BANYAN

Looks like it was a great event; glad to hear you were able to enjoy it. Some really well made small models thercheers Pat

You're powering along mate. Glad you saw that as a minor setback and that you took the plunge and fixed that pesky bulkhead - she will look all the better for it. cheers Pat

Once again, these vessels show off their amazing simple but elegant lines - nice work Russ. cheers Pat

Go on, get out in the snow Denis! You need a path to the road which goes to your supplier for those extra half round clips That is some nice progress on the nets and trawl booms - this is going to look really good fitted up. cheers Pat

Worth the wait; looks good Sjors. She now has her poles and branches cheers Pat

Vossie, There are many ways to skin the planking cat if you accept you need to spile. My prefered method is to bevel on the upper edge of the new plank (same as Chuck I think). I found that if I put a bevel on the lower edge of the laid plank (before fixing), that I often had to bevel the top edge of the new plank also anyway. The top edge bevel only meant that I could get a good clean joint knowing the plank above had a good solid straight edge to butt to and some light sanding levelled any thickness difference. Looking at your last photo I think you may be tapering too much (I know some of this is due to angle of the shot and angle the model is sitting, but there appears to be an upward sweep developing. I think you are doing it the same way I did, in that I only tapered where I needed, and for me it was not from half way, but further forward or aft. I was doing Endeavour though and she had very rounded (bluff) bows so the planks were pretty level for at least one half the length of the ship. cheers Pat

That looks really good Greg. cheers Pat

I want one, I want one! Very nice use of technology to make the job a little easier and achieve excellent results. cheers Pat

That looks pretty good Greg; with that additional work it should very realistic. How did you hold up in the heat? cheers Pat

Very nice fit Russ, won't have any trouble keeping these aligned when gluing up as they all seem to sit very square. cheers Pat

Reider, I am not sure if Sharpie is still updating this log. There is another log somewhere on this site that discusses the mechanisms for movement of the oars; it was very impressive - I just cannot recall the thread. A good search of the forum may turn it up for you. cheers Pat

Vossie, I found that using rubber bands around the hull with balsa wood block wedged between band and the plank worked best. I also put a strip of electricians tape on the block face closest to the plank to avoid any glue seepage sticking to the block. I tried all those different clamping adaptions but found this to be the easiest to use and proved quite effective. The thicker rubber bands proved best and they simply stayed on the hull throughout and I simply adjusted the blocks as required. if you get the right tension/pressure on the rubber bands the blocks keeps everything in place and yet the keel etc won't get marked. In some places I had to use additional larger blocks to get the right pressure but the basa was dirt cheap at the local hardware store. cheers Pat

Very nice work (again) - thanks also for showing the process which is invaluable info for many. cheers Pat

Small but significant progress Denis, the look of the chain on those drag poles/booms look very natural - great effect achieved. cheers Pat

Terrific technique Michael, and a valuable mini-tutorial for us lesser mortals Those rails look excellent in situ. cheers Pat

Be a lot easier if there weren't so many options huh Joss I am having the same issue with researching my Victoria. You seem to be making some good headway though. cheers Pat

Thanks Carl

Stunning! The decorations set her off nicely and are very well executed. Are the carvings from Cherry also? cheers Pat

Slowly but surely will get you there! cheers Pat

A late comer Russ, somehow missed your new build - but better late than never I suppose Looks like another very nice Biloxi Lugger in the making. cheers Pat

Welcome back to the fray Dave; the boats are looking good! I need to get cracking as I only have the garboard planks on the yawl. I have been putting it off as I have been trying to get ahead on the Victoria, which has been taking an inordinate amouint of my time. cheers Pat

Thanks Russ, the shape had me bamboozled there for a while cheers Pat

Well folks, apart from continuing to research I have been making some small progress on the model also. The research is important as the results will determine the location of the fittings that I need to add to the bulwarks before doing any doing deck furniture etc, as it will be too difficult to do so later. It is vital that I can determine the location and orientation of as many of the rigging fittings, pinrails, backstay straps, eyebolts etc before progressing too much further; otherwise, it will be a matter of redoing the work yet again. Some rework has already proven to be the case (unavoidable) as we have no plans, and information on ships of this type is very scarce - so we were forced to make some assumptions which have since proven wrong As you can see from the following photographs, I have started opening the ports; and, unfortunately I have also had to remove and redo about 95% of the roughtree timbers (risers). I have completed that and I am now in the process of fitting the waterways. Again there was not much information, and while the Contract had specifications for many of the ship's timbers/scantlings; all it said for the waterway was "to be shaped and fitted as shown on the plan" - not very helpful Looking at the profile of contemporary vessels of this type, shows a very substantial waterway with a profile as shown in the first drawing. To obtain this shape I found it easiest to make it in two pieces which were then laminated, and then shaped at the rear with a slight profile to butt up against the bulwark planks which tumble out from the ship's side - see diagram 2. The following photo (not very good) of the HMS Warrior forecastle shows this profile fairly clearly - I found this on the internet unsourced but I believe it is from the book "HMS Warrior, Frigate by Wynford Davies and Geoff Dennison. Sorry about the in-your-face sizes of the drawings - I will need to to resize these first in the future. The following photos show the waterway strips in their various stages of assembly and in being dry fitted. I soaked the individual planks and used a bending jig to get the curved profile of each layer by stacking them in the jig, before gluing and profiling the outboard side. The 45 degree profile was obtained by passing the plank though my mill fitted with a 45 degree cutter (in the upside down router style ). I then glued the upper plank to the lower plank following the edge of the profile on the lower plank. This has worked out a lot better than I hoped but did take quite a few trials to get the right wood and mill speed combinations. I have fitted a high-speed pulley upgrade to my Sherline mill to start approaching router like speeds - just have to remember this before attacking some metals (that need the slower speeds ). cheers Pat

Ditto Rick's recommendation - should look good! cheers Pat

Hi, just a small consideration to ponder Vossie. The preciseness of your first planking might also be the cause of some issues down line. If you plank exactly the same for first and second layers, the seams/plank joints will all be coincident. By not having them coincident (having overlapping of planks between layers), you can reduce the chance of seams opening if there is any movement in the wood from humidity/heat etc; whereas, if coincident they may open up. That said, the argument can be made that a single layer of planking would have the same issues and that doing this is virtually the same as having a single layer of planking. However, with two layers, especially the uneven thicknesses, will make one layer might expand more than the other? Just raised as something to consider. cheers Pat