Ed Ku20

Hi Jonathan, thanks for the recommendation. I was just checking out this plane. It looks like it is much better to fine tune than the one I have now, with 1 thumbscrew! I think I will make the investment! John, I don't think I have the patience to make this thing work! I should have purchased a better tool from the start. I like the sound of "works flawlessly".

Thanks Guys for all the positive feedback! It is much appreciated. Jim, I will start studying that cabin bulkhead. Is there something specific I need to be aware of? Do any of you use a block plane for tapering your planks? I used the Exacto knife and a straight edge with my last ship. That was very tedious. But I did not have to do much tapering for Bluenose. I bought a little 3" Buck Bros block plane at Home Depot and tried some practice cuts with it. I'm not getting acceptable results! I sharpened it on my stone and have the blade edge sticking out as little as possible. But, no matter which direction I plane it just chatters and chews the wood. Occaisionally I get a decent shaving. Either the equipment I'm using is too cheap or the operator is doing it wrong! I know you have to plane with the grain, but it doesn't seem to matter which direction I push. Would appreciate any tips or techniques you guys use. I looked at that video of the guy for Modelers Central. It looks easy as pie when he does it!! Thanks, Ed

Step 17: Install Gunport Framing & Oar Sweep Holes The next step in my build process is to install the gunport frames. As with most things on this model, I did a lot of studying before I started this step. Here are some notes I made. Maybe they will be of value to someone else who is building a Rattlesnake! NOTE-1: Use 1/16” square strip wood for the gunport & oar sweep portholes. Make it flush with the outboard edge. After planking the outer gunwales, the inboard BHD wood needs to be reduced in thickness down to 1/16” to be flush with the frames. On the outboard side they must be “faired” to match the vertical curve of the hull. NOTE-2: Per Chuck Passaro, the sides of the portholes should be parallel to the BHD's and the top and bottom should be parallel to the deck! I found this to be very difficult to achieve! Per Russ, gunports must follow the deck line, at a consistent height above the deck in order for the cannons to fit properly. (I did do these 2 things.) The gunports follow the sheer (longitudinal curve) of the deck, which is not the same as the sheer of the hull! NOTE-3: Per JSGerson, even gunports that have closed lids need a frame constructed around the opening. Post #29. I gave up trying to get the frames to fit between the Quarter Deck BHD’s. The vertical curve and deck sheer combined required too much twisting and my little 1/16” square frames fell apart. I do not plan on putting cannons here. I will figure out how to make the lids fit properly after the wale planking is done. Maybe make a lip inside the lid to fit in the hole? Or can I just glue them to the hull without cutting out the hole? I will see what looks best. I plan to build my own gunport lids when the time comes! 1. Preparation work a. Make a Jig – I used Scott Larkins’ Post #45 to make a jig for a consistent size to the frames. Based the jig on measurements taken from the plans. I put some scotch tape down in the space between the jig sides to prevent glue from sticking to the jig. This jig worked great, but restricted the ability to make the sides parallel to the BHD’s because they were perfect squares. I focused on getting the bottom edge to flow with the top of the waterway. b. Build 1 cannon -- used as a test to center the barrel through each gunport frame. I ordered replacement cannons and carriages from Syren Ship Model Co. These are slightly taller than the ones in the kit and pushed the top of the frame a little closer to the main rail. Hope this isn’t a future problem! I spent 10 hours just building that first little cannon! Still need to add rings and rigging later on down the road. c. Make a small section of deck planking to stand the cannon on top of the BHD’s The Gunport Frame making jig Assembling the Syren cannon. BTW, these are really beautifully made. I learned a few things that will help me make the rest of them even better when the time comes. Shaped this tiny "Quoin" handle with Dremel and files 2. Make the frames – I measured the distance between the bulkheads with my caliper. Cut the top & bottom frame pieces to match this width. Insert into the jig. Cut the vertical sides using the jig post to get the right length (see step 3 below). Measure the distance from the right side of the frame to the BHD & mark this distance on the top frame. Use the jig post to position the two vertical frames and apply PVA glue. Be sure to remove the post before the glue sets!! I added vertical posts at the ends for strength and to provide more surface for gluing to the BHD. 3. Cut a pile of vertical posts – these are all the same size, so may as well make a bunch at one time. I taped down a wood strip in my razor saw miter box to match the length needed. Actually, made slightly larger and sanded them to fit. 4. Set-up the Oar port – Take measurements from the plan. Used a 1/8” square piece of stripwood as a jig to make the oar port. Cut scrap wood and glue in place the correct distance from the cannon gunport. Put a small piece of scrap wood above and below the hole. 5. Glue the frames to the BHD’s – Adjust the frames to the sheer of the deck. Do this by lightly sanding the ends so the frame can fit btw bhd’s to match the sheer of the waterway. This was only marginally successful. Use PVA glue once all are fitted. I started on the starboard side and made all the frames first, then glued them in place. By the time I got to the port side, I built them in the jig & immediately glued them as I went down the hull. Making the frames in the jig Starboard side ready to install on the ship Pictures of the completed frames Step 18: Paint frames & waterways red I first installed the “cover boards” on the quarter deck. This took a bit longer than expected. I ended up having to add a few more shims on top of the quarter deck to smooth out some dips along the edges. Then hand brushed using the red hull paint leftover from Bluenose. I looked at some other red colors, but liked this one the best. As I was installing the last frame on the port side, I discovered that the waterway was noticeably higher at the quarter deck (bulkhead I). The port side of the bhd is higher than the starboard, which raised the waterway up. I loosened the glue & cut off the waterway on an angle. Then sanded the wood down until the 2 sides were even. This area will be hidden behind the cabin wall, so it should not be noticeable. Current views of the Rattlesnake Sorry, for the long-winded post. There was a lot going on with these couple of steps! Next step is the wale and bulwark planking. I have a few questions about that, but will use a separate post. Thanks, Ed

