canoe21

One final update before we close the shipyard for our vacation.
 
The twin binnacles have been completed and mounted.  With this, the 'command and control center' area is completed.
 

 
I'll be around and checking in on all of you for a few days.  Then it's off to Alaska in search of a King Salmon with my name on it.  Been over 25 years since we visited the North country so it will be interesting to see the changes.  Be 'off the grid' for about 3 weeks.
 
Stay the course and keep a lamp burning in the stern gallery so we can find our way back.
 
 
 
 

Happy Memorial Day to all.  And a moment to remember all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and  cannot be with us to share it.
 
Time for a small update.  Have continued working on the quarter deck with the addition of numerous pinrails, cleats, belaying pins (blackened), eyebolts/rings for the cannon rigging and the ship's wheel:
 
 

 

 

 
It's really good to get the steering cables, which pass down through the quarterdeck and gun deck, off of the deck where they have been in the way for months!  The speaking tube also disappears below into the bowels of the ship.  In more modern times I could just picture John Wayne bellowing 'Engine room -----more steam!!'  The two wheels were really horrible castings but I did what I could to clean them up including fabricating 3 or 4 handles which were missing.  At this scale I wasn't about to attempt scratching 2 wheels (make that any scale).
 
There are still some stanchions and railings to be installed but I'll hold off on these until the 'heavy lifting' in the waist and bow are complete.  Likewise the guns for the QD.
 
So next up will be the twin binnacles.  Here's a preview of the parts layout for one of them:
 

 
Hope all is well with everyone!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Time for an update and the celebration of a milestone.  We've reached 1,000 hours into the build !
 
The planking of the quarter deck has been completed and some of the details (speaking tube, mizzen rail) added.  The deck is planked only to the midline to allow some of the gun deck and great cabin work to be seen:
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
The planking is, of course, Swiss Pear and the treesnails done with the 'drill and fill' method  The finish is Natural stain under WOP.  I'll provide some more detailed photos as the final details are added.
 
 
 
 

Continuing work on the quarterdeck, the waterways and margin planks were prepared from Swiss Pear and installed P/S:
 

 
Although the deck will only be partially planked (to leave visible some aspects of the gun deck and Great Cabin), I wanted the margins all around for the sake of appearance.
 
Next was to prepare the lower stanchions for the quarterdeck rail.  The simulated sheaves are 'functional':
 

 
Aligning these lower stanchions behind a deck beam requires that they match the curvature of that beam.  To assist in this, a photocopy of the rail was made and attached to the beam:
 

 
The stanchions were then glued behind the deck beam:
 

 
The planking of the starboard side of the quarterdeck (up to the centerline) may now proceed.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Time for a small update.  In preparation for the quarter deck planking, a series of coamings, hatches, gratings and ladder down to the gun deck have been added.  Nothing spectacular, but here are a few photos to show where we are:
 

 

 

 

 
Need to do a little tweaking before everything is cemented in place.  
 
Have begun working on the waterways and margin planks.  These are being cut from Swiss Pear.  Need to finalize some decisions as to how much of the quarter deck will be left open to view the interior.  I'm favoring Chuck's suggestion to leave the entire port side open but I think I may add the margins and waterways to that side just to look more 'finished'.  
 
No pressure   .......  
 
 

The main railings, along with the hances, volutes and beaded moldings have been completed:
 

 

 

 
 
With the bulwarks (finally) sealed off, it's almost time to start on the planking of the quarterdeck.  But first we'll be adding some hatches, coamings and companionways.  
 
Hope everyone is feeling shipshape and being productive!
 
 
 

The heavy lifting on the bow section has been completed with the installation of all the hanging/ lodging knees and carlings.  In addition, the inboard planking has been completed:
 

 
Next up is the completion of the inboard planking on the quarterdeck so that we can get to putting some rails on this lady.
 
 

I tried to visit Monday evening..........after a day at work......I failed.   too dog tired to thank you fine folks for your kind comments and likes.   I didn't do much on Tuesday........restoked my fire..you could say     I'm on vacation now.......I do have a few things to do,  but I don't think it's going to impede my table time too much.   I took some measurements of how warped the aft section of the hull is.   all I need to do now is mark it off and then I can install a couple extra braces in there to pull it into shape.
 
yes,   the hand rails are to be painted a teak color {or as close as I can get}.  I used the paint I mixed for the bottom color for the stairway railings......I need to do something with it though,  it almost has the consistency of a wash.   I'll beef up the pigments and then I can do the handrails.   of course,  I'll need to unrig the #4 funnel.   got to get my hairs cut today...........I'll work towards coming up with an update      thanks to all of you 

Hello everyone, Piet's back in the Surabaya shipyard!  I have accumulated a few more tools and 0.5 mm brass tubes for the canon lid hinges.  I have to redo all the lids already done because the 1 mm tubes are just too much out of scale.  There are no 0.5 mm brass tubes available here in the US but Remco offered to get them for me from Holland.  Thanks again, much appreciated.
 
