hamilton

Spencer,
 
Sorry I was a bit obtuse.  QA's explanation of my confusion is correct.
 
The photo below might show you what I mean.  It shows my Stag with the deck planking part completed.  The red arrow is pointing to the margin plank (the edging).  The green arrow shows joggled planks (the planks with the shaped ends) fitted into the margin.  The purple arrow simply points to the uncut or shaped portion of the margin plank outside the planking currently fitted.
 
The next plank to go on will have its end shaped and then the margin will be marked using the shaped plank end as a template and then cut to fit the shaped plank end.  The trick with this method is to make sure you have a REALLY sharp blade to cut out the margin so that you don't get any torn edges.
 
You can get a larger view simply by clicking your mouse on the photo.
 
John
 

I always lay the margin plank first.  As the planking goes forward, I cut the joggling into the end of the plank and lay this over the margin plank and mark the shape of the joggled end with a sharp pencil on the margin plank.  The margin plank can then be cut with a very sharp blade to take the end of the plank.
 
John

Well I'm now back from my trip and back to the bench. Tonight I installed the bulkheads along with some reinforcing strips, cut to measure between each bulkhead. In conjunction with the building board, this has served to straighten (mostly) the warped keep. There is still a very minor bend towards the stern, but this will be corrected when I install the deck. So far so good....
 
If any of you have built an OcCre kit, have you come across this strange feature - a set of notches cut into the edges of the bulwarks into which is placed a rather thick (2mm) plank that runs the full length of the hull and acts to bifurcate the hull for planking? It seems a little redundant and I'm considering filling in the notches and just planking as usual....of course part of me is curious as to whether this feature has any benefits, so I might try it - thought I'd canvas you all for comments....I may post the question elsewhere in the forum.....
 
In the meantime, here are some pictures
hamilton
 

 

 

Hamilton I think that the notches are there to help stiffen the bulkheads before you start planking.

I can't even remember if I used the notched out parts. I will need to look back at my photos.
 
Good to see someone else joining me in this build Hamilton- you will probably catch me up. I have been very slow lately due to some personal issues. I hope to finish planking the second side tonight and then complete the coppering. Things will move a bit faster then.
 
I left this build on the shelf for quiet sometime due to the horrible ply. I was going to re cut it - I had some MFD. I have seen some others use it for builds. But I'm glad I waited - my Mfd is NOT good in my humid weather. I persisted and used the kit ply. It's all covered up now so I can forget how awful it was

Midwest kits have the notches on some of their models, but they were for placing a very large plank over to stabilize. Probably different with yours.

Well I'm now back from my trip and back to the bench. Tonight I installed the bulkheads along with some reinforcing strips, cut to measure between each bulkhead. In conjunction with the building board, this has served to straighten (mostly) the warped keep. There is still a very minor bend towards the stern, but this will be corrected when I install the deck. So far so good....
 
If any of you have built an OcCre kit, have you come across this strange feature - a set of notches cut into the edges of the bulwarks into which is placed a rather thick (2mm) plank that runs the full length of the hull and acts to bifurcate the hull for planking? It seems a little redundant and I'm considering filling in the notches and just planking as usual....of course part of me is curious as to whether this feature has any benefits, so I might try it - thought I'd canvas you all for comments....I may post the question elsewhere in the forum.....
 
In the meantime, here are some pictures
hamilton
 

 

 

Well I'm now back from my trip and back to the bench. Tonight I installed the bulkheads along with some reinforcing strips, cut to measure between each bulkhead. In conjunction with the building board, this has served to straighten (mostly) the warped keep. There is still a very minor bend towards the stern, but this will be corrected when I install the deck. So far so good....
 
If any of you have built an OcCre kit, have you come across this strange feature - a set of notches cut into the edges of the bulwarks into which is placed a rather thick (2mm) plank that runs the full length of the hull and acts to bifurcate the hull for planking? It seems a little redundant and I'm considering filling in the notches and just planking as usual....of course part of me is curious as to whether this feature has any benefits, so I might try it - thought I'd canvas you all for comments....I may post the question elsewhere in the forum.....
 
