shipmodel

Hi Mark - I go away for a few weeks and look at all your progress. She's coming along very nicely. That's a new technique for me on the gunports. Thanks for the how-to photos. And a belated Happy Birthday. Be well Dan

Daniel - I take a few weeks vacation and you go and finish your QAR. Lovely work at your mini-mini-scale. Just tip the ship a little on the sea and she could be fighting through a gale. Looks like a Van de Velde painting. Thanks for the photo of the model in the huge bottle, I had never seen it before. Thanks too to DFellingham for the chuckle. Be well Dan

Hi Michael - Congratulations on building a house. Quite a bit bigger project than a model ship, even at your scale. Looking forward to your progress, as always. Nice new photo of yourself too. Dan

Hi again, and best wishes for a happy Friday the 13th – Thanks for the compliments, likes, and wishes for my new grandson. Caleb and his mother are both doing well and send their thanks as well. Several smaller items were completed in this segment. The first was the forward bulkhead for the captain’s cabin. There are no plans or drawings of it in either of the plans that I am using, so I designed it to be functional, using some of the same details as on the stern and quarter badges. There is a chair rail molding with wainscoting below. This was not scribed but laid up from individual planks. The door is of a typical 17th Century style, with H-L hinges and decorative cross banding. The windows are flanked by fluted columns which were built up as before. To each side there will be a ladder to the poop deck, which have not yet been constructed. The bulkhead is still removable at this stage, and may have to be moved back a little to give me room to install the whipstaff which will go between the cabin and the mizzen mast. I have not decided whether to paint the wainscoting blue and add some decorative details. What does the group think? The cabin was also dressed up by closing in the aftmost gunport with a decorative shutter. The central circle was made by stiffening a 1/8” birch dowel with a drop of thin cyano on its cut end. When dry the center of the dowel was drilled out to a depth of about ¼” and then the circles were parted off on the table saw. Next I turned to the first of the rigging fixtures – the staghorns. Here is a section of my plans for the inner bulwarks, which was made by using PhotoShop to combine the plans from the Advice Prize with details from Le Mercure. You can see three of the four staghorns that will be mounted on each side. Here is an enlargement of the plans for the staghorns. Note in the side view the extreme angles that have to be used to match the 13 degree tumblehome of the bulwarks. I started by carving a length of pear to the shape of the horns of the fitting. The piece was just under 3 inches long, which gave me extra material for the next model as well. Here you can see three horns that have been parted off. They are a little heavy, but were later reduced with a small sanding drum. The shelf that supports the horns was built up in two parts. In the larger, back piece, two notches were nibbled out for the horns before being closed in by the front piece. In the insert enlargement you can see how the curve of the table saw blade gave me an angle to the back of the notch that is needed to allow the horns to angle to match the tumblehome. With the horns inserted in the shelf the bottom piece had two notches hollowed out in its back face for the lower ends of the horns. The lower piece was flipped over and the horns glued into the notches. The lower piece was then sanded to its clamshell shape and the upper ends of the horns were refined to angle up and out. You can see the differences from the left fitting to the completed one on the right. Here you can see a finished staghorn sitting on an angled scrap block to check that the shelf will be horizontal when mounted on the bulwark. Here is the complete set of eight staghorns for the first model. And here is the first one mounted in the waist ready for the lines that run through the hull sheaves for the main and spritsail sheets. Next I turned to the gunport lids for the open gunports on the port side of the ship. I have detailed their construction before in the section on the test gun station. This one is for the forwardmost port, which is why the planking runs at an angle to match the hull planking. The hinge straps are blackened brass strip secured with three iron pins. The ends of the strips were ground to about half their width so they could fit into mounting holes in the hull. The strips were all made to a uniform size in a simple jig. A brass strip was trapped between two guides and the locations of the holes for the mounting pins was marked off. Once the holes were drilled the strip was clipped to length at the edge of the jig. I found that without pre-drilling these holes it was nearly impossible for me to drill them cleanly once the hinge strap was mounted on the gunport lid. Each lid was marked for its proper location and the mounting holes were drilled just above the open gunport. With the lids slid into the holes the brass could be gently bent so every lid was at the same angle. This will be a significant advantage once they are permanently mounted, as they will be much less prone to snapping off when I bump into them (which I am sure that I will). Here they are towards the bow - - - And the stern. To check them, I set the guns in place. Here is what they look like in the waist as seen from outboard - - - And along the length of the ship. Finally, the entire broadside. I was happy with the look of the model, so the guns and gunport lids were removed to safe storage until the interior deck fittings are built and mounted. The first of these was the riding bitts for the anchor cable. As you can see from the plans it incorporates the 5-sheave post for the rigging to the ramshead block that raises and lowers the foreyard. Construction was straightforward, with each piece cut and shaped, then notched and pinned in place. The sheaves in the post are non-working, and made by drilling 5 pairs of holes through the post with a 0.040” drill in a miniature drill press. The bitt was then put into a Dremel and the sheave slot between the holes was carved out. Care has to be taken to allow for the right-hand torque of the bitt, but a little practice yields good results. The next rigging fitting that I turned to were the multiple cleat ‘logs’ that sit just aft of the fore and main masts. These were discussed earlier in the build log as well. Construction here was straightforward as well. Once the dimensions were decided, two pieces of cherry were cut and the ends finished with slopes. The underside of each was sanded to match the camber of the deck. Ten slots were cut in the underside for the lines to run through. It is quite probably that these slots would have been radiused on each side of the log so the line would run smoothly under the fixture. The upper corners of the log were eased as well, as recommended by JerseyCityFrankie. Matching photoetched brass cleats were obtained from Bluejacket, blackened and mounted. Here is the one on the quarterdeck aft of the main mast. It looks good as is, although I clearly have to clean the deck which is getting very dusty. Finally, to check that things are headed in the right direction, and to give my spirits a needed lift, I mounted the decks and the lower masts. Hull construction and detailing have taken much, much longer than anticipated, but I can see some light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope that it is not the oncoming train known as “RIGGING”. Be well Dan

