Zarkon

Thank you Frank! I look at others building this great model and I’m in awe at everyone’s building skills and craftsmanship. I hope I can get as good as the others building this model someday Jeff

Hi all! I finally finished planking the next section! I am now half way done with planking on one side! It takes me a while because I have about 30 min to and hour a night I can dedicate to her. It ain’t perfect, and I realized I didn’t edge bend enough on the bow to make the planks sit flatter, but I’m learning. So the next section should be better! I also milled 15 more strips so I can finish the other side’s 6 rows. I do enjoy milling. I don’t know why but I find if fun. Thanks all! Jeff

Thanks everyone for the likes!! I finally finished planking the first set of 6! That took over a year to do. Haha! Here’s to the second set not taking that long 🤪 With the first pic, I can really see a difference between the left and right side. The right side is quite a bit better, which gives me hope I am getting better at this. I feel like I accomplished quite a bit with this first row done! I will continue onto the next set of 6 planks and make sure this row is even better than the first! Thanks! Jeff

As I said, here are some pics showing my progress. It’s not too much, but I am glad I am able to start building again. I am slowly getting better at it as I progress through the hull. One thing I am noticing, is that I need to sand more on the bow and stern. So before I add more planks, I will need to sand it down a little more. Lastly, as a birthday gift this year, my wife ordered this Byrnes disk sander! It works very well!! Thanks all! I will be posting back soon. Jeff

Hi all, Its been a long while since I have been able to work on her. With Covid, work, my son’s health and other unforeseen events, I have had to take a long break. I have had no energy or time to continue…. Until now! I have been able to plank more of the hull recently and I’m getting back into it. Planking the hull is a daunting task for me and sorta scary. I am almost done with the first set of 6 planks on each side. I will be posting a few pics of my progress later today. Chucks instructions on how to edge bend the planks has been a huge help with this planking so far. I can tell I am getting better at it as I continue with each plank, so it’s giving me motivation for me. Thanks all!! Jeff

Thanks guys for the feedback. That really did help. I ordered some tracing paper and I will pick it up tomorrow. I have some sheets I can use to cut it out. Would you guys recommend using a scroll saw to cut the base shape? Thanks! Jeff

Hey everyone, So I am in need of some advice. I am not sure how to create the fairing cap strip at the bow. The sideways bend needed for a 3/16" x 1/16" strip of wood is proving difficult. Should I try to trace the shape on a 1/16" sheet of cherry, then cut it out? I'm not sure what the best method is for creating a strip with this type of bend at the bow. I have added the all the other fairing caps down to the stern. I just need help with the bow fairing cap since it bends MUCH more than the others. Any help would be great! Thanks! Jeff

Thank you Chuck! I am really enjoying this build! Your pics and instructions are a HUGE help for me. I ordered the chapter 4 cherry set, and I was really surprised at how fast it got to my house! I also ordered all the cherry sheets I should need to finish planking the hull. Im excited to line off the hull and start to plank! Well... after fairing inboard of course! Jeff

Thanks for the advice! I do have a Dremel so I will look into using that for the initial fairing. I do need to re-read the fairing cap section to make sure I am doing that correctly. I might have some questions before I start tomorrow. Thanks! Jeff

Thanks everyone! I do appreciate the feedback and likes! It helps inspire me to do my best. I have finally finished placing the black strake and the anchor lining. It took longer than I had thought. But again, I am happy with the result! Next up is the step I have been slightly dreading. Fairing inboard. Chuck even says this isn't a fun step. But I know its really important, so of course I will do my best. I am not sure though what would be the best method of fairing. Would it be just making some custom sand blocks and going to town? I'll have to think about it and any suggestions would be helpful I will read over Chuck's excellent instructions a few times before adding the "fairing caps". Here are some pictures of where i am currently. Thanks everyone for reading my log! Jeff

My paint came a day early! I was too excited so I painted the wales with many thin coats today. Even my son helped! He was very proud of himself for helping to paint . He did a great job if I do say so myself! After cleaning it up some, I am really happy with the result! I don't care as much about the top because the black strake will cover the little spill over. I need to make the black strake strips so that will be done this week. I do need to clean up a few places here and there, but its mostly completed! Thanks everyone for the nice comments and likes! Jeff

