Captain Poison

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Hawse pieces and frames

I used apple-wood for frames

In the Central Naval Museum (Saint-Petersburg, Russia) there is an Admiralty model of frigate La Legere.
During 2 years i was busy with measuring this model and preparing a drawings.
Then during 2 years i was busy with her building.
I will show you my work in progress...

Very easy for everybody

And the second half...

Thank you for your comments, Michel and E.J., and also to you all for the support and "likes".
 
Today I have finished nameplate, its base and letters are made out of card, the frame is wooden. I tried to do it in the style of English Restoration approx 1670 (the frame and small ornaments) and you can also find there initials of authors - me and Captain KL who helps me to achieve more realistic results and gives me professional advice how to do things correctly and better.
That's why you can watch here a completely different build of the Royal Katharine than those that are based on modeling plans - unfortunately, in many ways, fictional.
 

 
So enjoy the pics and have a great time.
 

Excellent work Doris!

some progress on the sail mould, & Heath Robinson would be pleased...lots of string with knots, pegs & dodgy fixings 
 
Below shows the fabric suspended & tensioned here & there, the grey blotches are from water spray to soften the fabric, & hopefully will reshape a little as it dries; a hefty bucket of Bronte sand awaits. The good news is that the shape is about right - aerofoil shape towards the mast & gaff, & flatter towards the leech; with maximum belly in the upper part of the sail (in the photo the close timber is the gaff, next is the mast & the loose one below a timber strip furthest away is the boom).

 
as it turns out, only a very small amount of sand was required; the shape looks quite good & my earlier estimate of the difference angle between boom & gaff was quite a lot more than here, but I will probably ease than suspension line a little more so the gaff lays out a little more

 

 
After it's all dry the next step is to put some mixed Everdure epoxy resin into a spray bottle & spray it all, make small adjustments to the tension, add sand etc. When that's hardened a bit I'll lay some more fabric on the top with more epoxy, perhaps even 3 or 4 layers. 
 

Thanks for the input MNL, that's a good idea.
 
On this forum there's many magnificent models that are a full replica to scale, so each part is made. I haven't taken this approach, I want to show the last (& unbuilt) design by a little known amateur designer &, so giving the impression of an actual yacht is more important to me than making each piece. Part real scale work & part "if it looks right, it is right". By this measure, in some cases to show something that would exist could be wrong; my own rule was to imagine that I was standing say 10m from the actual yacht, & what would I see?
 
So I was reconciled to perhaps not having glass - I was concerned that the reflection would be too visible. My observation from the actual is that you see the dark circle & perhaps a bit of reflection.
 
Leaving the decision as late as possible, I painted a dark muddy brown spot in gloss enamel paint as a backdrop for the porthole "holes". To my eye, the effect is really good & I'm happy with it. Also, the darker paint does show reflection more than the cream colour, you can see that effect below.
 
A bit on colour: I am very much against using black unless it is a black painted object, & even then I'd consider backing it off a little to achieve the scale effect of black - the further away you are from a black object, the black is affected by surrounding light & is very slightly taken away from black. For a hole, I think black would be too severe & not look right. I'll show a sample of the actual colour I came up with, compared to a piece of real black.
 
The detail photo is poor because of the natural light conditions, low level of light. 
 


 
I've been considering the sails for a while, & after seeing how silkspan can be shaped to a curve in multiple directions, layered, coloured etc I'm going to try this material. My thought is that the sails should be 'set' as if with wind in them. The stand might need to be able to hold the model at a heel angle (as well as vertical), but that's for the future.
 
This boat would have been built in the mid 1960s & I had a chat with a sailmaker Ian 'Macca' MacDiarmid, who's skilled at gaff sails. He said that by 1967 dacron (or terylene in UK & something else in Japan) was good quality & was used quite widely. The cutting of the sails for a boat of that era, & how the size & setout the seams is shown on the sketches below, which Macca explained. One thing not noted in the drawings is that the battens would be shorter than today, & for this mainsail he said 4 would be correct for the period & size of sail. I did the drawings because the information is straight from the horses mouth & might be useful to others. The setout for the headsail mitre is important (& is not by a perpendicular line to the luff), so the seams meet each other at the mitre - see the "EQ" (equal) setouts from the clew. Hope it's clear. Also: it's assumed the main is a loose foot, I'm guessing the foot round would be less (or zero) with a laced foot.
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

thanks everyone, & thanks for the advice Capt Mac. 
 
