el cid

The answers to many of our questions are found in Ordnance Instructions for the Unites States Navy (1860) which can be downloaded here:
 
https://archive.org/details/ordnanceinstruc00ordngoog
 
First of all, gun and train tackles were not removed before the gun was fired (pages 45 -47)! Up to the Ready/Fire commands the side tacklemen held the falls taut. At the command "fire!" side tacklemen dropped the tackle and falls and let them run to slow the recoil. The train tacklemen pulled on the falls to take up the slack as the gun recoiled, and then held the gun until it was loaded. However, the train tackle could be unhooked before firing in calm seas and then attached after recoil.
 
Note: The text describes when the gun tackles are hooked to the bulkheads and to the rings on the gun carriage, and which of the gun crew does each task. It never mentions unhooking the gun tackle until the gun is to be secured and stowed.
 
The gun was pointed by hauling it in to the extent allowed by the breeching line, and then one or the other side tackle was hauled in to swing the gun left or right (page 46). Here is a diagram showing pointing, firing and loading:
Breeching must be long enough to allow the gun to clear the gun port at least one foot when hauled fully inboard. Neither breeching nor tackle can be blackened or treated in any other way that reduces flexibility. They are to be made of manila or another pliable rope. (page 150).
 
I haven't read it all, but I couldn't find any description of how the gun tackle falls were to be secured/stowed when not in use. However, at the command "cast loose" the tackles were to be removed from stowage and then hooked to the bulwark and gun carriage. So apparently they were not hooked to the guns while they were stowed.

****
 
As far as placement of the ring bolts for the gun tackle on the bulwarks, the diagram above shows the attachment points spaced far from the gun port to allow a significant angle of pull on the tackle for pointing the gun. But most photos and drawings do not show them  as widely spaced as in the drawing above. I have also see (somewhere) a drawing showing double ring bolts for the train tackle on the bulwarks, on each side of the gun port, spaced fairly close together, in case one bolt fails.
 
In the description of how to point the gun it says the gunners used the handspikes to lever the gun left/right to assist the tackle. So it wasn't necessary for the gun tackles to be spaced widely as shown in the diagram above. The tackle could be used to hold and fine tune the point. The handspikes were also used to raise the breech to free the quoin so it could be repositiond to change the gun elevation.
 
One other detail I had been wondering about - the port tackle (for the gun port lid) was secured to a cleat on the inner top of the gun port. The door/lid was to be raised high to prevent damage from the blast of the gun. After each shot the port lids were closed to provide protection for the gun crews while they were reloading.
 
****
 
There is a lot of useful information in this document. It was written in 1855 and amended in 1860, but gunnery practices probably had not changed much in centuries except as new gun types were introduced. The referenced text describes practices for smooth bore muzzle loading guns.

Lamport & Holt Motorship 'Debrett' In Convoy 1942.
Watercolour 11 X 7 inches
Jim

Bob, I’ve wondered about this too.  I assume when a gun is stowed, the tackle is used to secure it against the bulwark to prevent it rolling about.  That would require the line be secured to itself or some hard point (cleated, stoppered, knotted?).  Were wheel chocks used as well?  I imagine great care was taken to prevent a loose cannon.  Leaving a gun untended with the tackle lines just coiled on deck (flemmished or otherwise) doesn’t seem prudent.
 
Jason, your model is magnificent!
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

Oil Tanker in the Suez Canal
The third of September is Merchant Navy Day in the UK.
'Lest we Forget'
Most commodities, materials and a good amount of food, reaching the average household, at one time or an other have traveled in a ship. Take for instance your car. The ore, it is made from. The fuel to smelt the ore. The resultant Steel. The chemicals and oil for plastics. Rubber for the tyres. Finally the oil and petrol to make it go to take you to the supermarket for you to buy life’s necessities and luxuries. Most, were transported by Ship, crewed by Merchant Seamen of many nationalities.
Thank you if you have read this far.
Jim
 

Many thanks all for the comments and likes, definitely good to have people along for the journey..
 
