Mahuna

Hi Patrick. Yes, vacation is over. Last weekend we took a short trip to the midwest for a family function. I haven't posted any progress on Dunbrody because I've been working on the exterior planking - I'll have an update in the next couple of days.

Thanks Glenn. I've been missing your posts on Heroine and I'm glad you're back online. I've been traveling, and then focusing on planking, so I haven't posted an update in a while. I hope to have one in the next day or so.

Hi Patrick. Great start. I learned the same lesson about planning ahead on Dunbrody. I didn't think far enough beyond the tasks in front of me. As a result there are a lot of inconsistencies I don't like but am too far along to correct. From now on I'll be trying to plan every detail on a build before starting the build. It will take more time, but like we used to say in my working life "if you don't take the time to do it right you'll have to find time to do it over".

Very nice, Glenn. Been wondering where you were - welcome back!

Thanks Mike. The information you found on chocks is very interesting. I'll be looking for that book.

Great start Patrick. Looking forward to a stream of updates as she takes shape.

I'll definitely be following along Patrick. You'll probably finish Shadow before I get Dunbrody completed!

Thanks Ed. I actually got the idea from reading some of Roger Cole's work. I feel it keeps the line a lot more accurate than using the tapered point.

Thanks Bob! Thanks Tom!

Thanks Patrick. I appreciate the compliments, but there actually are a lot of things I wish I could do over. I guess we're always our own worst critics, but this is continuing to be a great learning experience.

Thanks Druxey. I'm definitely feeling more comfortable taking Dunbrody off the building board now that there's a lot of braces installed. Thanks Mark! Thanks Rich. LOL - You reminded me of a very old Bill Cosby recording:

Part 42 – Main Deck Waterways The waterways for the main deck are the next item to be installed. When I made the frames I left the top timbers long, so the first task was to bring the top timbers down to the appropriate height. Masking tape was used to mark the proper height of the top timbers. Some of the top timbers had to be reduced a significant amount, so an Iwasaki fine file was used. This file has a cutting surface that’s similar to a microplane. This file brought the tops done quickly, and even though it has blank edges I let it drift away from the stanchion to avoid cutting into the stanchion in error. It was then a simple matter to finish off the cut using a barrett file. Once all of the top timbers were at the appropriate heights the waterways could be started. As in several other circumstances, the way that Dunbrody is built differs from the traditional methods described in the Crothers book. The normal configuration is to have a waterway with a scupper cut through it and with a planksheer or covering plank fixed above it. The Dunbrody only has a waterway with no planksheer, and instead of scuppers it has openings in the first bulwark plank to remove the water from the deck. This is also shown on the construction plans, so that’s the way the model will be configured. The stock for the waterways was soaked in boiling water and was then clamped in place for drying. A ‘sacrificial’ plank was used to avoid having the clamps cause any denting in the borders of the waterways. After the waterways were dried overnight, the positions of the stanchions were marked on each waterway. The pencil lines are inside the edge of the stanchion as indicated by the straight edge. This was done intentionally so that as the openings were cut there was no risk of making the openings too big. The depth of the stanchions was also marked on the waterways, using a compass set at the appropriate depth. The metal point of the compass was reversed so that the compass would ride consistently against the edge of the waterway. The following photo shows the two waterways after bending and marking. There was a small tendency for the waterways to spring back into a straight line, but the remaining bend can be forced through clamping. The scroll saw was used for the initial cuts, staying inside the pencil lines, and then a small chisel was used to remove the waste between the cuts. These initial cuts left a lot of final shaping to be done. The shaping was done with various files. The small block shown under the waterway was used to prevent the filing from changing the curve of the waterway through downward pressure on the edge of the waterway. The following photos show the waterways after the opening for the stanchions were completed. The waterways have an incline from the stanchions down to the deck planking, so that the edge of the waterway meets the deck planking at the same height as the top of the plank. The depth of the plank was marked on the waterway. This incline was made using a variety of files. The following photo shows the resultant incline in the waterway. The waterways are bolted to the deck beams, so blackened copper wire was used to simulate these bolts. The waterways were then glued in place on Dunbrody. The outer edge of the waterways is an added piece of stock of the same thickness as the waterway. The outer edge of this piece is rounded and is fitted so that it protrudes beyond the waist planking and the bulwark planking, appearing as a molding piece on the ship. The round edge was formed using a stainless cutter that was made to the correct shape and then used as a scraper. This outer edge was then glued in place. The waterways are now finished, and the exterior planking can begin. Thanks everyone for the ‘likes’ and comments.

Congrats, Druxey! Already added to my Christmas wish list.

