shipmodel

Dear all
 
Many thanks for your likes and good words!
Planking continues, I am making an effort to get the planks to sit nicely without big gaps. It seems to be going well so far and the most difficult planks are behind me. I did not have to remake any plank, they all came out fine on the first attempt. 
 
One thing that surprised me was the amount of adjustment I had to do on the frames. The two more forward and the two more aft frames had to be trimmed quite heavily, despite my CAD drawings looking good. I am not sure why, however: the two forward frames were the ones I had problems with at the drawing stage and I suspect I may have sanded the bevels at the Transom wrongly. 
 
It does not matter though as the planks do act as batens and show where wood needs to be taken off to have a fair curve. I think it is all fixed now.
 
A few pics:
 
All planks up to the level of Transom finished. The next plank sits at an angle at the transom and needs extra care to sit handsomely.




These are the paper templates for the next plank. 

And the process is repeated. This is a difficult plank but I think it is coming out fine and fits well with the previous plank on both sides.






This is how I steam my planks now, I just stick them in the kettle for a few seconds and then immediately place on the boat. The beech will take any shape with ease.

Till next time
 
Vaddoc

It has been a very long time since my last post, progress is at snail pace but at least things are moving along.
 
I had some equipment issues: My Dremel moto saw suddenly died. It had 8 years of continuous hard use. I opened it, cleaned it, repacked the bearings with grease and put it back together. Still dead. I suspect the brushes are gone but I thought best to get another one. I like it very much due to small footprint and the ability to take side cutting blades.

The garboard planks are in place, so I started work on the first broad plank. It is much easier to use scarfed planks than very long single piece ones and I will stagger the scarfs.
So here it goes:




So far, the time invested on the 3D plans pays off. The distances seem identical on both sides and the two plank halves are identical.

Planking continues



I switched to 1 mm card, much better than the 2 mm I was using




The plank halves are not too curved and I don't think they ll get any worse. They would have needed very narrow blanks.



Now, I am paying much more attention cutting the plank in this boat than I did on the Launch. The planks are sanded to line, with the disc sander on the convex edge, with hand on the concave edge. The result is very close fitting planks so far:

The twist at the bow is pretty acute, I hope it is not going to get worse. Just wetting the beech though is enough to get the wood to fall into place. Interestingly, I had to trim the second frame a bit for the plank to sit nicely, exactly the same area that I had problem during my lofting. 


The beauty of the hull slowly starts to emerge


I used a sander to trim the bow end of the second plank, much more accurate result

It is getting there slowly

With the hand held belt sander, the scarfs are very easy to make

The bow twist is indeed significant
And a final photo, boats are beautiful things.

Till next time
 
Vaddoc

The stove is taking shape nicely.  I still have to build out the interior, which is clad in iron plating.  I’m toying with representing the brick work, on the top edge, but it will not be visible at all.  I have to also attach the three skids that the stove sits upon, on the deck:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
This is a fun little scratch project.  There are also rings and other small bits of hardware that will be attached.
 
Thanks for looking in!

Thank you T_C and Eric!
 
Well, it is interesting to attach names of artists to the one aspect of the original ship’s ornamental appearance that was well documented: the great cabin ceiling.
 
Below, is the correspondence that details which artists were to be paid, and in what sum for the seven painted panels of this elaborate coffered ceiling:
 

 
The survey of 1688 details precisely what these paintings were composed of:
 

 
There are a couple of things about the ceiling drawing, apart from the artwork, that interest me.  First is the aft-ward taper of the ceiling, culminating in the round-up of the stern.  I have learned, over time, that this kind of drawing is often very precise and reflective of the true shape and reality of the thing in question.  The other main example of this is Berain’s stern drawing which reflects the pre-1673 reality of SR’s wing-transom.
 
That being so, it is really fascinating to me how closely the shape of the ceiling mirrors the aft portion of this drawing from 1679, by Etienne Hubac, which illustrates the ideal proportions of a first-rate ship:
 

 
Unlike SR, though, the wing transom in Etienne’s drawing is shown below the stern chase ports, in accordance with the Reglements of 1673.
 
Getting back to the ceiling, though, it’s shape is significant because the ceiling was preserved, during the re-build and then re-installed on the ship.  This suggests that the framing of the ship, and her shape would not have changed much - beyond the reduction of her sheer-line - even if much of the so-called dead-works (above the waterline) was horribly rotten and had to be replaced.
 
The other interesting detail of the ceiling drawing is the space and pilaster arrangement of the stern windows.  There are five full openings and two half-openings at the ends.  My Quebecois friend, Guy, believes that this may be why the Tanneron model only shows five stern windows, within the QGs.  Given my position that Tanneron’s model is a hybrid between what SR 1670 may have looked like, and what SR 1693 probably looked like - that makes some kind of sense.
 
Remember, though, that this ceiling drawing was made before the ship was taken to pieces.   Personally, I believe those half-lights, at the extremities, were likely false-windows that appeared whole from the exterior; their framing would simply overlay the timbering structure of the ship’s sides.  What this means is that the ship would appear to have 7 stern lights, between the open-walk quarter galleries.  The early constructions of the First-Marine seemed to favor a profusion of stern windows, or at least the appearance of such.  Along those lines, SR’s near-sister La Reyne, as drawn by the VdVlds in 1673 with 8 stern lights:
 

 
Consider, also, this drawing if the DR of 1668, showing 7 stern lights:
 

 
And the RL - also with 7 stern lights:
 

 
As for Tanneron, as I have mentioned before, he seems to have consciously departed from the Berain drawings of Le Brillant and L’Agreable, when making his models of those ships.
 
Very pertinent to this ceiling discussion is the Berain drawing of L’Agreable from 1697, which shows 7 stern lights within the QGs:
 

 
Tanneron chose to model 5 lights:
 

 
Similarly, Berain’s drawing of the coronation of Le Brillant’s stern is notably different than what Tanneron chose to model:
 

 

 

 
Where is the lambrequin carving that should be beneath the central crown, and from which the swagged draperies hang down and frame Louis’ cameo relief?
 
Why Tanneron chose these departures, I cannot say.
 

Thank you all for the likes and compliments, especially from those who followed the entire oddessy from the beginning.  I am glad if any of the explanations of my own methods and techniques made another modeler's efforts a little easier.
 
Here is a final photo of the model being crated for shipping.
 

 
I hope to get down to the museum for the installation.  If so, I'll post a photo or two.
 
Be well
 
Dan
 
 

Log 31 – Furled Sails
 
Hello again to all, and thanks as always for the comments and likes. Here is the next installment.
 
Having done the furled spritsail, I used many of the same techniques for the fore and main courses.  Here is the current appearance of the model with those sails furled and hung.
 
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To start, the spars were shaped as usual, octagonal in the center, then rounded and tapered to the ends.  Cleats were added to the center and stop cleats on the ends.  Two pair of single blocks were stropped below the spar near the center for the clew lines and topsail sheets.  Pendants for the braces were made up with an eye on one end to fit the spar and a large single block seized into the other end.
 
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On top of the spar small single blocks were stropped for the leach lines and bunt lines.  Below the spar are the stirrups and footropes, stiffened, weighted and hung in the same way as those on the spritsail yard, as described in the last log. 
 
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At the outer ends there are fiddle-style blocks, without sheaves, for the lifts and topsail sheets.  Here are those blocks before installation.
 
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And here are the Dutch blocks which will be hung on short pendants at the masthead for the lifts, as described by Andersen.
 
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The only other fitting not connected to the sail is the parrell.  The rollers were made from plastic tube, while the spacers were parted off a stick shaped like a triple letter “B”.  The ropes will go around the spar, double back lying in the grooves of the parrell, around the spar again, and then have one leg taken to a belaying point on the deck.
 
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The technique that I worked out for the furled sail is a bit complex, and there were a lot of missteps and discarded efforts before I got a method that seems to work.  The first step was to lay out the shape of the sail onto the sailcloth.  The cloth was stretched slightly and pinned to a corkboard.  The entire sail area was sprayed lightly with matte finish to keep it from bunching as I worked on it.
 
The top line is the length of the sail, which is about 3/8” short of the stop cleats on each end of the spar.  This line was marked, as closely as possible, along the warp of the fabric so the fewest threads would be cut, reducing fraying.   The primary depth is 2/3 the actual height of the sail if it were to be set.  The reduced width of the lower edge was estimated by drawing out the full sail, then drawing a line between the clew and the future location of the clew block.  Where that line crossed the 2/3 line was where the corner of the sail was set.
 
If I wanted a tight furl, as though on a naval ship in harbor, I would stop here.  But for a pirate ship without a permanent base, I went with a loose furl with the clews of the sails pulled out a bit, ready to be lowered.  I therefore added two points on the ends of the lower edge. 
 
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The size and shape of these points was done by eye, but I was a bit off.  I found out during the furling process that the points pull inward too much, making furling more difficult.  When I do it again I will have the clew points angle outward a bit to compensate.
 
Panel seams were penciled in every 20 inches in scale.  At the ends they were angled in so the last one was parallel with the outer edge of the sail.  An outer line for the tabling was drawn all around the sail.  A double coating of slightly thinned white glue was painted on the tabling and an equal distance inside the sail.  This was left to dry.
 
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A length of line long enough to go around the perimeter of the sail was coated with white glue and laid along the sail edge inside the tabling to represent the bolt rope. This was pinned in place and left to dry.  
 
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At the clews and upper corners the line was looped around itself to make the attachment points for future lines.
 
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Once dry, the shape of the sail could be cut out without fraying.
 
