AnobiumPunctatum

Today notches for the limber channels were milled into the 28 interior frames. The notches are equilateral triangles with height 1.25mm.
After placing the frames back in their proper positions within the main carlings, the limber channel is visible
 

 
 

Very sorry about the lack of updates. During the past two weeks I have been doing a lot of 'little things' - nothing that really seemed worth reporting, yet all together the job is done!
 
I did order and receive a follower rest for my lathe and this accessory helped me fashion the second scoop arm in approximately one-third the time the first took. So I feel the follower was definitely worth the money. When ordering the follower, I convinced myself that a rotary table would be a great addition to obtain. That's a pricey one, but it really made slotting the davit (chain) rollers a pleasant task. Each roller, that is about 13mm in diameter, required 20 parallel slots for metal reinforcing strips. The rotary table let, together with a slitting saw, let me make the slots an even 18 degrees apart all around the roller.
 
Work on the scoops continued. Here is a picture of the port side scoop before drilling holes for fasteners (which require a whole slew of drill bits as they quickly dulled)
 

To keep with the 'open' starboard presentation, I decided present the starboard scoop in a skeletal fashion. Here is a picture of that scoop that was taken after connecting to the vessel:
 

 
As I was approaching the final setup it was time to build a display case. Here the case is approaching completion and I am adjusting the location of the dredger inside the confines.

Once the case was painted black, the hull was mounted via bolts going up thru the arches into the nuts imbedded in the keel. Then the scoops were setup with their chains and return ropes. Finally, the scoop brails were added. Here is the result:

That picture was taken Thursday evening. Friday morning and into the early afternoon, the glass was added to the case. The finished product was loaded up into my truck and driven down to the 46th Annual Midwestern Model Ships and Boats Contest held at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. At this contest all entries are placed in group types (kit, scratch, etc.) as well as by experience (novice, intermediate, advanced).  Models are then judged individually against a rubric. Based on the number of points received, each model is then placed in an award category (bronze, silver, gold). If a modeler receives a gold in the novice category, next time they must advance a class. Similarly if a gold is received in the intermediate class, then in future years entries need to be placed in the advanced level. Last year I had received gold in the intermediate category with a kit build model of the fishing sloop Emma C. Berry. So although the dredger was to be my first scratch built entry, Kurt Van Dahm kindly directed my entry to the advanced level.
 
Needless to say, when the awards dinner came around last evening, I was hoping that my work would at least have earned a silver award - so I was extremely pleased when the dredge and my name was called for a gold award. But the evening was not over, and still unbelievable to me - the judges had determined that this model would be awarded Best of Show!!! Kurt suggested that I let you know last evening and I would have, but for some reason I was not able to access the MSW website last evening (or this morning).
 

I cannot thank you enough for the kind words and encouragement that all of you have provided me over the past 10 months. The journey has been supremely rewarding. I'm going to consider this model 'done' for now and am starting to think about my next building adventure. Again thank you and I hope that you have found some enjoyment following this build. 
 
 

Congratulation for finishing this wonderful section model.It made a lot of fun to follow your build log

Thanks, guys!
I'm essentially done with the model.  I added the channels, deadeyes and chainplates to the outboard bulwarks,  rigged the long gun and added various casks and buckets to the main deck.  I puzzled a while about how the mortar on the rotating "Lazy Susan" was rigged.  There are eight attachment points for block and tackle on the mortar pit walls, and four on the mortar itself.  It would require only two sets of block and tackle to maneuver the mortar to any point in the 360 degrees around it (except directly forward or directly aft:  "You'll shoot your mast out, kid!"  LOL!).
I added the mortar tackle and then addressed another question about the mortar.  Why no shell rack for the mortar shells near the mortar pits on the main deck?  Surely the bombs weren't left to roll around the deck, unrestrained!  The shells would need to be brought up before a siege began, so  I designed a small shell rack that would fill the bill.  It's not glued down, so if you all think it's too "busy" let me know!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I will use the Aa frame as a reference for aligning the other square frames. It's important keep this frame from moving laterally while at the same time being centered with the stem and stern post.
 
The first step was to come up with a way to hold the frame firmly in place. A low profile chock placed under the frame and against the build board was one option, but I wanted a more rigid solution. Using clamped machinist squares against the frame was not an option, since they would surely get in the way when working around the build board. The solution was to make two squares from some boxwood scrap. The bottom leg has milled slots which allows the squares to move in and out. 4-40 bolts and blind nuts would be used to hold the squares firmly in place.