In the last photos the brass is quite shiny (& in that light they are probably too bright), so I did some photos in natural light rather than the workshop bright lights. The effect is closer to what I was after (to look like polished brass), but I'm still wondering about the way the 'fixings' get a glint of shine. The cause is just the side light catching the angle of the dent. I might experiment with putting something into them like a small brass nail, to look like a counter sunk head fixing.
 
 
 

 

 
 

The portholes commenced in post #278 are almost done now, & in this case I'll show the technique. They are fabricated from brass washers & thin slices off a brass tube. The insides of the ports needed cleaning up, below shows finished & not finished:

 
The overall diameter is too large, below are the forward portholes which are smaller.  I marked the final size with pencil & scribed the circle of the final size.
 

Next the tender mercies of the handheld bandsaw.....& try to sand to the line.

 
Then to the high-tech linisher:

 
Below there's 5 reduced in size, & one has also been linished. 

 
Close up

 
They looked like they needed something more, so I drilled shallow marks to replicate fixings. They have also been coated with one coat of Humbrol satin clear coat. The designer - Cliff Gale - apparently always had his portholes to a high polish, so out of respect for that I'll replicate that with the clear coat on the brass. That's why I was being fussy about the visible finish. The drilled marks look a bit crude, & I'm hoping that the effect will be better when they are mounted. 
 
I'm not sure about the glass, but I recall in another post CD case plastic was suggested.
 
thanks

 
 
 

Sure thing Elijah - here are the photos I took.  The lighting wasn't great, and I had to change the exposure of the cannon at the bow, but here are the pictures.  If you want me to send them directly to not clutter your log, let me know.
 
Cannon shot that sunk it:

 

Reduced the thickness even further to .05mm and it even took a compound curve without cracking. So I am vey happy. The wood is still green cut about a month ago as such it has not totally dried out. It will be interesting to repeat this in two months time and see the results.

Mark, I may have achieved what you want in Fusion 360.
 
On the Ernestina plans, there is a line identified as the "measured sheer line".  Unlike other plan lines, this line is curved in every view.
 
To start, I used the intersection of three offset planes to locate the point at the bow where the line starts.  I then started a fit point spline sketch in a plane parallel to the side view and created the curve shown below.  Let's call this curve A.

Next, working on a plane parallel to the top view, I created a second curve following the sheer line as viewed from above.  Let's call this curve B.  From this view, curve A looks like a straight line.  Both curves share a starting point at the bow.

Here are the same two curves viewed from the side.  In this view, curve A is curved and curve B appears straight.

Now it's time to combine them into a single curve.  I go to Sketch -> Project / Include -> Intersection Curve.  First I select a plane for the sketch.  As far as I can tell, it doesn't matter which plane I use, but I used the offset plane where curve B lies.  Next, the tool pops up asking me to select the curves.  I select curves A and B and hit Ok.

Here is the new sketch curve, displayed in purple, from the side.

And from the top.

As you can see, it curves in several directions.  Here it is along with sketches for the rabbet line and water lines.  Unfortunately, Fusion 360 does not allow me to use it as a profile in a loft.  However, I may be able to use it as a rail if I am lofting using the section curves.  I plan to try that next.

I have been slowly learning Fusion 360 with a goal of accurately modeling a hull as a 3D object based on lines plans.  I haven't been completely successful, which is why I titled this "an attempt".  I am posting with the hope that individuals with more Fusion 360 than me can tell me if I'm headed in the right direction with my approach, and if so, how to proceed from here.  Thanks in advance for having a look.
 
For this exercise, I have used the plans of the schooner Ernestina, which can be freely downloaded from the Historic American Engineering Record at the following link: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ma1719.sheet.00018a/
 
I chose to use the Ernestina plans because they are very clean and accurate, requiring little extra work to make them usable.  I cropped each of the views and saved each to a separate file.  Then each plan was brought into Fusion 360 as a canvas, as shown below.  To ensure correct scale, I calculated how large each image should be in the 3D environment, I created rectangles of the correct dimensions, then placed the canvases onto those rectangles.  That put the images into the 3D world at the correct size.  The canvases were positioned so that the world origin point was at intersection of the baseline, center line, and forward perpendicular.
 

Next I created offset planes for each waterline (4 total) and each station line (15 total).  It is a mystery to me why Fusion 360 displays larger and larger planes the further each offset plane is from the origin.
 

I created fit point splines for each waterline, drawing each on the appropriate waterline offset plane.

