AnobiumPunctatum

It's looking great, Kenny.

Got a little more work done in the shipyard today.  Finished up the grate for the after hatch and the stair ladder for the forward hatch.  I installed the hatch coamings and the grate and the stair ladder.  I still need to apply some wipe on poly finish.  Next up is the top sail bitt.  I also need to make some rope and rig up the guns.  Enjoy the pics and any and all comments/critiques are welcome.

I do apologize for my tardiness in updating this log. I have been in the process of restructuring my professional committments and, consequently, have neglected the more enjoyable of my pursuits. I have, however, finally worked out the likely method that was used to laterally stabilize the mainmast. The shrouds are passed inboard, not as in later vessels outboard to chainplates. The pendants from the mainmasts ( more later) are secured by tackles. This is more in keeping with the iconography of the period in mediterranean vessels. It may well have been different in the northern european vessels as illustrated by the drawings by the flemish master WA, which show chainplates. Certainly it would have been vastly simpler for me to secure the pendants outboard but, in shipmodelling, it is sometimes better to aim for accuracy rather than facility. Nonetheless, I offer this as a solution which is consistent with the scanty evidence.
Dick
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Wonderful result, Tony

Looks good. The redesign of the gun port sills is not necessary. The joints are very stable. If you want to make the joints stronger, you can use some tree nails

Thanks, Ed. The two volumes are already with me and I've been studying them. They're helpful not only for what I'm doing now, but will certainly be of use for my next model (probably Le Rochefort) and then, quite probably, the Naiad.
 
Tony

Hello everyone.
Decided to slightly update my work.
 
I made Tree nails for frames
.
 
Clean all the paper. And recommendation of using Fixo gum glue had perfect. 
 

 

 
Before assembling cut out recess for gun ports.
 

 
And finally start assembling frames.

 

 
I slightly redesigned Gun port sill. To create more stringent joint.
 

 

 
At the moment it would all. 
But to be continued.

Wonderful result, Tony

Hello

 
The upper ends of the frames are provided with supports.
So that they can be less easily damaged.

 
 
 
I started with the filling of the lower space of the frames ( i think "fillerbloks" is the correct word). 
Wooden pieces are sawn to length.

 

 
These pieces are then made at approximately the right shape.
 

 
 
And glued between the frames

 
 
A few frames also had to be adjusted. 
One side is filled up, and can be sanded.
 
One side is sanded
 
I used this machine to sand the rough shape
 

 
Some  test planking is attached (looks ok)

 
 
The frame of the stern has been modified and should now have better shape (thanks druxey).

 
One side is done and seems to have the proper shape below the waterline

 
One side to go.
 
 

 
 
Ps,
I had picture uploade problems, see :
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/15445-images-size-fixed-at-12-px/
 
Groetjes 
Greetings
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 198 – Making Futtock Shrouds
 
The lower futtock shrouds on the fore and main masts are 5 1/4" rope (meaning the circumference is 5 1/4").  This equates to a rope diameter of about 1 ¾", about .024" at 1:72 scale.  The mizzen shrouds will be 4 ½".
 
I used rope made from three strands of (.012" dia.) Barbour Irish linen suture thread for this.  I hope to use linen for all of the standing rigging – if the sizes I have will work out and if my limited inventory of quality linen holds out.  I like the hardness of the linen and its resistance to stretching for the taut standing rigging, but quality has deteriorated in recent years.  I will forgo a discussion of rope making and sizing here, but expect to fully describe the process that I use in Volume III.  Rope making methods and hardware have been well described in many sources.  I find it to be more of an art than a science that can be described simply.
 
I will instead start with the serving process.  I made my serving machine ten or twelve years ago for my Victory model.  It is shown, with some modifications since then, in the first picture.
 

 
The machine consists of large crank-driven gears at each end connected with a jack-shaft as shown.  These gears drive smaller spur gears in synchronization and at stepped up rpm.  Rope is stretched between tubular shafts through the smaller gears.  The next picture shows one of the crude collets that hold the rope.
 

 
The rope passes through the tubular shaft, allowing long lengths to be fed through at the length needed.  The picture shows the method I use to start the serving thread.  A needle is passed between the strands and the thread pulled through.  The thread used here is Guterman quilting cotton, a long-staple, fine cotton thread with virtually no fluff.  It measures about .005" to .007" diameter, equal to about ½" at 1:72 scale.  A bit thick perhaps for serving yarn, but considering that the actual rope would have been wormed and parceled before serving, not far off.
 
After several turns are lapped over the short end, it is clipped off and the serving proceeds as shown below.
 

 
The rope length between collets is adjustable by pulling the shafts through the spur gears then retightening the set screws holding the gears.  The futtock shrouds are short.  A more complete description of the process may be found in my earlier Victory log, here: 
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/316-hms-victory-by-edt-196-pob/&page=2
 
A number of served shrouds for the main and mizzen masts are shown below.
 