 
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Now the tabling was closed around the bolt rope.  First a metal straightedge was used to fold the tabling, then the fold was burnished to form a sharp crease.  With an old plank bender I carefully applied heat to the overlap.  This reactivated the glue to form an instant bond.
 
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The tabling was ironed close to the trapped line, giving the impression of a bolt rope without having to sew it to the sail, a process that I have tried but cannot master.  Someone who knows how to use a sewing machine could probably make a realistic edge.
 
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Now the sail could be hung on the spar, then furled.  After much experimentation, I decided that I could not simply fold, crumple and crush the sail so it looked realistically furled.  Instead, I found that a ‘twist’ in the method made all the difference.  If I rolled the sail around itself as I folded it, the resulting furl was much tighter and more even. 
 
But if I laced the sail to the spar it could not be rolled.  Instead, the majority of the lacing was put on first.  Between the outer single blocks, the ones for the leach lines, and across most of the spar, there is a false lacing.  It has been darkened with finish and you can see the contrast with the new lacing on the outer end of the sail.
 
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The sail was now sprayed with water till it was pliable.  The sail was rolled, folded and crushed until I was happy with the look from the end of the spar to the leach block.  There the first grommet was wrapped twice around the sail and spar, then loosely tied.
 
This process was continued across the length of the sail.  Each section from grommet to grommet was treated separately, with more or less rolling, etc. as needed.  The sail was periodically sprayed to keep it supple.  When the final section was basically correct the sail was painted with acrylic matte finish.  While still wet and soft the final tweaks were made and the grommets tightened.
 
After the finish was dry and the sail stiff, clew and sheet blocks were attached to the dangling points of the sail.  A tack line with a stopper knot was laced through the clew and the spar was ready to be hung.
 
I apologize for not having photos of the process, but it took at least three hands to keep everything going, and I did not take photos along the way.  You can see how the process worked out.
 
15
 
Here the fore yard is being hung.  The parrell was laced around the mast to hold the spar to it.  The ties lead from under the central cleats up through the mast cap, down through the top and through the ramshead block, then up again through the mast cap and down to the spar where it is attached with a rolling hitch.
 
The lifts start at the Dutch blocks at the mast cap, then through the inner hole in the sister block at the yardarm, through the Dutch block and down to a sheave in the bitts at the base of the mast.  The braces run from the main stay to the pendant blocks, back to blocks on the stay, and to timberheads near the break of the foredeck.  All this is as I understand it from R.C. Andersen.  Budriot is actually not much help here.
 
The sail handling lines were fitted and run through their blocks.  Here you can see clew, bunt and leach lines.  Also in the photo are the blocks for the brace and sheet lines.  Finally, the bowlines were made up and run according to Andersen.
 
15a
 
At the base of the mast you can see the belaying points, as well as the ramshead block and halyard lines through it.
 
16
 
From the other angle you can see how that strange cleat fixture on deck actually works quite well.
 
17
 
So here is the model with both fore and main spars hung and their furled sails and lines all rigged.
 
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Next, the crojack yard and lateen sail on the mizzen.  This will be the first sail that will be set, so there are a whole new bunch of issues that have to be addressed.  Until then,
 
Be well.
 
Dan
 
 
 

Hello again -
 
Thanks for the likes and comments, and a happy Christmas Eve to everyone.
 
Just a quick post about the last bit of work before I go on vacation for two weeks.
 
Since the last posting the standing rigging has been completed.  Here are two shots of the overall model with the upper standing rigging complete.  No different techniques were used, just a selection of thinner lines as the rig got higher.  The final lines, the fore t'gallant stay and the outer bobstay, are tensioned by lanyards between eyes worked into the ends of the lines.
 
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1a
 
Here is a closeup of the foretop before any of the running rigging goes on.  You can see that the upper deadeyes are not in a perfect line.  I have seen similar irregularities in photographs of later, much later, working merchant sailing ships.  I do not think that pirates would have been as careful as the Royal Navy, or even the French navy, at such details, so leaving one a little shorter adds to the realism.
 
1b
 
 
The first element of the running rigging was the spritsail, the spar handling lines, a furled sail, and the sail lines.  Here is how I approached it.  The spar is simple.  A properly sized length of square maple stock was planed to an octogon.  The center section which remained octagonal was marked off, then the spar was tapered and rounded with a small plane, Dremel sanding drums, then a sheet of sandpaper glued flat to a piece of acrylic.  This procedure is exactly like that used to shape the masts in an earlier log entry, just carried forward till the spar was properly tapered.  Cleats were mounted in the center section and stop cleats glued and pinned at either end.
 
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The first lines to go on were the stirrups and footropes.  Since the ship was quite small the spritsail only needed one stirrup on each side.  These were made by laying up an eye in the end, then wrapping the running end over the spar twice, leaving enough hanging down so the eye came 3 feet (1" in scale) below the top of the spar.  This would allow a sailor to stand on it and reach over to furl the sail.  An eye was siezed into the ends of the footropes sized to slip over the spar ends.  The free end of the footrope was slid through the eye in the stirrup and a small eye worked into its end.  According to Budriot the ends of the footropes were not lashed to the spar or to any of the lines circling the spar, but laced to each other.  
 
Once the lengths had been adjusted and set, and the center lashing tied, a series of small weights were used to make the stirrups and footropes  hang vertically, as if by gravity.
 
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In the closeup you can see the first heavy steel clip pulls the footrope down near its seizing, while the second pulls down the stirrup.  The two smaller aluminum clamps were set on either side of the stirrup to mimic the footrope sag. 
 
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 Once I liked the look the lines were painted with water to assist in the penetration of dilute white glue which was left to dry to set  the sag permanently.  
 
The various blocks and rigging fittings were added to the spar.  The first was the line for the sling.  An eye was spliced into one end which was wrapped around the spar and under the center cleat on the port side.  A round seizing secured it in place.  The running end was left free until it was time to lash the spar to the bowsprit.  It did, however, provide a way of temporarily securing the spar while various measurements were made.
 
Moving outward, the clew blocks were tied to the spar so they hung down, then the small deadeyes for the standing lift which sit on the forward face of the spar.  At the end of the spar a large single block was spliced on facing forward for the running lift, and a similar single block on a short pendant for the brace.
 
Not shown in the photo are a large single block tied to the center of the spar for the halyard, a small block in the center for the leach line, and the clew lines themselves which tie to the spar just ouboard of the clew blocks.
 
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Then I turned to the sail itself.  The first choice was what to make it out of.  Working in 1/36 scale allowed me to use actual cloth rather than silkspan or other paper-based product.  I haunted fabric stores and searched the internet for the thinnest that I could find.  I found it at the New York Fashion Center.  Their Imperial Batiste measured out to 0.008" (0.288" in scale, or just over 1/4") which was acceptably thin.  As you can see in the photo, you can read through it.  Best of all, it is quite reasonably priced.
 
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Now, how to shape it to a furled look.  Although most of my ideas on this topic have been developed over many years, they are succinctly stated in an article by Professor John Tilley of Texas A&M which can be found on this website at this location: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Rigging_and_Sails/ScaleSails.pdf 
 
The first idea is that a furled sail has to have less bulk than a full one, and that this has to start out as a trapezoid, because the outer ends of the furl are even less bulky than the middle.  I modified this to add two triangles of cloth that would hang down as representing the clews of the sail.  To this shape a series of panel lines were drawn on.  The outer ones were angled to lie parallel with the outer edge of the sail.
 
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After that a lot of experimenting went on to get the size, layout and panel lines adjusted.  Then the edges of the sail were painted with white glue.  When dry the sail was cut out, the tabling folded and ironed, and the sail mounted on the spar.  It was soaked in clear acrylic matte finish and teased into furls that were tied with gaskets to the spar.  The teasing process continued throughout the drying process.  Where I was unhappy, water was liberally painted on the problem section to soften the cloth and the sail adjusted some more. I was so caught up in the process that I failed to take photos of my techniques, but I will do that with the fore and main courses, which will be furled in similar fashion.
 
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With the sail mounted to the spar the sling was tied and siezed.  The halyad, the standing and running lifts, and the braces were tied, run through the appropriate blocks, and then to their belaying points.  Several, including the running lifts and clew lines, go through a long gammon block with six sheaves lashed to both sides of the gammoning.
 
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At the belaying points, whether cleat or timberhead, the lines were secured with hitches. not knots or glue, leaving long tails for further adjustments.  Pirate Pete is supervising to make sure.
 
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So here is where it is as I leave for Santa Fe.  I know that there are some items that I will have to adjust when I get back, and please, please, if you spot any that you question, let me know so I can correct them before I go too far past to easily redo.
 
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My very best wishes to you all and your families.  I will see you in the New Year. 
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Hi again, and thanks for the likes and compliments.  
 
It is going well, I think.  I am trying to create the look of a working ship, rather than one fresh off the building ways.  
 
Now that the foredeck is installed, I turned to the waist.  With the cannon rigged out they can be covered by the gangways.  But first I decided to put in the ropes that go through the hull and belay below the gangways.  It would have been much harder to do them with the gangways in place.  These are the main course tack that goes through the chesstree, and the two sheets that go through the sheaves in the hull.
 
These lines will be some of the larger running rigging ropes and, because of their locations, some of the more visually prominent ones.  They have to be good quality and look like miniature rope.  I could have laid them up on my ropewalk, but I have a few spools of treasured Cuttyhunk Irish linen line (which is no longer available for any price).   The Zane Grey and Natural colors are too white, but a quick run through Minwax wood stain in Ipswitch Pine color makes them look the right shade.
 