The next step was aligning the center of the frame with the stern post and stem. I ran a string between these two points. Due to the difference in height between the stem, stern post and frame tops the string angled in such a way as to create excess pressure against the frame top. When I snapped the string the centerline varied because the string couldn't move freely against the frame top. The fix was to glue a piece of wood to the top of the stern post jig. This straightened the string considerably while taking pressure off the frame top. The top edge was notched in order to hold the string on center while tension is applied.

I used tape to hold the string along the top of the gammoning knee.

Snapping the tightened string over the frame established an accurate centerline. The squares could now be moved a wee bit in or out to hold the frame centered and firmly in place.

Mike

Some progress and at last, a couple of nice photos to post!
 
I finished the pieces for the deck screwed things together, replaced with wooden nails, add reinforcing pieces underneath, glued everything together and sanded to 400 grit.

Then I had to decide whether to have black or light caulking. Admiral said black, so black it is! I masked the pieces, mixed black acrylic paint with Osmo filler and splashed it on.

Then removed tape and sanded everything smooth. The filler becomes light grey but with Tung oil will go ack to black.

Then I secured the grating with epoxy thickened with gypsum.

I also made a leg to support the deck using a drill sanding  against the disc sander - very fast results.

It does not look too bad! When I have time I ll glue everything together and move on


Regards
Vaddoc

It would be very worthwhile but British homes are tiny and the admiral would not have it...
 
Hakan, I ended up feeling I simply had not enough brain cells for the task! So glad finally it is done.
 
Good to be back Gary. The mould has disappeared now that the garage has been heating up. The shape incident is interesting. I think initially the ribs were pushing the planks outwards but as slowly they started accepting their new shape, the inward pressure from the planks overwhelmed everything. So thwarts are there really to push the planking outwards - had not realised till now.
 
I reworked the deck to make it look more proportioned and nice - photo bellow. Still needs work though

Regards
Vaddoc

Greetings to all or should I say "Gratings!"? Yes, today we will be scratch-making gratings!
 
Honestly, it is far easier (and less bloody) to get them from Chuck. But I had an itchiness to try and either way, I don't think there are gratings at 1:10 scale.
 
Now, I did make gradings for the Deben but there I cut corners. They came out alright but were not done properly. I ve been scratching my head for the last 2-3 days and tried a few things that did not work. Sadly, a search on MSW was not too helpful.
 
The problem is the scale. If the size of the squares equals that of the table saw blade, things are easy. But in 1:10 scale, my squares are 5 mm and the tine Proxon blade 1 mm thick.
 
So here it goes:
 
I have the small Proxon table saw, it is very underpowered but actually quite accurate and easy to use. I first added a sheet on top of the table saw so that I could clamp something to act as a fence. Then, I  cut several 5 mm strips from a pear sheet, I think it is 3 mm thick.

Then, I glued the strips on another piece of pear sheet.

Then, I drilled, inserted treenails dipped in PVA glue, allowed a few minutes to dry (in the meantime worked on a second piece), then lightly sanded and cut a strip across.






I actually forgot to take pictures but the strips produced look like this

After I made very many, I managed to cut my finger, thankfully not deep at all.
 
Then, I started to assemble the gratings. I had to trim every single square with a sharp chisel, by afternoon the dining room was full of tiny wood chippings but the gratings came out quite acceptable I think. They still miss a few tree nails and need sanding, gluing and trimming but I am happy. Apologies for the terrible photo, I ll take a better one for the next post.

Of course they are far from perfect, the tree nails are in the wrong positions, the squares are not perfect or symmetrical, the grain runs parallel in all pieces instead of crossing 90 degrees (not an issue with pear) but I can live with these.
 
So I have 3 pieces, one will go on the small deck at the bow, one to the floor aft and the third one I have not figured out yet where I ll use it.
 
Best wishes
Vaddoc

Well, time for another update! I was unwell and stayed home, so got to work a bit more on the boat.
 
Now, there is some progress but also a lot of questions to be answered and decisions to be made. Any of your thoughts would be most welcome!
 
