Dan Vadas

Thank you Mark, John, Druxey and Pat. The puns are flying thick and fast today . Thanks also to all those who have been using the "Like" button.
 
Main Studding Sail Boom Irons
 
There are two pieces of ironwork attached to each main channel. One of these is an Eyestrap, into which a pin on the inboard end of the Main Studding Sail fits allowing it to swing out. The other (aft) one is a Gooseneck which holds the outboard end of the boom when it is stowed.
 
I made these from 1mm thick brass strip. Both pieces taper in width and thickness on the inboard ends. I drilled three holes in each piece for the "bolts", which are made from brass pins silver soldered to the straps and the heads filed square.
 

 

 
The gooseneck part was silver soldered to the arm, as it needed a very sharp bend which wasn't possible to do. I trimmed the brass nails to the thickness of the channel :
 

 

 
The pieces fitted after cleaning up and blackening :
 

 

 
  Danny

Thanks John, Christian, Ben, Adam and Nils .
 
I've finished fitting the Channels, Standards and Drift Rails to the Port side :
 

 

 
Quarter Badge Crown
 
I've also carved the Crown for the Upper Finishing on the Quarter Badge. It's certainly not up to the standard of some of the great carvers on this site, but I'm happy enough with it. Here are some pics from the rough-cut blank to the finished article. I used English Box - it took me about 3 hours work. It measures 6mm wide by 4mm high :
 

 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Drift Rails
 
The Drift Rails are the uppermost ones. I used dark Swiss Pear as they are a continuation of the Planksheers in the Waist :
 

 

 

 
They cut in over the Catheads :
 

 
  Danny

Yeah John, I'm full of them (it??? ).
 
Here are a couple of pics of the Channels fitted to the Port side :
 

 

 
 
Sheer Rails
 
The Channels intersect the Sheer Rails, which is why the channels had to be fitted first :
 

 
An unusual way to hold the end of the sheer rail whilst the glue dried - clamps were ineffective in this situation, so I've temporarily glued a piece of scrap to the end of the channel :
 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thank you very much John, Colin, Doris and Popeye .
 
Fitting the Channels perfectly horizontally was accomplished by the use of a couple of specially made "jigs" that sit on the planksheers from one side to the other. Masking tape and clamps hold the jigs firmly in position. The leg glued to the underneath of the horizontal member was measured at the inboard edge and cut square.
 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Hi all, back from my holidays again .
 
Channels
 
I've made the Foremast Channels and the Stools that are fitted just aft of them. They are tapered outboard from 4 1/2" to 2 3/4" (real size) on their bottom face. There are two swivelling ringbolts in each channel - they fit through a small plate on the underside which I made from thin brass shim material and blackened :
 

 

 

 

 
I've cut into the Sheer Strake for added support on the inboard edge. This is only a dry fit so far :
 

 

 
To align the slots for the Shrouds I rigged up a dummy mast and used a piece of thread to ensure they wouldn't foul the gunports and sweep ports. A molding will be added to cover the shrouds after they are fitted. The dummy mast is vertical, not on the angle it seems in the pic (the ship itself is tilted a bit ) :
 

 
  Danny

Oops .... forgot about that one. That makes THREE mistakes . Thanks Mark
 
Thanks too David. I wish you well on your journey to the "Dark Side".
 
  Danny

Chesstrees
 
The Chesstrees house a sheave that acts as a "lead" for the Main Tack before it enters the forward Fixed Block and then belays around the cleat. They are positioned just aft of the fixed block.
 
I made the two chesstrees from English Box, both as a color contrast and because of the thin section around the sheave which required a very close-grained timber to avoid splitting. The first one was a "character building exercise" - it took me about 2 1/2 hours to shape. The second one took about 10 minutes .
 
The (working) sheaves are 2.65mm in diameter and 1mm thick :
 

 

 
The second chesstree ready to cut off the piece of stock - after taking this pic I prepared everything (molding on the outer face, sheave hole and "bolts") for this one before cutting it off :
 

 
The Main Tacks are quite large - 5 1/2" in circumference, the scale equivalent being 0.9mm diameter. I threaded some line through both the chesstree and the fixed block to make sure I'd made the slots large enough to pass the line through :

 

 
I made two mistakes (which will remain) on the first one - anyone spot them ?
 
  Danny

Thanks for the tip Mark, but it would have to be a VERY small chess set - the Crown is only 4mm high .
 
Pilasters
 
The final pieces of this jigsaw puzzle - the Pilasters. The first pieces I made were the Bases and Capitals. These were cut from a length of molded English Box :
 

 
The Columns were done in similar fashion, from long lengths of molded stock :
 

 
Some pics of the finished assembly ready for a coat of Minwax :
 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thanks for the comments Christian, Remco, John. Grant, Toni, Mark, Joe and Ben. Also all those who "Liked" the post. Much appreciated .
 
Carving the Finishing and Glazing Lights
 
Mark, as per your request - the carving on the Lower Finishing :
 

 

 
I won't be doing any of the "fancy" carving for quite a while yet if I do any of it at all, I'm still undecided - I don't have the tools, and my skills don't extend to the "artistic" type carving yet. Perhaps I can persuade Janos to make a few for me (hint, hint Janos ).
 