Log 24 - Head Structures Hi again. It has been a bit longer since the last segment than I hoped, in part because our daughter gave birth to her second child and our eighth grandchild. Everyone is doing fine and it reminds me that there is more to life than ship modeling. Sacrilege, I know, but it’s hard to deny. Time to concentrate on the head structures, the rails, supports, and small deck that fit around and under the base of the bowsprit. Here is how they look in the plans. I started with the bare stem piece cut off at the approximate height to mount the figurehead. It had been left somewhat rough to this point before the rails were fitted. The stem was trimmed flat and the inside curve was sanded smooth. A strip of hardwood was cut and fitted to the inside curve which extended up to the height of the lion figurehead’s mane. It will support the forward ends of the two upper rails. The edge of the mane was penciled in on the wood for reference so the rails don’t interfere with the figurehead. The top rail was roughly shaped to fit from the cathead to the stem in a pleasing curve that matches the plans, but it was not finished at this point. In the photo you can see a piece of translucent tape which has been laid on the stem so the ‘S’ shape of the lower rail could be drawn on it. I call this rail the ‘hawse rail’ because the hawse piece mounts just above it and I don’t know its proper name. The hawse rail is made up of two pieces. Here a paper pattern is being developed to establish the mating faces of the lower section against the wale and the stem. The lower piece was cut using that paper pattern while the upper section was cut using the tape pattern with the shape drawn on. They were both left a bit oversize to allow for a good deal of shaping and fitting. Here they are roughly set in place. The lower piece was ground and sanded till the mating face was flush with the wale and the piece sat at the proper upwards angle to meet the descending angle of the upper piece. The outer face of the lower piece was left large till the upper piece was fitted. Here you can see the hawse rail fitted, sanded and given its first coat of finish. The upper rail has now been shaped to fit. Simple carved decorations give the upper rail some interest. A better photo is coming later. With these two rails in place the middle rail was fitted, shaped and installed. The figurehead was repeatedly put on to test the fit of the rails then removed for safety and to provide clearance to work on the rails. The bottom rail was built up in two pieces like the hawse rail. It is just a lot shorter as it extends only to the foot of the lion. Here are all the rails as fitted and finished. Now the hawse piece was cut and fitted to the top of the hawse rail. Two holes were drilled for the anchor cables to be installed into when the time comes. Here they are with the figurehead in place. The carvings on the top rail can be seen clearly in the photo. They were done with a sharp-cornered bit in the Dremel, then smoothed and refined with a curved file called a riffler. The varying shine on some of the parts will be toned down and corrected in the final finishing coats. As I was roughly cutting out the rail pieces, I made a second set for the port side. All of the techniques were the same. Here are the port side rails, except the bottom one. I was fortunate that prior planning made it relatively easy to get the two sides symmetrical. And here is a detail photo of the rails and the carvings on the port side. Three support brackets were fashioned and installed between the upper rails. Only the middle one had to have a bent shape to lie against the rails and sit next to the hawse pieces. Here they are installed but not finished. And here they are finished in two views. The end points of all the rails and the intersections with the support brackets were all subsequently reinforced with metal pins and glue. Next the deck and grating under the bowsprit were built. A paper pattern was used to define the total size and shape of the piece so it sat level and firmly on the rail support brackets. It was built up from two triangular pieces of grating, with solid pieces fit around it and against the curve of the hull. You can see in this view how a hole was left along the centerline for the gammoning which will hold down the bowsprit. Two seats of ease were fashioned from solid birch pieces with cherry tops. The bowsprit has been temporarily installed to check the fit. A wooden ring, like a mast coat, will dress up the entry into the hull when it is permanently installed. You can see a small mark on top to locate the central gammon cleat later. So here is the completed head structure. There will be a wire railing installed for the safety of the crew while using the heads, but that will wait until the gammoning is installed so it does not interfere with my stubby fingers as I work. Next on the schedule – the captain’s cabin, the open gunport lids, and the channels and deadeyes. Hopefully it will not be so long till the next report. Be well Dan