First issue is how high to place the thwarts and the floor boards. I tried to find relevant info in books and the internet but did not get anywhere. In the end I measured the original NMN plans and the actual dimensions of the model and tried to use common sense for a realistic and comfortable arrangement.
At midships, keel to sheer will be 83 mm or in real boat, 83 cm. I think the distance top of thwart to sheer should be 20 cm. The floor timbers should be something like 10 cm high to allow a reasonably wide floor and the top of the thwarts will be about 50 cm from the floor boards. I think this should be a realistic arrangement. Then again, those days people were probably shorter than we are today. Oh well...
 
Time for a few photos.
I first made the breasthook. It was a bit fiddly, sanding it curved and bevelled but actually I got it with the first attempt, which was good as pear wood sheets this thick are expensive.


However, it did look a bit huge and out of scale so I reduce it - I think it looks much better now.


I think I might add a small deck bellow the breasthook, I think this is what the plans show:

I then made template for the floor timbers. Again, it was actually a pretty straightforward job.



Now, these are my thoughts: I d like to seal the interior, prime it and paint it white but keeping the pear wood transom, keel and floors unpainted, these will be enhanced with Tung oil. The stringer that will support the thwarts will also be painted white but everything else added will be unpainted pear wood treated with Tung oil. The outer keel will be painted last.
 
Alternatively, I could leave the interion unpainted. Just apply Tung oil, seal with water based sealer, rub with 0000 steel wool and then add all the remaining pear wood trims etc and last paint the outer hull.
 
I do have a suspicion that if I paint the interior, since it is not well sanded and prepared, it might look horrible with all imperfections highlighted by the paint.
 
Any suggestions would be very welcome!
 
Regards
Vaddoc

Dear all
 
It's been almost two month since my last post. I have been working on the boat when life permitted - which was not too often.
But even so, there has been progress.
To start with, all the screws have been replaced with tree nails. Unscrew the screw, re-drill the hole by hand, dip the tree nail in glue and insert in the whole, wipe the excess glue and trim the nail - then repeat many hundreds of times. 
 
Then, I started filling the large gaps between the planks with filler, both from the outside and the inside. It is a shame really, these gaps are due to the shrinkage of the wood. When I cut the planks they were tight against each other. However, beech really has a tremendous movement in service and huge changes in dimension with changes in moisture. I will not be using beech again!
 
So here is how the hull looked like after the filler liberally applied. Not an elegant sight!




Then I started sanding inside. The little Proxon pen sander was very helpful.

Then I started sanding the outer hull. This is how one side looks, this is with 80 grit. Beech is very hard wood. There is a dimple in one of the planks at the bow. I think I ll paint this hull so it will be filled.


Now, just to show how much the beech moves, this is the hull of the Launch. There are cracks everywhere! I think I will not repair it, I ll just leave it as is.



Till next time
 
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Thank you for your likes. 
Indeed Bedford, there are some tasks in model building that are certainly therapeutic!
 
So the first bunch of nails came out just about acceptable, still trying to standardise the process and solve issues.

However, from then on things went much better and lovely tree nails produced

This is about 2000 nails. I ll make another 1000, and since I am at it I ll process that slice of cherry for future use. Then I ll be ready to start replacing screws.

I had make a thread on making nails, I ll update that as well.
 
Regards
Vaddoc

Another quick update
 
I started steaming and installing the ribs. As expected, beech responded wonderfully to wet heat becoming as pliable as boiled spaghetti. My steam box is working great and in no time I had bent half of the ribs.



I made a simple spacer to make sure the rib is placed at equal distances from the frames


Then I started screwing the ribs to the planks. 


Regards
Vaddoc

Dear friends
 
Planking is finished! But what a difficult boat to plank!
 
With great difficulty I managed to scrape a few moments here and there to work on the boat. My 3D plans I am pretty sure are correct, but I think they did not transfer that well to wood as some of the lines looked a bit wrong. In any case, with a lot of eyeballing and using the 80 - 20 rule, it all came together. But it was not easy!
 
It is not only that the planks need to bend and more importantly twist a lot, it is also that the largest distance keel to sheer is near the bow and not midships. On top of this, batens cannot really be used due to the very curved bow. The scarfs also made a fair plank curve difficult. That was a mountain to climb. 
 
My planking I think is more or less correct but if I was to build this boat again, I would change the run of the planks a bit at the bow.  A few photos:







Perhaps the planks could end a bit lower at the bow but I do not think this is too significant, there is plenty of room.
Another issue is that gaps have appeared between the planks. The wood database mentions that beech has large movement in service and indeed, the planks have shrunk considerably after they reached their moisture balance.
I will use filler but I cannot sand the hull just yet, the screws need to go which means all the ribs need to be installed, the temporary frames to be removed and all the screws exchanged for tree nails.
 
