coxswain

Today I took the Speedy box art shots and then put the box art together, does this look OK?
 
Just have the manual and plans to put together now, all laser and PE have been sent for cutting/etching.
 

One of the odds and ends I mentioned earlier are the two “backing plates” for the “towing bridle ring bolts” located just below the two outer port openings in the transom. The other item I decided to wait on are the four hull sheaves. Those will be done once the hull planking installed around the gun ports.
 
As a matter of note, I had planned to have cataract surgery this coming January, but my left eye got bad very quickly, and by quickly, changing daily. So, I will be having the surgery for the left eye Oct 1 and the other eye hopefully two weeks later. This of course will slow me down juusssst a bit (not that you will notice from my normal lightning pace) in my build.

Well for the most part, the bulwarks are done…finally. They bulwark panels were glued into place and the eyebolts were installed. There still are some odds and ends that still needed to be fabricated and installed, but the most tedious part is completed.

Once that was completed, the transom bulwark panels were constructed, and the pseudo bolt heads were added. At this point, all the bulwark panels were painted green like those forward. Finally, I fabricated two small wooden transom cleats and four transom bulwark steps. Once I painted all the bulwark panels green and the transom steps black, the remaining cleats and steps were installed. This left the cannonade rigging eyebolts to be installed. Those eyebolts which I could install onto the bulwark panels was done, which left 66 or so odd eyebolts need to be stalled just below the gun port openings on the planks just above the waterways, plus about 14 double eyebots.

After a few personal activities including another trip to Florida with my sister to visit Mom for two weeks, the shipyard finally opened again. I swear, my Mom saves all the “honey do’s” to happen when we arrive. We weren’t inside her condo for more than 5 minutes when the land line phone went dead as well as the internet (both supplied by AT&T). {Note: because she is 101, we wanted to ensure that we could communicate with her should the power go out. The landline is the simple analog type which supplies its own power. Cell phones need power to recharge. So, the irony is obvious.] That took a couple of days to fix as they had to dig up the line and replace it. Other things like simply changing a fluorescent tube in the kitchen got more complicated when I discovered that I had to replace the ballast unit as well. Just a typical trip.
 
Then there was the worry about her while Hurricane Dorian park over the Bahamas. The initial forecast had the storm track going right over her home. Luckily that didn’t happen; she didn’t even lose power.
 
Back to the shipyard, I wanted to finally add the bolt heads to the transom bulwarks. This required that I first build the framework for the stern windows and ports for the gun and spar decks. This took a couple of tries as it required critical precise measurements. It may not look precise, but the ports and windows are measured from the center line. All the structural elements will be covered by the bulwarks and planking.

I built this model of the Connie about 7-8 years ago and found no issues with the transom to speak of, in fact I found the plans and instructions quite excellent. Also, the Constitution wood comes from the Constitution Gift shop, not actually the museum itself. But some times they run out of wood and is only replenished when they are doing refits or repairs. They rarely if ever have any wood larger than what you were able to get. It makes great cross trees, mast heads, anchor collars and the like.  

Post 19
The end of a long and spiling road
After what seems to have been an interminable time at last all the lap strakes are in place.

2394

2393
The square tuck planking has also been completed.

2388

2381
With the last strakes in place the final shaping of the wale can take place.

2385
The wale at the bow is also fined down a little in thickness.
This is not the end of the process, the planks have  to be cleaned up and faired at the bows and stern, and approximately 2500 copper bolts have to be inserted to ‘secure’ the laps.
I gave some thought about representing the roves as shown on the Alert book drawings but they would be incredibly small at 1:64 scale, and in any case the photo’s of the contemporary model of Hawke don’t appear to show such a feature, simply the bolts.
The bolts will be represented by copper wire ca’d into pre-drilled holes cut close and tapped with a hammer to flatten the heads slightly.
I now await a supply of copper wire to complete the task, but there is plenty of cleaning up work to do to keep me busy.
B.E.
21/09/2019
 
 
 

Had some time this week to work on the Diana. hopefully i will have a few hours this weekend to get some things done on it.

Wefalck,  have you seen the Alaskan gold dredges? I attended a model railroad convention, back in June and this was one of the structure entries.
 

I have drawn the outlines of the dredge on the edge-glued boards.  I didn't have a curve template that was anywhere big enough to draw the curves. I used the top of an oval wastebasket. and that seemed to give me reasonable simulations of the bow and stern of the dredge.  The curved bow and stern must have had a function.  I think that they allowed the dredge to sweep back and forth to a greater degree within the channel it was digging.  A squared-off bow and stern would have limited the sweep.

I have drawn a sketch plan so I have the waterline dimensions in 1:48.   The deck-to-waterline distance is only 18".  So at 1:48 I decided to use some clear pine 3/8" boards for the hull.  I glued and clamped two boards edge to edge and have marked out the deck plan.  The dredge had openings in the deck for the huge pump and for the boilers.  I am going to model these pieces of equipment.  The image of the dredge shows there are large openings in the sides of the deck house so the interior details that will be visible.