 
Served eyes of this large size are made from the served rope by wrapping it around the thimble and securing it with darkened Titebond glue.  It is held together until well bonded using the surgical clamp shown below. 
 

 
The jaws of the clamp have been filed to form a round opening.  The eye splice in the picture has been bonded through the serving by wetting the splice before applying glue.  When fully dry, the short end is shaved back to blend with the rope using either a razor blade or very sharp scalpel.  The joint from the thimble down to the end of the splice is then coated with glue and wrapped with serving thread as shown below.
 

 
The glued serving reinforces the splice.
 
Because of the (overnight) wait time for the Titebond to fully bond, I also tried CA on the splice with Titebond on the serving.  The CA joint with the linen does not seem to be as strong as the Titebonded joint.  I may need some more clamps.
 
The opposite ends of these futtocks are spliced in the same way, but without hooks.
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 197 – Topmast Shroud Deadeyes
 
The last post showed the forward futtock shrouds installed, but was mainly concerned changes to rigging sizes, so I skipped over the work on the shrouds.  This work started with making straps for the deadeyes from copper wire.
 
The first picture shows wire wrapped around a dowel to make consistent-sized rings that will be formed into straps.
 

 
After some testing of ring size, a ¼" dowel was determined to be the right size for this – conveniently.  I was hoping to avoid turning a special size.  After wrapping tightly, the rings were parted as shown below.
 

 
The razor blade shown above makes a clean cut in the 22 gauge wire used for these – but only one or two at a time.  The next picture shows some rings before soldering as well as the test assembly fitted into the top.
 

 
The next picture shows the top with its six deadeyes fitted through slots in the iron reinforcing strip and the wood rim below.
 

 
A variety of futtock shroud materials and methods of fastening were used during the period.  Iron bars were coming into use.  Where rope was used, connections might be shackles, hooks or lashings.  Mast connections varied.  I decided on rope with hooks at the top and lashings at the mast eyes, typical of the early clipper years.  The next step was to make the hooked-thimbles.  Some are shown in the next picture.
 

 
These thimbles were cut from 1.5mm brass tube then flared by tapping with a shaped punch.  The thimbles shown happened to be blackened first – not necessary.  The eyes in the hooks must be large enough to pass the served shroud.  To ensure this, the brass rod shown was used as a gauge when forming the hooks.  In the last picture the hooked thimbles have been blackened and are shown suspended from the straps, awaiting connection of the shrouds,
 

 
Making the shrouds will be described in the next part.
 
Ed

Hello,
 
Yes Druxey these things were human powered from the start well into the steam engine era.
 
Here are some more progress pictures. I started the bow and stern planking then I went to the side planking. On one side I will let an opening in the side planking. I had to add a couple of temporary longitudinal stiffeners until the side planking was fixed as the model was starting to hog. The stiffeners are now removed so I can fair the inside before installing the deck clamps and other permanent longitudinal pieces. I will also plank the bottom on the outside but again I will let some opening on one side.
 
On a different note - I just noticed the forum site face lift and it took me a bit to figure it out but works better than the old one. GREAT JOB web admins!
 
Alexandru

The plans do not show a binnacle but the contemporary model does.  I decided to build one.  The binnacle was made out of pear and is glazed with mica.  I toyed with the idea of putting a compass and lantern inside but for the time being I have left it empty.  The "sliding" door on the back is tack-glued so I can remove it later if I decide to make them.  The binnacle will eventually be attached to the deck with ropes via two eyebolts in the deck.  I have shown it in the correct position just abaft the mizzen mast.  The chimney is turned brass and will be kept bright.  The tiller has also been reinstalled...correctly.
 

 

 

 

It has been a while since my last posting, not for lack of working on Atalanta but for a lack of acceptable results.  The next items to make were the rails surrounding the stairway.  There are four iron stanchions supporting a rail on three sides.  The aft two are shorter to compensate for the angle of the quarter deck.  My first thought was to turn the stanchions.  There is a ball top and a flared base.  Sounds simple enough...  I tried every imaginable rpm and feed rate and universally the piece snapped off before completion.  I looked at Dan's Vulture log and he stated that he was able to turn the stanchions.  Suffice to say, after way too many hours of frustration, I gave up.  On to Plan B.  I used segments of brass tubing threaded on to the correct diameter brass wire for the ball and flare, silver soldering them in place.  Then I hand-filed the appropriate shapes.  Two of the stanchions have a single eye soldered on to them and the other two have a figure of 8 so two rails could attach to them.  All told, this deceptively simple part took almost 8 hours (otherwise known as an entire weekend).  
 
The upper capstan is temporarily positioned and the cleats have been installed.
 