Dave, Welcome back home! Part of the fun of going on vacation is remembering there's no place like home! I think your stern piece looks great. I kept touching up the brass, then having to touch up the gold I got on the blue and vice versa, then repeat...! I finally said to myself, this has to be good enough. Happy New Year! Ed

Welcome to the Rattlesnake club Bill. I second and third everything mentioned by the others. I'm certainly not an expert by any means. This is my second POB build. But I really try to detail my build process. I was a corporate trainer in a previous life!! I try to share my mistakes (what not to do) as well as what you ought to do and how I did it. The modelers on this site, especially these Ratt builders, are a great source for information. There are a lot of quirky things with this MS kit and we've all worked our way through each of them, like shimming the keel. Start your own build log, take lots of pics and ask your questions to get feedback. Good luck! Ed

Jim, I'm actually planning to just leave it the way it is. I figure the end of the bow will be hidden under the forecastle deck. I was thinking ahead to when I will need to bend the hull planks around that sharp turn at the transom. Might need to use Dave's technique for applying heat to the wet wood.

Dave, what do you use to heat it? I used hot water to start with. But it had cooled off by the time I used the wood.

Oops! Sorry about that! Yes, I meant to say gun ports. Dave_E, this is for your information. Here's how I handled the waterways, as Jim is talking about. I'm assuming that the deck area will not be visible past the cabin bulkhead wall or at the bow, forward of BHD "A". Here are a few pictures of what I recently completed. Here is the waterway after soaking for a couple of hours in water to soften it up. I clipped it in place overnight and then glued it the next morning. After gluing in place That 1/8" square strip wood was impossible to bend at the point of the bow! I soaked it for 2 hours and could not get that end to budge without possibly breaking. So, I cut it off at A and glued it at the bow so there is someplace to butt deck planks up against. IF I need to plank that far forward. At the cabin wall, I ran the waterway just past BHD "I". I will decide if it looks better to build the cabin wall around the waterway or cut it off flush there. This way I have the option. But, I will not be taking it all the way back through the cabin. Started working on the gun port and oar port frames. I built a jig that I hope helps with this process. I'll let you know how it goes. I still need to build 1 cannon and some temporary deck planking to test the positioning of the portholes. Thanks, Ed

Thanks Jim! I just put in the waterways yesterday. Per your advice, next up will be the waterways then!