I have long been interested in the ladder dredge Corozal which used to work the Canal zone in Panama. No plans, so I may have to reconstruct her from photographs.

It floats - it's a nautical vessel.  An important one too.  I wonder just where it was used as most of the canal is cut through solid stone.  Looking at the drawing I think the vertical pole at the stern was a "spud" that could be lowered to hold the dredge in place and as you said it could pivot on the spud.  However spuds could only go up and down.  The piece of equipment that angles down off the stern (from what I can see of the photo) is probably part of the discharge tube for the material picked up by the dredge machinery and pumped to the stern and then deposited ashore or into hopper barges.  Sometimes dredges had discharge tubes that reached several hundred feet.
 
I will follow your build with great interest.   I am very interested in the canal and its history and have been on many tugs, towboats and barges on it.  I have done many models of tugs and towboats that operate on the canal.
 
I have 7 tons of stone from the building of the canal in my fireplace.  There were still piles of flagstone free for the taking n Lemont all the way to Lockport when my Father and uncle built this house in the early 50's.  Also have retaining landscaping walls of the flagstone.
 
Kurt

I am building a model of a hydraulic dredge that was used to dig part of the Chicago Sanitary Canal (the rather infamous project to reverse the flow of the Chicago River and send that city's sewage down to St. Louis).  I don't know if this qualifies as a nautical vessel.  It was basically a barge with a steam operated auger-suction device and a huge pump. In a curious way it was self-propelled.  It had a leg at the stern that allowed it to pivot and move forward as the work advanced.  I found a rather detailed plan and elevation of the dredge along with a small image of the 'as built' dredge in Engineering News, Sept 6, 1894.

Back home, and work has begun. It appears that I may be the first to use the the laser cut keel former and bulkhead set from Chuck. I'm also using the laser cut parts for chapter one. While I admire all of the great work being done by the group in cutting out their own parts, I am at an age ( just turned 80) where I would rather spend my time on other aspects of the build. BTW, the laser cut framing parts are virtually perfect, and required almost no sanding to fit snug and true.
 
I began by assembling the stem parts and the tapering them. I then assembled the keel former and added the rabbet strip. Then, I tapered from the bearding line using a chisel and sandpaper. Next, I attached the stem assembly and the keel pieces.Finally, I drilled for, and added black monofilament line for the keel bolts.
 
The next order of business was to construct the build board, using laser cut parts for the supports. The last task was to dry fit all of the bulkheads to the keel former.
 
Now, it's time to glue in the bulkheads and fair up the hull.
 
Bob

The reason, little ''Go Pro'' style, picture and video camera: YI 4K.
I had previously tried in previous builds other mini cameras but they were only HD.
This one with 4K and a wide angle lens does a much better job and sharpness is much better.
As a comparison, here is 1 taken with in HD, same place for the last completed 74.

Thank you all for the 👍!!! And the encouragement.
In the meantime I glued some of the sills in position

After adding the tack lines for the fore & main sails I`m calling this one done.   The kit does include a ship`s boat kit,but I have decided to not build it.  
Thanks to all that have followed along.  I will add some pictures to the gallery soon. I`m not sure what I will build next - would love to do Chuck`s  Winchelsea,but I don`t have a hobby size table saw to cut planks & can`t really afford to spend hundreds of $$ for one right now.
 

 
Mark

This little plank bender I bought years ago from MicroMark is one of the best tools ever. You can bend wood up to 3mm thick. The wood can be dry and cold. You just adjust the rollers to accommodate the thickness and the amount of arc you need. Just crank the handle. I have planked an entire ship with this.

Vince P.

I got the hull all planked and installed the interior and leather on the side panels and floor. 

A short time ago, a fellow told me to be careful not to deviate from the manufactures original plans for these boats, if my intent was to sell them I guess assuming the buyer wanted it to be original to the boat or manufacture of it. But as I pointed out that I don't build to suite anyone but myself and if someone likes what I have done and wants to purchase it then great if not, no problem and this has always been my objective. The only exception to that would be if the build was a commission piece then I would build to suite the buyer. Now after building anything from tall ships models, R/C boats to R/C planes and a little something in-between at last count was around 50 that I have sold, traded, given away or donated, I think I can pretty much judge what people would be willing to buy. But now if they want museum quality, then that ain't my style.

Beatuful work, congratulations

The mainmast has many more blocks than the foremast!

 

Here are a few more pictures of the Diana.

Hi everyone, 
This is my first build log but third ship I've tackled. I started this ship about a year ago and due to the hot weather here in the Phoenix area it makes it hard to work on it year around, so in the summer I have to move from the garage into my office (office has great A/C) so I'am very limited to what I can do.
I had a lot more pictures of the build in its earlier stages but when I got my new phone some pictures were lost lost during the data transfer.🙁
So, I'am hoping everyone will enjoy.