Feels like a chapter is coming to a close, finally seem to be closing in on completing the upper deck.  Definitely a multitude of time consuming small tasks.  First off I needed to address the fixed part of the gangway.  This is shown quite clearly in plan view on page 46 of AOTS Diana, however it is not shown in profile.  Given that it appears to contain its own lodging knee, I decided to extend the profile of the deck beam.  This seems to make sense when recognizing that a ladder will eventually be located here.  This highlights one of the inconsistencies in the AOTS book, many diagrams show the non-flush gangboards which I understand were going out of fashion at this point to be replaced by flush gangboards.  Hoping I'm not too far off the mark here.  A strip with a slight profile was added also to the deck beam to sit flush with the false quarterdeck.
 
The base plate to the stove was ripped off and replaced despite my intentions to leave as, hopefully this sits a little more harmoniously.
 

 
Cables have been added and "secured" to the various ring bolts beside the midship gratings.  AOTS describes these as being used for stoppers, but decided to secure with simpler ring ropes as described in Lever.  Stoppers have been modelled as per Lever on the 2 foremost ring bolts, but not yet tied on or attached permanently to allow me to finally decide (or others to refute) the approach taken.
 

 
Even though this area will only ever be glimpsed, time was spent fully building out the area around the foremast with the For jeer and for topsail sheet bitts as they would appear.  The actual bitts on the fo'c'sl will be mounted to the deck, seemed unnecessarily complicated to build these fully.  Couldn't quite figure out what was represented on diagrams for the fore jeer bitts until I saw interior photos of contemporary models in the Roger's Dockyard Model collection - but still no clue what the "swan neck" arrangement is called.  What is very interesting is how crowded this forward area really is, fighting these guns must have been a real challenge.
 

 
Warning:  Here follows some highly indulgent closeups taken on Captain's rounds!  This is the closest I guess I'll get to seeing what this looked like in practice
 

 
And finally...some overall shots with where things stand..
 

In Memorium Mitch Michelson July 12, 1953 to August 28, 2019     This week, we lost a passionate member of the ship modeling community. Mitch Michelson died on Wednesday, August 28 from a massive heart attack. He was 66 years old. His funeral was held on August 30 in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.    Mitch joined the Nautical Research Guild in 1989. He had been a Director since 2009 and served as Chairman of the Board in 2017. Those members who have attended the annual Conference recently will remember Mitch as our humorous emcee.   In addition to his contributions to the Guild, he was actively involved in Boy Scouts and mentored many young men to achieve Eagle Scout status. He was an avid pipe collector and served on the boards of several business organizations and his synagogue.    He is survived by three children and three grandchildren.    Most of all, he was my friend.   Kurt Van Dahm Chairman of the Board Nautical Research Guild  

Baron Pentland
BARON PENTLAND SS was a British Cargo Steamer of 3,410 tons built in 1927. On the 19th September 1941 when on route from St John (n.B.) for Hartlepool In Convoy SC-42 as a straggler and carrying a cargo of 1,512 standards lumber she was torpedoed by German submarine U-652. The BARON PENTLAND (Master Alexander Bleasby Campbell) remained afloat due her load of timber despite of a broken back and was torpedoed and sunk by U-372 at 14.33 hours on 19 September. Two crew members were lost. The master, 30 crew members and eight gunners were picked up by HMCS Orillia (k 119) (LtCdr W. Edward S. Briggs) of the 24th Escort Group and landed at Reykjavik. 2 crew lost from a total of 41. A bit of artistic license here, I think the ship had sunk before the crew were rescued but I wanted to show both ships.
W/C 15” X 11”
Jim

good morning everyone
 
Post birthday celebrations, and no alcohol involved
Bridge supports
 
two trpes are given in the etch set one of them for the Bluebell, there are a lot of choices to be made, and i can see it being easy to make a mistake
 
the legs are braced from behind, a week ago this would have been a nightmare for me, but with the right flux and lower temp solder it is working for me




centre braces fitted
 

Working on the bouy, it's rigging and the anchor rigging and tackle. I snipped pieces off a broken jewlers saw blade to simulate the iron strop. on the block. The instructions say this rigging is made to look more weathered from being in and out of the water so much. I tried several colors of paint wash but what worked the best was just acrylic black very watered down. Wet the line with this and run it through my pinched finger and thumb.  I had a hard time doing the bouy harness but got through it.  Rigged up the anchor.  Did the tackle and rope coils. The rigging of the bouy was not clearly shown in the instruction book pictures so I looked up what I could in what books I have and kind of guessed on how the rope coils were toed to the shrouds.  This is just on the Starboard side. Still have to do this on the Port.
 