Nice work, Bob.

Thanks Elijah. It may seem fast, but it's also a lot of time in the shop - my hobby has become a full-time job, with some OT thrown in. (but I'm NOT complaining!)

That's correct, Brian. I'm trying to get as much done as possible before October, so I'm eliminating any work that won't show in the final product, as long as it's not structural. And, unfortunately, I also have missed a couple of things by mistake - rushing isn't a good thing.

Part 41 – Main Deck Lodging Knees There are several variations of lodging knees described in the Crothers book that I’ve been using as a reference. Dunbrody uses 3 of the four types, as explained below. Work started with drafting the various knees in CAD. Since the drawings would be cut out and pasted on wood stock for cutting out the knees, sufficient copies were printed to allow construction of all the required knees. The following photo is the drawing of the majority of the knees – knees with a long scarf in each berth. The construction plans show a capstan among the various details on the main deck, but they don’t show any underlying support for the capstan. The capstan is over part of the aft hatch, so I’m not sure what the arrangement was. I didn’t look far enough ahead in the building, so I didn’t include any capstan support under the main deck – my error. To try to compensate I added some heavy beams behind the mast partners on the main deck. The area around the capstan had some simple butted lodging knees on the plan, so I added the new timbers inside the knees. For cutting the knees, 2 pieces of stock were glued together using Ambroid glue – this allowed me to cut out a pair of knees at a time. The following photo shows the capstan knees. The knees with the long scarf were used to support he main beams and the secondary or partial beams that were between them. The process for making these knees started with pasting the drawings to the stock using an Elmer’s School Glue stick. The knees were cut out on the scroll saw and shaped using the disk sander and a round sanding stick for the concave part. The knees were then placed in a small bath of acetone in a covered container for a couple of minutes for the Ambroid glue to dissolve – this resulted in the parts for a pair of the scarfed knees. The pieces were glued together to form the scarfed knees. These knees would be positioned between two main beams, with a secondary beam cut into the knee. The knees were first fitted between the main beams, using a disk sander to reduce the width of the knee until it fit snugly in the berth. The secondary and partial beams were manufactured to their full length so that the correct camber was on the beam. For cutting the beam to its final length, the beam was first centered on the deck and the length at its innermost location was marked. Then, with that part of the beam in its permanent position, the other end of the beam was used to mark the beam’s location on the knees. The following photo shows the knees marked for the secondary beam. The cut will be made so that 5 inches of the knee remains. Stop cuts were made at the two lines using a small razor saw. The wood between the cuts was pared out. And the cut was finished with a file. The remaining type of knee used in Dunbrody is the most simple type of knee with no butts or scarfs – used at the mast partners. The lodging knees for Dunbrody are now completed. Next item will be making and installing the waterways. Thanks everyone!

Thanks Mark.

Looks great Patrick. I like the floating effect. It looks to me like it's finished - but I'm interested to see what you still feel needs to be done.

Thanks Ed. The jigs are simple, but are a big help.

Hi Mike, and thanks! I'm glad you find this interesting - my main purpose (besides modeling at a level of complexity that is new to me) is to show the conditions in which the emigrants escaping the famine had to travel. I had the same question about the frame chocks - they didn't seem to be necessary. EdT made the point that perhaps they were used to build the single frames before the frames were joined as a frameset. If you're interested, this is one of the discussion topics in my prior topic of Planning for a Sectional Model of the Dunbrody - the link is below my signature. And welcome to my log!

Thanks Bob. I always appreciate seeing photos of work progression on other build logs, so I thought I should do the same.

Very nice, Ed. I especially like the way you sliced off these very small parts, particularly using the sacrificial fence. I imagine that helped to keep those very small pieces from flying off.

Thank you!

Part 40 – Main Deck Beams A lot of progress on Dunbrody today. I had previously made the deck beams for the main deck, and spent today installing the primary deck beams. This included epoxying the Accommodation Deck furniture in place. Work started with securing the sleeping platforms, the mast stub, and the bucket lavatories. Then the mast partners for the main deck, with the associated beams were installed. After that, the beams for the main hold forward of the main mast were installed. The forward safety railing was then glued in place. There are stanchions or pillars that support the main hatch – these were installed next. A molding was added to the pillars that are in the planked part of the deck. Once the Main Hold was framed out I was able to fix the forward table and benches in place. Then the forward-most beam was installed and a pillar was placed under the beam. Turning to the aft section, the table, benches, and safety railings were installed, followed by the framing for the aft hold and companionway. So now Dunbrody is ready for the lodging knees and the secondary beams for the main deck. I expect this work will take several days to complete. Thanks everyone!