So we now move on to the next stage: steam bending ribs! And also making a few thousand tree nails...
I started cutting parts of the frames to open up the space



This is as far as I was able to get, at least I managed to not go into hibernation.  But I am really sorry I have not been able to keep up with your logs and updates. 
 
Till next time
My very best wishes to all
 
Vaddoc
 

A quick update. Little progress due to fevers and aching throats with the whole family out of action. Not Covid!
A few pics, I think it is going reasonably well.

Many thanks to all!
 
Things move on slowly. Although planning the planking was easier than the launch, getting the shape of the planks particularly at the bow is a bit tricky as the planks follow a large curve but also twist along the axis a lot. Also, the planks absolutely need to be steamed (or boiled for 30 sec in the kettle as I ve ended up doing) to be convinced to bend into position. Then, they also need to stay clamped overnight to retain the shape but also to dry and return to the original dimensions. Beech swells up a lot when boiled!
 
My fore and aft frames are wrong and material needs to be taken off. This is surprising as I really thought my CAD plans were very accurate. I think however I know the reason. I believe the transom for some reason was made a bit more narrow in its bottom half. Not sure about the bow but then again I was never happy with the shape of the first two frames.
 
It does not matter though, the planks very nicely show the natural curve so that that material can be chiselled away from these temporary frames. The steam bend ribs will just follow the curve of the hull later on.
 
Enough talking, a few pictures:











Till next time
 
Vaddoc

Dear all
 
Many thanks for your likes and good words!
Planking continues, I am making an effort to get the planks to sit nicely without big gaps. It seems to be going well so far and the most difficult planks are behind me. I did not have to remake any plank, they all came out fine on the first attempt. 
 
One thing that surprised me was the amount of adjustment I had to do on the frames. The two more forward and the two more aft frames had to be trimmed quite heavily, despite my CAD drawings looking good. I am not sure why, however: the two forward frames were the ones I had problems with at the drawing stage and I suspect I may have sanded the bevels at the Transom wrongly. 
 
It does not matter though as the planks do act as batens and show where wood needs to be taken off to have a fair curve. I think it is all fixed now.
 
A few pics:
 
All planks up to the level of Transom finished. The next plank sits at an angle at the transom and needs extra care to sit handsomely.




These are the paper templates for the next plank. 

And the process is repeated. This is a difficult plank but I think it is coming out fine and fits well with the previous plank on both sides.






This is how I steam my planks now, I just stick them in the kettle for a few seconds and then immediately place on the boat. The beech will take any shape with ease.

Till next time
 
Vaddoc

Dear friends
 
Due to increasing life commitments it's been almost a month since my last post. Unfortunately, I also did not have any time and more importantly peace of mind to visit the various very interesting logs I 've been following - I will try and catch up. However, I found some scraps of time to visit the shipyard and made a bit of progress.
 
 In the last post, I had divided the hull to three zones. Excluding the very curved bow, this hull seems to be much easier to plan that the Launch. I simply used the planking fan diagram to divide the zones into plank widths at every station. I used a baten to figure out the plan ends at the bow and stern. I have decided to scarf the planks so I do not care how much spilling will be needed and how curved they 'll end up to be. The final fairing of the planks will be done during the actual planking but I hope my lines are not far off.






It is very difficult to capture the run of the planks right side up, due to the size of the boat but they look ok


But now it is clear that this boat will be very difficult to do lapstrake. I am concerned that this curved bow will cost me my sanity. I wonder whether it would be better to do a carvel planking and leave the lapstrake for a future boat with a more friendly bow. Decisions-decisions...
 
For now, I started making the first template, for the garboard plank. Initially I thought to do it in 3 pieces but then realised it makes no sense to have so many scarfs - one is plenty, giving a length of 3 to 3.5 m per plank. The last photo shows the pieces for the aft segment of the garboard-they still need to be connected.



I have the feeling that the garboard should be a bit wider but I am not going back, it will be fine. Also, I need to figure out a way to scarf the planks. It needs to be reproducible and reasonably easy.
Also, for this boat I will sand the planks to shape, and will put more effort to have minimal gaps.
 
Regards
Vaddoc

Some more progress, time for another update. Things are getting now a bit complex, I ll try to explain as best I can
I have been able to work on and off on the boat so far but this is now becoming increasingly difficult, for the next few months, I ll be working 6 (and a bit) days a week so I expect things to slow down to snail pace.
 