In the meantime, here are some pictures
hamilton
 

 

 

Well I'm now back from my trip and back to the bench. Tonight I installed the bulkheads along with some reinforcing strips, cut to measure between each bulkhead. In conjunction with the building board, this has served to straighten (mostly) the warped keep. There is still a very minor bend towards the stern, but this will be corrected when I install the deck. So far so good....
 
If any of you have built an OcCre kit, have you come across this strange feature - a set of notches cut into the edges of the bulwarks into which is placed a rather thick (2mm) plank that runs the full length of the hull and acts to bifurcate the hull for planking? It seems a little redundant and I'm considering filling in the notches and just planking as usual....of course part of me is curious as to whether this feature has any benefits, so I might try it - thought I'd canvas you all for comments....I may post the question elsewhere in the forum.....
 
In the meantime, here are some pictures
hamilton
 

 

 

Well I'm now back from my trip and back to the bench. Tonight I installed the bulkheads along with some reinforcing strips, cut to measure between each bulkhead. In conjunction with the building board, this has served to straighten (mostly) the warped keep. There is still a very minor bend towards the stern, but this will be corrected when I install the deck. So far so good....
 
If any of you have built an OcCre kit, have you come across this strange feature - a set of notches cut into the edges of the bulwarks into which is placed a rather thick (2mm) plank that runs the full length of the hull and acts to bifurcate the hull for planking? It seems a little redundant and I'm considering filling in the notches and just planking as usual....of course part of me is curious as to whether this feature has any benefits, so I might try it - thought I'd canvas you all for comments....I may post the question elsewhere in the forum.....
 
In the meantime, here are some pictures
hamilton
 

 

 

Looking great Mike!
hamilton

A bit of progress around the rear end. I have now added arches, pillars and sills around all the lights.
 
I will soon be re-attaching the thinned, rear casting. Before doing so I am trying to decide whether to paint it as per John's version above or whether to 'guild' it. Will the guilded version be more in keeping with the natural wood effect of the rest of the ship? I am not sure. Below is a photo with the casting held temporarily in place with clothes pegs. Any views on this point?
 

 
Also I think the galleries should have been mounted about 2mm lower to make the lights line up better. Something else for others to look out for.  
 
The arches and pillars also unfortunately highlight the higgledy-piggle nature of the glazing bars on early Corel plastic casting.

Hello all,
 
Thought it was time I posted an update on progress.
 
I have now finished the basic hull complete with rubbing strakes, the keel and the rudder. I made a complete mess of the rudder by gluing the hinges in the wrong places with CA glue. However, with a lot of cellulose thinner, a lot of patience and a lot of bad language I managed to get them off and start again!
 
The whole thing has had at least (!!!) two coats of satin varnish and just for good measure I veneered the edges of the bulkheads and decks on the exposed side. The time spent was worth it I think.
 
Next, all the deck accessories and fittings to be done!
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I've now made and installed the first part of the waist deck framing. As with the quarterdeck and forecastle deck framing, the beams, carlings, ledges and hanging knees are boxwood and the lodging knees are cherry. In addition, this portion of the decking required support stanchions. These were made from square boxwood strip with the round portions done with files and sandpaper. As always, the wood was finished with Wipe-on Poly. I am now working on the remaining waist deck framing.
 
Bob

Hi Guys,
 
Denis
 
I have a Samsung Digimax L60 if that means anything but to be honest I get better results from my iPhone.
 
To answer your questions mate, the work on the loft has largely been completed although there is always little bits and pieces that need doing, it's not pretty but it's functional, I have lighting, mains power, and ventilation but I still have open beams, rough concrete block walls and cobwebs, thousands of cobwebs.
 
