AnobiumPunctatum

This is looking really really good.

I have started working on a building board following the description in Ed Tosti's Naiad book.  I used a similar, smaller board for by galley Washington.  I still need to build the gantry and accessory parts for holding the keel, aligning frames, etc.
 
 

I have collected a number of references for building this ship.  I started with a printed copy of the lines plans from the National Maritime Museum.  I have also made a lot of use of "The Elements and Practice of Naval Architecture 1812" which is available as an electronic download from Google books.  I have also taken a lot of dimensions from "Scantlings of Royal Navy Ships 1719-1805" by Allan Yedlinsky.  That book contains information from "The Shipbuilders Repository" of 1788.  Both "The Elements and Practice of Naval Architecture" and "The Shipbuilders Repository" are believed to have used the Porcupine class in the tables of scantlings for 24 gun ships.  I have found the dimensions from "The Shipbuilders Repository"  seem to more closely match the dimensions from the Admiralty Draught in many cases vs. dimensions from "The Elements and Practice of Naval Architecture."  I also have the "Anatomy of the Ship The 24-Gun Frigate Pandora" book by John McKay and Ron Coleman.  This book is a treasure trove of information for a very similar ship. 
 
I have finished all the basic drawings that I need to get started building, but still have work to go to have a "full set" of working drawings.  I have little concern that it will be easy enough to keep ahead of construction with the drawing development.  I am far enough along that I have confidence that I can start building without any regrettable mistakes to have to deal with later.  

The fun begins.  My references indicate the keel should be built up in 5 segments 13" square.  I am using swiss pear for the keel and frames.  My plan is to cut the scarphs for the keel on the mill and cut the boxing joint with chisels.  We'll see how that goes .  I glued a copy of the stem to a piece of plastic to use as a template for shaping both the boxing joint and the stem later.
 

I've managed to cut the scarphs for the keel as well as the section with the boxing joint.  It only took me 3 tries to make the section with the boxing joint without messing something up   Plenty of good size pieces for the scrap box.  

On a project of this nature, there will be more scrap. One needs a decent sized box. The good news is that much can be re-purposed along the way. Also, you will find the failure rate will go down as you get more experience under your belt. Been there, so I know!
 
Boxing joint looks good now.

This is looking really really good.

Mast steps
Over the weekend I completed the two mast steps. The location of these is very important and the plans really helped me out here.
 
Mizzen step: The first thing I did was to tack glue the three sections together with a spot or two of school glue. Then I milled the notch which goes over the keelson. After breaking the pieces apart, I milled the notch into the top of the middle piece and glued the aft and middle sections together permanently. Next, I angled the bottom edge about 5° to account for the upward sweep of the keelson. I worked the two sections until everything was sitting flush with the limber strakes and keelson. The fore section was then positioned over the keelson, against the first two pieces, and shaped accordingly.
 
You might be asking, why didn't I  just glue all three pieces together from the start? It wasn't long before I realized that the shape of the fore and aft pieces were not Identical. The aft piece had a slightly different angle at the foot than the fore piece. This is due to the twist in the limber strake, I think. Doing this in stages allowed me to get each piece angled correctly without the hassle of trying to work the whole piece at once.
 
According to the plan, the center of the mizzen step sits .151" (approx 5/32") in front of the aft edge of frame 11F. I glued the step into position using a cross piece and shim to account for that distance. This also helped to get the step perpendicular to the keel.

Main step: This was made basically the same way as the mizzen step. It sits over frame Ba. Unlike the mizzen step, I didn't need to taper the foot. The distance between the centers of the two steps is approx 9-5/32".

For the pins I turned down a 1/16" dowel using the Dremel tool. They are press fitted without the need for glue.

I've had so much fun making these that I almost forgot that I need to finish up the outer hull planking.😏
 
Mike

Limber strakes
I guess these strakes are for the most part hidden. Still, having never made them before I decided to give these a try. I used the plan drawings as usual for the templates. Rather than shape them exactly to the template, I left some wiggle room in case adjustments where needed. The rabbet on the inside edge was cut with a simple scraper made from a hacksaw blade.
 