Hello again – I have just completed the construction of the stern, which was complicated enough to merit its own log entry. The design is a bit of an exercise in imagination, without any hard facts to go on. The Advice Prize draught has no information at all; the stern outline is shown as part of the station lines plan, but without any decorations or indications of the shape of the counter, transom or even the top of the taffrail. Budriot’s drawing of the stern of Le Mercure is excessively florid, with lots of carvings, an intricate nameplate, and even flaming finnials at the upper corners of the taffrail. Not only is this much too ornate for the QAR (and for Le Mercure, which was a merchant ship), but the heights of the windows do not match the deck heights taken from the Admiralty draught. After playing around in Photoshop for a while a simplified layout was designed with many of the same elements that went into the quarter badges. This was passed before my masters and approved. The first section worked on was the lower transom just above the counter. The wide moldings were set matching the locations of the similar ones on the sides of the hull and the field between them was painted blue. The decorative boxes were taken from the plans and cut from cherry veneer. Wood glue was sparingly applied and they were taped down until solidly attached. The light colored ‘flowers’ were carved from 1mm boxwood. They do not appear to be fleur-de-lis, but I could not make out any further details in Budriot’s drawing. Above the top molding were the windows in the captain’s cabin. There is no false light in the center because the rudder head ends in the gun deck below the cabin. The field was painted grey and the moldings, fluted columns, and capitals were cut and applied using the same techniques as for those on the quarter badges. There are six columns framing five windows. I did the two outermost ones first because they have the biggest angle to vertical. Then the remaining area was divided into five equal spaces and the central two columns were mounted vertically. The last two were fit by trial and error to sit halfway between the inner and outer columns. They were cut and recut several times until I was happy with the look of the windows that were formed. As before, the windows were glazed with white glue that was painted on. While it was tacky the mullions were cut from birch and laid in. At the top of the taffrail you can see the added piece of basswood that was cut and fitted to give it the double recurved shape from the plans. The joint was filled and sanded and the field was painted blue Moldings were pieced together above the windows and along the sides. At the top, sections of molding were steam bent to the curves and attached. Ribbons of cherry veneer were shaped to the curves of the moldings and edged with a thin molding strip. In the center a pair of volutes (similar to fiddleheads) were carved and applied. The volutes are a little intricate, but I got a lot of help from the illustrations in “Carving Figureheads & Other Nautical Designs” by Alan & Gill Bridgewater. If you can picture a snail shell seen from the side, that’s what they look like. The stern was now complete, but the upper area cried out for some sort of contrasting decoration. I could have made simple circles, like those on the Mercure drawing, but I decided to get a little fancy and carve a pair of laurel wreaths, symbolizing victory. I got a simplified image of a wreath off the internet, resized it and duplicated it a number of times before printing. The paper image was cut out and spray glued to a piece of 1mm boxwood, which was itself glued to a piece of dark contrasting scrapwood. Using a sharp cornered bitt, the outline of the wreath was cut through the box until the dark wood showed all around. This left the paper and boxwood standing up from the background ready for detail carving. Using a medium sized bitt, notches were cut to indicated the locations of the leaves, and the paper was removed with a drop of mineral spirits. A smaller bitt was used to define the leaves and cut the indication for the central stems. A pointed diamond burr was used to further refine the leaves and to slope the lower edges so there was some depth to the carving. The burr left some soft and fuzzy edges, so once the piece was separated from the backing piece with a drop of acetone, it was cleaned up with a knife, needle files and a fine sanding stick. Here are the pair of wreaths attached to the model. With them, the stern is now complete. The headrails will be the next area to be tackled. Until then . . . Be well Dan