Jesse

Tarred flannel has never been used between the hull and copper bottom plates, as far as I know. The standard material for that is Irish felt which is still made and sold for that purpose, although you really have to look for it. It's very similar to roofing felt. You won't find it at Home Depot!  These guys sell it, but seem to be asking an arm and a leg for it: https://schoonerchandlery.com/shop/vintage-traditional-boat-gear/a-traditional-materials-and-tools/irish-felt-ships-felt-barge-felt/  Admiral Ship Supply in Port Townsend, WA carries it, along with all the traditional materials for wooden boat construction and maintenance, all at reasonable prices.  http://admiralshipsupply.com/
 
  The use of canvas, flannel, or any similar cloth, the weight of it corresponding to the scantlings involved, is used when bedding the faying surfaces of large scarfs and timber joints, as well as fittings, in traditional ship construction. The purpose of the fabric was to hold the tar in place so it didn't run all over the place when the parts were assembled and to provide a bit of cushioning to fill the joint when the faying surfaces weren't perfectly flat and aligned. Irish felt and "Henry's" brand roofing cement is still commonly used to bed outboard ballast to wooden keels, as well as underlayment for copper sheeting and traditional canvas deck and deck house roof covering. In a lot of ways, the old methods and materials work best on wooden boats.   In the applications discussed above, the fabric and tar would be applied to the entire faying surface of large timbers. It would definitely not be used only below the waterline. In fact, there's more need for a good joint seal above the waterline than below. Below the waterline, the wood swells and stays swelled, forming tight joints. Above the waterline, the wood moves much more as its moisture content changes with the ambient environment. Open seams above the waterline fill with fresh rain water which causes rot, unlike salt water, which does not cause rot.   On the other hand, Irish felt is used beneath copper plating and painted canvas deck and deck house covering to provide a fair and flexible surface with a bit of cushioning between the plate or painted canvas covering. Without it, when the wood beneath the canvas moves, the painted canvas will crack and leak at the deck seams, causing rot, when the deck planking below expands and contracts with the cycling of the wood's moisture content. As for the copper, the tarred Irish felt provides a smooth surface for the copper and holds the tar in place. with a bit of cushioning, the heads of the tacks will naturally depress to be more or less fair with the surface of the plate rather than standing proud. It also cushions the copper and prevents punctures and tears when minor impacts occur. (As can be seen in the picture above, the old stripped bottom above the area being coppered is pretty groaty. A smooth bottom is a fast bottom.)   Some seem to think that irish felt and tar, or in the old days, hair and tar, prevented terredos from eating into the wood, but in my experience I doubt that made much difference to the ship worms. They find any small hole or depression they can, bore in and then take a 90 degree turn and eat through the endgrain, creating long tunnels in the wood. That's where they do the damage. A few small holes in a plank often indicates that the whole plank it like a hunk of Swiss cheese, even thought there's little damage visible on the surface.

Good Morning Allan;
 
The contract for Burlington & Severn, 2no 50 gun ships to be built by Sir Henry Johnson at Blackwall, dated 1695, states as follows:
 
Keeles to be of Elme (Not More than in Three Pieces) and to be fourteen Inches Square in the Midships with Scarphs Four Foot Four Inches Long at least and Each Scarph Tabled and laid with Tarr & Hair, to be well bolted with Six Bolts by an Inch Auger.
False Keeles To be Three Inches thick of Elme laid with Tarr & Hair and well fastened with Treenails Spikes and Staples.
 