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Even examined closely this gives them the look of miniature rope.
 
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I fed the line through the hull openings.  The larger line (C-21) was used for the tacks which belayed to cleats, while the smaller one (C-12) was for the sheets.which belayed to the staghorn kevil.
 
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Although each line is tied off properly, they were all further secured with dilute white glue.  When dry the ends were nipped off and hidden by separate rope coils.  I make these on a simple jig.  A block of soft wood - basswood in this case, but it could be balsa - has several holes drilled in the top face and one or two holes in the front face in the same line.  Removable brass pegs fit into the holes and everything is given several coats of clear finish to keep glue from sticking to it.  Then matching lines are wrapped around the pegs with the ends friction fit into notches in the jig.
 
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As I wrap I randomly make larger and smaller loops and even the occasional figure eight.  When I have the look that I want, the coils are painted with dilute white glue.  Actually, they are first wet down with water, which helps the dilute glue to penetrate the line rather than having it sit on the surface.  When the glue is dry the top peg is removed and the coil peeled up from the jig and trimmed.  Using dilute glue means that the coils are flexible while still holding their shape.
 
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The coils are hung over the belaying points, teased into position where they look like they are hanging with the force of gravity, and secured with white glue.
 
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7
 
In the photos you can see the supporting knees for the gangways.  These were made as before by cutting and shaping a stick and then parting off individual ones.  After locating and installing the forward and aft ones, the gangways were glued in, then the middle two knees for each gangway were installed.  In the photo you can see the ropes that feed through the hull.  I left what I hope is more than enough to reach to the sails, but we will see when the rigging is installed.
 
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The final fittings in the waist were the four ladders from the gun deck up to the gangways.  They were wider at the base than at the top, and were built up as has been detailed before as a stack, then parted off.
 
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After individual ladders were parted off they were cleaned up, stained and installed.
 
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Now that the waist was complete, I turned to the quarterdeck.  The railing that was built up last time was installed, then the whipstaff.  For those not familiar, this is an obsolete steering device that predated the wheel.  It consisted of a rotating fitting called a rowel set into the deck through which a staff passed before it hooked into the end of the tiller arm.  Moving the staff port or starboard turned the rudder.  It was not very efficient, but then most steering was done with the sails during this time.
 
10a
 
A hole was drilled in the deck and a piece of pear cut and sanded to fit.  The fore/aft slot for the rowel was carved into the pear piece, as were indentations for the staff clearance athwartships.  The rowel was turned from maple, and the hole drilled to allow the staff to have a sliding fit.  I set the staff at an offset angle and glued it in place.
 
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You can also see the ladders from the quarterdeck to the poop deck on the roof of the captain's cabin.  These were made up as before, just a little taller than the gangway ladders.  Similarly, the post with sheaves for the lateen halyard was made like the fore and mainyard halyard fittings.  Along the bulwarks are staghorns and pinrails as drawn by Budriot.  I am not completely sold on the pinrails, which do not appear anywhere else on the ship, but they are certainly needed for belaying points.
 
The four 4-pounder cannon were rigged and installed like the 6-pounders on the gun deck.
 
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 Now the deck fittings that were made up almost a year ago could be installed.  These were the companionway house, the officers' bench in front of it, and the two small binnacles.
 
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The ship is now ready for rigging, which will start next month.
 
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Until then, happy Thanksgiving to all and to your families.
 
Dan
 
 
 
 

Hello again and, as always, thanks for the likes and comments.
 
This time I turn to the details of the foredeck.  Although the basic structure and planking has been completed for a while, it was never attached to the hull because various components under the deck had to be completed first.  These included the guns that were done last time, the anchor bitts, and the post with sheaves for the foreyard halyard and tie system.
 
Here is the system on a contemporary model.  This is the one for the main yard, but the pieces are the same: a post attached to the deck with a number of sheaves for the halyard line; an upper ramshead block with matching sheaves and a transverse hole for the tie which comes down from the masthead; and the halyard line running between the two.  As you can see, the line goes through the deck and must pass through a series of holes or a scuttle of some sort.  There are no clear photos of this detail that I could find.
 
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I also had to figure out how to install them fully rigged, since it would be quite difficult to get to the posts once the upper decks were in place.  Even RC Anderson recommends fully rigging them, then tensioning the system with the tie and not the halyard.  Here is what I came up with.
 
I started with the ramshead blocks.  I made these up with false sheaves rather than trying to build them up since they would be rigged and the sheaves hidden under the running line.   A series of five holes was drilled in a sized piece of hardwood in two matching horizontal lines using a Dremel drill press.  Then a thin grinding bitt was laid against the wood to cut a channel from one hole to the other.  You can see where I am starting the process in the right side hole with the others in later stages of carving.
 
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These channels were carefully deepened and straightened, then angled at the ends of the cut until they approximately replicated the curve of the sheave that is not there.  This was done on both sides of the workpiece.  Now the blocks will accept the line which will look as though it is running around a circular sheave. 
 
Once all the slots were cut and cleaned up, the block was parted off to length and taken down to the ramshead shape with a sanding drum.  Here are the two for this model.  I do see that the tops of the blocks need some further shaping to match the one in the earlier photo.
 
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In a similar way the posts that will go under the foredeck and quarterdeck were cut, pierced, and shaped.  The one on the right is an early example, before my technique was perfected, and which would be replaced if it were not going to be hidden under the foredeck.  The cut at its base is so it can fit over the knee of the anchor bitts, which brings it to the starboard side of the centerline.
 
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And here are both sets, which were made up at the same time to maximize consistency.  You can see how the posts will be secured with brass rods into the deck for strength.
 
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Here is the foreyard set fully rigged.  Sharp eyes will notice that there are only 4 loops of the halyard line and not 5.  When I went to install the set initially it really seemed too large for the ship.  I went back to my photos of contemporary models and found that the 5-sheave blocks were used on the largest three-deck warships.  This small frigate would not have needed such lifting power, so I took the finished pieces to the table saw and sliced off one side of all the pieces to eliminate one sheave.  This had the happy result that the scuttles in the decks did not have to be quite as large.  More on this later.
 
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The next detail for the foredeck was the railing to keep sailors from falling into the waist and to house the ship’s bell.  I wanted to build and install it now so I could secure it from beneath the deck with metal pins before the foredeck was put on the model.  Here is a photo of a fairly fancy one from a model of a French ship of a somewhat later period.  Although this one is continuous from port to starboard, Budriot shows two gaps which will be used later to house spare spars and topmasts, so there is a long central section with two short sections flanking it.
 
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I decided that my railing would have balusters set in channels for the body of the railing, with posts that went up through a caprail and ended in shaped timberheads that could be used to secure rigging lines.  The first task was to make a fairly large number of identical balusters without spending days turning them on a miniature lathe, which I don’t have.  I opted for the mill-and-part-off method that has worked for me with support knees, shingles, and other repetitive parts.
 
On the left is the baluster shape that I selected from internet images, then the cross section of the workpiece after milling channels with the Preac table saw and rounding off as needed with a carving bitt.  On the right is the side view of the workpiece with the parallel channels cut by the saw.  Note that the grain runs vertically.
 
8
 
Here the individual balusters are being parted off the workpiece on the Preac.  It is set up with the tall vertical fence and the thinnest, finest blade that I have.  The workpiece is being fed into the blade and is supported by a sacrificial stick held against the miter gauge.  This support stick is taller than the blade height so the end remains attached and I can push the workpiece through repeatedly, taking off identical slices.
 
9
 
Here are four of the balusters set into upper and lower channels ready for the end posts and caprail.
 
10
 
And here are a set of completed railing sections ready for installation.  Note that four of them are angled slightly to match the round-up of the deck.  
 
11
 
However, when I went to install them I realized that I had made a major mistake.  I made the railing about 40 inches tall in scale, enough to keep a man from falling over it into the waist.  This looked terrible against the size of other fittings.  I went and rechecked my dimensions to find that the railing is really only 18-24 inches tall.  Proof, once again, that if it doesn’t look right, it is probably wrong.
 
Instead, a new workpiece was shaped and short balusters were parted off.  Here you can see the relative heights of the old and new railings. 
 
12
 
You can also see that the new workpiece did not cut as cleanly as the old one.  I gave them a few coats of finish and, when dry, took off the wood fuzz with a thin pointed grinding bitt.  Here is the final set of railings, the upper ones for the quarterdeck and the lower ones with the belfry for the foredeck. 
 
13
 
So here is the foredeck ready for installation on the model.  You can see not only the railing and the scuttle for the halyard, but some additional features whose construction is pretty straightforward:  the smokestack for the galley stove, a small grating for the galley, a set of riding bitts with sheaves (also quite low to the deck), the mast coat, eyebolts for hooked rigging blocks, and that curious rigging fitting with ten cleats set onto the deck.
 
14
 
And here it is, installed.  Newly added are the catheads for the anchors, which are secured to the deck with headed bolts and the timberheads around the low bulwarks, secured with metal pins.  You can also see how the ramshead block was led up through the scuttle.  It was a tight squeeze but it made it, and then the scuttle was mostly closed off with wood battens to help keep the lower deck dry.
 
16
 
Next time, the gangways and quarterdeck, including the whipstaff.
 
Be well
 
Dan
 
 

HI all - 
 
After finishing up some other projects and some chores on the "honey-do" list, I am back building the QAR.   Here is my progress.
 