Anja and Sjors are definitely visiting very soon, in fact they arrive here on the 27th of this month, I'll pick them up from the port at 06:45 for a 2 week stay. First week we are going of to the Lake District and then it's back home for the second week, we will be celebrating Sjors 65th birthday and my Admirals and my 40th wedding anniversary. You better believe there will be pictures, lots of pictures, you never know I may even be in some of them, now that really is something to look forward to.
 
As far as the Aggie is concerned I'm just getting back into the swing of this after the refurbs, I am going to post an update with this and so I'll go into what I have done since getting back into it.
 
All the ratlines are now complete, the Mizzen, Main and Fore Mast Topgallant Shrouds are fitted and tied off, Shroud cleats are all fitted, Bowsprit Shrouds have the deadeyes tied and have been tied off and the Bowsprit Bobstays are all tied off and finally the Figurehead has been fixed on.
 
The ratlines gave me the biggest headache, I had the ship on a very low stool and I was still working at shoulder height, arms felt like lead by the time I was finished for each day, because of this they took longer than I would have liked.
 
Another part that I found awkward was tying off the Topgallant Shrouds to the platform deadeyes, whilst In the process of doing them I bashed the Mizzen Topgallant on one of my shelves which didn't do it a lot of good but I was able to repair the damage thankfully.
 
So some pictures of where I'm at.
 
First off the ratlines and topgallant shrouds
 
   
 
   
 
Next up Figurehead, Bowsprit Shrouds and Bowsprit Bobstays
 
   
 
   
 

 
So there we have it, your as up to date as I am.
 
My next task will be the Topmast Stays and the Topgallant Stays, I still have to do the backstays but I'm leaving them as long as possible so I have more access inside, at least that's the theory.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie
 

I built the Surprise a few years ago. Straight forward build if you have some experience.. The hardest part was aligning the guns  and gun ports on lower gun deck..
 
You MUST put the ports in before planking  and then align the guns/cradles  BEFORE planking everything and installing the weather deck.  The cradles will NOT fit through the metal ports  after the fact  ( see photos) .. Once you clear the gun issue,
  patience is the watchword.
 
 

Thanks Bob - just popped by your Essex log - she's looking great! 
 
Haven't done much on FR these last days - just working the sub-deck a little to get it to fit on the bulkheads and planning ahead for deck planking...hopefully I'll have a chance to install the bulkheads and deck this week. I'm heading to Italy on Friday - a bit of work, a bit of pleasure. And then I'll have much to make up for with the Admiral when I return.....back soon
hamilton

Hello again!
 
Well it's only been a few days since I completed bashing the Corel HMS Greyhound into the HMS Blandford and here I am at it again! 
 
I've seen a few build logs for this kit out there - one notable one here is by Meredith, who has done some amazing work on this kit. Guillemot also has a build underway it seems, but I've not seen a log here - only a few photos of what also looks like an excellent build. I don't think mine can improve on these examples, but I'll add it to the lot anyway.
 
The history of this vessel is at once ignoble, vague and confusing. She definitely began her career as a slaver - the Dos Amigos, a Baltimore Clipper. A description from the NMM here states that she was a Brazilian vessel running slaves from West Africa to Brazil until 1827. Other sources list the date of her capture as 1830. In any event, it is also clear that she was captured and outfitted as an anti-slaving vessel, which role she dispatched admirably until 1845 under the name Fair Rosamund. Like others, I have preferred to represent OcCre's kit as the anti-slaving ship. A draught I found a reproduction of online shows her as re-outfitted in 1832 - though it's hard to say whether the re-outfitting took place in 1832 or 1831 - the draught dates from 1832 in any case. Here is that draught - the date is listed at centre left and can be seen more or less clearly if you zoom in on the image. It may have been captured in 1830 and purchased by the Royal Navy in 1831.....a couple of sources support this timeline.
 
Apparently there is (or was) a replica project for this vessel underway - not sure if it is still happening. But I did find a brochure presenting some of the history of the vessel with some details. You can read it here. This information lists the ship as being not Brizilian but Cuban. It may have been built in an American shipyard and sold to private owners (Cuban or Brazilian...). Anyway, the provenance is difficult to discern though there are some consistent aspects of the history.
 