No other timbers are so described, although the knee of the head is not described at all, so this contract cannot be used to know what happened with those joints.
 
The contract for Swan of 1694 is similar:
 
The Keele to be of Elme (not more than Three Peices) and to be Tenn Inches square in the Midships with Scarphs of Three foot Eight Inches long at least, Each Scarph Tabled and laid with Tarr and haire to be well Bolted with Five Bolts by Three Quarters of an Inch Auger. The False Keele to be Three Inches Thick of Elme laid with Tarr and haire and well fastned with Spikes and Treenayles.
 
This does then describe the head of the ship, but makes no mention of tar or hair:
 
To Build a Faire Head with a firm and Substantiall Knee & Cheekes, Railes, Traileboards, Beast, Bracketts, Kelson and Standarts, and to Finish the Same with Gratings and Stooles of Easement for the Saylors, with a Dead Block Carved for the Tack between the Railes, and with Mortices in the Knee for the Gammoning, and Washboards under the Cheekes.
 
Other contracts of similar date are phrased in an almost identical manner.
 
However, moving forward in time, the contract for Warspite of 1755 is more detailed:
 
Keel. The keel to be Elm, not more than Six pieces, One foot Six ins square in the Midships, sided afore One foot two inches, and at the aft part of the Rabbit of the Post Eleven ins & a half; the Scarphs Four feet Six inches long, tabled one into the other, laid with white Flannel or Kersey, and Bolted with Eight bolts of One inch & an eighth diameter, the lips of the said Scarphs not to be left more in thickness than Five inches and a quarter.
False Keel. To be in two thicknesses, the Upper one Four inches, the lower one three ins thick, so as to make the Main and False keel together one foot Nine ins below the Rabbit, not to have more than Six pieces of each, of proper lengths, to give Scarph to the Scarphs of the Main Keel and each other; to be laid with Tarr and hair, and Sufficiently fastened, the Upper one with Treenails, and the other with Nails and Staples.
Stem. Not to be more than three pieces of good sound Oak, quite free from defects of any kind, sided at the Head (which is to be continued down to the upper side of the Upper Cheek) two feet, below the Hance One foot six ins, and at the Fore foot,  the bigness of the keel; Moulded at the head One foot Six inches, and at the Forefoot the same as the keel, the Scarph Four feet long, tabled one into the other, laid with white Flannel or Kersey, and Bolted with Six bolts of One inch & an eighth Diameter, two of the middle Bolts to go through the false Stem and well chenched thereon; the Lips of the Scarphs not to be more than five ins and a quarter thick.
 
The knee of the head is described thus (note the mention of Canvas, which, with tar, I have seen mentioned as a seal in various places, such as over the tops of the hawse pieces)
 
Knee of the Head. To extend to the Upperside of the Upper Cheeks, to be One foot four inches thick at the Stem; the two Upper Bolts to be Two inches three eighths of an inch diameter in the Knee, and two inches and a quarter diameter in the Stem; the third two inches diameter in the knee, and one inch three quarters in the Stem; the fourth to be one inch seven eighths in the knee, and one inch Five eighths in the Stem; the Fifth to be One inch three quarters in the knee, and one inch Five eighths in the Stem, and all the rest to be but one inch & a half diameter.
All the holes to be bored through with proper Sized Augers, that is to receive the Bolts in the least drift, that no Reaming may be suffered from the Stem in. That the holes be bored before the Canvas is put on, and the knee Swung off to Observe if the holes are all good, before any Bolts are drove; To have throat pieces of Sufficient depth of Elm, tabled and Billed, and well secured with Bolts drove up, with Pluggs.
 
This would seem to indicate that a layer or layers of canvas, presumably tarred, was placed between the fore side of the stem and the corresponding face of the knee of the head.
 