I realized that I had not planned or installed any scuppers from the gun deck to the outside of the hull.  Using a set of outside calipers I located and drilled five on each side of the hull.  I lined them with lead from a wine bottle wrapped around a toothpick, glued, and slid into place.  Once the glue was dry the excess was trimmed with a sharp blade.  They fit well when they were located under the gunports, though this meant that the upper ends in the waterways at the edges of the deck were all hidden by the guns.  Here are two on the port side of the hull.
 
1
 
Next I turned to the guns.  First were the stowed guns on the starboard side.  I played around with the test gun station that I made up a while ago to see how it might have been done.  I figured that the crew would have used the breaching rope and the train tackles which were already available.  I found that the breaching rope could be tightened up through the rings in the bulwark, which would have secured the gun pretty well.  Then the train tackles could run from the eyebolts on the carriage to the hooks in the bulwark.  Once they were tightened the remaining length of running line could be frapped (overwrapped) between the blocks.  I found that two layers perfectly used up the free line.  This seems a workable solution, but there certainly can be others.
 
Note that I have installed a lead vent cover secured with light line, which would have been used to keep water from entering and rusting the vent hole.  
 
2
 
Here is the line of four stowed guns in the waist. The guns are secured with a metal pin through the rear axle and into the deck, which is hidden between the truck and the carriage. There are two others, one forward under the foredeck and one aft under the quarterdeck, which can only be seen at a low angle.  Those that cannot be seen were not installed.  
 
3
 
On the port side the guns are run out, so all of them can be seen to some extent.  The three aftmost and the one in the bow were simplified.  The trucks were replaced with cleats for added glue surface and security, while the capsquares and rigging were not installed.  These were pinned in place as well.
 
4
 
The visible guns were glued to the deck and a metal pin was drilled at an angle through the rear axle and into the deck.  The breaching rope was rigged through the rings in the bulwark and secured to itself with two round seizings.  The rope was softened with water and shaped to 'droop' onto the deck.  Once it was approximately positioned it was painted with dilute pH neutral white glue and teased into final position as the glue dried.  This also secured it to the deck.  The train tackle was rigged from the carriage eyebolts to the bulwark hooks with the running line coiled on deck.  I did not flemish the coil since I do not think that a pirate ship would be that 'shipshape' or fastidious.
 
5
 
As long as I was rigging the guns, I experimented with loading procedures.  I was surprised to see that when the gun was fully run in for loading the back of the carriage covered up the deck ring behind it.  I double checked the length of French six-pounder cannon and the breadth of the deck and they were correct, so it is likely that this was what happened.  The only way I could make the system work was to hook the run-in tackle to the ring on the opposite side of the deck.   
 
6
 
With the copper clips standing in for the gun crew this seems to be a workable solution.  But again, this is speculation and may not be correct.
 
7
 
The rest of the port broadside was installed and rigged.
 
8
 
There are no pumps in Budriot's plans, but they do appear in a photograph of Berti's model of Le Mercure.  His are round, which I did not like, so I made mine hexagonal.  This was done in a straightforward way.  A length of half inch maple dowel was cut and the end marked with a six pointed star.  The lines were extended down the dowel then the wood was carved away between the lines.  The pump bodies were cut to length and the sides adjusted by hand sanding.
 
9
 
The well at the top was drilled, milled and darkened.  Blackened brass reinforcing rings were installed, as was a blackened brass outlet near the base of the pump.  The yoke for the handle was fashioned, installed and secured with three metal pins.  The handle was shaped and given a pivoting lifting bar at the business end that dropped into the well.  The handle was mounted on a metal axle pin through the yoke and the finished pump was given a coat of clear finish.
 
10
 
The completed pumps were installed adjacent to the main mast location.  Their bases had to be angled slightly to match the round-up of the deck, then secured with metal pins into the deck.  The handles are angled outward where they can be accessed easily by the crew without getting in the way of the rigging to come (at least I hope that there will be no problems).  
 
11
 
Using Pirate Pete for comparison, I am happy with the size, scale and look of the pumps.
 
12
 
More soon.  Be well.
 
Dan
 
 
 
 

Hello to all who are following this build -
 
It has been a while since my last posting.  Summertime had a lot to do with it, but I also took some time away to work on a short-term and time critical project.  So here is a little diversion from this build.  It may merit a separate file, but as you will see later on, it is incomplete.
 
I was asked to restore a  presentation model of a modern container ship.  The CMA-CGM Vivaldi was built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. in their Makpo Shipyard in South Korea.   Launched in December, 2004 she was 334 meters LOA with a breadth of 42.3 m (just under 1100 ft LOA, 140 ft breadth).  Its carrying capacity was not listed on the dimensions plaque on the model, but it is huge.  Here she is in a photo from the company website of CMA-CMG Shipping, which owns and operates her as part of one of the world’s largest fleets of container ships.
 
1
 
The model was likely built in the same shipyard as a gift to thank CMA-CGM for the contract and was presented at the time of launch.  It is built to the small scale of 1:200, but the model is still 5 ½ feet long.  Given that the price for the ship was in the millions of dollars, it is not surprising that a good deal of care went into the construction of this presentation model. 
 
It was probably kept in one of their offices, perhaps in their headquarters in Marseille, for the last decade but then was presented in turn to a financing company in Stamford, Connecticut.  It was during the delivery of the model that things went bad.
 
Here is the crate that it came in.  You can see that although there is no obvious damage to the box itself, one of the bottom cleats is missing. 
 
2
 
I was called in when the box was opened and it was found that one of the glass panels of the case was cracked and there was some damage to the model. My first overall impression was that this was not going to be a hard job.  Some of the containers had been detached from their mountings and were tipped over, but they were still on deck and in a line.  The superstructure was in place and there was no evident damage to the hull.
 
3
 
Closer examination revealed that the devil had been playing in the details.  A large number of small pieces were lying on the blue felt base and some had even become trapped in the channel that the glass case sat in.  Fortunately many of them, including some quite complex assemblies, appeared undamaged like the one in the center of the photo.
 
4
 
 
A repair proposal was discussed, a fee agreed to, and work began with the recovery and conservation of any detached parts.  Once the wrapping of clear plastic was removed the impact point could be seen.  It was clear that there had been one sharp blow which had chipped and cracked the glass panel, but without separating it from the rest of the case. 
 
Unfortunately, this is exactly the kind of impact that cyano glue does not like.  With the help of JerseyCityFrankie the glass cover was removed and all of the loose parts were carefully collected.  The detached container units were numbered from the bow to the stern on sticky notes and set aside.  The grey railing units could not be immediately identified, but they were put into one container for later study.  All of the smaller parts such as the lifeboats, ladders, white railings, and various unknown pieces were put in another.
 
8
9
 
Now the full extent of the damage could be seen and assessed.  Along the edges of the hull most of the railings and stanchions were broken off, leaving unpainted spots showing where they had been attached.  At the stern there was additional damage where the railings and ladders had been crushed and even some pieces of the rigid styrene components had been broken.  When everything that was loose had been removed the deck was almost nude other than two container units at the bow that had somehow managed to remain in place.  This was packed up in bubble wrap and taken back to the studio in Brooklyn, NY.
 
12
 
The superstructure which had initially appeared to be generally sound was found to have suffered the most damage.  In additional to losing both lifeboats, most of the railing on the aft face was gone, as were numerous small parts for the lifeboat cranes.  All of the various radars and antennas on the topmost level were missing.  Most significantly, the starboard bridge wing was broken off almost completely. 
 
13
 
Although the proper locations of many of the pieces could be deduced from what they were, there were a great deal more that could have gone anywhere.  Fortunately the company had a second presentation model of the same ship, the Vivaldi.  A series of photographs were taken of the other model to guide the restoration.
 
Here is the bow, showing the white lookout mast which had been detached on the damaged model.  The ladder and safety cage had been separated and crushed, but now I could see how they had to be repaired.
 
14
 
Those gray railing units turned out to be catwalks that fit between the container units.  They sat on top of U-shaped pieces that supported the containers.  Photoetched ladders gave access to upper catwalks which were bordered by photoetched brass railings.  3-bar railings edged the deck all along the sides of the ship.
 
15a
 
The superstructure had 8 deck levels with a full array of electronic equipment on top.
 
16
 
This area was going to be the most challenging, with radars and antenna that were all made up of very small parts that were quite similar to each other.  The photographs that I was sent were not completely helpful in specifying what went where.  Fortunately, using my Photoshop program I could take the image provided and enlarge it, remove the color, and play with the brightness and contrast until I could see almost all of the details.
 
17
18
 
Now that I had the undamaged model as a guide I could start the actual repairs.  The first thing was to reassemble all of the catwalks.  Some were in pretty good shape, but others had been mauled, with most of the parts separated, some of the plastic parts broken off, and the photoetched brass rails badly bent.  Here is one of the catwalks with all its pieces and a second one after restoration.  There were 21 of these in all, which took up about half of the total restoration time.
 
19
 
Now for the incomplete part -
 
The next several weeks were spent doing the restoration.  I took construction photos as I went, as usual, but had not gotten around to downloading them. [i know you can see the problem coming . . . ]  Soon after I took the last photograph, my daughter and her two boys came over.  One is the newborn, the other 2 years old.  While I was doting on the young one, the other found the camera.  He likes to push buttons.  Enough said. 
 
Let me describe what I did, and I hope you can follow along using photos of the completed repair.
 
