mathewp

Wow, incredible sail work.. looking really grand.. Ollie

As i mentioned in my last post i wasn,t happy with the gunport linings ,have now come up with a combination i find more suitable . I first lined the port with same wood used to create the stripes 0.5x5mm  which gave a good clean hole which i then lined with the same wood as i used for the wales 1x3mm . I remember reading somewhere that when going for a non paint finish it,s best to stick to only  2 or 3 different wood types and think i now see the reasoning for this ,rather than trying to paint with wood ,certain shades and types seem to work together  ,of course this is in my eyes others will have different preferences


When seen together ,new on top old on bottom ,i,m sure you will agree ,any opinions welcome .Just a pitty i lined so many before i decided they were wrong!!! As im sure you realise by now i change my mind more often than i change my soaks 

I dont know what's going on with the site, but i've got some photos missing . Anyway, I've got a little bit of progress to post. I've moved on to doing the deadeyes and getting the Shrouds tied on and a few ratlines to boot. I made a little jig to help space the deadeyes so I could get nice even looking Shrouds. I think I've done a better job this time. I've left the Stays unfastened so I can adjust them once all the standing rigging is up, including the Backstays because they are somewhat in the way of doing the Shrouds and ratlines. I'll do those last. 
 
   Matt.

Hi all. Have finally managed to get some parts and timber to continue building. I was short some 8 mm dowell for the Mizzen abd the main yard. While I was waiting I got stuck into preparing the masts for gluing and trying to do as much of the fiddly work as I can before putting them on. I made a little jig for positioning the deadeyes, as my other efforts with them haven't been very good. The ones on the mast tops have turned out pretty good, well, better than my other ones so I'll count it as a win.
That's it for now.

Hi all. I hope you are all well. I've made a little progress with her, but it's the slow kind. Ratlines and preparing sails for fitting have been time consuming. I've added the Anchors as I've finished the dead-eyes and the ratlines. The end is in sight now, so only a couple of more posts to go for this build. It's just a case of sails and flags and tidying up with some rope coils and she will done. The plans for rigging aren't the best so I've left them all with some playroom so that If anything needs to be changed I've got enough to move the rigging. At this point none of the rigging has been glued on and trimmed off near the pins etc, as I've been a little concerned about the loose lines that come off the sails that will need to be made to look even. With a bit of luck my next post should have the sails all up.
    I decided to use the provided sails, but tea stained them and added the edges which took 3 days to sew on by hand. I did a test piece first and they didn't look too bad afterwards, so I did the whole lot. That's all for now,
   
 
Matt. 

With Tony’s much appreciated help I built my version of jeer bitts with a windlass. 
 

 
A friend challenged me to make the windlass working – well, it turns around till the soldered handles break (almost instantly, to be fixed with superglue). The pawls don’t stop anything, but were fun to make.
I found another way to make the pawl drums: the brute force method, with pliers and a hammer.
 

 
Mounting the assembled jeer bitts, I foresee some headaches in the far future: Belaying will be difficult in the confined space between the main hatch and the cross piece.
 

 
The anchor cables will have to go around the jeer bitts, but this can be seen in contemporary models (the Hawke, in Goodwin’s Alert book).
All the best,
Gregor
 

I've made a bit more progress - I have a lot of the trim painted and now I have to do all the touchups !

My Bank Holiday weekend work in the ship Yard while the wife and Daughter was at a Batton Twirling Comp, 
 
I Have planked below the Lower Gun ports with the second planking layer. Filed out the gun ports. Just working on the other side, waiting for the glue and wood to dry then i can file out the gun ports.

I too have been a little curious as to why I haven't seen you on MSW. Hope you are well.

I have been painting the yellow 'stripes' for what seems like weeks.  The Humrol paints need 4 to 5 coats, sanding between coats, to give a good finish.  Each coat needs at least 24 hours to dry properly for sanding (800 - 1200 grit). I have used Humbrol maskol for the first time.  Once you get the knack (put it on quite thickly), it's very effective, though I missed some bits, so there are a few minor paint marks on the gunports. The stuff must be taken off after 3 days  - I cheated and left it on for 4 without ill effect - but given the number of coats required and the time needed, the time limit is a bit of  pain.  The following pictures I hope will give you some idea of how the stuff looks when you take it off. The painting has not yet been touched up.
 




 
I have now finished the roudhouses, painted (there's still some masking tape shown in the picture) and attached the decoration.