Yes I am! I had to stop because of family matters as well as other issues. I swear I posted more on this forum, but I can't seem to find it. Anyway What has happened since my last post was, I wasn't happy with my first attempt at this model. I had since gotten another kit and also a book on Hermione. I started to notice there were many discrepancies between the kit and the book plans. (I will post more on that later). So, what I decided to do, was to plank the hull with boxwood and walnut. I also made the stem from boxwood too. Unfortunately, in the past 2 months, I was rearranging my room when the stem broke by accident. Here is a pic... Oops! Also, the building board was damaged too. I will be needing to build another building board. I was sad the stem broke because I wad really happy with how it turned out. But.. this was a blessing in disguise because I realized I needed to make it out of walnut instead anyway. I will also need to make a few new walnut pieces as well. Also, inspecting the model, I am not happy with how the hull planks bent towards the stem piece as shown below. I will be ripping out some strips and remaking it. Good thing is there aren't many strips to replace. To do these repairs, I had to order more walnut sheets. So, I will be waiting until the sheets arrive before I can continue. Thanks!!! Jeff

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Hey all! It sure has been a while! I finally was able to find time for the build and have completed adding the wales (minus the black strake) to the model! I tried to make the wales even on both sides. I am pretty happy with the result. To make the wales, I copied where I placed the first layer of planks. The sides fitted pretty well, but the trickiest part for me, was the bending at the stern. I did the best I could. I am happy with the result. Is it perfect? Nope! Haha! But it seems, I always learn from doing each step of this model. Here are some other pics: I did my best to thin the wales down at the stem to simulate the wales fitting into the rabbet. I am now waiting on some black paint to start painting the wales. I want to start now, but the paint won't arrive until Monday. I can't wait to see what it looks like painted! I will be painting the wales this coming week, so my next update shouldn't be far off. Thanks everyone! Jeff

Rustyj, Your build is coming along beautifully! Keep up the great work!

Hey all, Thanks everyone for the likes! I have been moving up the gun ports. I had thought I finished them until I tried to plank the strake above the gun port. I noticed the top gun port planks don't line up at all with the curve of the planking. I have some pictures below. Its the top second planks you see. I'm not sure the best way of fixing this. Would it be to take the strake off and make a new one? Or to try to sand down the top of the strake to try to re create the line of the planking? Any suggestions would be helpful. Also, here is an overall pick of my planking so far. Thanks!! Jeff

Wow! Your build is looking fantastic! Jeff

Hey all! I have been slowly planking my way up from the wales. I still don't get as much time as I would like to work on it, but I'm still managing to get some progress done. Be it as little as 1 piece a day. Anyway, I hope this looks good. I am still working up the bulkheads, but thought it was time to give an update. The planking around the fixed blocks was quite daughnting for me. It took me a few attempts, but I am satisfied with the results. I'm on the last row of 1/4" wide planks before the 3/16". After I finish planking up the wales, I will sand it to even out some of the rough spots, then add the 2 rows of planks below the wales. Thanks all! Jeff

I was able replace the strips I removed. I had to remove a little more than the last pictures I posted to fix how the bottom wale streak flows down to the stern. I think it turned out better than I thought! Compared to the other side, it is off by 1mm. It was off by almost 7/32". So I feel that's much better. The sheer going down the hull to the stern looks a lot better to me as well . Thanks! Jeff

Good idea. I fitted the other side's black streak for reference and I'm making the adjustments now. The position and sheer will be much more correct. Having this correct is more important than getting the tightest seems for this layer since these wale planks will be planked over and painted anyway. Thanks! Jeff

Thanks everyone for the likes! That makes a lot of sense Chuck. I will order some 1/16" sheets later this week. I noticed the sheer is too steep on the port side stern. Way too steep. And this would cause issues down the road. The starboard side is good. I then realized I didn't follow my guide lines correctly on the port side. So I decided to remove the wale planks that were too steep. I was able to clean it up quite a bit. I know the butt ends aren't correct, but this is the first planking of the wales, so it will be covered up anyway. I was able to keep my black strake intact so lucky me! I didn't have to replace that! I'm not upset because I need to make sure the sheer is correct before continuing. It would be horrible to realize this later after planking up the the hull. I will start to replace those strips tomorrow! Thanks! Jeff