All of the least damaged catwalks were put back together.  Since there were small variations in how the bases had broken off of the hull I could locate about two thirds in their original positions, fitting them together like a jigsaw puzzle.  They were numbered and set aside.  One by one the rest were repaired until there were only two left, which were severely bent, with missing parts.  Some replacement parts were fabricated from bent wire, and others from brass shim.  Missing ladders were replaced with similar ones from the spares box.
 
21
 
Starting at the bow and working aft the containers and catwalks were glued to the cleaned up hull.  The containers sit on the corners of the catwalk bases and on a square stanchion between the forward and aft bases located on both edges of the deck.  This gives six attachment points for the double wide containers and four each for the single wide ones.  These also broke off irregularly.  Although each container unit was numbered when it was removed, several ones were out of order, and I had not recorded the orientation of the unit.  Each one was test fit to the proposed location and the irregularities let me confirm the original locations.
 
21a
 
The superstructure was the biggest challenge.  I first relocated the lifeboats and repaired their cranes.  Railings which were bent were carefully bent back and glued.  Some that had been detached were too badly bent to repair.  I had 3-bar railing of the right size in my spares box, but the rails were a bit thinner than those on the model.  I used them to replace the railings that would not be seen easily between the aft face of the superstructure and the container unit behind it.  Then I cannibalized the model railings from that area to replace railings in more obvious locations.
 
22
 
The photos that I miss most are those of the repair of the starboard bridge wing.  Here the impact had broken the brittle styrene that made up the bridge deck and the angled and pierced supports on the fore and aft faces.  The detached pieces had kicked around and were now mostly unusable shards.  I first carefully cut the damaged section away in a straight line across the deck with a miniature keyhole saw.  A piece of similarly thick styrene was cut to fit and glued in and the joint sanded smooth.  Artists acrylic paints were mixed to match the green of the deck  The shape of the aft diagonal support piece was traced from the existing one on the port side and cut out, fitted and finished. It was spray painted gloss white before being installed.  The end cap was similarly fitted.  All joints were cleaned up and touch-up painted.
 
22a
 
Using the photographs of the undamaged model the fittings and fixtures on the upper electronics decks on top of the wheelhouse were located.  Antennas, radars, and lightning rods were all glued in with cyano.  Nothing special here, just a delicate touch and perseverence.
 
23
 
Final small detail parts were installed and all of the spots where paint was chipped or missing were touched up and the model was carefully examined to find bent railings and other defects.  I know that I got almost all of them, but I also know that a few got bye, but I'm not telling where. 
 
A new glass case was ordered and delivered from a local custom glass shop.  So here is the completed model ready for delivery to the customer.  It was driven back to Stamford, CT, with a nervous moment for every pothole and road repair that I couldn't avoid.  It survived completely intact and was installed in the office to gratifying compliments from the customer.
 
24
 
Hope you enjoyed the divertimento.  Getting back to the QAR now.  A new build log post soon.
 
Be well
 
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 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 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

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

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, Michael.  Thanks for the compliments.
 
Why birch or why veneer?  I used veneer because once I knew that the hull was going to be solid, it seemed the easiest way to render the appearance of planking without the work of cutting, bending and fitting thicker stuff.  The actual thickness of the planks is almost never exposed, just as the thickness of the paint on a painting is unimportant.  In this scale veneer is thick enough to allow a little sanding without going through it to the substrate.  I just had to make sure that the shape of the hull was smooth and fair before the planks were applied.
 
I used birch because it was the best choice among the available veneers, which mostly run to exotic figured woods for the furniture market.  Once it was stained it took on a warm tan color that closely matches an aged pine planking, which the original ship would have used.  I am using cherry veneer for some of the decorative moldings, and the decks will be holly veneer.
 
Michael, the contact cement is Weldwood’s original polychlorprene formula in the red can.  I experimented with the water based formula, but did not like it as much.
 
Here is the link to the Minnesota Historical Society study.  http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/conservation/reports/exhibits_handbook.pdf  
 
Hope this answers your questions.
 
Dan

Hi to everyone who is following this log, and thanks for your interest.
 
Druxey - I believe in catch and release.  She will come back, I'm sure.
 
Now that the hull structure was fully shaped, smoothed and primed, I turned to the main wales.  French practice, as derived from some of the contemporary models, was to have two strakes of dark, heavy planks run the length of the ship, separated by a strake of slightly thinner planking that was not as dark.
 
I selected cherry for the outer strakes and birch for the inner one, to match the woods used on the rest of the model.  The upper cherry strake was laid in sections along the line of the hull paint and glued down.  It will be pinned for security later.  A good deal of care was taken with this first strake as every following strake takes its curve from this one. 
 
Once I was happy with the first wale strake, the middle strake of birch was laid against it, then the lower strake of cherry.  Because of the curvature of the hull, the edges of the planks all had to be undercut so they could lay tightly against each other. 
 

 
The curvature of the hull also made clamping difficult.  The lower strake is substantially under the curve, especially at the bow and stern.  Since the bulwarks do not go down to the level of the wales, I could not get any direct clamping access.  I came up with a system of cantilevered scraps of wood to do the job.  Here at the bow the problem was not that acute, and you can see how the force from the spring clamp is exerted between the upper fulcrum and the load at the lower edge, even though it is around the curve.  It’s crude, but it worked.
 

 
At the stern the more extreme curve required raising the fulcrum and, at the aft end, even adding an angled caul to hold down the wood.
 

 
Each section of the wale was joined to its neighbor with a long scarf joint.  These were all marked out with a pattern cut into a plastic strip so they were consistent, cut on the band saw, and cleaned up by hand.  The forward end of the middle strake was as thick as the outer strakes, probably to reduce the chance of the anchor fluke catching an edge, much like the billboard did in later ships.  It was finished off with a decorative scallop, a detail again taken from another contemporary model.
 

 
Now that the wales had been set, the planking began.  I used birch veneer with a thickness of 0.025” – about ¾” in scale.  This had some good attributes, but required some new techniques.  Doing it this way owes more to the art of marquetry than the engineering of a ship.  The thinness of the planks means that they can be cut easily from a veneer sheet with the Preac using a fine toothed blade, and even shaped with scissors.  But they are somewhat delicate until they are glued to the hull.
 
They are also quite prone to warping if they come in contact with any moisture, including water based glues.  So to secure the planks I used contact cement.  I had used it before for the copper plates on models of later ships, but never on wood.  First I had to clear its use with the museum.  I found a study online from the Minnesota Historical Society which approved its use in conservation applications, so I was given the go-ahead.   
 
I thinned the glue with mineral spirits and painted a coat onto the hull and the backs of the planks.  When it was dry I colored the edges of the planks with an indelible marker.  The hull got a second coat of glue.  You can see it as the shiny area above the planking on the primed hull and the yellowish area below the wales.  When this second coat was almost dry, the plank was seated in place.  This gave me just a little wiggle room to adjust the fit of the plank yet still gave lots of adhesion.
 

 
Once the concept had been proved out, I planked the stern and counter so that the hull planks could run past their ends before being trimmed to fit. 
 

 
Below the wales the planking was carried down about an inch below the final location of the waterline.  The ends of the planks will be feathered into the solid hull and covered by the “white stuff” of the lower hull.
 

 
At the bow the planks do not all run into the stem, as in English practice.  Following the lead of Budriot, Petrejuus, and Frolich, the last five planks have hook scarfs and run up to the lower edge of the lower wale.   
 

 
Once these shapes had been resolved for the port side by trial and lots of error, I transferred the shapes to the starboard side.  A piece of translucent tape was laid over the planks and the outline of each plank was drawn on it.  Here I am doing plank #2.
 

 
Once the shape was drawn, the tape was removed and laid on a sheet of veneer.  This was done for all five planks.  It did not matter that the tape overlapped since all the tape would ultimately be removed.  I packed them against each other so there would be little wasted wood.
 

 
They were cut out with a new blade in the knife and fit together quite well.
 

 
With a little fine tuning they laid quite well against the starboard hull and match the lines of the port side planks.
 

 
The planks were continued up the hull, cutting out the openings for the gunports as I went. 
 

 
Just above the gunports is the line for the channel wale.  This is a wide and thick molding made from 1/16” thick cherry.  There also needs to be a lot of thinner decorative molding.  The moldings were made in the usual way.  I ground the profiles into a used hobby blade with a thin cutoff wheel in the Dremel.  Others use old hacksaw blades for this, but I have a lot of old knife blades and it lets me use a handle, which is easier to hold and helps with my trigger finger issues.  
 

 
After the profile was scraped into the stock the pieces were stained and set aside.  At the bow there is a significant curvature, so the sections of the moldings were soaked in hot water for about an hour then clamped to a handy form – a roll of masking tape.  When dry there was some springback, which left the piece matching the shape of the hull.
 

 
The curved pieces were soaked again briefly to soften them, then attached with neutral pH white glue and lots of clamps.   These clamps are some of my favorites.  They are plastic coated and have a firm but not hard grip, so they do not mark up the wood.  I used to find them in the paper clip section at Staples, but they have all but disappeared.  I found the last set in the kitchen section at Target, marketed as chip bag clips.
 

 
So here is the port side of the hull fully planked, but before establishing the waterline or installing all the treenails and metal spike fastenings for the planks.
 

 
The plans indicated a ¾” drop at the keel from the gripe at the bow to the sternpost.  The model was blocked and leveled and the waterline penciled in with a height gauge in the usual manner.  Below it the planks were feathered, filled, sanded, hardened, sanded some more, etc., etc., until they disappeared into the surface of the hull.  The line was masked with tape and several coats of off-white enamel sprayed on.
 