First of all, I decided to lighten the frames significantly. After the planking is completed, I will need to install steam bend ribs in between the frames and simply there will not be enough space for my hand to fit in. So, I cut large pieces off but left two cross beams, one at the base and one mid-frame that will be easy to cut off later on with the dremel wheel. The frames are still very solid.


Next was the big job of cutting the rabet and shaping the hog. Now, this was properly difficult.

It is impossible to follow the lines in the printed templates due to the large tolerances of my work but I am not too far off either. One interesting thing though is that the boat seems to have corrected my draft error. In my plans I had made the rabet a curved line but now it seems to have flattened.
 
I started cutting the rabet mid ships where the planks meet the keel almost vertically, still however it made a difference in the fit.

First photo is fit without rabet, second with. Difficult to capture but it is better.


I then took a break to clean and sand the transom as it will soon need to be fitted. Lovely solid piece of pear wood.

Then I thought I wood install the sternpost knee. This is screwed and glued.


In the photo above I have also added some wood next to the knee, cutting notches for the two aft frames. Let me explain why:
 
It is very important for the garboard plank to be fully supported along its bottom edge. The rabet is not enough, this is why the hog is needed to add more supporting timber. However, I made two mistakes.
One is that I did not make it long enough. It should extend from the sternpost to the stem so that after bevelling, it will support the plank for all its length. So, I am adding wood to the stern and will do the same for a short distance at the bow.
Second mistake is that I did not make it thick enough. Putting the bevels, it gets very thin. So the pieces that I had screwed on top of the keel, thinking they will be just temporary and used to hold the frames in position will need to be permanent. These will also help with the ribs later on as their position on the keel will be already defined.

I have replaced the pieces that will not be used for gluing the frames, the ones that will be sacrificed are marked with an X, these will be removed with the frames after planking and replaced with nice wood without screw holes.

Then I cut the rabet. Forget about plans! It was done with just eyeballing the angles and using small pieces of wood. 



This is where more wood needs to be added to support the gardboard up to the stem edge.

I tried a piece of 2 mm cardboard to see how the planking would go. It looks ok!

Then with a big push I finished the rabet. A bit more material needs to be removed from the sternpost



Now, another task was actually to reshape and sharpen my 4 mm chisel. So far I have been sharpening it free hand but now the bevel is so curved that it affects its function. Now, a few years ago I had made a simple honing guide with scrap wood, metal and bearings. I dug it out and used it. Perfect results! The next photos show the jig and how curved the chisel was. Since I ve honed it to a mirror finish





There is also another thing that is troubling me, the wood I chose for the planking. I chose 2 mm beech. For the Deben I had used 2 mm maple which was perfect and very pleasant to work with, easy to cut, easy to shape and bend. However, the beech I received is much harder and resists bending plus it is 2,2 mm instead of 2. The planks will be cut with a knife so I expect a big struggle. I hope at least that the wood will respond well to steam bending (it should really being beech).
 
As Brexit is getting much closer I put in another big timber order from Germany. I will have enough lovely wood to last me for years, pear, beech and cherry. I hope it will not rot or cup with the huge variations in temperature and humidity we have hear in Britain.
 
Regards
Vaddoc
 

Whenever glueing a thin wood piece using a glue with water content, dampen the opposite side first to counteract the tendency to bow or cup.

A bit more work done and time for another update.
The boat is progressing very slowly. I cannot work as often as I would like and It takes me a while to remember where I left things, it is a pretty complex boat. Also building (kind of) the Chapelle's boat at the same time is not helping much...Still, some real progress made today.
First of all, I printed out the patterns for the bow and stern to check how close to the CAD designs the wood pieces actually are. Happily, they are very close.
 






I then finished the transom. I thought of leaving wood on for a safety margin, as I think is standard practice in actual boat building, however it is much easier to sand the transom now.


I then glued and screwed the sternpost to the keel. I first drilled 0.7 mm holes to the keel, then taped the sternpost to the keel and hand drilled the rest of the way in the sternpost. Then I counterdrilled the holes in the keel to accept the head of the screw and screwed the 2 pieces together, with PVA in between. The joint is rock solid, the holes will be filled later on.





The procedure was repeated for the stem but here I hit a snug: The keel will need to be notched for the rabet and might hit the screws if placed laterally. So I drilled new holes, this time at the midline. The stem looks like Swiss cheese but I ll fill the holes later on.