After adding the center section, I proceeded to add the fore and aft sections while trying to maintain as smooth a run along the outer edge of the strakes as possible. Both the aft and fore sections have a twist which needs to be taken into account one way or another. I was able to twist the aft section with wet heat and hold it in position while the slow drying CA set. I couldn't get enough twist in the fore section. If these were made from AYC rather than boxwood, it wouldn't have been a problem. Rather than torture myself, I went with some very expensive and exotic tools in order to give me a helping hand.

Mike

Hello,
 
Welcome to my build log of the Hayling Hoy. David Antscherl's excellent book on this build says that it is suitable for a first time builder attempting a fully framed model. Well, I am certainly a first time scratch builder and this will be my first fully framed model so I hope he is correct! I decided to attempt this build as I wanted to stretch my skills and techniques and also because I knew it would be a very long project. I really don't have that much spare space to display finished models and so the longer I can keep one on the building board the better! I was impressed and encouraged by previous first time scratch builders who have also attempted this build, notably @Stuntflyer and @Seventynet and I hope I can come up with something that even approaches their excellent work.

I have no background or experience in woodworking and whilst I do own a few of the machines that may help with this build, eg table saw, thicknesser, mill etc I haven't had a great deal of experience using them to date and so this will be a learning experience for me on those tools as well as in regard to the techniques of scratch building a fully framed model. There will be plenty of mistakes and do overs on the way but I'm not worried about that as it will all be a part of the project. I will of course welcome any advice and ideas from people who feel that they would like to contribute. I know I have a lot to learn and I am looking forward to it. Progress is going to be slow as I don't get that much time each week to devote to modelling but hopefully I will keep going forwards! 
 
Being based in Australia I really don't have access to the lovely types of wood I often read about on this forum but there are of course native options. I have decided to use some myrtle that seems to be in readily available supply. So far I have only purchased a couple of small pieces just to get started with. The myrtle seems very like pear wood (to my untutored eye at least) and hopefully will make a lovely coloured model with fine graining.

I have spent that last few weeks getting ready to start this project and that included getting the plans copied and making my building board. I used some mdf for the base of the board and added some pine battens underneath. I have seen a couple of builds that use t track as part of the building board and so I decided to copy that idea and I also made some wooden squares to use with the t track. I added a couple of coats of white paint to the board and then glued down the plan using some spray adhesive. It seemed like a good idea to add a coat of artists' varnish over the plan but clearly that was a mistake as it only succeeded in introducing lots of wrinkles - so that wasn't a good start. Either I hadn't glued the plan down sufficiently or the spray varnish just didn't like that particular paper. So off with that plan and on with another copy, this time glued down with lots of Bostick blu stick - and it seems to be sticking well so far. I didn't bother with the varnish this time around. I also extended the lines of the frames out onto the board which should hopefully make things easier to line up and keep square etc down the track.

Today I actually made a start on the build itself and began with cutting out the pieces for the keel. The keel is made of three separate pieces joined with scarps joints. The rear two pieces are simply 12" square lengths and I deliberately made them over long as I wanted to make sure I had plenty of excess to work with in case I made a mess when cutting the scarph joint. The scarph joints were cut on the table saw and then the faces of the cuts tidied up with a small chisel. 

Strangely, the keel sections look far from square in that photo above but it must just be the perspective - they are square honestly!
 
Next job is to tackle the forward section of the keel with the boxing joint.
 

I disagree with your meaning, @Dr PR . I have reconstructed until know 3 different ships in 2D and for the first one most of the frames build following my 2D drawings. Everything is fitting really well.
I also checked my 2D reconstruction with 3D models with the help of a colleague and there are also no waves.
For construction in 2D it is really important to check the hull with buttock and horizontal lines. If you forget the buttock line it can produce waves.
I am in the moment busy with the frame drawings for the sloop Fly and I am quite sure that the hull will also be smooth. For my CNC I give later a few tens of a millimeter to allow some tolerances during the build. These are the biggest inaccuracies.
 
