AnobiumPunctatum

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Rusty, Chuck, Thank you!
 
Keelson
I've been working on the keelson for a while. A little bit here a little bit there while fairing the frames. I went with boxwood as usual and milled scarph joints. I used 30lb (.023) black mono for the bolts. I noticed that the keelson would slip and slide a bit on the frames so I pinned it in two locations. This enabled me to center it port and starboard while saving a lot of eyeballing when gluing it down. 

Mike

Hull planking
Fairing the outer hull was fairly straight forward. There is plenty of extra meat on the frames which gave me lots of wiggle room. The fairing cap edge should remain untouched, if at all possible. Easier said than done! Final sanding was done with 400 grit. Btw; I totally forgot to take some photos of the outer hull after the fairing was completed. Sorry!
 
Once everything looked good I added the first strake (the upper wale). This was done with three planks. I did my best to eyeball the run as I added each plank and not to strictly rely on the drawn line which I made from Chuck's hull template.

From there on it was just a matter of adding the two remaining wale strakes and a few more strakes above the upper wale. I also added the small filler piece which goes between the lower wale and the square tuck.

With the added support given by these strakes, I decided to fair the inner hull. This ended up being more time consuming than I thought it would be. It took me several days to complete the work. Working the bow timbers, even with a Dremel or 80 grit, was slow. Once I was close I switched to a miniature curved scraper to smooth out the work.
 
You can see just how thick the wood was in places.

When fairing the area around the lower gun port sills, I found that a simple depth gauge came in handy. Including the 3/64" outer hull planking, the width of the sill should be 3/16” or maybe a hair less. I made this simple “T” shaped jig that I could place against the frames and then mark the width of the sill from inside the hull.

Ready for the keelson

Mike

Lower counter
I gave a lot of thought towards doing the lower counter in AYC. Unfortunately, I didn't have any sheets on the shelf. I know it all seems pretty straight forward, just a simple planking job. That wasn't the case at least for me. It would have been easier to do this in AYC being that the wood is much more flexible than boxwood when doing this kind of work.
 
After the planks were in I faired a nice rounding into the wood with some miniature scrapers. https://www.amazon.com/Lynx-Mini-Scraper-Set-4pc/dp/B00ICISC2U There were a few areas where the cedar quarter panel was slightly over faired (rounded off) on the lower edge which I compensated for when I faired the outer edge of the lower counter. 

Mike

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.