Gabek

Wow...and I mean WOW. This rehabilitation is coming along beautifully. Painting is doing its job...that hull planking was the result of frustration trying to bend veneers to a complex 3d shape, which can't be done. All your colour choices are fine. Black and white are covering up the "booboo's" nicely! The lantern is exquisite! Please tell us how you made it. I never thought of rigging one on the mast. So, I started pouring through all my books and so far I could only find how they rigged a stern lantern on the mizzen top of a British frigate in Petersson's Rigging Period Ships. I think you could try installing yours on the flag mast somehow if you wanted. Keep on trucking! - Gabe

Anytime you need the plans, Keith, just let me know. And thanks for the kind words about my build! 😳 Kind regards, Gabe

Hello Keith, There are a whole lot of Swift logs on this site that can help you. This was my first model and first build log, too. I still have the plans and ‘instructions'(you'll understand why I put the scare quotes when you read the logs 🤣). I could mail them to you if you’re interested. Clear skies and sharp tools! - Gabe

Quick Work! Before I started the last planking I noticed something off. I dreaded picking up my calipers to measure the space between the thick stuff and prayed it was an optical illusion. The thick stuff on the port first futtock was 1 mm out, but parallel to the other pieces. At this scale that millimetre is huge! The mistake was done well back when I centred the the first pieces of thick stuff on the chocks. Somehow I messed up that placement and it now came up and bit me! Highlighting the discrepancy in the port and starboard quickwork. What's coming So, my planking on the interior hull is not symmetrical.😢BUT, it will almost be unnoticeable once I finish the model in the way I envision. Of which I think I will now sneak out a few details: I plan to put the model on a turntable so people can view all sides. I hope to paint the interior from frame C through frame 1 so someone looking from the bow will see a more realistic view of what the Triton may have looked like. When viewed from aft, frames 2 through 5 will remain natural wood with perhaps some cuttaway. I think I will paint one side of the outer hull and leave the other natural (and maybe cuttaway). Air Space One thing that perplexed me for a long time was how did they handle moisture between the interior and exterior planking? It wasn’t until I got the Anatomy of the Ship books that I spotted how...there was an air space built into the planking! The size of this airspace seemed to vary considerably. In HMS Diana it was close to the thickness of the deck planking, in HMS Pandora it was a complete strake, and in the HMS Trincomalee it was perhaps 7-8 inches midship according the photo in the book I have. So, I incorporated a 0.8 mm air space in my model that I guage is somewhere between Diana and Trincomalee in scale. And on the HMS Pandora... What next? I have a couple of small gaps between my planking that I will address next and I will likely cut back the excess keel and sand the ends of all the planking back to the outside frames. And I could use some advice from you folks! I face a couple of conundrums: a) should I paint and apply a finish to the current planking before I close off the (small) area with the lower deck? b) Should I work on the gunports and stabilizing the frame tops before the main deck? Not a lot of space in this model! Thanks for any advice you can offer. Clear skies and sharp tools! - Gabe

I hear you, Graham! I have a house and a cottage...so, basically TWO places going to pieces! My wife said to me last summer as I was nailing up some interior pine boards, "Gabe, you're making this cottage so cosy." My reply: "Dear, you realize that I'm actually building my coffin. When I kick the bucket, place me in the middle of the floor, light up the place, and build the new one on top of the ashes!"😃😁😂🤣😮😲😵💀👻 Thanks for the comments! Kind regards, Gabe

Thanks, Mark! I think you’re right about the retired persons' time-space continuum being shifted...the naps don't help! 🤣😜😌 - Gabe

OMG! TWO YEARS HAVE PASSED since I last worked on my Triton!😳 When I was still teaching I remember meeting retired colleagues who said that they were too busy! I would tell them they were idiots...I was not going to be too busy when I retire! So, now I’m the idiot! 🤬🤯 UPPER DECK CLAMPS However, I finally dusted off the Triton and good thing I took good notes! I had made a measured diagram (over two years ago!) of the upper deck clamps which were symmetrical anchor stock unlike the lower deck clamps. This was a nice surprise that allowed me to get right to building! Rather than cutting partial planks I decided to make a run of full deck clamps that would span over twice the length of the keel. I thought this would make it easier to keep the planks running true. I realized that to mirror the two sides of the ship I had to flip the beam diagram for the starbooard side. I measured and laid out the cuts the same as before. [grrrr! Messed up some how and prematurely posted this!] [Man, I keep messing up and losing my edits!] When time came to start gluing I noticed that a couple frames had warped a bit. 😡I moistened them a little, inserted spacers and glued the planks one at a time, allowing a long cure time between pieces (8-10 hours). While waiting I began preparing 1.35 mm stock for the “thick" stuff that would be next. Thanks to Bilge Rat's advice to get a slitting blade, I had a lot more success than before. The planks on my model need to be 0.80 mm! I was having trouble getting such narrow stock on my saw...but I then remembered right under my bench I had a pizza box full of random veneers! I began rifling through, finding all kinds of goodies but not quite what I needed. 😢Just about to give up, I spotted a piece of 2’x2’ Finnish birch plywood in my wood stores that is...0.8 mm!😳😃 My plank woes are solved! (I hope!) Clear skies and sharp tools!

Welcome aboard the HMS Triton, Jorge! Some excellent builds here that will inspire you! Clear skies, Gabe

Beautiful work! And I completely agree with your decision about treenails. Excellent work that a caulker would be hard-pressed to find any gaps! - Clear skies! Gabe

Speak for yourself! I have a white moustache, no beard and no hair! So there! Stereotype busted wide open.

Although I am still in the early stages of my Triton cross-section, I am going to have to make some decisions soon. My overall plan is to paint one half of the model and show off the wood plus cutaways on the other half. My big question is about painting the hold... Photos of the HMS Trincomalee's hold show that everything: planks, pillars, beams, etc, were painted white. However, photos of the Victory's hold show unpainted sides and pillars. Any advice? Regards, Gabe

Great topic...and one I am going to address on my Triton cross-section. At 1/96 scale I am not even going to attempt a nail pattern! I am using a book and photos of HMS Trincomalee a lot as reference. Here's a decent shot of the copper showing different colours and the visibility of the nails. Clear skies, Gabe

I agree with Christian that there wouldn't be caulk between the frame timbers. Caulk was to prevent water from entering the hull - so it would only be on the deck and hull planking. (I read somewhere that when a new ship was launched, the head caulker would have to drink all the water that came into the hull! ) I wouldn't worry about remaking your frames - they look excellent. The paper is showing off your excellent construction of the frames! Clear skies, Gabe

Hello there Anguirel, I decided to put in chocks on frames 5 and C, which would be visible in the final model: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/5761-hms-triton-cross-section-by-gabe-k-196/?p=218064 http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/5761-hms-triton-cross-section-by-gabe-k-196/?p=221134 I also had the problem of not finding a formula and ended up just picking between two reference sources I had and scaling down. Good luck in your build! Looking forward to reading more. Clear skies, Gabe