At this point the museum decided that the wales and moldings up to the channel wale should be painted black and the planking, but not the moldings, above the channel wale should be French blue.  This meant some tricky edge painting, and it covered up all the work I had done on the scarf joints in the wales.  Oh well . . . The silver lining was that I did not have to show plank fastenings under the paint, although the thinner moldings were pinned for security and strength. 
 
Here is how it looks today, with a paper pattern for the future quarter badge.
 

 

 
More soon.
 
Dan
 
 
 
 

Hi all.  Thanks for the likes and the compliments.  They helped me weather the weather this snowy winter.
 
The last time I showed the hull was at the end of January, and it looked like this.
 

 
Here is how it looked five weeks later, including getting snowed in for a week with the model in the shipyard.  This is how it got there.
 

 
After the bulwark pieces were cut, fitted and bent to shape, they were left to dry completely, then removed from the hull so the deck structure could be addressed.  After carefully levelling and squaring the building board and the model on it, the level was placed across the deck.   The symmetry and camber of the deck was read under the straight lower edge of the level.
 

 
To insure that the readings were accurate I drew the centerline and a series of perpendicular lines athwartships.  The level was placed on each line and high spots were identified then sanded down.  Using the lines and the edges of the basswood lifts as guides, the deck surface was smoothed and given the proper camber and sheer.
 

 
Now I prepared the model for its ultimate mounting.  It was flipped over and I drilled two ¾” holes into the centerline and about 2 inches deep, spaced well apart.  Into them I glued 1 inch long pieces of dowel that had been drilled out to accept 3/16” T-nuts on their upper end.  They were mounted so they came just proud of the surface of the hull.  Once the glue was dry they were sanded flush. 
 
The stem, keel and sternpost were cut and fitted.  They are 3/8” maple and secured with bamboo pegs into the hull.  No attempt to make scarf joints was made since the lower hull below the waterline will be shown with a coating of “white stuff” as teredo protection. Matching holes were drilled in the keel to allow 3/16” bolts or threaded rod to screw into the T-nuts to hold the model down to its ultimate cradle. 
 
Unfortunately I did not pause to record this work.  I was distracted by a very pretty assistant, a friend of my granddaughters, who showed some real interest in what I was doing.  To her I am Poppy Dan the Boat Man.  She was that third hand that comes in so handy from time to time.  Maybe she will keep at it.
 

 
She has just helped me install the aft bulwark pieces into their final homes.  They are glued into the rabbets in the lower hull and pinned with bamboo dowels.   Temporary internal supports are screwed to the deck to maintain the 13 degree tumblehome.
 
Next I turned to the gunports.  On my gun station practice piece I cut out the opening cleanly on the band saw.  This was impossible with the bulwarks, so the openings were roughed out with a zip-bit in a Dremel.  It made quick work of cutting the openings, but was prone to wandering, especially when it crossed one of the slots for the kerf bending of the bulwarks.  These  were squared up with a rasp and various files.
 
Unfortunately, my skills were not adequate to squaring and locating the openings precisely, nor smoothing them well enough to fit the inner lining tube.  I reasoned that if the lining tube would give me a square opening, then a larger tube would give me a square frame for the lining.  I put together a tube for the frames from 1/8” basswood which was sized so the lining tube slid neatly inside it.
 

 
Now a larger opening could be cut in the bulwarks and the frame located inside it.  The frame could be adjusted within the opening with shims before being glued in place. The inner lining tube was slipped through to insure that the frame was set vertically and at the correct height.
 

 
All of the port side gunports were done in this way.  The lining tube was used again for the starboard ports to make sure that they matched the port side in location and height.
 

 
Not only were the ports matched using the lining tube, but with the cannon that will ultimately be installed through them.
 

 
At the forward end of the bulwark pieces a slot was cut up its edge before it was installed.  A matching slot was cut in the aft edge of the forward bulwark pieces and a hardwood spline inserted across the joint to align the pieces and prevent future movement under the planking. 
 

 

 
The forward pieces were installed and pinned in place, the spline glued between the pieces.  The two forward gunport frames were cut, dressed and installed as before.  At the stern the transom piece was installed and blocks for the counter were cut, installed, and smoothed, ready to be covered by planking.
 
The upper two inches of the bulwarks all around were sanded to narrow the top edge to scale 9” and a hollow was sanded into the exterior of the aft bulwark at about the level of the gunports.  The effect is subtle, but the combination of the two operations created the shallow “S” curve and tapered top timber shape seen in the plans.
 
The entire exterior of the hull was filled with Durham’s Rock Hard Water Putty as were the kerf slots on the inside of the bulwarks in all areas that will be visible in the finished model.  Several rounds of sanding, filling, and more sanding were necessary to get the lower hull to a proper smoothness. 
 

 
When it was done the filled areas were hardened with Minwax Wood Hardener for strength and longevity.  When it was dry there was a final sanding and a first priming.  This revealed some more spots that needed to be filled, sanded and hardened.  After a few more rounds the hull was given a final priming ready for painting.
 

 
Looking at the plans it is clear that the lines of planking all take their curves from the line of the main wale.  I decided to define this with the top edge of the hull paint as a test of the location and sweep of the curve.  It was plotted from the plans and masked off above the line.  Several coats of off-white enamel were sprayed on, giving the lower hull a hard finish that will support the final color coats.   The demarcation line for the wale looked good .
 

 

 

 
Finally, the fun of planking and detailing the hull can begin.
 
Dan

Hi Michael -
 
Yes, another good idea.  I will play with them all the next time around. 
 
Moving ahead, I have been thinking about the methods and materials that I will have to use when it comes time to mount and rig the cannon.    Once the bulwarks are in place on the hull the tumblehome is going to make rigging the cannon difficult.    Then there are the deck and hull plank details that have to be worked out. . . . etc. . . etc.   I decided that making a mock-up of a gun station would help me work out some of the kinks.
 
The first issue was how to cut the gunports through the bulwarks and create the rebate for the lid.   I wanted them all to be the same size and square.  The method that worked for me was to create a square tube of 1/32” wood glued at the corners.   Here you can see it slid through a hole cut in the bulwark.  With a small piece of bulwark like this, I could cut it on the band saw before attaching it to the base plate.  On the model I will have to pierce each gunport and use a coping saw to cut the square hole.
 

 
Here it is from the side.  You can see that it runs parallel to the deck, so the lintel and sill will be level.  With it in this position I marked out the line where the box and the outer bulwark face met.  The box was removed and cut along the line.
 

 
The cut face was sanded, and the box reinstalled in the hole, but slid in just short of the outer face of the hole.
 

 
In the closeup you can see the even and smooth rebate formed this way.  The back side was marked, the box removed and cut down, then reinstalled and glued. 
 

 
When the glue was dry the back side was sanded smooth with the inside of the bulwark.  The rough edges and gaps will be covered by the bulwark planking.  All the gunports  should be identical if I slice similar sections from the same tube.   
 

 
Construction went very quickly.  Too quickly.  I forgot to stop and take photos.  Here is the completed gun station.  It represents one of the midships cannon in the waist with the high bulwark and the gangway overhanging the gun. 
 

 
If you look at the bulwark, you will see that it has been raised about 1/8" from the first few photos.  It reminds me not to take measurements from the plans without checking them against the rest of the details that have to fit.  This would have been a disaster if it happened on the actual bulwark piece. 
 
The deck layout is taken from the plans, with the raised binding strake used by the French set just outside of the grating.   While doing this I discovered that the gratings that I made earlier will have to be modified.   The French did not use the high coamings which the English did, and which I built.  The QAR would have had gratings set into the deck, but crowned even more than the deck camber/round up.  I took an extra piece of grating and sanded it down at the sides and across the back until it fit the curved profile. 
 
The deck is laid in holly, with birch bung covers.  I know that there are good arguments to be made for making them pronounced, and just as many for making them invisible.  I chose to take a middle course and try to make them visible, but not distracting. 
 

 
Here is the cannon rigged with its breeching rope turned into rings in the bulwark.  The rope was laid up from DMC cotton line to a diameter of 0.6” (scale 6 inch rope).  It was stained and sealed with Minwax.  There is still some fuzz, but I am working on a few solutions. 
 

 
The gun tackle are hooked to eyebolts.  The blocks are 4mm singles from Warner Woods West (6” in scale).  The hooks are tied into their strops and the block closest to the bulwark has the running line tied into its becket.  The line is J.B. Coates “Dual Duty Plus” that measures out to 0.015” This is a little thin, but I prefer the look to that of a thicker line. 
 
I could not find acceptable photoetched hooks on the market, so I made them from 0.020” iron wire.   The sequence below shows how I use my orthodontic pliers to bend the wire around to meet itself, then the eye that was formed is bent back to center on the shaft.   To make an eyebolt it is clipped off at this stage.  To make a hook I continue the bend to stage 3.  Moving the pliers out just a bit the wire is bent back toward the eye, then clipped off, opening the hook. 
 

 
The smallest hook I can make this way is just under 5 mm (7” in scale).  This is a bit large, but acceptably small, and the 50 that I needed were done pretty quickly. 
 

 
The outer bulwark planking was cut from birch veneer with the edges colored with indelible marker.  I experimented with contact cement as the adhesive.  I painted a thinned layer on the bulwark substrate and let it dry.  The planks were painted  but installed when the glue was still a bit tacky.  This gave me quick adhesion but just a little ‘wiggle room’ before it set.   The bad news was that the contact cement dissolved the indelible ink and threatened to spread it to the surface of the planking.  I will change to a water based marker in the future. 
 