Then, I made again the hog or apron as the previous piece had some dents. Now, I had to figure out a way to make sure the frames are correctly placed/spaced but also that the keel is secured to the frames but in a non-permanent way, so that the frames can be removed later and replaced with ribs. The way to do this will be to screw wood pieces to the apron and glue the frames to these pieces. Then unscrew these when it is time to remove the frames. So here it goes:
 
The previous apron was cut up and wood inserts were made to go in between the rib spaces. The sides that will be epoxied to the frames were marked. Then these were lightly glued to the paper template of the apron


Now, the keel has a slight bend laterally so i used some clamps to bring it in line with the apron..It straightened a lot


Next the filler pieces were removed, the paper template removed from the apron which was then sanded clean. Then the pieces were screwed on again and the assemble glued and screwed on the keel



 

This did not go as well as I would like because the apron, being very wide and only 2 mm thick, cupped from the liberal use of PVA. I do not think this will be a problem as it could uncup when dry but either way, a lot of it will be chiselled away and it will be invisible under the floors.
 
Regards
Vaddoc

Dear friends
 
Time for another post, some progress but also some unfortunate findings. Lets start.
 
So, there is an urgent need for the boat to have some structural support but it needs to be built from the bottom up. So, the floor needs to be installed.
 
I had previously cut the floor supports but I found some were off and needed adjustments or replacement. Finally they were epoxied in place and coated with Tung oil - for no reason at all really!
 


However, It was then that I noticed a rather big issue. The planks have pulled away from the ribs, the glue in the tree nails failed - but also the pressure from the planks must have been pretty substantial.
 

I do not think this can be fixed without disassembling the boat and in the end of the day, it does not bother me much. So on we go.
 
Next, I did some work at the gunwales and attached the stringer and the breast hook.




So far everything is screwed, later on will be replaced with tree nails.
 
Next, it was time for the false stem to be installed. Again I had to make adjustments but I got a good fit. I used thickened epoxy and it came out pretty good. Especially the joint with the planking, which in the past had caused me headache, came out also fine.



Ok, so far so good. Next it was the floor boards. This took a bit of work and some head scratching but actually came out better than I hoped. I am not sure if it is historically accurate but we do need a floor to walk on - so here it is.

And with some Tung oil on




All the screws need to be replaced with tree nails, so time to make a few hundred. I will be using the last of the cherry wood I saved from the fire wood pile 10 years ago.

Cutting one more slice was difficult, this wood is very hard
 

This wood is very dry and needs to get some moisture before we can drill the nails out. The slices are now submerged in water.
 
Till next time
 
Vaddoc

Ok, a quick update.
 
At this time, I have no idea how to built the rest of the boat. Unfortunately it will not be historically accurate but at least I ll have fun building it!
Now, today I sat to make a few thousand tree nails, I have to replace lots of screws and I ll need more as we go.
It actually went very well, a short video follows showing how fast they can be made with the needle method. This tree nails are about 0.7-0.8 mm, maybe about 1 cm long. This wood is cherry - very hard.
 
 
There must be about 1500 - 2000 nails there

When the sleeves for my drum sander arrive, I ll sand the back and release the nails. But I will sit tomorrow and make more, my set up is working well and I should take advantage of it.
 
Vaddoc

All done! I actually find making tree nails very therapeutic, calms (or numbs) the mind down.
No excuse now, back to the boat, although I feel like walking in the dark - not sure at all how these things were made. 
 
A final picture with the 4000+ nails - about 0.7 mm, very hard wood. If you ever go down this road, if you get a set up that works well just make as many as you can,

So after the 3 strakes of the wales were completed,  I started working my way towards the sheer.  There are five more 7/32" wide strakes above the wales.   So far I have added two of them.   I wouldn't normally post an update for simply two strakes of progress.  But in this case its good to point out a few things.
 
First, with five strakes now on both sides I think the hull is sufficiently solid to remove all of the cross jigs along the top of the model.   But I could very well have just kept going.  But above this last strake is where you have to start notching the planking around the port opening and sweep ports.  So I thought this was as good a time as any to remove those jigs.
 
In addition,  I would note that on many ships the planking above the wales is pretty straight forward.  There is no real tapering of the strakes at the bow or stern.  So you can more or less just use planking strips all the same width (in this case 7/32" wide).   But for Speedwell,   these five 7/32" wide strakes do in fact taper at the bow.   At least they should if you want the end up with a proper run of your sheer.  As you can see below.
 