 

 

wasn't gonna post any shots till the basic hull was finished, but i thought i'd add one here and there, cause i don't keep any records of the progress at home ....so at least it's somewhere
   was tired of looking at the bare side of the barn..especiall at this scale, so i added some windows...this time i use art resin which was a bit expensive but they didn't charge shipping and i oversprayed with uv protected satin urethane by minwax, and to also dull the gloss.....decided on some fancy supports for the chanels, cause i figured it's a fancy ship......added the gunport lids but not installed until i paint the insides red.....gads...my wife is keeping tabs on how much i'm spending, and it's about $2000 cdn. so far including electronics.....maybe i should have bought a kit haha....but it shouldn't be much more than that to complete...oh....i will eventually line all the windows with some leather cord or whatever you call it....for jewlery making...........getting flags printed may be a problem for a french ship ....with the british it was easy and cost little......cornwall hobbies gave me an estimate of 140 to 180 pounds.....scratch that................anyways....a la prochaine

Work continues, slowly. As the end of the build draws near I decided to get the case out of the way. I originally planned on making the case out of Plexy Glass but decided glass was a better fit. It took a fair amount of trial and error to get to a point where I was comfortable. The process of wrapping the glass with copper tape, burnishing and applying the solder was tedious. Im happy with the end result and feel it adds a more classical feel to the model. 

After some trial and error, the rudder is complete. Shaping and drilling little brass pieces on a large wood lathe is a little less then ideal but do able with some patients and extra material. I also purchased a few gadgets to help hold those small annoying little parts during soldering.

 

Finally finished the gunwales and wash-boards.



 
Once the gunwales and wash-boards were done, I relieved that I forgot all about the transom kness. Cutting them in - in place took a little patience and a slice of pizza.

Wonderful little model

Really nice progress

The planks are the next parts of the model. I Always start below the rubbing strake. This is not always the correct way of building the real ship, but it works very well for me.
Before attaching the planks I rubb the sides with a soft pencil, mostly 6B. This will imitate the caulk between the planks and the joints. The pear wood is very easy to bend. When it needs an intens bend I plunge it in hot water or I take small parts a while in my mouth. When the plank is glued to the frame (I never use nails on this scale) it will have a very dirty surface, owing to the pencil and glue. But when the entire  hull is polished and varnished it will be very nice to look at.
While working from the rubbing strake to the keel you will see the number of planks will not be the same midships as it will be at het bow and the stern. The lower I come the more inventive I have to be, to get the hull closed in a proper way. I Always avoid sharp triangels at both ends of the planks.  In case of the real ship; in a triangel piece it is impossible to hammer a nail.
Because of this the planks will not have the same width in the keel area and sharp ends are not to be seen.
In the picures the dirty surface of tartane yust after attaching the planks, and the bottom of chebec after polishing and varnishing. Note the irregular course of the planks and the solution to avoid triangular ends near the keel.
Constant
 
 

Above the rubbing strake Tartane, chebeque and Galeotta have a somewhat lighter colored wood. And sometimes a band of dark wood, inserted in the planking of the railing. The railing supports are part of the plywood frames. On scale HO these supports are to thick and only useful to attach the planks between the rubbing strake and the the railing. Once the planks are attached and glued, I carefully remove the supports, one by one, and replace them by much smaller ones in massive wood. As can be seen on the picture the two supports on the left are the original plywood supports. More to the right the replaced supports can be seen.
 

In the last posting I showed the construction I used by replacing the railing supports. By some models the railing is also planked at the inner side. In that case the supports are invisible and are not necessary to build in the model. Chebeque has both types of railing as can be seen on the picture.
This ship has also unsusual decks, owing to the construction of the hull. The main deck has on port and starboard an extra deck in order to get a horizontal place for the cannons. These decks have planks which are not attached to each other. There are open spaces between them. This means that under these decks are hollow spaces which allows overcoming water to stream away to scuppers in the side of the hull. On the pictures is to be seen that the extra decks have planks which stand square, because of this reason,  to the length of the ship. The upper deck on the stern is also of an unsual construction. The deck is partly open and partly provided with gratings. The reason for it is still a mystery. I believe that overcoming waves and rain could leave very quickly the decks, otherwise it would stream on the main deck. Unfortunally these gratings are not drawn in the correct way on plans of the chebeque. Mostly is depicted that the whole upper deck was one large grating from port to starbord. This is wrong, because the deck would be very weak and heavy. On the few existing original drawings of cebebes you will never see one large grating.
Galeotta is also planked at the innerside of the railing.
Tartane has visible supports.
This is the last posting I do to explain how I made the hulls of those three beautiful ships.
If there are any questions about these ships , please ask me.
Thanks for your interest, and please forgive my poor English.
 
Constant

Continuation.
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
Regards, Pawel
 
 

Really nice progress