Thanks a lot guys! Means a lot coming from all of you. I'm just trying to hold my own in this company of outstanding shipwrights! Hey, I've got some questions or perhaps confirmation about which stripwood to use for planking in various locations. I've tried measuring the width off the blueprint plans, but these do not match any of the wood supplied in the kit. When I look at pictures of Rattlesnakes on this forum some of the planks look wider. Based on the large number of wood strips provided for 3 of the bundles (48, 50 & 50) I'm thinking as follows: 1.) Bulwarks - inboard ceiling & outboard above the wale use WP3603 1/32 x 3/32" 2.) Lower Hull - use WP3622 1/16 x 3/16" 3.) Deck Planks - use WP3620 1/16 x 1/8" Has anyone figured this out? I think I'm going to lay the Wale strake early before installing the gunport frames to provide a visual position for the sheer of the deck. Appreciate any feedback others might have. Thanks! Ed

Step 14: Prepare the Transom Step 15: Prepare the Transom Carving I completed a couple of more steps in my build process with the transom & transom carving. I worked on these simultaneously. First, I sanded the back of the transom to make it thinner before planking with 1/32 x 1/8” stripwood. I got it down to between 9/128 – 5/64”. I didn’t attempt to pre-bend it to wrap around the end of the Counter block. After adding the planks, windows and trim it would no longer bend!! But I used 6 rubber bands to hold it around a large pitcher! After ~24 hours it made a slight bend. The transom seems to be a place where modelers use their creativity. Mine is a blend of multiple ideas I liked from various builders, as well as my own. I used this color scheme: Black Transom; Yellow Ochre for window frames and a nameplate plaque that I made. Carving background & Trim wood is Ultramarine Blue. The scrollwork on the carving is Modelmakers Brass enamel. I use Vallejo acrylic paints everywhere else. After planking the transom, I painted it black. The Transom window frames were removed from Thickset F and the char sanded off. A quick test fit found them to be way too small! So, I cut some 1/32” square stripwood to insert as trim at the front of the window openings. I painted the trim with Yellow Ochre before gluing in place. I also painted the window frames. Cut pieces of plastic packaging to size to fit in the back of the window openings like glass. Used a touch of CA glue to sandwich the undersized window frames between the trim and the “glass”. Painted the back of the windows a Light Gray that I had left over from Bluenose. I decided it was simpler and pleasing, at least to my eye, to make all the windows instead of the dummy in the middle. Meanwhile, I was working on the transom carving. I did a lot of prep work before painting. I washed it in an ultrasonic jewelry bath (I actually do this with all the brittania metal). Then I polished it with the Dremel. I still did not like the overruns of metal all over the piece. So, I used a small carving burr in the Dremel and drilled out most of the excess metal. I think this turned out pretty well. I had planned to do a 2-step with acrylic paint over enamel and a rubbing alcohol wash to expose the scrollwork. I read about others doing it this way. I painted the entire piece with brass enamel. But then I decided to simply paint the blue background with a super fine brush under my magnifying glass/light. This worked quite well. I was able to wipe off any blue that got on the scrollwork with a damp dental swab! For the ship’s name, I really liked the way builder Dziadeczek used a sign board. I cut a 1/8” x 3/32” x 1.5” plank & painted it yellow ochre. I used clear laserjet decal paper w/ black lettering for the ship name. I applied 3 coats of Micro-Sol to help dissolve some of the decal material. I needed to do something with the empty gap below the transom carving. So, I painted a single wider molding strip at the bottom of the transom. Painted it Ultramarine Blue. The name plank was glued between this molding and the windows. This molding covers the space below the carving. Finally, inserted a pair of 1/32” molding strips between the name plank and the transom carving on either side. Used a rubber band to hold the finished piece in place to see what it looks like. I also installed the transom beam across the transom supports. I'm not sure when I’m going to actually attach the transom to the stern. Probably just before planking the bulwarks or when it becomes necessary to continue with the upper hull. Next step is to install the waterway.