 
I made a mess of the gundeck stairs - put them at too steep an angle and I have one 'half' of the stairs bigger than the other. For some inexplicable reason I left them as they were when I glued them to the hatch.  Moreover I didn't make provision on the lower deck for the stanchions (I know I am not alone in that). But I did come up with a solution to all but the problem of the badly divided stairs  As you will see I tacked on two pieces of previously drilled wood to the bottom of the stairs. Fitted all the stanchions  and the rope - and so the whole assembly is complete and ready to fit whenever it is least likely to be damaged.  The picture showing it on the ship shows it dry-fitted.
 





 
Finally, for those who may be interested, here are the ship's boats that I completed some time ago.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Still a little update.
 
The upper deck is ready and is not much work left.
 
Here are some pictures
 

 

 

Wow. Some serious mods there, and she looks great so far. I cant wait to see the rest of your build.

I have started a job on the side that will run in conjunction with the main construction work.This is that of the figurehead.There are differences between museum model and the kit.The main one being there are two 'characters' behind the lion.I say characters because I am still uncertain as to what they are They remind me very much of the 'purple' thingy on Matti's Vasa build .However these affect the shape of the prow considerably and I will need to produce this trio of carvings to be able to determine the prow shape.
Some good news is that the museum model's Lion is tailless unlike the one on the kit plans and it is not clutching an emblem also shown on the plans.It is a nice change that research actually simplifies a design .Anyway I chose to take a copy of the Lion shown on the plans and use this,just omit tail and emblem,as it will be far more convincing than my freehand drawing attempts.The copy was glued onto a piece of European box of suitable thickness.
I first milled the slot for the prow,but leaving a small section at the feet.This will be removed later when the bulk of the shaping is done,it simply serves to keep a little strength for now while the rough work is done.The profile was cut using a combination of the miller,large scalpel and burrs.The result in the pics is from about 8 hours work!!.
The very thin wafer at the mouth will hopefully be the tongue when finished
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

A new day and for me an re-do day.....
 
I have change the crow's feet and I hope this is what the meaning is......
If not......DON"T TELL ME !!!!!!!!!       ( joke, please tell me if it is not right )
 

I dont know what's going on with the site, but i've got some photos missing . Anyway, I've got a little bit of progress to post. I've moved on to doing the deadeyes and getting the Shrouds tied on and a few ratlines to boot. I made a little jig to help space the deadeyes so I could get nice even looking Shrouds. I think I've done a better job this time. I've left the Stays unfastened so I can adjust them once all the standing rigging is up, including the Backstays because they are somewhat in the way of doing the Shrouds and ratlines. I'll do those last. 
 
   Matt.

I dont know what's going on with the site, but i've got some photos missing . Anyway, I've got a little bit of progress to post. I've moved on to doing the deadeyes and getting the Shrouds tied on and a few ratlines to boot. I made a little jig to help space the deadeyes so I could get nice even looking Shrouds. I think I've done a better job this time. I've left the Stays unfastened so I can adjust them once all the standing rigging is up, including the Backstays because they are somewhat in the way of doing the Shrouds and ratlines. I'll do those last. 
 
   Matt.

Thank you for your interest in "Newsboy" 1854,
 
Next step is after deck outfit.  Key points include:
 
>>> Binacle redesigned based on contemporary ship model plans (original was undersized for 3/16" scale)
>>> Binacle was sheathed with walnut veneer over a solid block 
>>> Ships bell HO scale fitting from Cale Scale
>>> Main sheet block fitted to waterway (to avoid access issues)
>>> Steering enclosure built up from laminated panels, install in coaming, and glued in place
>>> Grating panels fitted for steering station
>>> Mooring bitts built up from laminated stripwood and doweled in place
 
Pete Jaquith
Shipbuilder

Just got back from Canada. Fishing was great! Bear watching and whale watching fair to poor. Attached are some photos. My wife and I caught a lot of fish. My wife more than me. We had to release a few since they were protected. We also gave a bunch away. The last pic is the birthday feast a local chef created with the big pink salmon my wife caught. My family is throwing a birthday party for me tomorrow, so I won't get back to my USS Constitution until next week. I had plenty of time to plan my next moves, though. Boat building is really like playing chess.
 
Thanks for the birthday greetings. 75 seems so old! The good news is, I don't feel that old.
 