Moving forward approximately 30 years, the contract for Ganges of 1782 is surprisingly similar to that for Warspite:
 
KEEL:  The Keel to be Elm not more than 6 pieces if to be got,  otherwise to have a short piece Abaft of about 22 feet, if required to be of Oak the foremost Piece about 24 ft, and the intermediate Pieces to be as near of a length as can be made suitable to the whole of what remains.  To be 1ft 6 ins Square in the Midships, sided afore 1ft 2 ins,  and at the Aft part of the Rabbet of the Post 1ft 0 ½ ins, The Scarphs to be 4ft 6ins long tabled one into the other laid with White Flannel or Kersey and Bolted with 8 Bolts of 1 ¼ Diamr,  the lips of the said Scarphs not to be left more in thickness than 5 ¼ ins.
FALSE KEEL:  To be in one thickness of 7ins so as to make the main and false Keels together 1ft 10 ins below the Rabbit, to give Scarph to the Scarphs of the main Keel to be laid with Tar and Hair and sufficiently fastened with Nails & Staples.
STEM:  Not to be more than 3 pieces of good sound Oak,  quite free from defects of any kind,  to be thwartships at the head 2ft 2 ins and to diminish from thence to 1ft6ins at the lowerside of the lower cheek and at the end of the Keel or reconciling of the Sweep 1ft 2ins. To be moulded at the head1ft 6ins and at the fore foot the same as the Keel,  the Scarphs 4ft long tabled one into the other,  laid with white Flannel or Kersey,  and bolted with 6 bolts of 1 1/8 Diamr. two of the middle Bolts to go through the false Stem and well clench’d thereon,  the lips of the Scarphs not to be more than 5 ¼ ins thick.  The Rabbit to be taken out agreeable to what is expressed in the Draught.
 
The knee of the head is again described, again mentioning canvas:
 
KNEE OF THE HEAD:  The Knee of the Head to extend to the upperside of the upper Cheeks,  to be 1ft 5ins thick at the Stem.  The two upper Bolts to be 2 3/8 ins diar; in the Knee & 2 ¼ ins in the Stem.  The third 2 1/8inches Diar; in the Knee & 2 ins in the Stem.  The Fourth to be 1 7/8 in the Knee & 1 ¾ in the Stem.  The fifth to be 1 ¾ in the Knee & 1 5/8 in the Stem,  & all the rest to be but 1 ½ in diar; .  All the Holes to be bored through with proper sized Augers that is to receive the Bolts in the least Drift.  That no reeming may be suffered from the Stem inwards,  that the holes be bored before the Canvas is put on,  and the Knee swung off to observe if the holes are all good before any Bolts are drove.  To have a throat piece of sufficient depth of Elm,  tabled & billed,  well secured with Bolts drove up with Plugs.
 
In all cases only the timbers I have listed are described as having any sealing material within the joints.
 
Sutherland may well have something to say on the matter, although Steel will be a bit late for your period.
 
All the best,
 
Mark P

Just an FYI
 
K & S has discontinued making many sizes of strip brass and other items.   These are staples for us model builders.  For example...
 
They are no longer making 
 
1/64" x 1/32" brass strips
1/64" x 1/16" strips
1/64" x 3/32" strips
1/64" x 1/8" strips 
ect....
 
Does anyone know of another source for brass strips?  I just bought all of their remaining inventory of these strips in bulk....but there wasnt much left.  If you know you will need them, find a hobby shop that still has them on the shelf and buy them now while you can.
 
Chuck

Just some more info.. this was not a decision made lightly.  My wife has something called Early Onset Dementia with Paranoia.   The divorce was to protect myself financially first and emotionally second.  Seems I was/am the main target of the paranoia but she has put everyone into silos so no one gets the same information.   It basically took my visiting her in the hospital after her last surgery and then after I left she tore the room apart looking for "bugs".   They finally got their clue and did something.   She has an "administrator" since I did not feel able to make decisions fairly.  
 
I'm not angry, crap happens.  I'm saddened.   Not much I can do except make what remains of life as pleasant as possible.
 
If you want more info, look up the disease I posted above.  I'm also open to PM's.  I am going ahead with a new build which I have log for... the Belle Poule.   
 
Thanks again for your support and kindness.  Those are things that seem to be disappearing in the modern world.