I've also "glazed" the Lights with Acrylic (Perspex) and made and fitted the frames and munions. The curved frame in the central light was done by soaking and bending the strip :
 

 
Almost finished with this very enjoyable project. Just four Pilasters to make.
 
  Danny

Thanks Druxey, actually it was quite easy. The hardest parts were shaping the molding around the end return and the small notch above the rudder hinge. Cutting the bevel only took one go (I must be getting better at doing things like that "by eye" ).
 
Quarter Badge Stools and Munions
 
This looked like being quite a challenge, but thanks to the instructions and tips in TFFM they haven't been too difficult so far (I haven't got to the Carving part yet though   ). I'm only fitting a Badge to the Port side.
 
The first pieces to be made, which the success of the rest depend on, are the Upper and Lower Stools. These took some careful measuring and marking out to get the right angles. In fact, I had a failure with the lower stool - I didn't have enough angle from the vertical (12 degrees) the first time I glued it in and had to get the Isopropyl out and have a second go. No biggie .
 
I took the shape of the stools straight from the drawing in TFFM and cut two identical pieces. These need slightly different bevels on their inboard edges to keep the stools horizontal athwartships. Here is one stool ready for gluing in, the molding on the edge has already been scraped in :
 

 
To assist in gluing them to the correct angle I used masking tape :
 

 
The upper stool is quite a bit trickier to make than the lower one. It consists of three parts with a "bell" shaped piece in the middle. To make the centre piece I first cut out the lower portion from some thick stock, sanded the outer face to conform with the lower stool, then scraped the molding, and finally sanded the outer portion to shape on the disc sander :
 

 

 

 
The joints are cut at a 45 degree angle. I glued the three pieces together before bevelling the assembly :
 

 
To ensure both stools were perfectly parallel I used a piece of scrap with two bevels sanded into it as a spacer. The 2nd pic shows the spacer in use, but was only my 1st attempt before I realised I'd got the angle wrong :
 

 

 
Take two, after I got the angles right :
 

 
Last step to this stage, I've fitted the four Munions - more tricky angles, all done on the disc sander. The rough bit of cutting into the Sheer Strake above the bell will be covered by the Upper Finishing later on :
 

 
  Danny

Preparing Tuck Molding and Waist Rails
 
The Tuck Molding covers the join between the Lower Counter and the Hull Planking that meets it. I'm only fitting the Port side. The outer end of the molding needed shaping to return to the Wales. The inner face needed bevelling to match the angle of the Counter  :
 

 

 

 
The same molding scraper was used for both the tuck molding and the Waist Rail. There is a slight difference in the actual molding, but it wasn't enough to warrant making a new scraper (which is quite a job - I'm using the same scraper for most of my moldings, the difference can't really be seen by eye).
 
I've prepared a couple of strips of Waist Raiing, which won't be fitted until after the Quarter Badges are installed. The one on the left has it's molding scraped in ready for final trimming to width :
 

 
The Scraper :
 

 

 
  Danny

Gallows Crosspiece
 
I've made and fitted the Gallows Crosspiece. This is used, not as a Gallows (they used a Yardarm for that ), but as the aft support for the Ship's Boat and spare spars etc. This pic was taken before a finish was applied.
 
I'm at a bit of a loss to see how the fore end of the boat and spars is supported. There is nothing in TFFM that I can find which is used as a fore support . Any suggestions?
 

 
I've also fitted the two half-curved entry steps to the waist which I'd made before I went on holidays.
 

 
A couple of progress pics of the decks. I've applied Minwax Wipe-on Poly to all the areas that I hadn't finished beforehand.
 

 

 
  Danny

Thank you Mark, overdale, Grant, John, Duff and Richard.
 
Entry Steps to the Waist
 
There are two sets of Entry Steps attached to the fixed gangways, one either side. These have "Winding" treads to transition from the curve in the gangways - quite tricky things to get right as the angles for the slots in the fore stiles are different to the aft ones.
 
I cut the fore slots at 30 degrees, and the aft ones at 27.5 degrees. This gave the required "twist" in the steps.
 
The pics will tell the story of how I made them :
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thanks once again to John, Brian, Jeff, Pat, Tony and Sailor1234567890 .
 
Gangways and Gangboards
 
There is a Fixed Gangway either side of the break for the Quarterdeck to provide access to the quarterdeck from the upper deck and also to allow for boarding, and a Gangboard either side in the Waist to provide a walkway between the forecastle and quarterdeck.
 
The easiest solution to making the framing for the fixed gangway I could think of was to first edge glue the planking together, shape it correctly, and then build the framing onto it. I used Pear for the edging plank for a decorative contrast.
 

 

 

 
The second framing for the unplanked starboard side was copied from the resulting pieces :
 

 
The Gangboards are a simpler affair, consisting of two 9" boards which are affixed to the knees :
 

 
The installed assemblies :
 

 

 
  Danny

Thanks John, it would have been a LOT more difficult without the jig   .
 
