger on it a month or so ago.
 
I also purchased a couple of additional kits from Ebay for a good price.
 
 
Oh, but it doesn't end there.
 
 
I was making progress on the Polaris, when I learned that the deck piece was cut wrong. The wood grain should have gone side-to-side, instead of longways... meaning I couldn't bend it properly onto the keel. Annoying, but that's how you learn. I contacted Occre and they're sending replacement pieces. (I had applied the deck boards already when I learned the piece was cut the wrong way) The upside is that Occre sends free replacement parts, but the downside is that it takes over three weeks to get them sent from Spain.
 
In the meantime, I decided to take a crack at an Artesania Latina Carmen II I got a good deal on from Ebay. While they make a nice product, their instructions are not very good (and have actual errors and mis-translations) and their photos are small and B & W which look like they were photocopied with a potato.
 
Carmen II
 
Still, I plunged forward and got as far as putting the planks on the sides... and holy crap, were my hands numb after a week of that. Using a little hand drill to make holes for the nails every 1 1/2 - 2 inches on 20+ planks on two sides... so yeah... about 300+ drill holes. But once I get past this tedious part of the build the rest will probably go pretty smooth. The problem is that I had NO IDEA how to wrap the planks around and mold them to the bow and stern. I tried my best but my work was sloppy and incomplete. I conferred with a friend who lives upstairs from my store - he's a master woodworker who builds medieval weapons and musical instruments for fun. He was familiar with Artesania's deficient instructions and was nice enough to offer to clean up my mess. Again, it becomes a waiting game as he has several projects he's working on, plus works from home for his job. I'm hoping he'll have the Carmen cleaned up and back to me this week.
 
 
Part of the reason I'm building these kits is so I don't spend my free time playing video games or eating. Because the last thing I need is either or both of those past times.
 
Knowing the weekend was coming up, I decided to try a THIRD kit rather than sit around and wasting time doing nothing. So making sure all my parts were carefully organized in their boxes so they didn't get mixed up, I cracked open another Occre kit - a smaller one called the Palamos.
 
Palamos
 
I made much more progress with this one. Mainly because the deck board was cut properly so the grain when in the right direction. I've gotten as far as building the keel, laying down the deck boards, drawing in the lines and nails, and successfully glued the deck board to the keel. I added support pieces to the keel this morning. The next step is to sand the keel, the bow and the stern. I'm not exactly sure what to do, but I will re-read the instructions and give it a try a little later. The glue should be dry by that point.
 
 
So that's where I'm at with regards to this new hobby. I'm looking forward to having some good discussions, learning new techniques and expanding my knowledge here. Thanks for reading along. Feel free to ask anything.