AnobiumPunctatum

Ah, I see, you are also a friend of the WNW kits. You've a nice collection.

Whow, you have a really nice workshop. My shipyard has 8m² and is now also my homeoffice.
I am very interested to see your method of building a hull. It isn't very popular in Germany. I know this method only from older books about shipmodelling.
 

Christian, the reason this method isn't popular in Germany, or just about anywhere else, is because it takes a VERY LONG time to accurately form the hull using templates, and it creates a mountain of dust in doing so.  You absolutely need to use a canister mask in an air filtered shop room, away from your living area, if you are to attempt such a project.  This method of construction causes couples to divorce.  Also, there is an enormous amount of prep work required of the model builder before actual construction begins.  Right now I'm sanding the many templates needed and drawing the shape of the lifts on Mylar.  Only after these things are done can I begin my Winchelsea build.  I'm already light-years behind every other model builder in the group.  Despite the negative reasons one might consider making a solid hull ship model, it has, for me, a very special appeal.  I just love the physical nature of this build method.  Taking the very rough shaped hull of laminated lifts and carving it to shape with mallet and chisel (and just about any other power tool you can think of) gets me off.  When I look at that glued together block of wood I will see the smooth lines of the Winchelsea just waiting to be freed from its wooden prison.  It is, in some weird way, similar to how Michelangelo must have felt when looking at that giant slab of marble, knowing that David was within.
Tom

Thanks Guys. It has taken me a few years, but would you believe me if I told you the shop is alive. I know, sounds kind of dumb, but it has been changing since 2007 when we moved in. I have a couple of  photo's showing the way it looked when we moved in  compared to how it looks today. Looking at others workshop's and lay out helped me come up with the best lay out. The one thing that has really made the shop a nice place to work is when I added on the  the 16' x 15' foot extenson. Am planning on adding internet and a computer to the back room, so I don't have to run in to the house when ever I need to look for some thing on the internet. Thanks again guys and happy New Year. Gary

The Building Board
     To make this model I'm going to need a really flat surface for the construction templates.  I went out and purchased a 4'x8'x3/4" sheet of furniture grade Baltic birch plywood.  Oh, it's really nice stuff.  I started building the board by cutting it to 30"x5' and adding two pieces of wooden reinforcement (2 1/2"x 1 1/2") that run the length of the board.  Four adjustable, felt bottom feet were also added.  After I did that I applied two coats of polyurethane to the board.  When completely dry tomorrow I will lightly sand with 220 grit sandpaper and then draw the station lines on the surface.  After they get put on I will apply another 3 coats of polyurethane over them.   The 5th building board photo shows the small heater I use to help dry the polyurethane.  I swing the board around 180 degrees every hour.  When the last coat of polyurethane has been applied to the top surface of the board I turn it over and do the bottom.  This is to seal the underside from any moisture absorption that might warp the board.  The next step will be to align and drill the holes for the small wooden pieces that press against the ship's keel to hold it steady.
 
 



 
 

Templates
     To shape a bread and butter construction hull you need to make a set of rigid templates.  Years ago I used to make them from 3/32" 5 ply aircraft grade plywood but that wood has become expensive today.  With my last model I used some cheap 1/8" birch plywood and, sadly, regretted it.  The templates warped and twisted on me something awful.  What I did for this Winchelsea build was to go to a local cabinetmaker and buy a 5'x5' sheet of furniture grade 1/8" Baltic plywood. Before I can actually start construction of the model I needed to download Chuck's plans for the Winchelsea.  That's done.   I got those a few weeks ago.  When I printed these plans I had the hull shapes for each station line done on card stock, not paper.  The extra rigidity helped.  I have to say it was mega-helpful to have 8 grids per inch Mylar to trace the hull shapes on.  First I draw a center line, and then, using a square, draw a perpendicular at the bottom of the drawing.  I then carefully lay a piece of Mylar over it, lining it up with centerline and the perpendicular.  With great care I then trace the hull's shape and cut it out.  Remember to draw the keel in the right location and to add 1/16" more to its height.  This is for the distance the hull is elevated off the building board.  The Mylar cutouts are then taped to the plywood.  Carefully draw the outline of the frame on it, remove the taped Mylar and then proceed cut out and sand the plywood template to shape.  It's very important to be extremely meticulous in each step of the template making process!  There are 27 station lines so pace yourself and don't rush.
      