Hi all - Thanks for all the kudos. I took the time to look at some of the logs that you all are posting and I am happy to be a part of such a talented community. David, Keith - glad to pass along some of the tips that I have learned and the techniques that I have developed. Second only to actuallty building ship models, I like talking and teaching ship modeling. Be well, and happy Mother's Day to everyone out there, female and male. Dan

Sherry - My bad. You would think that I could read the title of your log . . . I have my notepad and I'm really looking forward to seeing your techniques. Your ability to get such smoothness on the central globe surface which is under the raised cross is well beyond my limits. Thanks so much for sharing. And, if it applies for Canada, and for you, happy Mother's Day. Dan

Hi Sherry - Beautiful work on the carvings. Are they from the kit or are you scratch-building them? If so, are they carved wood or molded clay/polymer? Whatever they are, you are doing an excellent job with them. As for the vertical pieces, they were skids that protected the hull planking when loading and unloading stores, boats, and other items that got hauled up the ship's sides. Keep up the good work. Dan

Hi again to all, and thanks for the likes and comments. I replaced the images on page 5 that disappeared, but I ended up with some duplicate images that I could not remove. Just ignore them. I am also having trouble with line spacing, so this is stretched out more than it should be. If anyone knows how to fix this, please let me know. When the last segment ended, a month ago, the ship had the basic hull structure done and planked as was the visible portion of the gun deck. The initial cambered deck structures were in place, ready for planking. There has been a good deal of work done since then, so this segment is fairly long. With the quarterdeck structure in place I could do the upper gunports with their square wreaths. They were located from the inside of the bulwarks such that the 4-pounder cannon would run out through their centers. A series of small holes were drilled around the perimeter of the port to allow the square lining tube to slide through, as I had done for the larger lower ports. Fit was done carefully, but did not need to be precise, since the outer edges would be covered by the port wreath and the inner edges would be covered by the bulwark planking that would be added later. The wreaths have simple decorations done with small carving bitts in the Dremel. The circular carving was done with a sharpened brass tube. An image of the first one was sent off to the museum for review. Once it was approved, the rest were shaped and installed. Next came the gangway ladders and hull loading skids on both sides of the hull. These require 10 vertical pieces, all fitted to the curve of the hull and notched around the several horizontal moldings and wales. It started with a paper pattern cut from an index card. Where I cut it too large at the bottom a small piece of sticky note pad was laid on to cover the gap. Then a wooden pattern was cut from the paper one and fitted to the hull. Once I was happy with it the top surface was blackened to remind me not to use it on the model (I will need it for model #2). I cut and stacked 5 layers of cherry with the pattern on top. These were all given a coat of clear finish and then “spot welded” to each other with CA glue, one of the few times when CA was used. The inner faces with the notches were cut on the band saw, then the outer faces were shaped with a tabletop belt sander to match the profile of the pattern. In the photo you can see the small piece of wood with perpendicular faces that was used to keep the stack aligned and vertical during the shaping process. Once they were shaped they were popped apart with a blade between the layers. The clear finish does not let the CA enter the grain, so there is no wood splintering or loss. This is a technique I use frequently when multiple parts are called for. The first side of the ladder was installed on the hull and secured with metal pins. Treads ½” long (18” in scale) were glued to the hull with PVA glue and the second side of the ladder was fitted to them and to the hull. Once the three skids were installed they were reinforced with shorter pieces at their lower ends, similarly notched and fitted. This is the port side, with the gunports open for the eventual installation of the broadside. And here is the starboard side with closed gunports where the cannon will be shown housed on deck. In the photo you can also see the sheaves for the sheets of the fore course and spritsail, as well as the chesstree for the tack of the main course. The chesstree was made of cherry, carved with various drill bitts and carving tools, then secured with glue and metal pins. This may be overkill, but for museum work I try to insure that pieces will not fall off any time soon. You can also see the details of the gunport and its lid. As with the gunport lid on the stern ports in the counter, the hinges are made from 1/16” brass strip with the hinge barrels coiled with wire bending pliers. Three holes for bolts were drilled in each and they were chemically blackened before installation. I have not tried the