Treenails were drilled and installed, then the planking was stained.  I used Golden Oak, but did not thin it enough and I think the color is too dark.  Neither the treenails nor the moldings show up to good effect. 
 
The gunport lid was made up as usual from several layers of wood glued with crossed grain.  The hinges are blackened brass strip pegged with iron wire.  The strips were left long beyond the back edge of the lid and were ground down to square cross section.  These pins were inserted and glued into holes drilled into the plank just above the lintel of the gunport.  Hinge barrels were made from short sections of blackened brass rod.
 
Small eyebolts were made and fitted to the outer corners and a bridled lifting rope tied.  The lead is through a hole in the bulwark above the gunport and belays to a cleat above the gun.
 

 
Of course, Pirate Pete had to show up to inspect the work.  He seems to fit well into the scene. 
 



 
 
He even looks the right size for the gangway, although he can use a rope railing on the caprail.
 

 
Overall, I would say that the two days spent on the gun station were well worth it for the time that will be saved over the long run, and the problems that will be avoided.
 
Be well
 
Dan
 

Hi all -
 
David, thanks for the link.  It was an interesting article and fills in some gaps in my knowledge of the history of the ship and Blackbeard.
 
Now it is time to turn to the armaments.  On any pirate ship model the cannon are going to be significant points of visual interest and the QAR is no different.  After Blackbeard’s capture of Le Concord, he took the armaments from his prior ship and added them to those already on his new flagship.  Contemporary accounts put the number of large cannon at 20, with an unknown number of additional smaller ones.  Archaeological evidence from the wreck site confirms this. 
 
Several six-pounder long guns have been recovered and conserved, as well as a few four-pounders, a one pounder and a swivel gun.  It was therefore decided to arm the QAR with 20 six-pounders on the gun deck, with four four-pounders on the quarterdeck and two one-pounders on the forecastle.  Ten swivel guns will be mounted on the rails along the quarterdeck and forecastle.
 

 
The cannon that have been examined turned out to be a mix of English, Swedish, and French manufacture, which is not surprising.  Blackbeard, like all pirates, would have obtained his armaments from whichever ships he had previously captured, which might themselves have had a mixture of cannon.  No carriages were recovered, but the decision was made to mount them on French style carriages since she was originally a French ship and possibly retained most of her larger cannon.  Here are drawings comparing the French and English styles.
 

 
As you can see, the basic differences are that 1) the French style has a solid base plate and bumper, which widens the footprint of the carriage a bit; and 2) the breaching rope runs through large holes in the cheeks rather than looping around the cascabel.   The rounded curve on the bottom of the English cheeks is not unique, and I have seen carriages with them on contemporary French models.
 
With so many cannon to build, I looked to the aftermarket to see if anyone had barrels that would scale out to the 6 ½ to 7 ½ foot length of the six-pounders that were recovered and still be historically accurate in shape and detail.  The length scaled out to between 2.16 and 2.5 inches.  I found that The Lumberyard (www.dlumberyard.com) had cast Brittania barrels that were just the right size.  They are listed as 32-pounders if you are working at 1:48, but the shape is correct for the smaller caliber at my larger scale.
 
I carefully examined enlarged photos of the barrels and was impressed with the detail and accuracy of the reinforcing bands, cascabel shape, and bore.  I ordered 40 of them, as well as 12 others for the smaller cannon.  They did not have acceptable barrels for the swivel guns, and I am still looking for them.
 
The Lumberyard also sells laser cut carriages to fit the barrels.  They were made in the English style, but I thought that I would try to modify them to the French style.  I knew that I could always scratch-build the carriages, but the pre-cut ones would save a lot of effort if they could be made accurate enough and of the right style.  Here is how it went:
 
This is how the barrels and the carriages came.  The carriages come four to a sheet, which worked out perfectly.  The barrels and carriages for the smaller guns are identical in everything but size.  A lot of thought and care went into designing the carriage pieces, including providing two different sizes of wheels/trucks.  A tip of the hat to Dave Stevens.
 

 
And here are the pieces for one cannon after being separated from the laser cut sheet.  They came out easily and a little help with a sharp blade was only needed once or twice for all the pieces.
 

 
The barrels are excellent castings with no flash and almost no evidence of the mold line.  But whatever blackening method was used did not ‘take’ on the metal.  It was uneven, crusty, and could be rubbed off with a finger.  A bit of work with a dry paper towel took the blackening off down to almost bare metal.
 

 
To re-blacken them, the contract specifications call for chemical blackening of all metals rather than paint.  I first tried a product called Blacken-It, which was a disaster.  The metal took on a grey, chalky surface, while an unidentified tan substance precipitated out of the solution.  I had much more success with Pewter Black.  I experimented and found that I had to use a fairly strong solution, much stronger than the corresponding solution of Brass Black that I use for brass.  The surface that was produced was more uniform, but some of the blackening could still be rubbed off if I put some effort into it.  To seal it several coats of clear matte finish were sprayed on and the end results were acceptable.
 
Here you can see the barrel at the top as it was received.  The next one down has all of the blackening removed with a powered toothbrush.  Below it is the barrel after the trunnions have been cut down and reblackened.  Finally, the finished barrel after clear coating.  Only the vent hole has to be drilled.
 

 
The carriage conversion started with making the base plates and bumpers.  The tapered base plate was cut on the table saw with the miter gauge set to 5 degrees.  The bumper was cut, attached with PVA glue, then crowned using a disc sander.
 

 
The cheek pieces were sanded smooth and the burn marks from the laser were sanded off.  Holes were drilled for the eyebolts and the breaching rope through the side of the cheek, and holes for the bolts holding the cheek pieces together were drilled down on two of the steps of the cheek.  A simple jig was fashioned that held the base plate up so the axle notches would be clear, and located the cheeks against the bumper.  The vertical cross piece at the front held everything square.  A clamp made from a bent hair clip held it all together as the glue dried.
 

 
Axles and wheels were next.  As they came out of the wood sheet, the axles were square.  They needed to be rounded to fit the holes in the trucks.  To do this I found a piece of thick walled brass tube with the correct inside diameter.  Four teeth were cut and filed into one end and a sleeve was put around it as a guide and depth stop.
 


 
This was chucked into the bench top drill press and the ends of the axles were fed into it from underneath.  There was surprisingly little resistance as it cut, and I was able to control the workpiece with just my hand.
 

 
It made short work of the job, and much neater than I could have done by hand.
 

 
The trucks from the laser cut sheet were modified to make them look as if they were made up of four half circles bolted together with six metal bolts.  The effect is subtle, but noticeable if not done.  Next to them are several of the eyebolts located in a store here in NYC.  The eye is 0.095” o.d., which scales up to 3 ½”, which is quite accurate.  I could have wished that the wire was a bit thicker, but the difference is hard to see.  At $2 per hundred it sure beats making them all by hand.
 

 
A test cannon was done to see that everything worked, and a detailed instruction sheet was written up, then all the carriage pieces were packed up and given into the hands of JerseyCityFrankie, who agreed to assemble all the carriages.  He did an excellent job, as you can see from some of his progress photos.
 



 
Frankie also shaped and installed the quoin wedges.  The handles are brass belaying pins treated with Brass Brown solution.  All that was left to do when I got the completed carriages back was to make and install the capsquares and their fittings. 
 

 
I started with a strip of 3/32” x 1/64” brass and developed a jig to shape it.  The strip is held between the guide strips and pushed up to meet the stop on the right.  The die has a short piece of steel rod set into it which matches the groove cut into the base piece and is the same diameter as the trunnions. 
 

 
The steel rod is placed over the groove.  With a few taps of a hammer the curve is bent into the brass.  The first few tries showed me that if the base piece remains flat the short end of the strip does not bend flat but springs back a bit.  To correct this the end of the plate was angled and some finishing strikes with the die held at an angle took care of the problem.
 

 
Two holes for the eyebolts were pre-drilled in the capsquare while it was still on the strip, then it was parted off.  You can see in the inset that the curve is not as rounded as I might have liked, but the difference is not noticeable in the finished piece.
 

 
The capsquares were chemically blackened and tack glued in position.  The pre-drilled holes were extended down into the wood of the cheeks.  Two U-bolts with one very short leg were bent and installed.  In the inset you can see that the one toward the rear of the carriage replicates the visible portion of the eyebolt that hinges the capsquare, while the other replicates the eyebolt for the pin that holds it down.
 

 
The final detail was the pin and chain for each capsquare.  Some very fine brass chain with 36 links per inch was blackened, and bits of thin wire inserted in links about half an inch apart.  The wire was bent back on itself and pinched together to form a cotter-pin shape.  One pin was left long and inserted into a hole just below and behind the trunnion, while the other was cut short and slipped into the eye of the forward bolt.  The gun is now ready to be mounted and rigged.
 

 
And here it is with my scale figure for comparison.  I think it came out quite well and will dress up the waist of the model nicely.
 

 
Actually, there were two types of carriage that were made.  On the finished model only the eight guns in the waist will be visible.  These are the only ones that needed to be fully detailed.  However, just to be safe I detailed the four cannon that might be partially visible under the overhanging quarterdeck and forecastle.  The remaining eight will only have the end of the barrel and the forward face of the carriage visible.  For these no bumper was installed and the capsquares were replaced with simple U bolts.  The trucks were replaced with wooden chocks that raise the cannon to the correct level and will provide enlarged glue surfaces when the cannon are installed.
 

 
So here is a complete set of all the six-pounder cannon for one of the models.    The remaining small cannon will join them shortly.
 