One of the more nettling questions for me has been - what differentiated the Fair Rosamund from the Dos Amigos? A thread begun by Guillemot provides some answers - the first area of differentiation was in armament, the second in the sails and rigging.
 
1. Armament - OcCre shows the kit bearing one 18-pound carronade on a swivel carriage. A couple of sources I have found online state that as the Fair Rosamund she carried "three guns". What these guns may have been is open to broad speculation, but Guillemot's thread provides some suggestions - look here. I'm not sure how I will supplement the carriage gun supplied with the kit.....but at least there is a place to start.
 
2. Sails & rigging - a couple of images of the Fair Rosamund (one an isomorphic pen and ink drawing of the vessel under sail and the other a sail plan) depict her as carrying a gaff topsail above the main sail. The OcCre kit does not include this among their complement of pre-fabricated sails. I will include this sail to further differentiate her as Fair Rosamund.
 
Anyway, that's about all I've got for introductory material. So what else am I going to be doing to the kit? Changes I can predict are:
 
1. Coppering the hull (like Meredith, whose work here is stunning)
2. Scratch building the cabin, the mast tops, and the gun carriage
3. Possibly replacing the hull and deck planking (though this is "budget dependent")
 
Other things may get done in the course of building that I can't predict, but we'll see......
 
Finally, for your delectation, some images of the kit and its components. Bye for now! Not sure when building will begin, but sometime soon....
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Patrick, hope your feeling better.
 
Decking is complete.
 
I first tried cutting individual planks, 1/16” wide with the intention of planking the deck with them.  This proved, however, a bit beyond my current skill level. What I opted to do was use scribed planking.  Not the one that came with the kit but one I made myself.  First I made two planking templates, one of the fore deck and one of the aft deck.
 

 
I then finished a sheet of basswood ,1/32” thick by 4” wide x 12” long with 4 coats of polyurethane.  After the sheet had dried completely I taped the deck planking patterns onto the basswood and using a steel point, traced over the lines to score the wood.  Next I painted the decks with a dark brown acrylic paint and them immediately wiped the paint off.  The paint came off the polyurethaned areas but stayed in the scored lines.  Finally I cut out each deck section.
 

 
I like the results but I think I may have scored the wood a little too deep because the caulking lines appear a bit too thick, or maybe I should have used a lighter color paint so they don’t stand out so much.  I can't take credit for this method because I did read how to do it in a book whose title and author escapes me right now.  Amended 5/28/14 - the book is 'The Built-up Ship Model' by Charles G. Davis pages 106 to 107. 
 
I also chose to cut in the cockpit area and made a template for that planking as well.

Greetings one and all.  I got to spend a great deal of quality time during May with the Emma C. Berry.  All frames have now been installed, and temporary batten installed along the deck line for support.  This will eventually be removed as the inside structure is installed.
 
The crew at the shipyard has been working hard on the frames and also on improving the build yard.
 

 
Unfortunately, the tide was rising more rapidly than they anticipated necessitating a relocation in the shipyard. (Yes, I am embarrassed to say, I did discover that she does float).
 

 
After a quick repositioning for one last bow-on shot. Note I will need to do a bit of work on the aft 4 frames on the starboard side (you may be able to pick out the flat spot near the stern_
 

 
Exercising great amounts of hindsight, the photo shoot relocated to higher ground.
 

 
And one final shot - I thought the shadows were interesting in this one.
 

 
And so, for the month of June, I will return my attentions to the Essex.
 
Appreciate any suggestions or observations on how to improve the lines on this lady.
 
 

Haven't quite got the hang of the picture thing!
 
If anyone out there can tell me how I can narrate an individual picture with a caption either before or after I would appreciate it.
 