copper/liver of sulphur technique that Ed Tosti and others use, but it looks like something I want to try. No matter how well I clean the brass before immersion, the finish always comes out uneven. Eyebolts were made up and installed in the lower corners and the lifting ropes were tied. The central one leads through a hole in the hull and ties off to a cleat above the gunport. The iron fittings for the recoil rope and train tackle protrude from the hull and have diamond shaped washers. They are mounted quite low on French ships, as you can see in this photo of L’Hermione, the reproduction ship that is the subject of a series of current articles by Roger Marsh in S-i-S. Although that ship is larger and almost 70 years later than QAR, these fittings seem to be consistent. On the inner side of the bulwarks the gun tackle fittings are also a bit different. Rather than an upper eyebolt for the train tackle there is a hook in the bulwark. This matches the fittings recovered during the excavation of La Belle by the folks at Texas A&M. Here is how it is represented on L’Hermione. And here are the fittings on the model. I did not mount the breach rope rings loose since they will all either be hidden or in use. Next I turned to the quarter badges. These are a combination of the simple one from the Advice Prize and the florid one from Budriot’s Le Mercure. Because the interiors will not be seen, I did not have to piece them together, as Chuck is doing with his Winchelsea, but could make them solid. Here is the final layout which is sized to the moldings on the hull, along with the base plate of 1/16” thick cherry and the structure piece made from 3/8” basswood. The basswood was cut to be 1/8” smaller than the base plate all around, then the side panels were angled down from the central flat section to the edges. An initial color coat of blue for the panels was painted on, with a dark grey for the backing of the light. The window is framed by fluted columns topped by molding capitals. Here you can see the several pieces that made them up. The flutes were cut as channels in a long strip on the table saw, then parted off with the miter guage set to the proper angle. Once the columns were set, the upper rounded framing piece was shaped and the moldings were cut and applied. Then the basswood piece was mounted on the cherry base plate. Additional pieces of cherry veneer were cut and installed around the perimeter of the piece, as were the window mullions. The decorative elements were shaped to fit the spaces below the black molding. A modified scallop shell was carved at the bottom of the drop. Window glass was simulated by painting the panes with white glue and letting it dry while lying flat. Here are the two mirror image quarter badges. They are not precisely symmetrical since the hull moldings are slightly different on the two sides of the model. Once completed, they were offered up against the hull and the moldings beneath them were chiseled off to let them lay flat against the hull planking. The deck structures were laid in and tested for their final locations. The grating and other fittings on the quarterdeck were laid out, which gave me the final locations of the mast holes and the length of the captain’s cabin and poop deck. The three removable deck pieces were planked in the same manner as the gun deck, although the tops of the binding strakes were not raised above the rest of the planking. A square hole was cut into the quarterdeck for the grating, which was sunk till it matched the level of the binding strakes. The outboard sections were made from sheets of holly veneer with the planks scribed in. This simplified the process of tapering the planks immensely on the quarterdeck and poop deck pieces. Deck beam locations were penciled in and fasteners for each plank were drilled, filled, and sanded flush. For the foredeck the cherry margin plank was installed first, then the central planks and binding strakes. The outboard pieces were cut overlarge to allow me to shape them as if they were nibbed into the margin planks. Once they were cut they were offered to the deck and the outline of the nibbing was drawn on the margin plank. The overlaps were carefully chiseled out of the margin plank till the holly pieces fit tightly into their spaces. Caprails were cut from 1/16” cherry. These were fairly simple straight pieces, although the width tapered from 10mm (15”) at the waist to 7mm (10”) at the extreme aft where the rail meets the transom. With the quarterdeck located and planked, the square holes for the anchor davits could be cut. Above them the curved caprail was shaped from five pieces of cherry, scarfed together, the given a final shaping after installation. In the photo some temporary straight anchor davits are laid in, but will be removed and replaced with bent ones in the final fitting out. So here is the current progress. Not visible are the steps for the fore and mizzen masts that lie under the decks, as well as the mounting block for the bowsprit. These were drilled and carefully aligned so the masts would line up along the centerline with the correct rake for each. Next I will detail the transom and put together the headrail structures. I hope to bring this to you soon. Be well Dan