I learned early on that if I want to use the Loft operation with Rails, it is a requirement that every profile being lofted must intersect with every rail.  To make sure this would happen, I would select an offset plane and use Sketch -> Project / Include -> Intersect to create a set of points where the offset plane intersects with the waterlines.  This was repeated for each station offset plane.  The intersection points are visible as the purple circles in the image below.  Note that one forward station and the four aft-most stations do not intersect all 4 waterlines.

Then I drew a fit point spline for each station, making sure to touch each intersection point along the way.

Finally it's time to loft.  I switched from Model mode to Patch mode, then went to Create -> Loft.  The image below shows the result of lofting all 15 sections without using rails, then creating a mirrored body for the other side of the hull.  For this particular hull, the shape is pretty good, but I know that for other hulls the incorporation of the waterlines and/or buttock lines and/or diagonal lines is required to achieve an accurate hull shape.

So in order to incorporate the waterlines, I need to loft with rails.  I can only use the stations which completely intersect with every waterline, so some must be skipped.  The result of lofting with rails is below.

And that's as far as I can get.
 
My questions:
Am I following a good approach, or are there features of Fusion 360 that I have overlooked that would make this easier?
How do incorporate the station lines that couldn't be used in the loft + rails?
How do I close up the shape at the bow?
How do I force curved edges of a body like the one below into straight lines that can bend at sharp angles?

Thanks again for any insight.
 

2019, the beginning of the construction inside the model ship.
 
First part,   planks to support the deck beams, very easy to position; the height in reference with the gun port openings  is the same everywhere.
Followed by 7 inner  frames. 
Still other parts to do before to fix everything.

Post 59
Assembling the gun Carriages
I did assemble one gun earlier in the build for the purposes of gun port fit, but this is a multi stage and repetitive assembly process  and I decided I should make a start.
To recap...

4325
I had already made a simple jig to hold the axles.
The axles are rounded at each end to take the Trucks before fitting in the jig for the attachment of the transom on the front axle, and the Bolster on the rear axle.

4322
One point to note is that the Transom above the front axle is not vertical but should lean back slightly.
I used some 0.7mmø wire, chemically blackened to represent the iron connecting bar which ties the side brackets and supports the carriage bed.

4331
This is not a quick process, and becomes rather tiresome, but at least not as tiresome as having to make the carriages from scratch.
Removing the lazer burn and rounding the axles is heavy on time and patience, and using a jig for assembly is absolutely necessary.
I decided to construct the carriages before painting and decided on a Red Ochre scheme. Initially I thought about leaving the trucks natural, but to my eye, and as Chuck also found, they didn't look good, so they also had the red ochre treatment.
 
Once the basic assembly is completed there is still a lot to do; ring bolts and eyebolts, capsquares, truck keys, and bolts.
For the carriage ring bolts I used Amati 2mm brass rings which are pretty much true to scale.
For the eye bolts or hoops I also used fine Amati eyebolts, set slightly into the carriages.
For the bolts I also used Amati 10mm fine brass pins. These have slightly domed heads of less than 1mm ø and stems of 0.5mm.
Once I had assembled five carriages I went on to fully complete one example.

5341
Still some cleaning up to do, the trucks are not glued to the axles.
Drilling the 16 holes to take the various fittings needs to be done carefully, and it is a fiddly little job cutting the bolts and eyebolts to size.

5335
The eyebolts for the side tackles are set well into the side of the carriage.

5336
I added Truck keys to retain the trucks on their axles.  
They were made using 0.5mmø pin stems flattened at one end These were then chemically blackened after trimming.
0.60mmø holes were drilled thro' the axles to take the key.

5317

5338
Only another eleven carriages to go, and then there's the  Carronades, I think I could be some time.
 
B.E.
10/01/2019
 

The plans are unopened. Take a look at the content.

At this moment I have finished also the second pedestal. Here you can see several pics from modelling its back side and final result with all my tools I use for this work. 
 

rpeteru: Thank you, I am really honored reading your words.
 
I continue with modelling front pedestal, here are some pics from process and first half after baking:
 

 
Have a great time and enjoy the pics.
 
 
Best regards

Actually, it is possible to get a clean edge on a outside corner. This is how:
 
Use a flat brush and do not overload it.
Brush in strokes at right angles to the edge from inside to out, over the edge.
If you use a light touch, the edge will be perfect.
 
Should a little paint get over the edge, let it dry completely. Then lightly scrape it off. (This works even more easily if the wood has been sealed before painting.)