Thanks,
 
Darrel

Post 3.
The photos below show the completed hull planking.  I would say the keys to producing a good planking job begins with fairing the bulkheads adequately, and secondly, like any other phase of ship modeling, take your time.  The couple of time I hurried resulted in a “remodel”.
I used Zap-A-Gap CA glue and glued the planks spanning two bulkheads at a time, and edge glued all planks.  Where possible, I tried to use the edge of my Exacto knife blade to hold the plank in place while the glue set.  This kept me from gluing myself to the Bluenose.  Since I planned to rough sand the hull as I went, I soon discovered that scrapping the planks and high spots, with a #22 Exacto blade worked much better.  Scrapping produced a nice sharp line and brought all of the planks even.
After planking and rough scraping/sanding I applied Elmer’s wood filler to the entire hull.  I used the filler as it comes from the contained, and in retrospect, I will next time thin the filler with water to achieve a more workable product and a more even coat.  I let the hull stand for 24 hours before I began sanding.
Using #80 grit sandpaper I rough sanded the entire hull.  I then finished the sanding with 120 grit sandpaper.  Total time to sand and fine sand, about 3 to 4 hours.
Darrel

Work went slow the last number of months.
 
I finished the sides of the main gratings with some off-cut planking strips.  I first sanded the planks to same height as the gratings.
 

 
I did not follow the instructions for the cat davits precisely.  I did not like the idea of tying the rope that is used to hoist the anchors to an eyebolt on the deck, so I replaced that eyebolt with a cleat that I filed from some scrap wood.  The other eyebolt was blackened and varnished first.
 

 
The plywood roof of the helmsman’s cabin needed some pre bending.  I traced the curves of the fore and aft walls onto some scrap wood, made a ‘negative’ cut out and used it as I jig to clamp and shape the roof.
 


 
I sanded all the sides, but the joints between the walls and the roof wasn’t perfect.  I covered all the walls with wood filler and sanded all the sides again to get a perfect finish.
 

 
Finally, I lined all the sides with the mahogany laminate strips.   I first cut the lining strips into thinner strips that had variation in their width.  It makes the 'planks' look more natural to me.
 

 
The admiral bought me some presents with my credit card.  I’m looking forward to practising my lathe work before I start with the masts and yards.
 

 
My San Fran as she lays in the dock now.

I also started with the gratings at the bowsprit deck.  The quality of AL certainly deteriorated over the years.  On the left is a grating made from the strips that came with my kit.  The grooves are cut so poorly and unevenly that it is nearly impossible to form a grid.   I certainly wasn’t going to put that on my ship!  After a lot of trouble I managed to buy grating strips of an AL kit that was manufactured many years ago.  That grating is on the right.  They are as different as chalk and cheese…
 

 
To make the bowsprit grating, I first determined the shape of the grating by cutting a piece of paper until it fitted in the grating’s place.
 

 
I transferred the shape to a piece of spare wood and made a jig that formed a mold of some sorts.
 

 
 
From here it was easier to cut and assemble the grating.
 


 
Dry-fitted grating – I still need to do some serious sanding and varnish the whole assembly.

Hey Robbyn, thanks for dropping in.  I still want to sit down and read your whole Syren log.  The last time I had some spare time on my hands I got so caught up in Augie's tool endorsements... uhh, I mean uhh... Confederacy log... that I didn't have time to read anything else.
 
Thanks for the kind words Moonbug.  Much appreciated!
 
Hey Matti, I like the new avatar!  Always nice to see you stopping by.
 
I finally got time to make some progress on the boat.  I fitted the thwarts and thwart knees.
 


 
I sprayed the exterior hull white.  I decided not to sand the hull absolutely smooth before spaying it.  I wanted the final product to have a more natural, coarse look – and a number of test runs gave me the impression that a super smooth sprayed hull will look more like a fiberglass boat than like a wooden boat painted white.  In hindsight I’d say the verdict is still out on that one, but I’m not too unhappy about the result.
 



 
Next I’ll add the rudder and whales.