Stage B: Upper Hull – Planking & Deck Details Step 12: Knightheads & Timberheads I completed a couple of more steps with my Rattlesnake build by installing the Knightheads & Timberheads. From the plans it looks like these are about the size of a hull plank. I see that some builders use heavier pieces of stripwood to provide more support for the hull planks as they curve around the bow. I decided to follow this plan, but I don’t want to go too crazy. I kind of stumbled onto using the center posts leftover on the thick set for the bulkheads. Standing sideways the 3/32” depth is good with the lasercut Foc’sl railings. I cut 4 of these off and installed them. I used the Dremel with a cutting burr to draw the cut down the filler block at the right depth. Finished with files & sanding sticks to square up the hole. I’m going to wait until I’m ready to install the railing before gluing the pieces in place. I foresee some adjustments being required to line everything up. NOTE: I did not consider the fact that a cannon gunport needs to fit between bulkhead A and the knightheads. Fortunately, I unwittingly left enough room for this! I did use the blueprint plan and some dividers to space them out. I may leave these two gunports closed anyway. Step 13: Install Inboard & Outboard Transom Supports Next up is the Inboard & Outboard transom supports. These are provided as lasercut parts. My inboard supports were too short to reach the end of the counter block. I saw in someone’s Rattlesnake log they had the same issue and used a piece of scrap wood to extend the supports so they would fit. I'm not too shy to "borrow" a good idea! Everything got glued in place with Weldbond. I was afraid that the Outboard Supports just hanging from the edge of BHD M would be a bit flimsy. So, I decided to insert a piece of beveled stripwood on the inside to provide additional support. This also helped me to align the supports along the edge of the counter more easily. The bottom edge was sanded to match the angle of bhd M. I also beveled the top edge as indicated on the plans. Additional sanding was performed to get the transom to fit flush against the counter and the four supports. Also, smoothed the transition from the bottom edge of the supports into the sides of the counter block. I have not seen this anywhere, but I beveled under the notches to allow the transom to fit flush up to it. I’ve already started working on the transom and transom carving. It has been a real challenge to get everything to fit properly!! Thanks to my support team out there, I’m making progress now. Pictures to follow!

Welcome aboard Chuck

Yes! I learned that with my Bluenose. You have to be really careful when looking at the blueprint plans. Some are to scale, some are "pictorial" only and others are double the scale to show detail better. I highlight those notes on my plans so I don't get them confused!!

Thanks Everyone for your replies. Dave, thanks for the additional pics. My transom actually matches the plan drawing pretty closely. I see that your transom carving reaches from the top to the bottom of the laser-cut transom. Mine simply comes up short! There's not enough metal!! Weird. Jim, thanks for your input. I am going to fit it to the top, as you recommended, and deal with the gap at the bottom. Not sure how. I've seen a couple of older builds, like Bill Campbell, where he just left the space blank. If I can carve a decent looking trim piece, I will use it. Otherwise, I may just leave the transom painted at the bottom. Stay tuned!

OK Guys! I have a question for you all. My Transom Carving does not cover the top to bottom length of the laser cut transom. It is too short! With fear and trembling I managed to successfully pull the ends of the carving outward, using my hands, to fit the width of the the transom. I used a sanding stick to trim the edges to fit the carving. But, as I'm looking at the carving laying on the transom it's not tall enough!! Should I fit it at the top?? (Which is what I did when I was stretching it open) Then leave the bottom with just the wood? Or should I position it so it's even with the bottom of the transom and sand off the extra wood that shows at the top? Here are pictures showing these 2 options. I've never heard anyone complain about this fit. Has anyone else run into this? Option 1: Carving postioned at the top with wood showing below Option 2: Carving postioned flush with the bottom and extra wood at the top. Note the window openings are a little cramped like this. I would appreciate any input. Also, my windows are significantly smaller than the holes in the transom. I know this is a common problem. I saw one suggestion that if you are planking the transom, which I plan to do, over lap the hole a bit and set the windows against the planks. I think it would be difficult to get an even overlap of planking around each of these windows! Maybe some 1/32" trim on the outboard edges? What did you guys do? Thanks, Ed

John, your Rattlesnake is coming along beautifully! I did full length planks on my Bluenose. But I did not use the "Belt" method for trimming the planks width-wise. I forced in some stealers at the end. I am going to try to do a full blown planking job on my Ratt. However, I think I will slip in a full length strake every now and then to help align the butted ones better. At the end, a really good sanding & painting job covers a lot of sins however!! I'm following your build now! Thanks, Ed

Hi John, I've read through your build log a while back and took a lot of good information from it. I made notes from you and JPett about the inboard bulkhead fairing. I might not have picked up on that otherwise. Welcome to the party! Glad to have you aboard. Let me know when any other pearls of wisdom come to mind. I will be following your build as well. Looks like you are getting close to completing planking. Looks great! Thanks, Ed