Welcome! You will find a lot of people happy to help you here. Many of them are extremely talented miniaturists. Some are well-known "world class" ship modelers. Don't be discouraged. Experience starts when you begin. Take it one step at a time. Do not rush. Care and attention to detail are the prerequisites to building a respectable model. Everything else you need to know can be found in this forum and in several fine "bibles" of model shipbuilding which you will probably acquire over time.
 
1.     Try to find a build log for this model or one similar to it. Billings has a series of working boats and I expect their building issues (and there will be some... there always are in any kit) will probably be addressed there.
 
2.     Go to the resources section of this forum and study the tutorials there.
 
       Go to the Western NY Model Shipwrights' Guild webpage and study their "resources" page: https://www.modelshipwrightguildwny.org/
 
        On that page, carefully study and learn these two tutorials on planking: 1)  https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/226021_09487f2b95af4dfda94bcf16f7f14016.pdf (Part One) and 2) https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/226021_a1f6a3f402ae4fc38dd90fd7049c7713.pdf (Part Two.) Don't be discouraged if they appear complicated. There's no way around it. Take it one step at a time. Practice on a "mock up," if need be, before you try to plank a plank-on-bulkhead model for your first effort.
 
I'm sure many will have more to add to your specific questions, but here's my two cents worth:
 
Planking Gluing . I have decided to use CA type glue (medium or thick). Hopefully this will avoid pins or clamps but I will have to work fairly fast. I will practise a bit before working on the model.
 
Follow the instructions in the planking tutorials. Read the section in this forum on adhesives. CA has its uses, but it is expensive and somewhat permanent, so mistakes may be hard to rectify. For planking, it is handy for use as "liquid nails" to tack down a plank, but I prefer to rely on good old Elmer's Wood Glue, which is removable with alcohol, for real holding power. Treenails are also good for making sure plank ends stay put where there's a lot of spring away from the rabbet.
 
Plank Bending. I have a Hot Shot Steam Cleaner and tried bending some planks. It seems to work fairly well, but will have to experiment a bit more. Broke one board already, and I notice some separation of the wood fibres in the ones that did bend. Maybe I am trying to bend it too quickly.
 
Steam works, but it's messy and somewhat dangerous, in that you can burn yourself easily with it. It's used in full-size boatbuilding because a whole piece of wood can be heated for an hour without drying the wood out as much and steam is a good way to get the heat to a large surface in a steam box. For little pieces of wood in modeling, getting the wood hot isn't so much of a difficult challenge. A store-bought plank bender, a steam iron (for the heat, not the steam,) or a soldering iron work just fine. Planks should be heat-formed before "hanging" on the model. Trying to bend planking directly on the frames or bulkheads before at least partially bending the plank with heat is the proper technique. You'll save a lot of broken planks that way.
 
Plank Cutting. I can cut planks to rough length before mounting, using a scalpel or Exacto type knife. But how do you trim planks once they are installed? Let’s say that you need to trim 1/8” at the stern after installing a plank. What is the best way to do that? I imagine using a knife would be difficult. Is there a fine saw that you use? Dremmel?
 
Again, read the planking tutorial for tools suggestions. Hobby knives are good. A small 1" iron plane is handy for trimming and beveling planks. No need to spend big bucks on a Lee Valley or Lie Nielsen piece of jewelry. The sharpness of the iron is more important than anything else on a small plane. You'll have plenty of time to collect fine tools along the way, but you can spend thousands on tools you think you must have before ever starting a model. Everybody has at least one modeling tool they bought when they started out, only to discover it was junk and they never used it. (Lot's of 'Loom-A-line" ratline jigs gathering dust in forumites' shops, I'm sure!  ) Micro-Mark, a convenient one-stop source for modeling tools (although there are others offering better quality tools at better value) has a decent little micro-plane for ten bucks and they always are sending 20% off coupons if you sign up for them at the website. See: https://www.micromark.com/Mini-Wood-Plane?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PLA_Brand&utm_term=4576304834449762&utm_content=Micromark PLA
 
For trimming overhanging planks at the end of topsides at a flat transom, a jeweler's saw is the tool of choice. This is essentially a small coping saw. You don't have to spend $150 bucks for one, although that's what the best will cost, but don't buy the cheapo models in the hobby tool catalogs, either. Get a decent mid-price-range one from one of the jeweler's supply mail order outfits on line. There's probably been a thread in here about the best jeweler's saw. If not, start one and you'll find out what people are satisfied using. Get a good selection of blades. The jeweler's saw will be useful for cutting wood and also fine metal sawing. For straight cuts, a "razor saw" that fits in a large "X-Acto" handle (and often comes with an aluminum miter box) is a good basic tool to have.
 