Rich

OK. I finally have some materials to get moving on yhis little side project. I ordered some 0.6 mm veneer from a place up in townsville. I got 3 types of timber so that I can cintrast the hull and the deck. I need wider deck planks than can be ordered so I'll cut them from the Hoop Pine veneer. Once I got the materials I realised that it would be impractical to try and join each plank on the edges, so I've changed the approach to single piece planks which are difficult enough to put on as it is. the clinker planks are Chilean Myrtle, and the other timber of lesser quality is Coachwood that I'll use for the false decks.
Hope you are all well, Matt. I've thrown in a couple of pictures of the Bireme I'm working on as well.
 
Hope everyone had a lovely Easter, Matt.

OK. I finally have some materials to get moving on yhis little side project. I ordered some 0.6 mm veneer from a place up in townsville. I got 3 types of timber so that I can cintrast the hull and the deck. I need wider deck planks than can be ordered so I'll cut them from the Hoop Pine veneer. Once I got the materials I realised that it would be impractical to try and join each plank on the edges, so I've changed the approach to single piece planks which are difficult enough to put on as it is. the clinker planks are Chilean Myrtle, and the other timber of lesser quality is Coachwood that I'll use for the false decks.
Hope you are all well, Matt. I've thrown in a couple of pictures of the Bireme I'm working on as well.
 
Hope everyone had a lovely Easter, Matt.

Hi all. Have finally managed to get some parts and timber to continue building. I was short some 8 mm dowell for the Mizzen abd the main yard. While I was waiting I got stuck into preparing the masts for gluing and trying to do as much of the fiddly work as I can before putting them on. I made a little jig for positioning the deadeyes, as my other efforts with them haven't been very good. The ones on the mast tops have turned out pretty good, well, better than my other ones so I'll count it as a win.
That's it for now.

OK. I finally have some materials to get moving on yhis little side project. I ordered some 0.6 mm veneer from a place up in townsville. I got 3 types of timber so that I can cintrast the hull and the deck. I need wider deck planks than can be ordered so I'll cut them from the Hoop Pine veneer. Once I got the materials I realised that it would be impractical to try and join each plank on the edges, so I've changed the approach to single piece planks which are difficult enough to put on as it is. the clinker planks are Chilean Myrtle, and the other timber of lesser quality is Coachwood that I'll use for the false decks.
Hope you are all well, Matt. I've thrown in a couple of pictures of the Bireme I'm working on as well.
 
Hope everyone had a lovely Easter, Matt.

Hello Mat! I recently completed this ship, but I built mine from the kit. I suspect that you have more skills than I do, but if you need any help or any clarification with the instructions, let me know. 
 
How are you planning to carve the figurehead if this is a scratch build? 
 
Where in Australia are you? I am in Melbourne. I will still be in possession of this model for a few more days before I give it to my friend as a gift He doesn't know yet!

15 First Structure Assembly.  With the main staircase in place the colonnade and cabins A, B, C, and E can be placed fixed in position onto the first deck.  The instructions advise ‘consult the designs and proceed with great care’.  Not at all helpful!  The main thing is to keep every thing square, on centerline and make sure all components make full contact with the deck. 
 
(Missed out on taking a picture at this point.)
 
16 Finishing the first deck.     I decided to skip this stage as fixing the edge strip and other items can be done later.
 
17 Lower part (i.e. underside) First Deck.  This stage is illustrated in the instructions, not on the drawings.  I started planking the underside of the first deck after planking the topside.  My thinking was to make the deck sheet stiffer as the overhangs were flapping in the breeze so to speak being only 1mm thick.  I discovered planking the underside did not help the stiffness and furthermore the ‘reinforcing cross pieces’ cannot be correctly located until the first deck structures are in place.  Note that the drawing shows four ‘reinforcing cross pieces’ aft of the paddlewheel housing but omits the four cross pieces fore of the housing.  These can be seen in the photo of the completed boat on the box lid.
 

 
Starting the planking before the first deck cabins are in place.
 

 
Four reinforcing cross pieces fore and aft of the paddlewheel housing.  The four forward cross pieces are located to suit the window layout on cabin E.
 

 
Underside of deck completed and painted with paddlewheels in place.  All ready to be turned over and never to be seen again unless you view the boat on your hands and knees!

Hello,

after a short break with the Model Making I make the gunports lid on the port side.
Here is a photo. I hope you like ist.