Ben752

As I became fairing the hull and fitting battens it became obvious that struts would be useful in providing rigidity for the operation.  I cut the struts from 1/4" by 1/4" square dowels I picked up a hobby store.  I cut each piece about 20 thou under in hopes of preventing any self induced keel warp.  That ended up working out pretty well, titebond seemed to pick up the gap nicely.  
 
I marked off either side of each bulkhead using my Incra ruler to mark the distance from the keel.  For those don't have one of these, I highly recommend it.  The holes in the ruler are cut precise for 0.5mm lead so you can precisely mark up to 1/64th.  Next, I used stacks of Makerbeam as guage blocks to set the vertical hight of the strut and provide a resting surface while the glue set.
 
A couple bulkheads were either the wrong size to begin with or I got a bit carried away with my Dremel during sanding.  What I did to shim the couple bulkheads was cut strips of 1/32" basswood from some of the laser cut scrap.  I cut them cross grain to maximize contact with the bulkhead when gluing.  So far it seems to work pretty well.  A little sanding with a block and the edge of the shim tapered nicely.
 
 

Fusion 360 is excellent and they've made it free for hobbyists.

Thank you everyone for your encouraging words!  I finally stopped putting off creating a build log, so I'm a bit further than the pictures show but I failed to take photos of some of the steps.  I'll post more soon.
 
Thanks again!

After doing a fair bit of research on MSW and thinking critically about my abilities, I've settled on the USS Niagara as my first wooden model ship.  My experience with wooden models has been limited to RC planes and the tissue covered balsa variety.  I must say, laster cut parts are significantly better than the stamped balsa variety!
 
I began by constructing a building board out of 3/4" MDF.  To hold the keel perpendicular to the board I designed a frame and clamping system out of Makerbeam (a small extruded aluminum t-slot profile with 4 faces) and attached it to the board via countersunk holes through the back of the board.
 
 

After doing a fair bit of research on MSW and thinking critically about my abilities, I've settled on the USS Niagara as my first wooden model ship.  My experience with wooden models has been limited to RC planes and the tissue covered balsa variety.  I must say, laster cut parts are significantly better than the stamped balsa variety!
 
I began by constructing a building board out of 3/4" MDF.  To hold the keel perpendicular to the board I designed a frame and clamping system out of Makerbeam (a small extruded aluminum t-slot profile with 4 faces) and attached it to the board via countersunk holes through the back of the board.
 
 

After doing a fair bit of research on MSW and thinking critically about my abilities, I've settled on the USS Niagara as my first wooden model ship.  My experience with wooden models has been limited to RC planes and the tissue covered balsa variety.  I must say, laster cut parts are significantly better than the stamped balsa variety!
 
I began by constructing a building board out of 3/4" MDF.  To hold the keel perpendicular to the board I designed a frame and clamping system out of Makerbeam (a small extruded aluminum t-slot profile with 4 faces) and attached it to the board via countersunk holes through the back of the board.
 
 

After doing a fair bit of research on MSW and thinking critically about my abilities, I've settled on the USS Niagara as my first wooden model ship.  My experience with wooden models has been limited to RC planes and the tissue covered balsa variety.  I must say, laster cut parts are significantly better than the stamped balsa variety!
 
I began by constructing a building board out of 3/4" MDF.  To hold the keel perpendicular to the board I designed a frame and clamping system out of Makerbeam (a small extruded aluminum t-slot profile with 4 faces) and attached it to the board via countersunk holes through the back of the board.
 
 

After doing a fair bit of research on MSW and thinking critically about my abilities, I've settled on the USS Niagara as my first wooden model ship.  My experience with wooden models has been limited to RC planes and the tissue covered balsa variety.  I must say, laster cut parts are significantly better than the stamped balsa variety!
 
I began by constructing a building board out of 3/4" MDF.  To hold the keel perpendicular to the board I designed a frame and clamping system out of Makerbeam (a small extruded aluminum t-slot profile with 4 faces) and attached it to the board via countersunk holes through the back of the board.
 
 

After doing a fair bit of research on MSW and thinking critically about my abilities, I've settled on the USS Niagara as my first wooden model ship.  My experience with wooden models has been limited to RC planes and the tissue covered balsa variety.  I must say, laster cut parts are significantly better than the stamped balsa variety!
 
I began by constructing a building board out of 3/4" MDF.  To hold the keel perpendicular to the board I designed a frame and clamping system out of Makerbeam (a small extruded aluminum t-slot profile with 4 faces) and attached it to the board via countersunk holes through the back of the board.
 
 

After doing a fair bit of research on MSW and thinking critically about my abilities, I've settled on the USS Niagara as my first wooden model ship.  My experience with wooden models has been limited to RC planes and the tissue covered balsa variety.  I must say, laster cut parts are significantly better than the stamped balsa variety!
 
I began by constructing a building board out of 3/4" MDF.  To hold the keel perpendicular to the board I designed a frame and clamping system out of Makerbeam (a small extruded aluminum t-slot profile with 4 faces) and attached it to the board via countersunk holes through the back of the board.
 
 

Hi everyone - I have mentioned proportional dividers several times lately. Frankly they are something I just recently found out about. But I have quickly come to see their value, particularly with hull planking. I have had several PMs asking about the dividers so I thought I would do a quick demo for those that haven't had the opportunity to use them. They can be purchased online at Amazon or any art supply or architect supply site. Prices range from $12 to over $800 - the difference being materials and precision. The one I have was around $75.
 
I am using the dividers to help me determine the width of planks as I lay them to the hull. As you know the width will vary from one end to the other. One note: I do not lay a single long strip for a strake. Instead the strip is cut into usually 5 pieces and each piece laid individually. So on with the show....
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I go thru this routine for each strake. You have to decrease the divisions for each strake as after the first strake is laid there will be 7 left. The nice thing about dividing for each strake - even if you screw one up (too narrow or too wide) when you do the next measurement it will automatically correct itself. So it is just about impossible for the the last strake in the band to miss the band mark. The only way to mess up is to not get your bands marked accurately.
 
For full disclosure, the measuring method I am using is how to divide a straight line into equal parts. Of course the bulkhead edges are not straight. There are methods for using the dividers for circles and curved surfaces - just a little more math involved. However, I have found that for this application, at least on the Niagara hull, the straight line method is sufficient and incredibly easy. It takes less than a minute to measure and mark a strake at each bulkhead.
 
Hope maybe this will help someone......

I've been working on the stem, stern, and keel. It was time to get serious so I bought a Sherline 8 axis milling machine. What a difference it makes in fashioning pieces from Rosewood which is like working with steel. I still need to fill, final sand, and stain but I've decided to make the wales from ebony and complete the planking below the wales in rosewood so I'll do the finish work later. 
 

 

 

 

Ahoy Tex
 
On my Model Expo kit, a few of the bulkheads were wrong. Some were asymmetrical, others the cutout for the keel was wrong. If you have not already, I would suggest checking this against the plans.