In the meantime though I started on converting 8 of the 18 pounder canons to 12 pounders.  I cheated and bought a bunch of precast cannons that would fit my scale of 1:80 for 18 pound canons but on the upper deck they must be 12 pound.  The are too large to make them look good.
 
I also had to modify the gun carriages for the modded canons.  
 
I cut the barrel from the gun in front of the pivot pins and shortened that piece a 1/4 inch and did the same at the breach end where I cut about 1/8 of an inch off.  Drilled holes in the three pieces and cemented the gun back together using steel finishing nails as reinforcement.  A little filing and presto, I have a 12 pounder.
 
Actually it wasn't all that simple because the castings were not round but oval.  Fortunately this was mostly at the barrel end.  I had to first file the barrel round before cutting the canon pieces.  Not doing this first would give me all kinds of grief when cementing them back together again.
 
Drilling the holes for the pins was also a tedious job because I had to go slow other wise the metal would melt and jam the drill bit.  I think I lucked out in that all the holes were very close to center and wound up with straight looking guns.
I used 5 minute epoxy to cement the three pieces together.  A little fine tuning and cleaning and then a coat of flat black paint.
 
The gun carriages are still not finished yet.  I only made one for now and will use that as a pattern for the other nine 
 
I also started to make the wheel / axle securing pins.  Micro work, to say the least.
 
Well here are a few pics of the progress so far.  This'll be slower going then with the work I did on the O19 but it has to remain fun.
 

This shows the difference after I converted the first gun.
 

This shows the barrel end removed from the gun and in proces of shortening.
 

This shows the same treatment with the breach end.  I used a grinding wheel in my electric hand tool to shorten it that 1/8 inch.  I had to go slow to prevent the metal from melting and clogging the stone.  The final treatment was with a file to make the cuts square to centerline.
 

Here I have laid-out all the parts to be cemented back together again.
 

This shows the result of all my work for just one gun.  All together i estimate about 4 hours or so per gun.  I didn't check time so it could very well be longer when counting all the time i spend in dressing the gun.
 

This shows the completed gun on its carriage with the next one in line to be done.  All that's left is painting. and attaching the hardware for the ropes.
 

Here you can see the axle / wheel pins.  They too still need to be dressed some more - - - carefully, because they are fragile.
 
Cheers,

Hi Piet! Just started going over your log from the beginning. Made it through page 1 in about a half-hour or so. Very nice work! A gallion-style ship is an interesting subject for an old history student like me. Should be all caught up in a day or so, and looking forward to seeing you start back to work on her.
 
Cheers

so this is where you've been off to!  haven't looked all the way through,  but what I've have seen.....I'm amazed!   looks awesome Piet...I can't wait to see the rest! 

Pictures are proof ... Hmmm, I wonder ... did he or didn't he do it ... did he just buy time ...

Mobbsie, Peter - 
 
Yes, the decorative way the wale is fashioned in French ships is related to anchor stowage.  The French stiffened their longer, wider (compared to English designs) hulls by making their wales thicker and in several bands.  Between the bands the hull planking was thinner, creating a step up to the wale.  Where the anchor was hauled up for stowage the side point of the fluke could catch on it and rip up the wood.  So at the bow the thinner middle planking was exchanged for thicker stuff that created a smooth surface for the fluke to slide on.  Being French, where the thicker stuff ended, it was shaped in a stylish manner rather than just a functional end.
 
Here are two photos of the element from the QAR project
.


 
Hope that helps
 
Dan

Excellent work Mark Your second 'take' on the round tuck has paid off in spades.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hi Nigel,
Fully planked both sides.  Admiralty orders.      The battens have been removed and planking is progressing.
 
 
Carl...  oh yeah...he did it.  A lot of fussing and agonizing going on as well as some real-world distractions. 
 
 
Stay tuned.... we'll see where this goes.

Thanks Lawrence and Patrick if it wasn't enjoyable we'd be doing something else.
 
Bob

Thanks to you all for the kind words, and thanks for the comparison with Patrick, his work is great. But even though the length of the model hulls are about the same, my scale is 1:48, which is huge compared to Patrick's 1:200.  I can't imagine myself doing what he is doing.
 
Bob

Thanks Lawrence but it’s nothing compared to your Annie  By the way, they’re the same scale.
 