 
This was a longer entry than usual, so feel free to ask if I have not fully explained any of the materials or methods.
 
Be well
 
Dan
 
 
  
 
   
 
 
 
 
 

Hi all -
 
I am stumped on a fitting fixture that appears on the Budriot plans.  It is a wooden piece, about 6" x 10" in scale and about 4 feet long that sits on deck athwartships to the stern of the fore and main masts.  It has a series of sheaves along its length and is topped by a matching number of cleats.  It clearly takes the place of a pinrail to belay lines coming down from the top. 
 
Here is Budriot's plan, although he does not show the sheaves.  He calls it a "suite de taquets sur semelle" which Google and I translate (badly) as "group of cleats on deck."  Not very helpful. 
 

 
The problem is that the only source that I can find is the model of the Sans-Pareil (1857) in the Musee de la Marine.  It does not appear on any of the other models, nor on the Frolich or Delacroix models.  
 
Here are some photos taken from Budriot's book about the models in the museum. 
 




 
Has anyone seen these before?  I would like some additional authority before I add them to the model.
 
Thanks in advance
 
Dan

Good day to all -
 
This segment will be a bit of a detour from where I left the hull construction last time.  The sheer size of the model means that I have to work on it in the basement of the family’s weekend house near Albany, NY.  There is no way that I can fit it into the shipyard in the Brooklyn apartment, which is a converted walk-in closet.  I haven’t been up to the house in several weeks, so I am working on smaller pieces here in the city that can be added later.  The first of these are the ship’s boats.  As always, there are half a dozen good ways to get the job done.  Here is mine.  The recitation is quite long, so I have broken it up into two parts.  The first will cover the shaping and planking of the hull, and the second will finish with the fitting out of the interior.
 
The Mercure drawings that I am working from include plans and schematics for two boats, a large launch (boat 7) and a sleek pinnace (boat 6).   Here I will be building the launch.  The drawings had been sent to me as .tif files, so it was easy to drop them into Photoshop and start manipulating them.
 
 
 
First I used the rule stick in the hand of the little gnome dancing on the page to scale the drawing to the size of the model.  I cropped and copied the forward and aft station lines portions of the plans and moved them to a new blank image.  Identical square outlines were superimposed around the two drawings to give them the same registration planes and centerlines. 
 
Once I was happy that everything was square and aligned correctly they were copied repeatedly to fill a page sized image and printed out several times to get one image for each of the 21 stations shown on the profile and cross section plans.  These were cut apart and glued with spray mount to squares of 1/8” wood sheet.
 

 
The outline at each station was cut out with a notch for the keel and shoulders at the sheer.  The three in the upper right are standing up because they have already had spacers glued to their back sides like the one in the upper left.  These are used with the building board, which is marked out for the centerline and each numbered station.
 

 
The station formers are glued to the board and to each other one at a time with a top spacer used to keep them at the proper distance and an engineer’s square to see that they are perfectly vertical.  
 


 
While the glue was drying on the developing stack of formers the two strongbacks (stem-keel-sternpost) were cut out.  It is somewhat weaker to do it this way, as you end up with cross-grain on the stem and sternpost, but it is faster, and this boat is something of a test bed for techniques.  For the same reason, the wood used is almost exclusively basswood.  It is easy to work, glues well, and when stained correctly is almost impossible to distinguish from a close-grained hardwood. 
 
The portion of the plans showing the longitudinal cross section was mounted on an 1/8” wood sheet which was then glued to a second sheet, with the glue placed only where the wood would be chucked.  The outline of the strongback was cut out on the band saw, leaving a glued central piece to be cut last.  This yielded two identical pieces that came apart as soon as the last cut was completed. 
 



 
Here is the completed stack of formers on the building board with one of the strongbacks temporarily set up in the notch for the keel.  It goes without saying that once the stack was fully glued it was shaped and faired with sanding rods to get smooth curves from bow to stern.
The strongback is held vertically with small blocks at the bow and stern that sandwich the tops at the centerline.  Two transom pieces were taken from the plans, laid out and cut as before, and each was test fit into the notch cut for it at the base of the sternpost.  The location of the forward edge of the plank rabbet was determined and marked out on the strongback, then the small extensions that had been left above the stem and sternpost were trimmed until it snuggled down into the keel notch at the proper level. 
 

 
The strongback was removed and the rabbet was carved along the line with rotary bitts, then finished with files and rifflers.   The transom was planked on the outside and glued in place against the sternpost.
 


 
Now I fit the ribs to the station formers.  It was a happy fact that Budriot drew the boat with a rib at each station line and a station line at each rib.  To make room for them I had cut out the station formers a little inside the line, and the sanding and fairing had further reduced the breadth of the stack.  The ribs were fairly thin in any case, made from wood strips milled to 1mm x 2mm (about 1.5” x 3” in scale”).  These were soaked in water to soften, then bent around each former and wired in place.  No glue was used.
 

 
All of the ribs were wired in place except the aftmost one at Station 21.  Leaving it off gave me a little more flexibility in fairing the planks to the transom.  The strongback was replaced in the keel notch of the formers and the initial two planks were shaped.   
 
The first was the sheer strake.  From the plans it measured out to exactly ¼” in width and was left full width its entire length.  A strip of basswood that width and 1/16” thick was soaked for a few minutes, then shaped first at the bow, where the tip was cut and angled to fit into the rabbet.  The forward few inches were steam bent using an Amati plank bender (the one that looks like a soldering iron with a nautiloid shaped head).  It is 25 years old and still works a treat.  Using the shoulders cut into the formers at the sheer the plank was edge bent to match the curve before being clamped and glued to each rib and the transom.
 
The garboard strake against the keel was similarly fitted and glued.  However, when I tried to impose the required twists into a basswood plank it repeatedly splintered.  I therefore used pau marfim, a California hardwood.  It is also ¼” wide for most of its length but flares to about twice that at the sternpost.  To accommodate this, a tapered plank was pieced in from Station 15 to the sternpost.  When I was happy with the look of the shape it was clamped and glued to the ribs.  Here is what they looked like with most of the clamps removed.
 



 
A word here about stains and glues.  Before any piece was installed it was given a staining with a mixture of ½  clear Minwax wood stain which they call Natural, ¼ Early American and ¼ Cherry.  I find this combination the best to reduce any splotchiness in the basswood and makes basswood resemble boxwood or one of the lighter cherry varieties, a look that I like a lot.  However, the stain is a bit oily, so the wood has to be well wiped and has to dry for a while before normal PVA glues will hold well. 
 
As for glue, I use a pH neutral white glue made by Lineco which I used to get from an art conservation supply house.  It sets up fast and holds well, yet is still flexible for an extended time, which will come in handy later.  Now I get it through Amazon where it is competitively priced with carpenters’ wood glues.
 
This process was repeated for the second sheer plank and the first broad strake against the garboard, but these had to be tapered to fit at the bow.  I knew from test fittings with strips of paper that there was almost exactly half the space between the garboard and sheer strake at the bow than there was between these planks amidships.  Therefore the next two planks were tapered for their forward three inches to that dimension.  Holding the plank to the formers and letting it find its own best fit, it was evident that the tapering on the second sheer strake should come off the edge that mated with the sheer strake, while the broad strake should taper on the garboard side. 
 
After the bulk of the wood was removed the edge was sanded to a fair curve.  This spiling was all done by eye, with the curve examined from every angle and refined as needed on this and every successive plank.
 
Once acceptably shaped the planks were stained, then caulking was indicated by coloring the uncut edge of the plank with an indelible black marker.  The planks were bent to final shape, fitted, glued and clamped in place.
 

 
With two strakes at the keel and two at the sheer, the cage of ribs had a good deal of strength and rigidity.  Now all of the wires were pulled out and the developing hull was removed from the formers.  I must have done a clean job with the glue because I didn’t have to pry it loose at any point.
 

 
Subsequent strakes were processed in a similar way.  For clamps I used bulldog clips that had a handle piece from a second clip fitted into the top of the clip.  A modified clip was used on every other former to hold the plank to the ribs as the glue dried. 
 

 
Here is what the hull looked like with 8 of the 11 strakes in place.  At this point the remaining space was divided into thirds as you can see from the pencil marks on the ribs.  This would be filled with two standard width planks and one custom fit ‘shutter plank’ that closed in the hull.
 

 
Here is one completed side.  The shutter plank location was selected to lie just under the curve of the chine of the hull, making it less visible than any other spot.  It is the fourth from the keel.  It is slightly wider than the other planks and flares at the stern to fill the larger space.
 

 
While it was on the formers the location of each rib was penciled onto the planks in preparation for the ‘nails’ holding the planks to the ribs.
 

 
Once the other side was closed up the hull was removed from the formers.  I think the method worked quite well and resulted in a hull that is strong, symmetric, and gives a convincing appearance of an actual boat structure.  The white plastic figure in the corner is useful to judge scale appearance and will appear again.
 

 
Spiling the planking by eye in this way is an acquired skill, but not difficult if each plank is critically examined and adjusted as needed.  The final hull has a nice run of planking that tapers smoothly to the stem and matches, port to starboard, and even has the little variations in width that a real boat does.
 


 
In the next installment I use the penciled lines to drill the nail holes for the more than 1100 fasteners used for the hull planks.  Then I fit out the interior and finish the boat.
 
As always, critical review by the eyes of my peers is requested.  This is even more so in this case since the boat is the first generation attempt and, despite the work and time invested, may not make the final cut.
 
Looking forward to hearing from all.
 
Dan