texxn5

Hello everyone, well, I am going to try to get a little work done in shipyard tomorrow....no promises since I do have some other things to do, but hopefully....if not then Wednesday. I have been waiting for a couple of new toys to come in and they all finally made it today. I am anxious to try them out. I'm planning to rework the anchors, and then start in on the masts and deadeyes and chain plates, and then go from there. It is approaching travel time again, and with the earthquakes in LA rethinking our trip. Might go east again and wait on sourthern Cal and the west coast. I only rethink the L.A. part because I was in the Northridge quake in 94 and that is why I left LA.....I was 3 miles from the epicenter, then last year in Costa Rica for the 7.9 quake.....don't like them....see you soon, and hopefully some pictures....

Hamilton - Cheers mate.  I don't have Lees, Lever indicates that when used, the cross catharpins would be installed in addition to the catharpins going athwartship, basically forming an 'X' so that the starboard foremost shroud is catharpined to the aftmost larboard shroud and vice versa.  If I ever build HMS Surprise, she will have to have cross-catharpins  .  I'm growing to love the Lever's Young Sea Officers sheet anchor and am following the order outlined there so far.  
 
On your second question, I'm probably going to go with the wire and use epoxy again to secure them, but as usual will reserve final judgement until necessary.
 
Quick additional update on progress...main mast catharpins are all on.  Pederson has a nice picture showing that these would have been lashed to the futtock stave with thinner line.  Its not really practical at this scale, so I sort of got thesame result by threading the eye with two pieces of thread to try and keep the catharpin in line with the shroud.  Pretty happy with the way things turned out (and not a pin or rubber band in sight).
 

Yes Ben, I managed to used the basswood, kit supplied piece.  Wasn't easy and not done perfectly but should be ok.  It's really fragile.

nice

Time for a small update.  The moldings on the quarter galleries and stern have been added:
 

 
The myriad of photo etched details to be added to this area are being painted and prepared.
 
And now for the windows.  The kit comes supplied with laser cut plywood window frames:
 

 
Clear acetate is also supplied.  I don't care for this.  It always looks like it's not there to my eye.  So I decided to try this stuff:
 

 
In fact, it's a water soluble adhesive similar to the canopy glue we use for model airplanes.  It is white when applied, takes a full day to dry and results in a semi-transparent glaze which you either like, or you don't.  To apply it, you affix your frame down firmly to a plastic bag.  Don't try wax paper or the glaze will stick to it.  For 'windows' of this size (about 5/32"), fill the cavity with the liquid glaze.  Once dry, you may spot some defects so plan on doing a second application (or third).  Here's what it looks like in process (the frames have been stained):
 

 
 
Now here's what the finished product looks like.  On the left is a frame backed with acetate.  You can see it's completely clear.  On the right, a frame glazed as above.  It looks like 'bottle glass'.  I prefer this appearance, realizing it won't be everyone's cup of tea:
 

 
All of the windows have now been installed.  As for photos, well, we'll have to wait until all of the leaves, branches, animals and assorted Gods are put in place.  And Spring is calling
 
 

Ahhhh, yes, Sir Mobbsie....has a nice ring to it....and I'm not even English!

I will be having a cigar later today after work in fact; most likely with a little bourbon as well. And then we'll see about getting to that keel.

..... Continued
 
(Thank you Geoff and Caroline)
 
The unit after milling the slots. I must have miscalculated one of the cuts, but I later managed to correct it by cutting and gluing tiny portions of wood back in. The repair turned out invisible :
 

 
The spokes needed the sections where they join the hub and rim squared off, and also reduced in thickness to keep the spokes central :
 

 
The first three spokes glued in. I used CA for a temporary fix to keep them aligned :
 

 
After gluing in all the spokes I cut another 10 thin segments of the rim and hub and Epoxied them on. Then it was back into the lathe to trim them down. The pic below is how they came off the lathe before cleaning up :
 

 
Cleaned up with a very sharp Xacto :
 

 
Last step, and the scariest   , was to soak the unit in Isopropyl Alcohol to soften the PVA which attached the wheel to the block. I held my breath when I started removing it, but ..... SUCCESS :D :
 

 
A little bit of final cleaning up is still needed after the alcohol has fully evaporated.
 
  Danny

Thanks for the comments Alistair, Druxey, Joe, David, Mark, David, John, Remco, Alex, Patrick, Grant, Sherry and Popeye .
 
 
Alistair, it probably depends on the particular ship as to how much camber (or "roundup") the gratings have. On the Swans it's quite a bit more than the roundup of the decks.
 
 
Take a look down the page a bit Remco .
 
Continuing on with the wheel .... I turned the Barrel and fitted it to the wheel :
 

 

 
Last things to make were the two Stanchions that support the wheel assembly. These have a molded section in their faces, which I cut with an Xacto :
 

 
Here's a pic showing how small the wheel is compared to a 5c piece :
 

 
The wheel dry-fitted to the deck. I'll leave it off for now as it could get damaged fairly easily. Oh yeah, and the wheel is fully operational (or will be when it's rigged ) :
 

 

 

 
  Danny

After a long day in the shipyard it was time to sit back and have a glass of bourbon. Sorry for the sacrilege, but I like my bourbon cold so I put it on ice. I managed to get all of my bulkheads in place and glued in permanently. I also got the spacers in place just below the gundeck. This really helped with ironing out a very very slight bend in my keel. The one picture shows a nice straight keel. The bearding line was marked and the keel was sanded in the appropriate area. Next up will be the actual keel, the basswood blocks up front and some more studying to figure out which way to shape the filler blocks for the stern. Thanks to all for looking in.