The Wood
     In all my years of building solid hull models I've never gone into a project with more and better yellow poplar than I have right now.  Some of it has been aging for a long time while other pieces are much newer.  Whether new or old it's all first class wood.  I buy my lumber from M. L. Condon Co. in White Plains, New York, and the fellow who mills my wood does a 1st class job for me.  All pieces are dressed nicely on six sides.  I always slip him $ extra for the fine job he does.  The first photo shows the yellow poplar I will use to form the hull's shape.  I have so much of the wood I shouldn't have any trouble finding stock with the perfect grain orientation.  Number two photo shows a bookshelf with plastic containers full of milled stock of various hardwoods.  In the basement I have footlockers full of various domestic and exotic hardwoods.  When you have been building models for as long as I have you accumulate a lot of wood.  I also have a goodly amount of Baltic plywood in 1/8", 1/4", and 3/4" thicknesses.

Today I finished the building board, at least the construction part of it.  I ended up putting seven coats of polyurethane on it, five on the top and two on the underside.  The only things left to do are to 1.  drill some holes in the vertical supports and the board and secure them with bolts.  That will be done when all the lifts are glued together and I have a better idea of their exact locations.   2. The height of the vertical supports will, no doubt, need some fine adjustment. 
     I also drilled 1/4" diam. holes in the board and attached the keel blocks with 3/16" bolts and washers for some wiggle room.

Introduction
For a number of reasons, mostly medical, I've been many years away from model shipbuilding.  I had some doubt I would ever build another model again, but very good things have happened concerning my health, and I am now entertaining the idea of starting another model.  At my age I think it might be my last model .... my magnum opus.  What ship would it be?  I always thought a mid eighteenth century British frigate might be a nice choice.  When I saw that Chuck was leading a group project for a 1:48 scale model of HMS Winchelsea 1764, a Niger class 32 gun frigate, it really peaked my curiosity.  I paid the very reasonable fee to join the group and downloaded the plans.  One look at the external sheer draft and I fell in love.  Right then I knew this was the ship I wanted to build a model of.  There was a problem though, or at least what I thought was a problem, and that was that I no longer like to build POB ship models.  For some reason I thought that building the model this way was a prerequisite to joining the Winchelsea group project.  I decided to write Chuck an email and ask him if I could build a solid hull model using a bread and butter method that would be planked over.  He surprised me by quickly writing back that he would welcome seeing a semi-scratch build done that way and that I should join the group and start a build log.  Yes!  That made my day.  So, here I am.  I look forward to this build, especially seeing what my fellow model builders are doing and corresponding with them.  This should be a lot of fun.

Stern framing is complete! (I think)...Thanks again JJ for your assistance. It really helped a great deal! Just a note to self here..pay attention to what people say and write. Next time, use lite ply instead of Baltic Birch. For those of you just thinking about building your own from scratch, Baltic Birch is a pain in the butt to sand. Anyways, on to the bollards!

Right on! Welcome to the Winchelsea group Christian! I look forward to seeing the Winnie rigged. Between yourself and Tom,  we should all be in for a treat

Missed your work, Christian! Look forward to your next project.

Welcome to the Winchelsea build group Christian.  I too am relatively new, within the past three weeks.  Unlike most of my fellow model builders I've decided to make my Winchelsea using the bread & butter method (Georgian style).  Right now I' doing all the prep work necessary for that kind of build. (constructing a building board, making templates to shape the hull, drawing and cutting out the shape of the lifts......)  One of these days I'll get to the starting line.  Like you, I am also contemplating rigging the model.  We chose a great ship to model.  I'm excited about getting the CNC carving set available for this ship.  Happy modeling.
Tom

Nice! I will follow on this. The Winchelsea is on my wishlist too. 

Welcome aboard Christian! 

That is great news indeed.  I will open on Sunday.   Cant wait to see your progress on the model.
 
Chuck

Whow, I didn't realize how the last year flew by.
 
I actually wanted to start with my model much earlier, but due to the Corona crisis and a project change, I gave up my second home in Amsterdam and moved back home. I now have to use my shipyard as my home office, so scratch building isn't really a good option. At Christmas I found the offer of ir3 at MSW and considered using the small lasercut kits from Chuck to pursue my hobby. In the meantime, the decision has been made and I am waiting for a package with the components. After Chuck reopens his store I need to buy some yellow ceddar and then I will start my build.
 