Thanks everyone for the likes! Its been a little while, but I have been busy on the ship. I am starting to get used to using the table saw as both a saw and a planer. The first few times trying to get usable 7/32" strips yielded 4-5 strips since I have to plane the 1/4" sheets down first. But slowly as I was getting more comfortable; this week, I was able to produce 15 strips at one time! That really made me feel I'm starting to get used to the table saw. I have enough 7/32" strips to finish the first layer of the wales and black strakes. I am currently working on the black strake. Sorry for the bad lighting. I need to get more light in my room. Making the 1/4" strikes will be MUCH easier because I won't have to plane them before making the strips. So I am excited about that. Thanks!!! Jeff

Thanks everyone for the likes and tips! I started getting used to my new table saw. Since I have not used a table saw before, it has taken me about 3 weeks, and very helpful tips and advice from G, Ben, and Chuck. Like Ben said, I had to reduce the height of the sheets by a small amount. I had to create some jigs to support the sheet as it goes through the saw. Making the first strips was tough for me. I have about 10 or so unusable strips. But I learned more and more as I went on. I had chipped, burnt, too wide, not wide enough.. you name it! Advice from G, Ben, and Chuck really helped. But, being safe, after 3 weeks of trial and error, I finally was able to make the first 3 usable strips!!!! I would have made more, but I didn't have enough time. I know it might sound like a small thing, but it is a big deal for me! So, a few days later, I placed the the first part of the first plank on the hull. I really didn't understand what the 'S' shape of the plank meant at the bow until I placed this first plank on. I then finally saw it. Here is a small 2 pics of it. I hope it looks alright! I am proud of it because I made that strip, and I realized how much work went into getting this far. Its really hard to see the S curve at the bow, but I know its there cause I had to bend it! Thanks everyone for your help and support! I hope to plank more this week. Jeff

Thanks G!! I am going to re read your advice as I start to make the strips! I have planked the lower counter and added the support strip to help with the lower planking. I still need to do a little sanding on it. I received my wood sheets! They look very nice but there is one problem. I asked for them to make some 7/32" but they are all 1/4" or slightly thicker. It wouldn't be a problem if I had a planer, but I do not. So I am not quite sure of what to do. I also need to take a little break from the ship. Only because my wife and I need to decide where to put the table saw. I also will need to get a sturdy table and a small shop vac to connect to the table saw. This might take a few weeks or longer to do since we will need to clean some rooms out in our basement and need to save up for the table and shop vac. Thanks everyone foe the likes! Jeff

Thanks G for the advice! Also, thanks to everyone for your likes! I was able to complete the other bollard timber and the spacer between. Making the bollard timbers was actually one of the most fun parts of the build so far! Other than some small adjustments, I have finished chapter one! Wow what a journey. I have learned quite a lot from this chapter. It has taken me 5 months to get this far. I have really enjoyed the build so far and will continue that enthusiasm into Chapter 2. Sorry for the bad lighting. I do not have too much room! My cherry wood sheets were shipped a few days ago. So hopefully I will receive them this week and start making the strips needed for the hull planking. It will be my first time doing this. So I will be nervous and excited at the same time haha! I'm actually going to read through chapter 2 a few times before starting! Thanks everyone! Jeff

Thanks everyone for the likes! I ordered some sheets with the correct width so I hope to receive them soon. Small update. Been working on sanding down the stem and bulwarks near the bow to thin it down to allow the bollard timbers to fit correctly. Here is a pic of my first attempt of making a bollard timber. The top piece, the 1/64" strip, needs to be sanded down but I will do that tomorrow. I also beveled the outer and inner sides. Its a little hard to capture in a picture but I tried to match the curve that the planks will follow. I will try to start working on the matching pair tomorrow. Thanks! Jeff