John, I'm chomping at the bit to get more done on her, but I have to let this glue dry for at least an hour before unclamping them. Patience is NOT one of my better virtues. LOL

Popeye, the slots for the bulkheads were actually way too loose so I glued down a little bit of extra thin walnut strip (leftover second planking from my Bluenose 2) to make up for the play in them. I had to sand this down slightly to get them to fit snugly (but not too tight). The pictures I've included today is my first bulkhead in place with some right angle aluminum to hold it perfectly there. I've also measured and cut some blocks to help evenly space the distance between bulkheads. I'll be gluing bulkheads all day. Thanks to all for looking in.

Tom, I'm noticing that every step of the way now requires me to check plans, check sources, go back to checking plans and line things up to make sure all of my drawings are to scale.
 
Popeye, the defects are minor thankfully.
 
John, I don't use the disc sander that much, I don't have the control with it like I do with the spindle sander.
 
Nigel, my plan is to install the gundeck and some bracing for the upper bulwarks and then plank the hull. I'm still wrestling with leaving some spar decking off to show the gundeck. We'll see...
 
As always, thanks for looking in. I'm in the process of finishing the bulkheads and getting them in place. Some are tight enough that right now they are introducing some warp to the keel.

I'm a big fan of pushsticks and feather boards, even though I don't currently have the featherboards. I'm debating whether to make them or buy from MicroMark.

Dan,
 
I slept on what you've said and I'm going to rethink things on the saw.  You're right about the kickback.  I've been lucky so far. I'm thinking that a small mod to the tall fence to give some clearance at the rear of the blade (it's an add-on) might do the trick.

I swear, my next ship is going to be Gaetan sized..... if I can figure out where to put it. 
 
Anyway, keel number 5 is just stuck in position and not glued up yet.  Once glued, I'll do the final 3 half-frames but I do have to work on the transom first.  That would be that small pile of planks in L-square.  I've cut the rest of my planking and it's in the pic.
 

 
Just another quickie side-topic.... here's a shot of the setup on my saw for cutting the planks.  I set the wood to the fingerboards, move the fence, and cut a plank.  Move the wood to the left and then the fence and rip another strip.  I do it backwards since I'm left handed.  The featherboard is locked down (in this case) to produce a 1/32" thick plank.  The wood I'm cutting it from is 1/8" thick boxwood.
 

Looks good Mark, nice to see your progress.

Thank you Mark and John,
 
have worked further, and finished the bulkhead.
 

 

 

 

 
Alex

I am now finally back ahead of where I was before the great disaster of 2013....!
 
Spent a while last night drilling out the centre of my mounting pedestals and corresponding holes in my mounting board. Two guide holes through the keel of the ship, and a couple of long screws were fed through the bottom of the base, up through the pillars and into the keel of the ship. It is all nice and solidly mounted.
 

 
Progress made on backstays for the fore top mast. There are three on each side, each of which is slightly different. Finished the three on starboard side. Just need to finish one final backstay on the port and then it is on to the main mast.
 

 
Outboard view of the backstays showing the three different types.
 

 
Inboard view showing the belaying of two of the backstays. Eventually, I will add coils to each of the belaying points to finish.

I have been working at it, but haven't really had an pictures opportunities until now. For those familiar with the MS Connie kit, you'll notice that the bulkheads have been modified. I cut the spar deck support from these bulkheads. Since I shaved off a 1/16" from the center keel piece I had to match that to the bulkheads, so using the belt sander I smoothed the remaining stub from the center spar deck support and shaved the bulkheads by 1/16". Again, the 1/16" is to make up for the gundeck planking. I shot a picture of the pieces put together, but there is no glue yet. I have to mark the bulkheads with where the gundeck is going to be and sand off the remaining stubs from the inner bulwark sides. You may have also noticed that I haven't gotten to the last bulkhead, R. I will be working on that as well so I can show off a complete room back there. 

Popeye, I haven't seen anything painted in that period to suggest they were ever present early on. The Hull model doesn't even have any installed on it. John, that is purely a 1" belt sander. The disc sander is attached to the lather outside in the garage. The belt sander makes sawdust really quickly so I have to be careful to not remove too much wood when working with it. The spindle sander is working out great too; much slower removal of wood. Mike, I am much happier with my one piece keel. When I laminated and glued the sections together of what MS supplied I felt that it wasn't very sturdy at all.

Hi Scott, welcome back. I've been waiting for a couple of new toys and then it's back to work. We'll probably leave for the west coast by the end of May. Might do a trip to Austin and San Antonio in between. You need to go to Mystic again. The ship sails on May 17 I think then it goes up the coast and winds up in Boston in July. It'll be tied up next to Old Ironsides when it docks there after the restoration and it's 38th cruise....first since 1941.

Hey John, I have been on hiatus for some time. Got to check in on your progress and I am loving it! How was you vacation? I am waiting for some warm weather to come around so I can take the family back to Mystic Seaport.

oh,  take'in the boat out again are ye? 

we just got through a warm spell.......lost quite a bit of snow    now it getting cold again,  and I hear she'll be rearing her ugly head again!  I'll be glad when it's over.    you've had your share of weird weather     it will be good to see some progress........since you runn'in 'round in yer skivvies :D