Keel Gluing. This particular ship comes with the keel split in 2 halves. Instructions say to plank first, then glue the keel together. However some people have posted that they glue the keel halves together first, then plank. I think the latter would be more difficult, but planking each half individually might lead to warping. Comments?
 
I have no experience with that building method and it would concern me. Rigidity of the keel and bulkhead structure is essential. So is alignment of the bulkheads square to the keel where that is indicated (the "fixed frames.") I can't imagine why anyone would add the complication of making sure half of each bulkhead was perfectly aligned with it's other half, if that's what you're describing. Sorry, but if that's the way Billings designed the model, I guess you may have to dance with the girl you brought. Search the building logs and see if anybody has described doing, or not doing, it the way the instructions direct. That will probably save you a lot of grief. 
 
Hull Finishing. The hull will be a single layer of planking, and will be painted, so I will need to fill in the cracks. I have seen various methods including wood filler and glue & sawdust. Has anyone used gyproc  (sheet rock) filler? This works great for nail holes, baseboard joints, etc. so why not for a model? I want to get the hull as smooth as possible – this model scale is 1:30, so a scratch of 1/32” (0.8 mm) equals a gouge of almost 1” (2.5 cm). Ouch.
 
Double-layer planking is more forgiving. Again, read the planking tutorial. Meticulous attention to detail is required for a fair planking job. The bulkheads have to be perfect or the planking will be funky. If you pay attention to planking correctly, you shouldn't have "cracks" to fill in. If you need to fair a less that perfect planking job, drywall patch will work, but you won't get a "model scale" finish out of it easily. The product that I've had the best success with is what is used on yachts for perfectly faired topside finishing, marine "glazing compound" or "surfacing putty" (same thing,) which is thinned with acetone and dries very quickly. It is specifically formulated for sanding and comes in pint cans. It also sands very easily and takes paint well. It's specifically designed for the job. Drywall plaster is coarser and you won't get as smooth a surface as with surfacing putty. It's softer and scratches easily. Drywall putty tends to soak up a lot of paint. Bondo and other stuff like that, while it might work, is far harder to shape and sand, as it's hard. (Bondo is really for use on metal, not wood. You'd get fired if you were caught using it in a good boatyard.) 
 
Decking Glue. I have seen several tutorials on how to lay out the wood decking strips. But I haven’t seen anything that tells me what sort of glue to use, or how to fasten the decking in place. I plan to stain this decking to look like a teak deck, so I don’t want any glue residue which will not absorb stain or finish. How do you guys fasten the decking?
 
For openers, there aren't many working fish boats with teak decks. It's very expensive stuff. Most work boats are planked with fir, larch, and similar species. It's your model. Just sayin'. Again, most use white or yellow wood glue ("Elmers" is the best-known brand.) If the deck planks are glued down, they aren't going anywhere. Many modelers will additionally fasten deck planks (and hull planks, if they show bare wood) with treenails. Care should be taken to place them where they would actually be on a real boat. (i.e at last two side by side at the ends of planks and at every intersection with a deck frame.) Wipe off glue residue with a water-dampened rag before it dries. Neatness counts in the first place, of course. Alcohol will remove any that you can't otherwise get off.  If you are going to stain or paint your deck, I'd suggest doing so before the planks are laid. Painting the edges black should ensure the planking looks real, as on real boats the deck planking is caulked and the seams paid with tar.
 
Scuppers.  I plan to add scuppers to this boat. A real boat would have provisions for quick drainage of water from nets, rain, or spray in rough weather. So I will endeavour to cut some scuppers in the perimeter bulwarks.
 
If you study your vessel carefully, or those of its type, you'll probably find a lot of details that can be added. By all means, do so if you so desire. That's what makes your boat "yours." Note that the picture of the boat on the kit box will always be of the model built by an accomplished modeler and often will have many added details. In many cases, if one built the model exactly as the instructions directed and used only the materials provided in the kit, it would look like crap. For instance, many modelers will automatically throw the planking stock and other wood in their scrap bin if it's junk, as it often is in kits, and order better wood from modeling suppliers on line. The same goes for rigging line and fittings. These are the parts of kits that are often not really suitable for a good model. "But that's everything in the kit!" you say.  See, now your are becoming an experienced ship modeler! Starting with a kit is a great way to go. Most do it that way, but most quickly move to "kit bashing" and, ultimately, to "scratch-building" as they build on the experience gained by their first kit builds.