Thanks Dave! Hope you have a great time on your vacation. If you're on the Big island, watch out for molten lava flowing down the road!! Haven't had as much hobby time the past couple of weeks. Busy with family stuff this time of year. But, that's no problem...its not a hobby if you're in a hurry, right? Safe travels, Ed

Step 11: Fairing the Hull I completed Step 11 in my build procedure over the last couple of days. This concludes what I call Stage A: FRAMING the HULL. Step 11 consists of checking over the bulkheads and then fairing (sanding) the BHD edges to get a flat surface for the planks to be glued on. Here are the individual tasks I completed in this step. Step 11: Check every BHD and then Fair the hull a. Bearding Line – make sure it’s deep enough all the way around. Test fit planks including the Garboard strake b. Make sure BHD’s are at the right length and do not run past the bearding line c. Bow & Stern Blocks – sand and add wood filler as needed to get a smooth transition at both ends d. Attach test Battens to see where BHD’s need sanding or shimming e. Shim & sand the Quarterdeck and Forecastle deck so they are aligned under a straightedge f. Do a final sanding (FAIR the hull) by doing the BHD’s & filler blocks all together Here is what the Bearding Line looks like on both sides of the ship. I had to make the cut a little deeper at the keel in a several spots. The Bulkheads looked pretty good here with only a little sanding required I had added another filler block behind BHD A to help make the curve into the bow easier for planking. I put a bunch of wood filler in some gaps there. I sanded everything down. There are still a few holes, but I think there is enough surface that these will not be a problem. I marked the location of the A, B & C planking belts. I attached test battens to see where there were bumps or dips. The bulkheads mostly required shimming in a number of spots. These got sanded smooth along with the BHD’s at the bow & stern where they need to be angled. Example of a shim glued to one of the BHD’s and the faired frame P/S Finally, I added a lot of shims on the quarterdeck and the forecastle deck. I did not attempt to make the height at the tops of these bulkheads equal. I studied & measured the plans and it seems to me that there is a definite slope on both of these decks toward the midship (BHD G). I shimmed and sanded until my straight edge lay flat across all the BHD’s. I hope I haven’t screwed the whole model up, but I had to go with my gut on this one!! Quarterdeck after shimming and sanding. The center bubble on the level shows the slope toward midship. Please give me your comments or suggestions! I’m on to STAGE B: Upper Hull Planking and Deck Details

Hi Dave, good to hear you are doing well health wise. And also glad to see you back at it with your Bluenose. I like the jigs you made to cut the mast tenons and cheeks. Wish I'd thought of that when I was doing mine. Keep up the good work! Ed

Dave, are you using an air brush or regular paint brush? If air, make sure you buy paint made for an air brush. I've had trouble with paint flow otherwise. I did not like the ME paints I got for my Bluenose. I used Vallejo paints, either their Model Air or Model Color paint. Had good results with them. You can buy most of these singly on Amazon. I purchased Model Air "Off White" for the lower hull. I kind of like the "tallow" color look together with the yellow ochre and black above. So, I guess everyone has their own eye for color!!

Hi Dave, I put the boys on a sandpaper diet this afternoon and took a couple of pics of the results. I tried to get a good angle so you can see the profile. Do they look any better? My double-faced tape isn't holding the starboard side too well. I took a lot more wood off, but not sure you can tell from these pics. Also, I identified the wrong build log earlier. The pictures I liked were by Dimitry Markov from Moscow. He had a really nice looking Ratt build going, but his last post was in April of 2021. He took some good pictures! Too bad he didn't continue.

Thanks for the feedback Dave! I thought they looked a little fat too, but don't want to take too much off either. You can't put it back! I was looking at the log by Divarty last night. He has a lot of nice pictures of the planked stern. As long as he's done it well. It looks good to me. Enjoy your time in Hawaii. I'm jealous!

Step 10: Carving the Stern Filler Blocks I found that carving these filler blocks was hard to do!! I traced the initial shape from cutouts off the plans and then used a coping saw/mini-vise to cut off a few chunks of the excess wood. Thank goodness I bought a Dremel! I raised clouds of sawdust with the 60 grit sanding drum getting these pieces into shape. The pictures below show the filler blocks just double-face taped to BHD M. I don’t know how much more sanding I need to do to allow the planks to bend around this curve! I think I’m going to have to soak a plank to see if I can get it to bend without breaking. I’d appreciate any comments/advice from everyone. Do I need to take more wood off?