These five 7/32" wide strakes will taper from about the forward sweep port and get narrower as they hit the stem.   So there are many ways you can do this planking.   You could literally pasted this template onto a 3/64" thick sheet of Cedar and cut your planks out.   They would be the exact shape you need.  And yes I could simply laser cut them for you but it is unlikely that the cedar I use for these would match in color with the cedar you use for the remainder of the planking.  So folks will have to cut their own.  
 
You could also transfer the lines from this smaller template of which a PDF copy will be available...to your hull frames.  This would give you the tick marks for your individual strakes and you would proceed to plank just we did on the Winnie or any other model.  There are so many ways to do this.  You guys can pick your own.   As this project is considered an advanced one,  I wont repeat myself and do a blow by blow on how to properly plank a hull.
 
Here is my hull with those two additional planks above the wales.  I used a 4H pencil to simulate caulking.   
 
Remember that the strakes for the wales have no taper at the bow.  Those are straight 7/32" wide strips.   BUT, the next five strakes above the wales do taper at the bow as discussed.  
 

 
So if the hull is not sufficiently strong at this point so I can remove the cross jigs then something is seriously wrong.  These five strakes are very carefully glued to each frame.   So everything should and will stay intact after we remove them.
 
To start this process...The first thing I did was remove all the tape along the top of the jigs holding them together.  Easy-peasy.
 
Then I just used a pair of nippers....flush cutters,  to snip the strips on the cant frame jigs first.
 

This will allow you to actually remove the whole jig after you cut those strips on both sides.  I see lots of inboard fairing in my near future!!!
 

Then I repeat this process at the stern for those cant frames.   But the very aft jig should just come right out.  Then just repeat the process to remove the aft cant frame jig.
 

 
So far so good.
 
Next I started tackling the extensions for all of those cant frames.  For this I prefer to use my home-madesaw.  Its basically just a scroll saw blade in an Xacto knife handle.  Its has fine teeth but is somewhat wide to prevent bending while in use.  I just cut myself a short length of blad to insert into the handle.
 
Start carefully cutting the extensions.  As you can see below...I am sawing them off one at a time.  But I am not sawing along the sheer too closely.  I am cutting in the center of the notches cut from the top-timbers.  I want some wiggle room when I finally establish the proper sheer.
 

With those removed for all of the cant frames we are almost done.   Now we must tackle the jigs for the square frames.  I am just using the very same scroll saw blade to cut the top timber extension on the port side.  Then I do the same to the top timber extension on the starboard side and the cross jig for that square frame will be freed.  
 

When all of the cross jigs are removed,  you will be ready to establish a proper sheer.  To do this we need to use our trusty templates once again.  Place them back on the model.  Line up the bottom edge of the template with the top edge of the wales.  This will give you a nice idea where the  sheer of the model should be.  With the template on the model I am going to use various sanding sticks to bring down the top timbers so they are flush with the top of the template.  In a few cases the sheer may fall higher or lower than those notches on your frames.  This is fine as long as you match the template.  We will be adding a fairing cap to the top of those frames in the next step.   
 
I have lots of inboard fairing to do!!! 
 
But I will wait to start that until after the outboard side is completely planked…for extra strength for the hull.   
 


 
 
bow planking strakes template.pdf

Good Evening All;
 
I absolutely agree with all the comments above about the quality of Chuck's craftsmanship, and the level of skill required to develop a kit.
 
To add to the debate about the model of the Endymion, which is indeed a very beautiful model, this is the 44 gun ship of 1779. She was photographed in the archive store of the Science Museum, and was formerly on display in the Museum, where the model was correctly labelled as the Endymion. 
 
When the Museum display was dismantled, there was some mixing of models, I think, because at the time the photographs were taken, the model was actually catalogued/identified as a 74 gun ship, I believe it was the Ajax. I am not certain of her whereabouts now, as the model of the Ajax was returned to the former Royal palace at Kew, from whence she had apparently originally come; but unfortunately, it appeared that the model of the Endymion had been returned in place of the Ajax. 
 
Whether this has been corrected in the intervening years or not, I am not aware. I will have to visit Kew one day and try to see what I can discover there.
 
For those who are interested, the photographs of the model are in the gallery of completed models on this website. 
 
All the best,
 
Mark P