AnobiumPunctatum

Front view after initial sanding.  I went "all in" with my basswood filler pieces.  I cut and glued basswood throughout the entire model, to ensure I'd have a nice and smooth surface for the planks to lay upon.  After more sanding, this should be a pretty nice surface.

Photo of the inside before sanding.  There's a part of me that really enjoys having horrendous "innards" to my models, which are then covered up with planking.  You can see how much sanding needs to be done on the inside for a smooth surface.  I'm also cutting out the center pieces of the templates, and setting them on the tops of the bulkheads.  By doing so, it's really easy to see which inside aspects of each bulkhead need to be sanded.

Assembling the stern pieces with basswood

I used to have a Triton log, but it went down with the crash years ago.  My priority is to finish my Syren, but thought I'd post my old photos with a few comments.  I don't see a lot of POB logs on here, and suspect people considering the POB version might be hesitant due to the lack of logs, and mentions of a bulkhead which might be out of scale.
 
I've rescaled the plans to 1:64 which is my preferred scale.   The keel pieces are pear.  The photo shows a number of test pieces.
 

That looks much better!
Steve

Thank You Gentlemen....
 
I installed the thwarts and painted them.    Then I began planking the area above them.   I glued one laser cut, pre-spiled plank above the thwarts.  The interesting thing about this plank is the fact that it doesnt extend up to the shear.  It in fact is only wide enough to just touch the bottom edge of the caprail.   This leaves a consistent rabbet or ledge all around the caprail.   Then smaller lengths of laser cut wood the same thickness of the planking are strategically placed on top of this plank.  These small strips do extend to the sheer and are sanded flush with the top of the cap rail.   These pieces are ONLY placed where an oarlock (tholes) will be located.   And they alternate port to starbord as is typical with single banked barges.  This can be seen clearly in the photograph supplied of a typical contemporary model of a barge.
 

 

 
Once Painted I couldnt wait to try out my laser cut panels.  I didnt even wait until all of the interior planking was completed.  This was a real pain to do on the pinnace model and those of you who have built that kit can probably agree.   For the pinnace kit, in order to create the panels you had to first scrape some molding strips to create the fancy profile while keeping the strips very thin.   Then each panel was made by hand where you had to miter each corner of every square panel.  It took dozens of hours over several days.   To alleviate this pain I tried to design laser cut panels with a fancy molded edge. It was of huge importance that this work and look good, in addition to the time savings I was planning on including the friezes in this kit.  If they were laser cut and a consistent size I could include them no problems....
 
I was pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out.  What took dozens of hours over several days on the Pinnace took only a half hour to do on this barge.
 
I have just tested these in position and they are not glued into place yet.  That will be done later after I finish the inboard planking.  The panels are very delicate at only 1/32" thick.  So I sanded the top surface to clean it up and make it bright.  I used a light touch with 320 grit paper.  Then I lightly sanded the outside edges only.  I didnt bother with the inside edges because the panels are too fragile.   I also didnt bother trying to remove the laser char from the etched fancy profile.   After sanding the edges lightly the darker char actually emphasizes the profile and looks rather good.   I would hope you all agree.  They are made from boxwood and once finished with wipe-on-poly they look quite nice.  Friezes printed on paper will be inserted into each panel much like the contemporary model shown above.
 

 
 
 
 

As many of my favorite modelers are posting updates this weekend I thought I'd share some recent progress on Speedwell. She is now sporting her copper cupola (say that three times quickly!) which arches over the steps to the "Great Cabin". I use that term in quotes because, after the lockers are installed, there is little room for the commanding Lieutenant. But this little vessel was designed for shore duty and was seldom used for sleeping. The cupola was shaped from a square of holly, hollowed out then spray painted with a hammered copper finish followed by matte varnish.
 
The rudderhead cover was also shaped from a holly plug which was then hollowed out. The panels were added to each side. Each one was a different dimension and all are hand fitted.
 
A little more work on the inside and outside of the hull and Speedwell, Volume I, will be off to the press!
 
 

Another photo
 

A signed copy is a really nice offer. I'll wait for the book

A signed copy is a really nice offer. I'll wait for the book

A signed copy is a really nice offer. I'll wait for the book

A signed copy is a really nice offer. I'll wait for the book

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 212 – Mizzen Stay
 
Before moving to the mizzen stay I had to replace the aft chain plate on the port side and make and dye some more 3½" lanyard rope.  This went rather quickly and the mizzen shrouds were completed as shown in the first picture.
 

 
The next picture shows the completed mizzen stay.
 

 
The stay is looped over the shrouds at the mizzen top, fed through the lubber's holes on each side and secured with three round seizings.  At the lower end it passes through a bullseye shackled to an eyebolt on the main mast and ends in a thimble secured by another three round seizings.  This is lashed to an eyebolt in the deck.
 
Again, because of the soldered shackle, the eyebolt/bullseye assembly had to be prefabricated.  It was slipped over the stay as shown in the next picture, allowing the lower seizings to be done off the model and avoiding having to pass the leathering through the bullseye.
 