Hi all - This is off topic, If you know where it should be posted, let me know. I recently read a thread which asked for a recommendation for an illustrated glossary of ship terms. Unfortunately, I can't find it now. In any case, one of the best general introductions that I have run across is: "The Visual Dictionary of Ships and Sailing" produced by Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries. It is a slim book but covers topics from the first boats to modern underwater diving gear and ROVs. Obviously, it can's do justice to everything, but does an excellent job for the things that it selects. The best part is that many topics are illustrated with either the actual object or photographs of top quality models. Hope that helps. Dan

Hi all - Thanks for the likes and compliments, and to all those who saw the model up close at New London yesterday and had good things to say. Crackers - yes, the last slave cruise of the QAR was not a nice experience for anyone aboard. It actually ended best for some of the slaves who joined Blackbeard's crew. The other slaves, along with the French captain and crew, were set down on an uninhabited island but were given a small sloop, after it was stripped of armaments. It says something that the crew took the remaining slaves and sold them in the Carribean before returning to France to give testimony about the loss of the ship. Jon - thanks for the compliments and for letting me know that some images have disappeared. The infection seems to be limited to page 5, and I will restore them in the next day or two. Be well Dan

Hi Mark - The adventure begins. . . and we all will be eagerly watching the trip. Dan

Hi Sherry - Really nice work. She will be beautiful when fully dressed up. Dan

Hi Michael - I go away for a week and look what progress you have made. Really nice hinges and doors. Dan

Hi again to everyone following this log. Thanks for all the support, comments and likes. Here is the work that has happened in the last week. I usually put two or more weeks of work into a log entry, but I am going on vacation with the family all of next week, and didn’t want to postpone it. At the end of the last entry I noticed some symmetry problems at the bow. The thin molding was low on the port side, and the starboard bulwark was too high. Here I have corrected the problems. I think that the fix is satisfactory, but I will continue to examine the model to see if there are any others that need work. Next I started on the planking for the gun deck where it will be visible in the waist. The insides of the bulwarks were planked just like the outer surface of the hull, with individual planks of birch veneer glued on with contact cement. Planks were trimmed to cover the gunport frames and linings. Treenail fasteners were done in the usual manner. The planking of the deck in the waist is a little different. Budriot’s plans indicate that the central section of the deck was made up of thicker planks than the rest of the deck. The outermost of these planks were let into the deck beams beneath and are known as binding strakes. They helped lock the deck to the deck beams and strengthened the entire core of the ship. On the model I did not lock them into the structure so they are not binding strakes, but they are made of thicker stuff than the planks. Examination of photos of contemporary French models in the Musee de la Marine (Budriot, Historic Ship Models) indicates a pretty consistent look to this section of the deck. The binding strakes and the gratings are dark, even painted black, while the central planking is lighter and matches the color of the rest of the deck planking. I started with the gratings which I made earlier. These were made on the English pattern, so I crowned them and set them down into the raised strakes so they are nearly flush. These are the first of the early pieces to be permanently attached to the model. The binding strakes are cherry, like the coamings for the gratings, while the central planking is holly. This is a veneer and was glued to crowned sections of basswood to match the curve of the gratings. Once this section was in place and pinned to the deck substrate, I drew the locations for the deck beams, starting with those at each end of the gratings and filling in from there. They laid out with a pretty consistent pattern of 4 scale feet center to center. Now I used the holly veneer to plank outward from the center section. I was going to saw up a bunch of individual planks and do the deck as I had done the outer surface of the hull. But then I decided to try using one large sheet of veneer with the planks marked and scribed on. After a satisfactory test piece was made I decided to go for it. A paper pattern was made that fit the area from the binding strake to the base of the bulwark. This was laid out onto a piece of holly veneer, but not cut. Using a long metal ruler as a straightedge a series of 6mm wide planks were laid out on the wood. With the veneer clamped under the ruler a pencil line was drawn with a 0.5mm mechanical pencil so all the lines would be a consistent width. Without unclamping I scribed the line into the wood with two light passes using the back of a #10 blade. The markings were made permanent with two coats of spray satin finish. With the planks lined out I cut and trimmed the veneer piece until it fit snugly into the space from binding strake to bulwark. I test fit the piece in place and lightly marked the beam locations onto the veneer. Using the straightedge and a small square the butt joints were marked out, penciled and scribed as before. I used a 3-step pattern with a 1-3-2-4 stagger. I don’t know if this is historically correct for French ships of the period, but it looks right. After a final sanding to smooth the deck substrate several coats of thinned contact cement were painted onto the deck and the veneer piece. When dry the piece was laid in place and burnished down to the substrate. This is a permanent bond, like a kitchen counter, but the treenails that will be installed doubly guarantee adhesion. At the base of the bulwarks a margin plank, finish plank, and chamfered waterway were installed. They are cherry and contrast nicely with the birch of the bulwark and the holly of the deck. Now all the fastening holes could be drilled. Careening the model in the cradles gave me access without straining. As with the hull planks, I used square treenail sticks pressed into round holes and clipped short, leaving just nubs of wood above the surface of the planks. When all the holes were filled they were painted with dilute white glue. When the glue dried the nubs were cut off flush with a small sharp chisel. The fastenings are birch which subtly contrasts with the holly without becoming overbearing. The fastenings in the cherry binding strakes were made of walnut, also for a bit of contrast. With the waist planked it will soon be time to work on the upper decks. Here I have laid up the substrates for the three sections. They are made up of two layers of 1/16” basswood glued over a curved form. The laminated pieces held their shapes quite well after the glue dried. Paper patterns were used to get the right outlines. The pieces were cut on the band saw and refined with a bench disc sander. With the deck pieces temporarily installed I fitted out the waist with cannon, the ship’s boat, and my figures. I don’t see anything when I examine the model or in the photos that looks obviously wrong, but my eyes are getting old and I am a bit biased. If anyone sees anything, please tell me now while I can still get at it to change it. Thanks Dan