 

I disagree with your meaning, @Dr PR . I have reconstructed until know 3 different ships in 2D and for the first one most of the frames build following my 2D drawings. Everything is fitting really well.
I also checked my 2D reconstruction with 3D models with the help of a colleague and there are also no waves.
For construction in 2D it is really important to check the hull with buttock and horizontal lines. If you forget the buttock line it can produce waves.
I am in the moment busy with the frame drawings for the sloop Fly and I am quite sure that the hull will also be smooth. For my CNC I give later a few tens of a millimeter to allow some tolerances during the build. These are the biggest inaccuracies.
 
 

Chuck wasn’t lying, there is lots of wood!
 
Shawn

After completing my Washington Galley, I am ready to start a new project.  I will start on the HMS Crocodile of 1781.  The Crocodile was a 24 gun Porcupine class post ship.  It is a sister ship of the famous HMS Pandora of 1779.  It was a ship of no particular significance and was wrecked off Prawle Point, England in 1784.  I chose the Crocodile for several reasons.  Firstly, I was looking to do a small frigate that would be a "reasonable size" at 1:48 scale.  Secondly, I wanted to do a ship that I have never seen anyone build before.  Thirdly, I really like the look of the ship in the drawings that are available from the NMM.  
 
I purchased the plans of the ship from the National Maritime Museum.  The plans include the figurehead and stern carvings.  I am blown away by the beauty of the original drafting and that the plans are still in good shape after over 240 years.  I have been working for several months drafting working drawings in TurboCad.  I am hoping to finish the model over the next 8+ years.
 
I would like to thank a number of people before I even get started.  I followed Wayne Kempson's article Drafting Ship Plans in CAD from the NRG homepage almost from start to finish to draft the lines plans for Crocodile.  I also have worn out the drafting section of Ed Tosti's Naiad book and David Antscherl's Fully Framed Model series.  I do not think it would have been possible for me to draft a set of plans for a fully framed model without all of their work.   Allan Yedlinsky's book Scantlings of Royal Navy Ships 1719-1805 has also been immensely helpful.  Finally thank you to all the members of MSW going back to the original MSW for all the inspiration and for answering questions over the years.  I don't think I would ever have even dreamed of starting a model of this complexity without seeing all the great work done by so many amazing modelers over the years.
 
Adam

The bit pins are 9” square posts.  The crosspiece is 8’ x 10” x 3” and connects the two pins.  It is morticed into the pins 3’ above the deck.  Shape the ends of the crosspiece as seen in the picture.  I raided my scrap box again for these pieces but the kit will contain the correct thickness of basswood to construct them.

 
I used the previously drilled pilot holes to locate the centers of the bitt pins and lightly  traced the outline of the bitt pin onto the deck.  A series of holes was drilled inside the outline and they were connected with a #11 blade.  They were enlarged with files until the openings were just large enough to allow the bit pin to pass through them.  They will not be permanently installed until later to make installing the mast easier.

This is how the model looks with everything temporarily installed.

Other than installing the channels, the hull is complete.  Next, the wale was painted.  The hull planking was masked off above and below the wale.  I used three coats of artist’s acrylic paint diluted 1:3 paint to water, sanding with 400 grit sandpaper between coats.  I remove the tape as soon as the last coat has been applied to prevent paint adhering to the tape.


 

One of the benefits of working at 1/32" scale is of course the size.  I think its easier to handle the parts and keep things neat and tidy.  But in addition to that you can really get a lot of details in there.  Stuff I would never attempt to add on smaller scales.  Further, 1/32 and better yet 1/35 scale is a very popular modeling scale.  There are so many aftermarket parts and details available for builders at this scale.  This includes figures and accessories.  Like the small cups and pitcher.   Its all readily available on Etsy or Ebay.   Its also fun to just look.   I am waiting on a few other things I made add.  
 