 
The stay is roughly the same size as the shrouds, is served and leathered at the top, and served at the bottom.  The lower seizings have been put on and a temporary thread is attached to secure the bottom while the masthead collar is secured.   The next picture shows that collar.
 

 
 The next picture shows the lower end of the installed stay with the permanent lashing to the deck eyebolt.
 

 
The last step in completing the lower standing rigging was to put leathering on the mainstay legs astride the foremast.  I had forgotten to do this earlier.  The next picture shows this painted wrapping.
 

 
The last picture shows the model at the current state, with all the lower shrouds and stays installed.
 

 
The next step will be to tackle the bowsprit, but I may begin some ratline work to help me spread out that tedious task.  This will also allow me to make and fit the shroud fairleads.
 
 
Ed

Please welcome and thank Wood Project Source for becoming a sponsor of Model Ship World.  WPS supplies milled wood sheets and strips along with carving blocks for many hobbies.  Their specialty is Alaskan Yellow Cedar Sheets and Carving Blocks.  Other species like Yellow Heart, Purple heart, Butternut, Applewood, Dogwood and Mahogany are soon to follow.

 

They also carry the staples for our hobby like Boxwood, Swiss Pear and others.  They are just finishing up their new website so please have some patience with them as they continue adding more wood species and products to their online store.  They have many more than I listed.

 

I have personally bought from them many times as they are close by and I gotten to know the owner.  I have bought some Yellow Cedar and Boxwood from them and will say that I am very happy with the quality of the wood.  They have fantastic prices and they are the lowest I have seen for some wood sheets.

 

Please join me in welcoming them as a sponsor of MSW.

 

Visit their site and check them out.  I am grateful they decided to become a sponsor and didnt hesitate after I asked them about it.

 

www.woodprojectsource.com

Just an update on the barge prototype.  Work has continued since I got back from Annapolis.  It was quite inspiring.  Compare some of the images of the contemporary barge model.  It was very helpful being able to examine it close up.  The riser and stretcher timbers have been added.  All are laser cut.  Then the forward platform.
 
I am now test fitting the thwarts in position.   These are all just dry fit.  No glue.....yet.   The thwarts are all laser cut with etched trim.  There are little notches laser cut on both sides to accept the center board between each thwart.  I will dry fit them all together and then glue them in afterwards.  I want to ensure a proper fit with thaat center board going straight down the center.  Once I know that is OK I will glue them in and paint them.  Or paint them first...I am not sure yet.
 
Chuck
 

 

Dan,
 
these are sad news. I hope that the chemo help and wish you all the best

So next was adding balsa filler blocks at the bow, fairing the bulkheads and starting the first planking.
Unfortunately there was a malfunction of the HDD and I was not able to recover all of the data.
I think the pictures of the first planking are lost.
In the course of the planking process, I discovered there were some errors in the drawings (the ones from the modeler, not the plans), that made the planking
very frustrating. Up to that point, I had the feeling, scratch building is very much the same, as building a nice kit. -> o.k. lesson learned
So I did not work very often on the hull, and it took about 6 and a half years to finish the first planking.
 
I made the sides of the upper aft hull from 0,8 mm plywood. I choose this material for two reasons. The upper and lower hull sides begin to diverge in this area. This results in a vertical bend and an slight upright twist.

My son instisted to put the LEGO knight there.
 
Upper aft deck and lower forecastle deck in place:
 

 
More pics later.
 
Götz
 

@AnobiumPunctatum
 
You are right. It's a shame to hide your knowledge. But I talked to some of the members of the captains society, and they got the information, that part of this work should be part of a PhD-thesis. I asked some former collegues that stayed at the university if they can get a copy, but it seems, nothing has been published yet. I think it never will. But these members also told me, that the scientists reconstructed parts of the ship, from remains of ships. You will indeed, as stated on the website I mentioned before, find remains of these ships, as parts of interior fitting. An good example are the planks used as tables in the Restaurant "Schiffergesellschaft" (Breite Str.2, Lübeck). I don't know if there are right in the end, but from the scientific point of view it's a good approach.
 
As you are not that far from the baltic sea, I would recommend a visit to Lübeck, if you haven't done yet. Espescially the museums and also the churches have a lot of pictures and votive ships. The baltic sea is nice also, and more reliable than the north sea (water stays 24 hours )
 
@Louie da fly
When reading all your historic links and advices, I fear i will not come even near to the standard you are expecting.
 

Really wonderful work, Mike

Congrats for a beautyful cutter model, Chuck. I hope my Alert will if I have finished her as half as good.

Really nice viking ship.

Autsch!
 
I hope that now everything works well again. I got last year a MacBook Air. Since this day I use my old PC only if I am drawing with Autocad.

Yepp. That's the easiest way.

One of the best book series is in my opinion the Swan Class series from David Antscherl and Greg Herbert. For the details you want to build have a look in the original drawings at the NMM. I don't have my copy of the Triton drawings with me.

Welcome to the Triton Shipyards, very nice start.
 
In my opinion is the black line a to dark. If you want to show the caulking at the keel , you will see no difference. A lighter brown color is not so prominent.