Avi

Finally decided to remove the pre carved quarter galleries entirely. I want to build them separately and have the light flow through, which includes the gun ports. I spent quite some time looking at the Anatomy book and pictures from the current constitution (the in process rebuild photos are great) to get a better feel, and decided to go down this path. finished sanding to fit all of the templates, faired them together to single feel. Then I basically ran my hands back and forth along both sides of the hull, stopping everywhere it felt like it bumped or dipped too suddenly. Sure enough, every one of those was in between templates or one that I hadn’t felt was quite right before. Used my hand sander to smooth those out. finally switched to 220grit wet to do a nice finishing run on the hull everywhere. Damp paper towel to remove most of the dust, dry to dry it off, then sit outdoors for ten minutes. She’s smooth like glass. See attached. There are three areas in the sterns that require some combination of a little more sanding and some filler. They are visible on the pictures. The inner sternpost is not 100% even all the way through. I need to grab a pair of calipers and measure its width vs the width of the sternpost, so I can determine if it needs to be sanded down narrower, filled in with filler to make thicker, or a combination of both. At the top of the sterns, where it flares out to port and starboard just below the knuckle, it is somewhat bumpy and uneven. I haven't yet determined if it needs to be sanded down, filled in, or a combination of both. And then... on to the keel!

Thanks @MrBlueJacket I almost always pick medium resolution on my phone, so 100-300KB, and yet it still flips. This time I just downloaded all to laptop, rotated, and uploaded.

Redid every post with pictures to reorient them correctly.

I let too long go by without posting pictures. Here are several. I’ve no idea why the upload flips the pictures upside down. I’d be happy to fix it if anyone knows how. EDIT: I downloaded them to my laptop and rotated them, then reuploaded. I wish I knew why it gets it wrong from my phone, but so be it. The first picture is after using a dremel to carve out each template’s “groove” in a rough sense. The next is after using a power finishing sander to smooth down the area around the grooves to get mostly in line with them. After that I worked with a manual hand sander to smooth down further, until almost all of the grooves and unevenness were gone. Then I filled in one spot with wood filler where the groove was too deep. Finally, I went back to the templates and, using the manual hand sander, contour sanders, and sometimes a bit of the power sander, sanding it down so that the templates match up correctly. The last picture is after having gotten templates C through FP (ie all the way to the bows), and 3 through 13 towards the stern, on both starboard and larboard, with 15-47 to go.

I haven’t posted in a few weeks, so a quick update. I managed to use a dremel sanding drum to shape out every station. The hull looked horrible, even if every station fit, so I was quite discouraged. But carry on, they say. I then used a finishing sander to sand down the rest of the hull, bringing it in line with the template grooves. What a difference! It looks good. It took about three runs with the finishing sander, until I needed to switch to hand sanding. Unfortunately, I thought I had a good sanding block and set of counter sanders, both of which are AWOL. Fortunately, they are cheap to order on Amazon, which does take a few weeks to get here. Soon enough. One side note. The quarter gallery outline really does get in the way of the last template aft, 47. I had a few choices: - cut the template to conform to it - live without it - sand down the hull, including part of the quarter gallery, so the template fits, then I will fill it in later with wood filler/putty I opted for the last option, with which I’m pleased (thus far). I switched gears in the meantime, starting to build my work cradle. That didn’t go so well. I’ve got a big panel of ¾” plywood (with thin laminate) from a friend’s renovation. What I *don’t* have is a power saw or router. I tried the cutting wheel on the dremel; it didn’t go deep enough and really scorched the wood. I tried the router attachment to my dremel; I cut some of the cuts, but destroyed two bits in the process. I’m looking for new ideas while I await sanding tools delivery. In any case, that ¾” plywood is *heavy*. Pictures to follow once sanding is done.

I rediscovered why I need a finishing sander and Dremel. Now that I am confident about the template stations, it is time to shape the hull down using those templates. Per the guide, I decided to start right in the middle, station 3. I brought 3 templates - 3,5,7 - out with me, mounted up and got started, figuring it wouldn't take me too long to do those. I should have been more aware. I managed to get station 3 nicely shaped down on both sides, starboard and larboard (I am doing the ship from 1812 🙂 ), in around 30 minutes of tiring my hand. I will need to be careful - gentle on the hand sander, low speed on the Dremel, only for the larger areas - but clearly power is the way to go here.

Oh that is nice!

Thanks Bill! I have to keep reminding myself that this is a multi year project, so an extra few hours or day to try something, and dump it if it doesn’t work in favour of something else, is more than worth it.