David - sure thing. Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery. Dan

HI all. Thanks for the comments and likes - Hexnut - I plan to bring her to New London, if there is room in the car. I am giving a lift to some of the other NY club members, so it may not be possible, but I will do my best. Michael - I think of my modeling as a pointillist painting. All of the really small details, like the fasteners, may not be visible individually in the finished model but overall the effect gives it a 'texture' that it would not have without it. David - At the end of a long treenailing session I relax with two fingers of Maker's Mark on the rocks - repeated as often as needed. Sorry that Manitowoc is beyond my range for such a large model. I have no idea how Ozzie Thalman schleps his Bismark or Arizona out there. More power to him. I can't wait to see Micheal bring his Bristol cutter to a show :-)) Be well Dan

Really wonderful, Doris. I' ve never seen a model with as much 'life' as yours. Thanks so much for sharing. Dan

Hi to all, and thanks for the comments and questions. Please keep them coming. Many eyes and brains will always spot problems that one set will not see until it is too late to easily correct them. The last entry ended with the hull planked and the upper works painted as requested by the museum. The next task was to install all of the plank fastenings. French practice at the time, as far as can be determined 300 years later, was to alternate wooden treenails with iron spikes. That is, each time a plank crossed a frame there were two fasteners, one iron, one wood, set at a diagonal to each other. At the neighboring frames to either side the pattern was flipped over, so if the first frame had a treenail at the top, the neighbor had a spike at the top. Butt joints between planks were secured with four fasteners, two of each kind, also set diagonally. Here is what the finished pattern looks like on the model. The experiments that I did on the practice gun station led me to the following sequence, which got the thousands of fasteners done in a reasonable amount of time: After installation, the planks were given a coat of pale stain, then a first clear coat to protect them from glue spots and dirt. This coating also helped when it came time to remove the pencil lines that were drawn to indicate the frame locations under the planks. Without it the graphite gets into the grain of the wood and is really hard to remove. Next, the holes for all of the treenails were drilled. I used the cordless Dremel 1000 which has a pistol shape. It lets me simply point at the desired spot and just lean forward to make a 1/8” deep hole. With some good music in the background and a repetitive chant under my breath, I would develop a rhythm that made the chore go pretty quickly. Multiple strips of treenail stock were cut from cherry veneer on the Preac. They were 0.025” square, or about 0.035” on the diagonal. The holes were drilled with a 0.0325” bit so that the strips could be inserted to the bottom of the hole with a friction fit and then clipped or snapped off. Again, music made the task bearable. Once all the holes were filled they were painted with heavily diluted white glue. It was thin enough to wick down the sides of the strips to the bottom of the holes. This not only secured the treenails to the planks and the hull, but it swelled the fibers so that the square strips now filled the entire round holes. No lengthy, fiddly pulling through a drawplate was necessary. This is a good thing, because I am really terrible at it. I usually end up with more splinters on the floor than treenails in the cup. Once the glue dried the stubs of the treenails were cut close to the plank surface using a small chisel, then they were sanded flush, which also removed the pencil lines. Now the holes for the spikes could all be drilled, using the treenail locations as the guide. This time the holes were only 0.025” diameter and were filled with 0.022” soft iron wire. Clippers were used to cut them as close as possible to the plank surface. Here I am filling the holes in the planks of the counter with the model turned upside down. Once a large section of spikes were inserted they were peened or pressed into the hull until they were almost flush with the surface. Then they were painted with a second clear coat of finish. This not only secured the spikes from coming out, but darkened the tops of the treenails so the cherry stood out from the birch of the planking. Even without doing the fasteners under the painted sections there are over 3,000 fasteners in the hull. Using this sequence, the fasteners were done, start to finish, in three 6-hour workdays. With the planking done, the gunport linings were fitted using the square wooden tube as explained in the earlier log for the gun station. Here is how it came out after staining to match the planking. And here are two cannon protruding from their ports as they will be in the finished model. As we all do, I use the photographs to check my work. Some things seem to appear only under the light of a flash. Here I am checking the symmetry of the bow. It looks generally good, but there are two problems that I have to correct. First, the thin molding just above the wale does not match, port to starboard. The port side is about 1/16” low at the stem. It will be pried up and relocated before re-gluing and final pinning with metal spikes. The second problem is less clear. The cap of the starboard bow is higher than its corresponding shape on the port side. You can see it a bit better with the photo taken from a lower angle. The cap molding will be removed, the shape adjusted, and the molding replaced. Otherwise, I am happy with the symmetry of the hull both here at the bow, and here at the stern. You can see that the two ports in the counter have been detailed. Although the hull details will mostly be done later, it was easier to do this area while I could still turn the model over and work on it upside down. The ports have two half-lids with four hinge straps each and a lanyard to open the top half. These were made in the same way as the hinge straps for the companionway that was shown in an earlier log. I used my orthodontic pliers to bend 1/16” brass strips which were then drilled and chemically blackened before gluing and pinning with wire. The four rings above the lower molding are for the preventer chains that will attach to the smaller rings on the sides of the rudder just above the white stuff. The rudder itself is built up from two pieces of cherry which were cut, shaped and tapered according to the plans. The gudgeons and pintles were bent up from 3/32” wide brass strips, blackened and drilled, then secured in the usual manner to the rudder and the hull. At the transom you can see the paper pattern for the latest iteration of the stern gallery of windows. This was originally taken from the Mercure plans, but heavily modified to fit the internal deck layout of the Advice Prize. It was pushed, prodded, resized, and details were changed and changed back again in Photoshop before being printed out to test size and suitability against the spacing and layout of the hull moldings. More changes will be made, I’m sure, before I am completely happy with it and can start cutting wood. I’m having to do a lot of testing like this to reconcile the shape and layout of the Advice Prize with the details from Le Mercure. Here I have installed rough place-holders for the quarterdeck and forecastle deck so I can plan the layout in the waist. The museum asked that one broadside of cannon be mounted through the ports with the lids opened. The other side will have the guns “housed”. But when I tested the layout of the guns with their muzzles hard against the bulwark it was clear that there would be no room for the ship’s boat on the centerline. A check against the plans confirmed that this was so. Instead, I suggested that the cannon not in use be housed fore and aft against the bulwark. This is one way that it was done on the real ships. Now, with the opposite cannon through the port, there is enough clearance for the boat and to work the guns. And here is what the broadside looks like before the gunport lids and the rest of the hull details are installed. Finally, lest you think that I work in a clean and orderly manner as implied in the heavily cropped photos in the log, here is our dining room table on a fairly neat day. It looks much worse on a daily basis and for months at a time. I can’t say enough about the forbearance and good humor of my wife. Without her this would not be remotely possible. I can only wish you all the same happiness with your spouse or significant other. Be well Dan