I dream to fully rig WInchelsea later.  Frigates are in my opinion some of the most beautyful shipmodels with a rig.

Hi all,
 
first of all I like to thank Chuck and all the other guys in the background which make the group build possible.
I will participate and build this nice 5ft rate frigate, because the reconstruction of my HMS Triton will need much more time and I have lerned in the last years that it don't make sense to build her or any other ship as POF model before I am retired. So I think it is a good possibility to take the challenge of building HMS Winchelsea and improve my skills. In the moment I like to build her fully rigged and colored as the original model. As wood I will use pear, boxwood and other European woods.
 
For job reasons I live partially in the Netherlands, but I will build her at home in Germany. So I am not the fastest builder of the group.

Whow, I didn't realize how the last year flew by.
 
I actually wanted to start with my model much earlier, but due to the Corona crisis and a project change, I gave up my second home in Amsterdam and moved back home. I now have to use my shipyard as my home office, so scratch building isn't really a good option. At Christmas I found the offer of ir3 at MSW and considered using the small lasercut kits from Chuck to pursue my hobby. In the meantime, the decision has been made and I am waiting for a package with the components. After Chuck reopens his store I need to buy some yellow ceddar and then I will start my build.
 
I dream to fully rig WInchelsea later.  Frigates are in my opinion some of the most beautyful shipmodels with a rig.

Whow, I didn't realize how the last year flew by.
 
I actually wanted to start with my model much earlier, but due to the Corona crisis and a project change, I gave up my second home in Amsterdam and moved back home. I now have to use my shipyard as my home office, so scratch building isn't really a good option. At Christmas I found the offer of ir3 at MSW and considered using the small lasercut kits from Chuck to pursue my hobby. In the meantime, the decision has been made and I am waiting for a package with the components. After Chuck reopens his store I need to buy some yellow ceddar and then I will start my build.
 
I dream to fully rig WInchelsea later.  Frigates are in my opinion some of the most beautyful shipmodels with a rig.

Good morning Chuck,
 
I found in W.E.May "The boats of the Men of War"  that there were two different options for a fith rate with 32 guns:
 
1761: 3 boats - 23ft longboat, 30ft pinnace and a 24ft yawl
1781: 5 boats - 23ft/ 24 ft launch, 30ft pinnace, 2x 18ft cutters
 
I think it should be nice to show all boats with the ship.

Whow, I didn't realize how the last year flew by.
 
I actually wanted to start with my model much earlier, but due to the Corona crisis and a project change, I gave up my second home in Amsterdam and moved back home. I now have to use my shipyard as my home office, so scratch building isn't really a good option. At Christmas I found the offer of ir3 at MSW and considered using the small lasercut kits from Chuck to pursue my hobby. In the meantime, the decision has been made and I am waiting for a package with the components. After Chuck reopens his store I need to buy some yellow ceddar and then I will start my build.
 
I dream to fully rig WInchelsea later.  Frigates are in my opinion some of the most beautyful shipmodels with a rig.

Visually there isn't much difference between this update and the last one, only a lot of small holes for the rivets. I will now cut out and fit in the frames, so I have started to measure out their positions. I could have proceeded with the rivets, but I think it will be easier to get the frames to fit if I do that while the inside is smooth.

Regarding the building I have started sawing out the frames.
 
To find the shape I use five cards and arrange them to find the angles.

 
Most of the frames only go up to the fifth strake. Then there will be a beam across and a knee that supports the sixth strake. The seventh strake is for most of its length not supported by any knee or frame, instead there are two stringers on the inside as reinforcement.
The first and last frames are more V-shaped and will not have a crossbeam. 
 

The fifth and fifteenth frame has two cross beams and has an additional knee which supports the seventh and eight strakes. The eight frame also has two crossbeams and sits just in front of the mast where there only are seven strakes.
 

 
Thus far I have eight (of seventeen) frames roughly sawed out. They are still to long and to thick, and will require adjustment to fit right.

 
 

Hello everybody, thanks for the likes and comment. Here is a little update of my work  on the stern columns.

 

 
This is so much fun, building this model. Thanks Chuck.
Matthias