I had to go back to the drawing board. But I finally managed to get the templates marked. Hopefully this is useful for someone else. Here’s what I did. 1. the keel rabbet is ready and has all of the stations marked on it from the profile 2. I picked one station, 3, and drew the template marking at the top of the hull and slightly down. 3. I took a small level, stood it up such that its length goes from keel to top of hull. Use the bubble to ensure it is perfectly level. 4. close one eye and keep moving such that I just lose sight of the black line on the side of the level 5. if the keel marking and side marking are aligned along the edge of the level, it is good. For the next station 1. Using calipers measure the distance between two stations along the profile template. This helps me avoid dealing with the curve 2. Place the calipers along the work table such that it is both perfectly parallel to the ground and the edge of the table (avoid the curve in/out and up/down of the hull) 3. Mark the spot. This gets a little more challenging at the bows, where the curvature is so sharp that the pencil cannot get through the calipers. I used a sharp long knife to score it slightly, then followed up with a pencil 4. repeat the level exercise to validate alignment with markings at keel and perpendicular to the ground. A few pictures are attached. The pics show from station 3 to station 5, but it’s after the work was done, so I am not bothering to be extra precise. That was challenging and a lot of trial and error, but I’m finally pleased with the markings.

I haven’t had much time to work on it, got some time today. I got my profile sanded down very well, I’m extremely pleased. Then I got the template markings clear on the keel rabbet. I then marked WL10/WL32 at the bow and stern, and the waterline at the bow and stern. Then it’s time to attach a pencil to a stack of books at the exact height and run it around. My smooth kitchen counter is perfect for this. then I realized that because my mounted block is mounted to the gundeck, so placing it on the counter means it’s tilted off to the side. Of course, I only realized it after connecting the lines, so I had to erase them and redo. How to get it exactly level? My son suggested sanding down the block, but it is way too hard a wood. Then I ended up with an incredibly simple idea: stickers! Perfectly balanced now. 😃

I’m somewhat unsure about the stern, specifically with regards to the path from the keel to the counter. Some of the diagrams in the book show it as a narrow straight like all the way up, while others seem to show a flaring or widening as it goes up, from about halfway up. The flaring makes sense, but I’m unsure. If it is a flaring, I’ll have to use some putty. I cut a bit too much away on the starboard side. On the other hand, there don’t appear to be any templates for that, so I don’t know what “too much” would be.

This turned out to be a good call, both redoing the profile on Bristol board, and shaping the profile before getting to the templates. It shows some nice shape, and I have a solid plan for going forward. hand sander and dremel with a small drum turned out to be invaluable. This would have taken many hours by hand, especially the stern. Flat file, rat tail file and half round were really helpful. Pics are attached.

Thanks @KHauptfuehrer It’s actually kind of hard to get it right, and I’d love to get some good ideas. If there are referenced build logs that have solved this, please do link them. what I really would like, but have no idea how to do it, would be a frame that held all of the templates in place, so I could adjust each one. I imagine whatever frame they built the original ship in was like that, but this is small scale. I’ve sort of backed off of my above approach, and am going to switch a bit. I am going to shape the hull profile first, which will allow the template to sit, then remark the stations on the keel rabbet, then mount it such that the rabbet is precisely parallel to the ground. Then I’ll use a pencil frame to mark the WL10/32 across the entire hull, and then do the widths. I will post my log here.

Yeah, that is a pretty fair point @MrBlueJacket. 😃 What are your thoughts on the questions above? I ended up starting to do the first problem as follows: Put the template for C aligned (position fore vs aft) with the marking on the keel rabbet (I love saying that; it sounds like some fancy breed of animal) Use a small level aligned with the horizontal line marked "base line to top of keel rabbet" on the template to get the template horizontal to the model but also the floor take the same level and hold it vertically against the template to keep it stiffer and ensure it is precisely vertical to the floor mark a small cross vertical with the template and horizontal with the template line WL10 Use the two marks - keel rabbet and WL10 to align the template C Draw a line along the hull traced by the stiff template connecting those two points Repeat on the other side With that in place, I can use divider or calipers plus small level to make the intersection of WL10 and the next template (F), and use those two points to connect with the F mark on the keel rabbet. Rinse, wash, repeat. Slow but should work.