Hi David - Although both ways can get the job done, I have to disagree a bit with your take on safety. Kickback is caused by the workpiece being trapped and squeezed between the blade and fence. When it catches the spinning blade throws it back at the worker. The way Mark has his saw set up, the larger piece of wood is in this position. If it kicks back it could cause some damage. If the small piece kicks back, a strip 1/32" x 1/8" can't do a lot of harm. As for pinkies, that's what push sticks are for. I use them all the time. Dan

Hi Mark - Nice work on the boat. The keel looks right. Once you get the garboard and sheer strakes planked it will really take shape. I am a bit confused about the sawing method. It seems as if you are using the featherboard as the fence and the fence as your featherboard. I would think that the inherent flexibility of the featherboard fingers will give you uneven plank thicknesses, depending on how firmly you push the wood against them before you set the fence for each cut. If you have an accurate mini table saw (it looks like you have a Byrnes saw) you should have no trouble setting the fence to a 1/32" distance from the blade and then ripping off multiple identical planks without moving any part of the setup. Just another way to get the job done. If your method works for you, go with it. Following with interest, as always. Dan

Hi Sherry - I was taught that quarter badges are the small "bay window" looking bulges on the aft hulls of small ships. On ships of the line like yours, the large constructions that rise several decks are known as quarter galleries since they were connected to the galleries at the stern. In either case their purpose is to house the officers' washstand and other conveniences. The piece at the bottom that you have carved so excellently is called the drop, possibly because this is where the waste from the toilet dropped into the sea. Keep up the good work, I truly enjoy watching your progress and am glad to be a tiny bit of your inspiration. Dan

Hi Sherry - Just found your build log and got a little time to look it over. Wonderful work-woman-ship. It's just a shame that there are only so many hours in the day and days in the year to study, appreciate, and learn from talented builders like you. Whenever I can I will go back and read all the pages from the beginning, and all the future pages as well . It sure beats watching reruns of CSI . . . Be well Dan

Doris - You are really bringing your work to life with your figures. Bravo . . . I echo everyone else's respect for your work. Please can you tell me where you found the hooks for your train tackle? They are just what I am looking for. Thanks. Dan