All the timberheads are finished and installed. The pic below shows how much difference there was in the longitudinal angles, remember that the ones near the waist were straight :
 

 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thanks Maury and Bill - I'll get around to doing that.
 
Quarterdeck Timberheads
 
I've finished making all the straight timberheads and now I need to make the angled ones for the quarterdeck.
 
First thing to do was determine the angles. I'm starting with the shallowest near the fore of the deck. I've used my digital level to get the first angle :
 

 
Then I marked the angle on my jig on both sides of the wider slot, and cut the sides of the slot :
 

 
Then I filed and cut the steps etc as before. A wedge holds the piece in place while I cut or file it :
 

 

 
As I progress aft the angle will increase. Each needs to be measured, and the jig re-cut to suit.
 
  Danny

No worries Elmer - plenty more where that came from .
 
I've finished fitting all the Planksheers. The port quarterdeck one is completely finished, others are in various stages.
 

 

 
You can clearly see the two-piece construction on the forecastle ones. This is necessary (even on the real ship) as it is impossible to fit the planksheer over the timberheads owing to the changing angles of the latter.
 
Don't forget, I'm "cheating" here - I'm not making the timberheads as part of the top timbers. I find it much easier to cut the moldings into their tops on the bench rather than on the ship   .
 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thank you, and you're most welcome Mark, Remco, Christian, Grant, Jeff, Maury and Neal .
 
Forecastle Planksheers
 
The Planksheers for the Forecastle and Quarterdeck need to be fitted before I can continue with the Timberheads.
 
For the quarterdeck I could soak and laterally bend the four required as they only have a shallow bend. Here's the first one fitted - there is a smaller piece still to be fitted on the inboard side :
 

 
The four on the forecastle are a bit trickier. I cut these from wide stock. Fitting the forward one around the Knightheads was quite a task - I had one reject, and used at least 30 "dry fits" on each before I was happy with the result :
 

 

 

 
  Danny

Yeah Greg - although as I mentioned before they are all different .
 
Maury - I'm using the Byrnes Saw instead of the Mill.
 
Using the Timberhead Jig
 
Before the questions are asked about how I use the Timberhead Jig - here's how.
 
1. I file the two inboard and outboard tapers using the wide slot :
 

 

 
2. I transfer the piece to the narrow slot and file the fore and aft tapers :
 

 

 
3. I cut the shoulders for the moldings using a sharp flat Xacto chisel :
 

 
4. The shoulders are rounded off with a needle file :
 

 
5. Using the jig I cut the top of the lower step all around on the Byrnes table saw :
 

 
6. I cut the piece to length :
 

 
7. Using the chisel I cut the lower step to size :
 

 
8. Finally I round off the corners of the step to fit the oval hole cut through the planksheer :
 

 
  Danny

Thank you Mark, Grant, TJ, Tony, Bill and Elmer .
 
I've made all 10 Hances. I've used a simplified design eliminating the fancier rolled scrolls on most of them - they were hard enough to carve out the way I've done them   .
 
The upper ones on the forecastle and quarterdeck have been scarfed out to fit to the planksheers :
 

 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thank you John - I like it now .
 
A small "Tutorial" on how I made the Hances.
 
One trick I learned long ago is to make small pieces that are awkward to hold on the end of a long piece of stock which can be used as a handle for more control.
 
First I Milled the inside curve. These will all come out the same for the four of this type - the planking is finessed to fit the radius :
 

 
Next the outer curve is sanded down to follow the shape of the inner one. I started off with the Byrnes disc sander and finished with a sanding stick :
 

 
I could only use the molding scraper for the straight grained section :
 

 
The curved sections were cut with a very narrow Xacto chisel :
 

 
The piece will be cut off the longer stock when it's all cleaned up.
 
  Danny

OK, here you go Ben and the others who commented on my Hances v1.0 - I've remade the Planksheers and the first Hance using a dark shade of Swiss Pear. I'm much happier about the result - crisper definition and far less chipping out. There are minor irregularities which you can see under high magnification, but to the eye they look pretty good if I say so myself . They will look even better when a finish has been applied.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Gangboard Knees
 
I've made and fitted five of the six port side Gangboard Knees. This required a slight re-do of four of the gun tackles, as the two forward ones on gun #4 and the two aft ones on gun #3 are both attached to the knees, not the spirketting. An oversight on my part .
 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thank you Frank, John, Pat, Ben and Mark .
 
Pat, the fourth pic in my previous post is as close to the "real" colour of Chuck's rope as I can get it. The others ARE a little paler due to different lighting angles.
 
I've finished Re-Rigging all the guns. To hold the rope coils in place I used a Fabric Setting gel used by seamstresses etc to glue down hems before sewing them. I can't vouch for the longevity of the product for this application, as it washes out with water. I may have to use some dilute PVA at a later stage if it looks like the coils will come undone.
 
The coils are still damp in these pics, and will take a more natural colour when the setting gel dries.
 

 

 

 

 
  Danny