Time for next challenge: marking the hull templates. The profile is done, and it is easy to see where all of the stations along the keel rabbet are (I was sure that auto-correct was going to switch "rabbet" to "rabbit", but it surprised me). You then need to extend the templates up the hull. Doing that in a consistent way with a consistent distance between them is proving to be challenging. I have them all cut out onto Bristol board, so there is some stiffness. Since all of the templates have the horizontal lines on them, I align it with the hull, use a small level against that line, and know that I have it in the right rotation around the hull. I will admit that some of those towards the bow are surprisingly offset; they don't sit even close to well with the hull's curvature. I assume that just means I need to sand it down. I found several challenges in marking them correctly. The relatively stiff Bristol board can be angled forward or backward, even if level with respect to the ground and work surface. Even being off by a bit can make the distance between one and the next too wide or too narrow. I thought of using a divider or calipers, but then I have to get that one level. My next thought was to start with just one ("C"), measure distance to the next one on the keel rabbet, then apply that distance at a point up the hull (I have been using "WL10" as my reference point), use a level to ensure it is the right location. Now I should have WL10 on the next template, and can connect that point with the point for that template on the keel rabbet using the template, and it should go through. I am unsure if that will work. The instructions recommend extending the keel centerline up to the top of the hull at the bow and stern. I am struggling for ways to do that while keeping perfectly aligned. The keel was easy, as it is flat and straight. The bows are curved (and cross the bump of the wood that is to be removed), while the stern goes over a nearly-ninety-degree angle at the sternpost, then curves up and around at the counter and transom. Not immediately relevant, but when extending each template's markings on the hull to the "top of the hull", do they mean the "top of the spardeck" level (it is marked on the templates) or top of the planksheer (also marked)? I assume that they mean the spardeck, as the planksheer would be planks above that, but the instructions were somewhat confusing. And @schooner, it looks like I am taking your advice: measure 4 times and cut once. 😄

Thanks @schooner that makes sense. I will leave the template at the red line and cut to that, and then do blue if that is what is needed.

Another quandary, fairly early on. These two pictures show the scale profile used on cut out the board and use as a template to shape the hull, as well as the not-to-scale outline from the book. It looks from the plan like the proper place for profiling is the red line I added above, but I’m uncertain for several reasons: - the book outline shows more straight lines than curving, implying that the curvature I have under the counter is incorrect - the picture of the shaped hull by @jfinan here also looks like that, with the part coming up from the keel, just afore of the sternpost, hits a sharp angle which goes straight out to the stern, then another angle up at the transom - the directions indicate marking the height of the caprail and spardeck, both of which, in the scale plans, terminate at the blue line, ahead of the transom. For now, I’m leaning towards sticking with the red line, as I always can cut more later, but happy for advice.

I also discovered that the block was about 4" height, but my longest nails (left over from a drywalling job a few years back) were 3.5". So I took a drill bit slightly wide than the screw head, drilled 1.5" into the block, then a pilot hole 0.5" below that, and was able to get the screw through the block, sticking out the bottom just enough to hold the hull solidly. You can see the wider holes in the upper picture above. As for the three holes? The screw went in on an angle in one of the holes, so I just did another, with a deeper pilot hole. No problem.

My new workbench arrived, as did the dewalt hand sander. Finally found time to sand down the block of wood (it shouldn’t matter, as it’s only temporary, but a few splinters convinced me otherwise), then drill the screws in. Needless to say, we had to take a detour. The battery on my drill ran down, I put in the replacement, and it was dead. Charger didn’t light up. Turned out to be the charger, not the batteries, so I got that replaced and finished the job. Looks like I’m ready to start shaping and sanding the hull.

Something nice just showed up in the mail.

Hmm, I have finished the hull templates, but find myself somewhat confused by the lowest number ones. It is nearly impossible to tell the differences between 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and while when you look at the bottom, 3 is clearly the outermost, at the middle it looks like they cross over, and at the top, it looks like 15 is the outermost? I’m quite confused. I’ve attached the layout to hopefully help. Sorry for the sideways pic; I have no idea why the forum did that. anyone know? I think Nic is here at @MrBlueJacket

Like these @mort stoll? That’s a great idea. Thanks!

I also found some “styrofoam board” when I got the Bristol board. That’s going to have more stiffness than the Bristol, so I’m using it for the hull profile template. I’m not sure how well I can cut it precisely, especially on curves, but my daughter says she can. Who am I to argue? 😄

Made lots of copies of the hull station templates, cut them down to a normal size (why waste the outer white space), simple stick glue gets them on Bristol board, and then cut into 20 squares. All of this so far is crude work; will need to be precise when actually cutting the templates. Actually that kind of concerns me. Cutting a straight line on cardboard with a #10 or #11 blade is easy with a straight steel ruler. Cutting the curves of the hull, not as much. I’m happy for suggestions.

Lucky me! My neighbour just finished home renovations and had a perfect block of wood left over.