capnharv2

Paul,
 
It's good to see your Scharnkorst groing on MSW mark 2!
 
As for the discussion re political symbols, it is MSW's policy not to allow any political, religious, racial or sexual symbols or content except where such symbols are an intergral part of the historical depiction of the model, such as, for example, Nazi symbols as they were displayed on German WWII ships at the time.
 
As has already been pointed out, this is a model building forum and politics, race, religion or sexual content has no place here.  All members are welcome as model builders no matter what views they may personally hold.
 
John

Thank you, John, for looking in.  Greg, I assumed when Remco wrote that he was referring to the final sanding of the fore and aft faces of the frames, not the inner and outer faces of the frames. 
 
It is interesting (and fun) to see the changes in building preferences and techniques in oneself over time.  I initially hated chocks and now see that they actually simplify the joining of two complex pieces of wood.  Before starting Atalanta I did not even own a chisel (unless the hand-me-down from my father-in-law that I use to pry open paint cans counts).  Now I don't even start a building session without having one out on the table.  I've transitioned from being a CA-girl to almost exclusively using carpenter's glue.  I'm sure we can all come up with a similar list.

Just one more set guys and that should  bring the magazine up to speed.

Ok while the glue dries let me take a slight detour and take advantage of all the wisdom on this forum. The picture below shows the deck plans according to the kit. There are many problems with these plans. I intend to make significant changes and I would like to hear from all of you. So let me walk you from bow to stern on the issues and then list Ideas I have for modifications.
 
1. At the bow there is a hand crank to raise the anchor. This uses chain over a round drum and if it was to scale would only allow 4 men to crank. I intentionally do not call this a windlass. This should be a true windlass. Also I doubt they used Chain for the anchor. This would have been quite expensive.
 
2. There are outhouses on the bow. And they are completely out of scale. I don't know of any ship of this period that had outhouses on the deck.
 
3. The ship's bell is mounted on the bow sprit. When it should be aft near the helm.
 
4. The foot of the Bowsprit is not secured enough to take the strain of this rig.
 
5. The fife rail on the foremast (& main mast) should be aft of the mast not forward. We need to take into accout the rake of the mast.
 
So these are the problems just from the bow to the Foremast. Now from Foremast to Main
 
6. We have a huge Grating with shot garlands along each edge. Gratings were for ventilation. What are we ventilating? This is more likely should be a Cargo Hatch or similar. The shot garlands are too far from the cannons.
 
7. The Elm Tree pumps are too far forward to do much good. They should be closer to the main mast so that they reach to the bottom of the bilge.
 
8. Again we have another grating. not likely for this ship.
 
9. Again the fife rail is backwards
 
(got inturrupted by the phone)
 
Now from the Main to the Stern the following problems exisit -
 
10. We have a main cabin with sky lights the full length of the roof - Unlikely
 
11. we have a Capstan that is so close to the companion way it would never turn. And why is the Capstain aft of all the rigging? And why have a Capstain at all. This ship had a crew of maybe 60. It is more likley that it would have only a windlass.
 
12. Now we have a hatch aft of the capstan. Really? what is stored here? There isn't much hold space.
 
13. Lastly we have a bench that passes for a binacle. but quite unlike any binacle I have ever seen.
 
 
14. Oh and yes, thanks to CapnHarv the cannons are out of place as well. They should be further forward where the bouyancy could support the weight.
 
So now I begin the task of resdesigning the deck furniture.

Next I planked the deck. again the intructions say to add the waterway, bulwarks, & 2nd planking. Then add the stem & Keel. I decided that the Keel would need a bit of reinforcing and the 2nd layer of planking would not look right without installing the keel first. So I drilled small holes thru the keel, Stem, & prow. I then inserted T pins & cut them flush. I used PVA almost everywhere. But I used CA on the pins to make sure the pins held in the former. I also took this opportunity to drill holes for the long screws for the pedistals I am going to use for mounting.

I have finished the first layer of planking and added filler. The instructions say to lay 2 rows of planks from the deck down. I laiad 1 and then started with the garboard strake. I had 3 stealers in the stern and I probably should have had at least 1 drop plank in the bow.

Well I am just getting started so there isn't much to show yet.

I gave in to temptation...Emma C. Berry is being prepped for shipment as we speak!

Harvey - Its good to see you back online. Are you going to create a log for the Flying Cloud as well? And what about the Sloop? Just kidding. You could spend a week just posting everything you have underway. See you on Sat!
 
Fair Winds my friend.

Great to see you back on deck, CapnHarv !!!
 
Looks like the FakeCaptainsClub is alive and well.

Glad to see you got the log back up. Shes looking good!

This is a resurrection of my build log on the Constitution. I started about 5 years ago and have been following Bob Hunt's practicum, more or less.
 
One thing I forgot to mention last time is that I'm not trying to recreate the Constitution to any particular period. I am trying to make her historically accurate and to scale (a challenge in itself), but making a few changes that I find more pleasing for me to look at (I would say "artistic license", but that implies something I am not).
 
I don't know if I will rig her, or put sails on her. Time (and the other kits calling) will tell.
 
Pics to follow when I figure it out (I attached one from 3 years ago). Please comment-especially if something looks wrong. I always have something to learn, and the more I learn-the more I learn that I don't know much.
 
Thanks,
 
Harvey

Speedwell, 1752, was a ketch rigged sloop of the Cruizer class. Designed by John Ward and Built by Thomas Slade after plans of the yacht Royal Caroline, known for her excellent sailing characteristics. Her keel was laid at Chatham 11.2.1752 and she was launched 21.10.1752 and coppered shortly thereafter. As befitting most ships of her size she patrolled the Channel and Home waters off England but did sail to North America in 1757. She was refitted as the fireship Spitfire in 1779 before decommissioning in 1780.
 
I am building Speedwell from the plans drafted by David Antscherl, who based his reconstruction on plans and documents in the NMM collection. A contemporary model of her is in the museum collection and may be viewed at 
http://collections.rmg.co.uk/mediaLib/317/media-317093/large.jpg
 
In order to accommodate the eight cannons the hull had to be pierced for gunports and some very interesting toptimber arrangements were drafted to accommodate these. A sample of the interesting shifts and casts are shown in the first photo. For now I am just posting photos of the construction process without text but will add it later if requested. Currently, I am fairing the inside of the hull, a tedious but satisfying part of the process.

I've always loved PT boats, and built the PT 109 as a kid. I'll be watching how yours goes together. It's looking good already :-)
 
Thanks,
 
Harvey

Favorite tools to use or tools we use everyday that we couldn't do without (at least without a lot of trouble)?
 
For everyday tools, it's magnifying visor and hemostats. I recently bought my first hemostats, and now wonder how I survived without them.
 
Favorite tool to use, for me, has to be a good sharp hand plane. It's hard to beat the way the shavings peel off the wood with a good plane, and I've yet to find an abrasive that will leave the wood surface nearly as nice as a freshly planed one.
 
Of course, my dad's philosophy with us kids and tools was that the safest tool is the dullest tools you can find-that will discourage the boys from using any tools :-(
 
I'm glad that lesson didn't stick.
 
Thanks,
 
Harvey