Re: the use of CA for photoetch, for bigger assemblies/longer joints, after bending and tacking the assembly together, I run a bead of thick CA along the inside (not visible) side of the joint and sprinkle the joint with baking powder before the CA cures.  The baking powder causes the CA to set quickly and form a filet, making a more solid structural bond.
 
Also, those GLS sets can be pretty challenging (IMHO), so don’t beat yourself up if you find them difficult.  Looks to me like you’re getting the hang of it.
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

HMCS Fennel a flower class Corvette helped keep the supply lines open.
W/C 12” X 9”
Jim

Re: the use of CA for photoetch, for bigger assemblies/longer joints, after bending and tacking the assembly together, I run a bead of thick CA along the inside (not visible) side of the joint and sprinkle the joint with baking powder before the CA cures.  The baking powder causes the CA to set quickly and form a filet, making a more solid structural bond.
 
Also, those GLS sets can be pretty challenging (IMHO), so don’t beat yourself up if you find them difficult.  Looks to me like you’re getting the hang of it.
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

Re: the use of CA for photoetch, for bigger assemblies/longer joints, after bending and tacking the assembly together, I run a bead of thick CA along the inside (not visible) side of the joint and sprinkle the joint with baking powder before the CA cures.  The baking powder causes the CA to set quickly and form a filet, making a more solid structural bond.
 
Also, those GLS sets can be pretty challenging (IMHO), so don’t beat yourself up if you find them difficult.  Looks to me like you’re getting the hang of it.
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

Re: the use of CA for photoetch, for bigger assemblies/longer joints, after bending and tacking the assembly together, I run a bead of thick CA along the inside (not visible) side of the joint and sprinkle the joint with baking powder before the CA cures.  The baking powder causes the CA to set quickly and form a filet, making a more solid structural bond.
 
Also, those GLS sets can be pretty challenging (IMHO), so don’t beat yourself up if you find them difficult.  Looks to me like you’re getting the hang of it.
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

Gourock, and the Tail o' the Bank on the river Clyde. Convoy assembly point and escort base during WW2
W/C 15.5” X 11.5”

Re: the use of CA for photoetch, for bigger assemblies/longer joints, after bending and tacking the assembly together, I run a bead of thick CA along the inside (not visible) side of the joint and sprinkle the joint with baking powder before the CA cures.  The baking powder causes the CA to set quickly and form a filet, making a more solid structural bond.
 
Also, those GLS sets can be pretty challenging (IMHO), so don’t beat yourself up if you find them difficult.  Looks to me like you’re getting the hang of it.
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

My next steps were to start on the detail for the pilot house and bridge wings.  This consisted of the encapsulated lifeboats and holders, the port & starboard pelarus, running lights on the bridge wings.  Inside the pilot house I painted the interior bulkheads the pastel green (this was the color so those sea sick green faces would blend in).  I contemplated adding the helm and lee helm consoles in the pilot house but ultimately decided that the only way some one would see them would be through the small port holes with the use of a flashlight and would only be able to see the back of them.  Wasn't worth the effort.  All the detail pieces were made by hand.  Later on in the building process I do replace the port & starboard pelarus with manufactured ones.
 
After I installed those, and viewed the bow on picture, I decided that what was there was not up to the quality I desired. So, I removed part of the bridge wing and 02 deck to effect some repairs and adjustments.  You can tell the difference from the two bow on pictures below.
 
 

Moving to the 02 Level installed the (fwd to aft) pilot house, bridge wings, CIC and stack deck.  It was at this point that I realized the most important tool in my kit is my vision.  I did not realize until I took the pictures and looked at them that there was a huge gap on the port side above the porthole.  My near vision, before I started this project, was perfect.  This is about a year into the project now, and it was evident I needed a pair of readers. 🤓  To correct this, instead of removing pilot house and bridge wings, I filled in the gap with wood filler and sanded down smooth.  In future photos, this will be evident.
 