The barrels are Syren barrels.   I am also getting some new ones in stock I think you guys will like.   It might be a while though.
 

The checker is still very tiny but that is laser cut by me including small very teensy checkers.  The stools are also laser cut in cedar and very differnt from the cushy chairs in the great cabin for the officers.
 

The cups and tea cups and teapot are all 3d prints from EBAY.  They were cheap and there are so many to choose from....you can add crates and boxes full of food and pots and pans and utensils. Its really just up to you and how much fun you might want to have with it.
 

The officer in the great cabin is from Vanguard.  It had a tall hat so I removed that and just shaped some hair in the traditional pony tail of the day.   I didnt want to really paint these items as I want them to all fade into the background.  I want to keep it all very suggestive and simple.   So rather than paint everything with realistic coloring with all the uniform colors and fanfare,  I am just finishing all this stuff as if it was wood color...and carved.   Its a minimalist approach so the ship itself takes center stage.  But it will all be covered and just barely visible when the decks are planked.  But still you might just get a glimpse and a happy surprise if you look hard enough.   I think it will be fun.
 
I do actually have a few more 1/32 and 1/35 scale odds and ends coming in the mail.    We shall see if they make the cut and I add them to the model.  I dont want to over do it.  For all you guys who would do the same...try and stick with 1/35 scale details.  They are plentiful and just a tad smaller and look better on the model.
 

 
Chuck
 
 

Decided not to work today and instead start working on the fcastle beams.
 
Its basically the same as establishing the height for the gundeck beams and deck clamps.  There is a template provided for you.  But yes you can measure it any way you feel comfortable.   Trace the bottom of the template in pencil.  
 

The line you just drew will become the TOP of the deck clamp for the fcastle beams.   I will repeat that...The top edge of the deck clamp.  
 
Once the deck clamp is in position which is a small length of 1/4" x 1/16" cedar strip,  we can proceed with the first deck beams.   There are two we must contend with first.   One is a gundeck beam....and the one above that is the first fcsatle beam.  They are both 1/4" deep but the fcastle beam on top is much thinner.  Those beams were not as heavy.
 

In the photo above you can see how the aft edge of these two beams are all flush with the riding bitts.  This is important.  The riding bitts are not glued in position yet and we can use them to establish the position of both beams.   The beams must of course be cleaned of char and cut to length so they sit nicely on to of the deck clamps for them.  These two beams can be glued in position but still refrain from gluing the riding bitts in place.  Also do not glue in the fire hearth yet.   Although this will sit flush against both beams and can help you position them as well.

 
Next up I will start working on the remaining 3 fcastle deck beams but I wont glue them in position just yet.
 
 

As the weather has been nice over the last two weeks, I've swapped my little shipyard for my bike. As a result, I haven't got as far as I had planned.

As I wrote in the last part, I want to try a different technique for the after deadwood, especially to avoid milling on both sides. Firstly, the individual components of the deadwood are milled once with the correct side and once mirrored. In order to be able to glue the two sides together later, recesses are milled into which fitting pieces are glued before gluing them together.

The next picture shows the components removed from the board and trimmed.

Before gluing them together, a few small curves that inevitably result from the milling cutter must be removed. I do this with my little Proxxon.

The last picture shows the individual components after gluing them together.

A weak point became apparent when machining the parts. The direction of the wood grain of the tabs, which are used to position the finished component on the keel, follows the overall part. It would have been better to mill the tabs separately and rotate the grain by 90°. This would have made the components much less susceptible to breakage.

In the next part of the report, both sides of the deadwood parts will be milled and the deadwood glued together.

