shipmodel

Hi all - Here is another tip for tying ratlines - After you have clipped your lined off card behind the shrouds, put a dot of white paint on each of the outermost shrouds where they cross your lines. Now remove the card. This will give you your horizontal guideline while freeing up access to the back of the shrouds when you tie your knots. After all of the ratlines are done go back and paint over the white dots with black paint. Since the shrouds were tarred, if not the ratlines, this actually results in a more accurate look. I use clove hitches, myself, even down to 1:96 scale, although I have seen other methods that can be effective. I find them quick to tie and they slide easily up and down the shrouds to get the horizontal look right. At the outermost shrouds I use an overhand loop, which is small and neat, with the tail running down and behind the shroud. The tail pulls outward, so I can adjust the tension on the knots as I go, and helps in avoiding the hourglass problem. I find that using just this overlhand loop is the least obvious once the tail is cut off. I wrote an article on this method in the Nov/Dec 1989 issue of the old Ships in Scale magazine called "Get the 'Rats' out of your ratlines!" if you have the magazine or the CD. Dan

Now I turned back to the lower hull. It was refined with templates and progressively finer sanding blocks. After the 400 grit level I sealed it with Minwax Wood Hardener. This product is designed to strengthen rotted wood, but I have found it to be perfect for sealing wood where I want a truly smooth surface. The only drawback is that the wood becomes so hard that it is quite difficult to remove more than just a small amount - don't aske me how I know. I now hold off on using it until I am quite satisfied that I have the proper shape. After the hardener dried overnight it was sanded smooth to remove the raised grain, and the first coat of Krylon auto primer was sprayed on. This revealed that there were small imperfections where the various lifts had been joined to each other. These were filled by painting the entire lower hull with a thin solution of small-grained plaster. After sanding with a sanding block you can see where the plaster has filled the voids. The plaster was hardened and the next primer coat was applied, then sanded smooth. Ultimately, seven coats of primer were laid on and progressively sanded off with up to 1000 grit paper. The keel fin and bulb were similarly shaped, hardened, filled and sanded. Because the keel fin is so thin its connection points with the lower hull above and the keel bulb below would be incredibly fragile. I therefore planned for and fitted a steel pin that goes into the hull about 2 inches and down below the keel bulb about the same amount. I don't know how it will be displayed, but this should give them a great deal of flexibility in choosing the mounting for the model. So here is my progress to date. The three major components - upper hull, lower hull, and keel - can be stacked to see how they line up and to refine them as needed. More as the model develops. Be well Dan Pariser

Hi Tom - The model is not, directly, for the NYYC, although it may be donated by the owners' group to the Club. Despite my photo, I am not a sailor, so I have never been aboard a boat in the water. I had a chance to climb on deck of one in storage this winter to take lots of detail photos, and I will be getting aboard again once it is in the water this spring to photograph the mast, boom, and other running rigging details. The build continued with the upper hull cut out. The separation plane was chosen because it closely matches the floor of the cockpit, so the cockpit shape could be cut out of the upper lifts. These were roughly shaped to match the lower hull, with final finishing to await the time when the pieces would be joined. The sheer was created by laminating three more of the thin lifts of decreasing length to the top of the upper hull stack, then planed to the curve from the plans. The deckhouse/cabin was similarly cut and shaped, then refined with sanding blocks down to about 180 grit. Everything was left a little large to allow for final shaping. Once refined and matched to the sheer curve it was installed on the upper hull stack. At each step care was taken to draw centerlines and station lines. If they were removed by sanding and shaping, they were redrawn before the developing shapes were checked with templates from the plans. This was a process that was repeated at least 30 times during the shaping process.

Hi Bob - Thanks. I'll try to keep up the level of my work. Here is the second installment: The model was specified to be in 1:32 (3/8"=1') scale, so I first sized up the plans provided to the exact size of the model, just under 16 inches LOA. Looking at the plans I determined that the best way to shape the hull was by a series of horizontal lifts. I took the waterline lift half-plan, mirrored it in Photoshop and combined them to make a full plan that could be cut out to the exact shape of the lifts. This was printed out and mounted on a stiff file folder. The profile view provided the thickness of the lifts. Below the waterline they are almost exactly 1/8", while above it they are double that thickness. As with most of my model hulls, I like to find a convenient horizontal level to use as a reference plane. The hull below the line and above the line are shaped and treated as separate components until quite late in the build. This allows me to lay each piece flat on a work board for ease in shaping it, or on the platen of a drill press to make precise holes or to do any milling that can be done. The stiffened plan was cut out in sequentially larger lifts. Each was transferred to basswood of the appropriate thickness, and a centerline drawn on. A perpendicular was drawn at station number 6 so each lift could be registered against its neighbors in both dimensions. These were glued, one at a time, to make a stack up from the bottom of the hull to the separation plane, and down from the deck. When everything was secure the shaping began with a small block plane.

Hi all - Here is my first build log. I'll try to make it complete and comprehensive, but please let me know if I don't explain things too well. This is a commission from a group of owners and racers of this cutting edge design. A one-design yacht is where an agreed upon design is built by all of the boat owners and then raced against each other. This reduces the effect of technology and puts a premium on sailing tactics and boat handling. The latest design that was chosen was a 42 foot version of the Swan line of boats built by Nautor of Finland and designed by Frers Design Office. The first hull came off the ways in 2005, with about 45 more in the water today. I was provided with some proprietary plans and drawings which are accurate down to the millimeter. I cannot reproduce them, but here are some drawings that are available on the internet, and some photos of boats on the water.

Doris - I am somewhat new to the MSW site and still working my way through all of the wonderful build logs. Yours is one of the best. Thank you for sharing your progress. I will follow it with interest. Be well Dan Pariser