Looking through the website, I have come across a number of ways to create the waterline.  My technique was similar to most of them.  I took a toothpick and taped it to a block of wood at the level the top of the boot-topping.  I would dip the tip of the toothpick in black paint and, with the ship securely in the cradle, gently tapped the ships hull putting a small dot to mark the top of the boot-topping.  I did this all along the hull spaced about 1/8" between the dots.  I did the same technique for the lower part of the boot-topping.  After the dots dried, using painters tape, I taped along the top and bottom and painted the boot-topping on.  Having been on a number of Navy ships, you can tell who ran a good Deck Division by looking at the boot-topping at the bow.  If the Port and Starboard sides met up perfectly at the bow, it was a good division.  Of course, mine came out perfect!

Continuing on, I wanted to get the portion of the fantail aft bulkheads and bulwark painted because once I put in the minesweep/towing winch and ladder from the main deck to the 01 level, there would be no way of getting in there.  After finishing up the aft bulkhead, complete with QAWTD for the port and starboard passageways, QAWTD to go down to the electrician's shop and shaft alley, I began constructing the minesweep/towing winch.  Other than what was on the ship drawings, a few pictures, and my memory, I did not have anything in detail to construct the winch.  As you can see in the picture below, it is quite a substantial piece of deck equipment and did close off my access to the aft bulkhead.  The aft ladder going from the fantail to the main deck was constructed and installed at this time too.  The minesweep/towing winch has 4 reels of wire - port & starboard minesweep wire, center depressor wire, and the towing wire.  In the picture, the green wheels were, at that time, made of wood.  They were eventually replace with a etched brass wheel purchased from Bluejacket Models (where I got most of the small parts from).  In addition to the winch and ladder, I also constructed and installed the port king-post and boom.
With those in place, I began on the superstructure.  From aft forward, the Magnetic Cable Reel room, the P&S A/C plants and uptake space, the Halon room, the the big portion includes on the 01 level radio central, admin and storage lockers, then forward is the Captain's cabin and passage ways.

My next steps were to plank the main and 01 level weather decks.  After completing the weather decks, I then tackled the hull.  For all this I used 1/32 thick basswood where I cut the planks to 1/16 wide.  That made them, by scale, 6" wide which is a little wider than reality.  In reality, the decking is only about 2" wide with about a 1/4" space between them for oakum and rubber sealant.  The hull planks were about 6" in reality, so 1/16 wide was to scale.  Another lesson learned here.  These can be purchased, the planks.  Cutting from a 1/32 sheet of basswood did cause me difficulties later on.  The thickness (1/32) was not always consistent throughout the sheet.  Some planks were thicker, others thinner.  So, to over come this, once they were all installed, I spent numerous hours carefully sanding the hull and weather decks to smooth out the differences.  My intention at the time was to smooth the hull as much as possible then apply wood filler along the hull and then sand that down given me a nice clean, smooth hull.  As I looked at the hull with the planking I realized that is not how those ships were, they were not smooth hulled like a frigate, destroyer, or practically any other ship in the Navy fleet.  They were old, beaten and showed many scars from Junior Officers novice shiphandling skills (I put a few on ENGAGE myself).  I left the hull with the planks and a few imperfections.
At this juncture in the construction, I also installed the shafts, shaft struts, and thru-hull.  At the time (2008), I was not planning on a log, so I am using those pictures that I took at the time to document the process and progress.

Yes Roger, remember standing many hours on the deck and the unique engine orders.  And trust me, you were not the only OOD that had difficulties on watch.  I was the MCM Evaluator when we lost the minehunting sonar in the middle of a live minefield during the Persian Gulf war.  These were difficult ships.
 
Thanks all for the notes and likes!
 
My next step was to install the exterior main and 01 level sub-decks.  Using the booklet plans I was able to directly trace out the decks, no adjustments for scale differences.  I used basswood as the decking.
 
In addition to the fantail deck, I installed the aft bulkheads and the exterior bulkheads for the mag-cable reel room.  Installing the mag-cable reel room bulkheads was a mistake.  If you recall in my previous post I intentionally left space in the framing for the mag cable reel.  Later on in the project I realize that with the bulkheads in place I would not be able to install the cable reel, it is bigger than the opening.  Live and learn....