The first component for the backbone of the Alert is the Fore Deadwood. This was milled from a piece of boxwood.
Even though I am very happy with the finished part, I will use a different technique for the aft deadwood. Before I could hold the finished part in my hands, I had a few failed attempts. With a much more complicated component, this method is unlikely to work satisfactorily.

It's time to put the dust away. Ten years ago I started with great enthusiasm the build of the small cutter. But to be honest I was not able to reconstruct the framing of the cutter. So I stopped after some time and paused the project. In October of 2022 I started a new try.
I lerned a lot and made a complete rework of my reconstruction. The first two pictures are showing a 3D-model which I used to check my lines.


 
As written in the old posts I was not happy with the frame design in Goodwins AotS Book. In my opinion, it does not fit into the time in which the cutter was built. There are several DoF plans of small ships of this era in the NMM. What almost all of them have in common is that the double frames were dissolved. A space was also left between the first futtock and the floortimber. However, the "double frames" were still connected by chocks.
 
The picture shows my reconstruction. I have it a little bit simplified, because I w like to plank the hull, so the shifted top timbers will not be visible. Many many thanks to @Chuck who gave me the inspiration for the simplification.
 

Since February last year I am working on the model. All parallel frames have been built in the meantime. I am now busy with a second version of the backbone.
The build is more or less a test to learn working with my CNC. In November I have started working on my sloop Fly again. The plan is to build and test the building methods on Alert and use this than for my ship sloop.

Fixed blocks
This weekend seemed to be a good time to get started on the fixed blocks. Six are on the ship with the two really small ones near the transom completed, but off the ship. I'm not sure if I will add them before or after planking that area. I decided to scratch them, using the mill to make the slot between the two holes.
 
When I originally drew in the upper wale location with the hull template, I also marked the location of the blocks. I could have gone with that and it would have been fine. However, since I started the build I've tried to measure off the plan sheet whenever possible. So, here again, that's what I did. I only needed to measure and drill the position of one of the two hole locations for each block. Then it was just a matter of establishing the distance for the second hole while aligning the top of the block parallel to the shear.
 
Here is how I made the tiny rounded shape representing the sheave. It's only .020" deep.



Mike

Finishing up the stern structure, there is just 4 more pieces I need to add 

these are here to help with planking, the lower pieces have a fairing reference line as you can see below

the horizontal pieces get installed first

and after you have sanded the lower pieces they can then be installed. You can see the notches cut into the top, these just fit right under those frames and should line up with the bottom Of frame 25.

now I will completely fair out the stern and prepare the counter for planking. A .25”x.0625” rabbet strip will also need to be added to the stern.

Happy sanding!
 
JJ
 

As the weather has been nice over the last two weeks, I've swapped my little shipyard for my bike. As a result, I haven't got as far as I had planned.

As I wrote in the last part, I want to try a different technique for the after deadwood, especially to avoid milling on both sides. Firstly, the individual components of the deadwood are milled once with the correct side and once mirrored. In order to be able to glue the two sides together later, recesses are milled into which fitting pieces are glued before gluing them together.

The next picture shows the components removed from the board and trimmed.

Before gluing them together, a few small curves that inevitably result from the milling cutter must be removed. I do this with my little Proxxon.

The last picture shows the individual components after gluing them together.

A weak point became apparent when machining the parts. The direction of the wood grain of the tabs, which are used to position the finished component on the keel, follows the overall part. It would have been better to mill the tabs separately and rotate the grain by 90°. This would have made the components much less susceptible to breakage.

In the next part of the report, both sides of the deadwood parts will be milled and the deadwood glued together.

The first component for the backbone of the Alert is the Fore Deadwood. This was milled from a piece of boxwood.
Even though I am very happy with the finished part, I will use a different technique for the aft deadwood. Before I could hold the finished part in my hands, I had a few failed attempts. With a much more complicated component, this method is unlikely to work satisfactorily.

Aaah, Speedwell chapter 1 and 2 sold out directly while I was asleep in Europe...