Thanks Popeye, but if I keep doing, “minor adjustments” I’ll never finish.    And then the admiral would . . . and then I would . . . Better not  go there.   Bye
 
 
Bob

I did something I couldn't resist........first though,  I finished touching up the A deck railings and added the last pair of cranes.
 

 
#4 funnel is ready......so I went and rigged the cables.  it was a good call to use a thicker thread than what was supplied in the kit.....they are much more visible.
 

 

 
the aft view of the deck assemblies
 

 
then I started to think that I should get the hull buttoned up and ready for the next phase.
 

Augie,
 
I agree with your comments on the gun tackle that you made in your log. I tried rigging the cannons with more tackle but it looked horrible on this scale. The blocks are too big and the rope too thick in the scale I'm working on. That is why I will shamelessly copy your way of attaching the breeching ropes and leave the other gun tackle in this build.
 

Thanks Augie & Vivian.  Certain things you just can't hide with the "wall side"    Whatever model I build next, I will make sure it is a model of an actual vessel for which I can find some proper scaled plans.
 
In the end I did have some time to finish a couple of things over the holiday season.  I finally assembled all the cannons.
 

 

 

 
 
My SF II as she stands in the shipyard today.  I started exactly 3 years ago.
 

 
None of the mast pieces are glued yet.  I first have to figure out how to glue all the sections of a mast so that they are perfectly aligned (not that hard I guess) and then how to step & glue the masts so that they are perfectly aligned from stem to stern and at the correct rakes.  I will probably take a detour and build Frank Mastini's jig for this purpose, unless I can find an easier way (perhaps a jig that uses cheap laser pointers or something)
 

 
 
I also finished all the yards.  I've actually been busy with yard making since late October.  I ignored the plans that came with the kit and decided to base (loosely) my mast and yard dimensions on the information given by Anderson in "The rigging of ships in the days of the spritsail".  I believe it makes the whole model look more in proportion.  I struggled most with the "arc of a circle" tapering of the yards.  It's quite difficult getting the taper even on both sides of the yard (as all the failed attempts lying in front shows!)
 

When I made the ship's boat a year ago I used the size of the metal boat that came with the kit as a reference.  I never thought to check if it is appropriate or not.  My scratch build was marginally bigger in the end, and to make matters worse I fixed the boat's rudder to its hull (the kit plans show the boat's rudder stored inside the boat).  Although my boat fits on the deck, it looks out of proportion.  With the rudder fixed to the hull the boat simply takes up too much space on the deck - leaving almost no space for the pin racks in front of main mast.
 
 
My first thought was to remove the rudder, but even then the boat would still look out of proportion to me.  I knew it would bug me every time I looked at the model and I would never be satisfied unless I started over.  So instead of making masts and yards this holiday season, I worked on a new boat.
 
 
The new boat is about 15% smaller than the previous version.  I still need to install the thwarts, knees and oar locks, paint the hull outside and add the rubbing strakes.  At the speed I'm going that will probably take another month   
 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who dropped in since my last post and the encouragement through your 'likes'!
 
 
I am jumping around a bit while I try to build most of my deck fittings and I am almost working on all the fittings at once.  It will probably go faster if I focus on one thing at a time.
 
 
I finished the pumps.  There are one or two things I will do differently in the future, but I feel the end result is still better than the kit's metal pumps.

 
 

 
The tiller included in the kit is also made of metal.  I finished my scratch built version from some Chen Chen Rose wood.  It turns really nicely.

 


 
I am working on the top rail for the stern gallery.  The kit's version is plywood that you have to cover with veneer.  It actually worked pretty well, but I messed it up by staining it too dark.  So I decided to make a new rail.  It is always tricky to make more than one piece of something where all the pieces must be exact copies of one another.  I usually do it by sticking masking tape on the one side of the wood from which the item must be cut.  I then glue the taped sides together and let it dry completely.  I then cut and shape the piece and when I am done I simply separate the individual pieces by cutting through the masking tape.  That way you end up with pieces that are all perfectly similar.

 
 


 
Top rail in progress:

 
 

 
I have spent hours on the gun carriages.  I threw away more prototypes than I can remember.  I ended up using Chuck's plans that are available on this website.  I know it's not representative of carriages in the 16th century, but neither are a lot of things in the SF kit.  At least they look good!
 
Making the sides - I attach the rings first while it is still easy to hold and work with the side piece:

 

 
I created a jig to glue the carriage sides to the axles - to ensure that all the carriages will ultimately be symmetrical:

 
Adding the transom to the front axle

 
Next, the wheels and the wire on which the carriage bed will rest

 
Finally I added the carriage bed and the cannon.  One down, 9 to go!