Captain Poison

Good morning and thank you all, more photos of progress.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
Un Saluto.

Hello Mark,
that looks all very good to me. But because I had not searched much for the fore part of the ships, but only the aft for the Dragon I could't help you there much. At leat some pictures of the forecastle and the chimney.
 
Bellona

 
and the model who is known as Thunderer, but I believe is the Dragon.

 
What I can say about the pillars at the upper gun deck is, that they had them only under every second beam. That is what I found out during my first visit at Greenwich. At the quarter deck where almost no pillars. At least one in front of the wheels. But I have no written record about this, only what I found researching the models where you could look inside. The first Bellona model has at least under every Beam a pillar, even at the quarter deck! I know no model with that future. I think they did this to stabilize the model better.

Thank you Rusty.
I have completed the Q gallery freeze and I am happy with the result so I will give it a go to paint all.
The final freeze will be smaller than the one below.  I added some extra turquoise green to the margins to make the picture bigger than needed just in case.
 

 
 
The original was painted at 5X and the figure was inspired by a fountain sculpture in Europe.  It needs a little touch up but it is almost done.
 

 
I will make to copies one mirror image for the other Q gallery and insert the image in Chuck’s PDF file to get it to the correct size to print.
 
Next the upper transom
Best,
G
 
 

Thank You for the likes and advice all.  I took a couple days off in order to work on the honey do list, but finally was able to get back into the swing yesterday.  In the downtime, I had a lot of time to think about approaches to marking the run for the gun port sills.
 
I frankly don't trust my eye for symmetry, but I picked up a set of calipers that will measure to 1/128" a couple months ago and have come to trust them.  I went to the plans and measured from the bottom of the false keel to the top of the gun port sill  (fore and aft) at each station.  I chose to the nearest 1/64" as my reference point for all measurements.  I definitely followed the measure twice and then measure again principal going so far as to reset the calipers between each measurement so I wouldn't fall into a rhythm of guessing the next measurement and writing it down too quickly.  Regardless, what I found was the measurements were flat between A-G, so I marked those four frames as the middle and then focused on the foreward and aft sections independently.  I set the calipers to the measurements and ran the battens from G forward to the stem and A back to the stern on each side trying not to pay attention to the reference lines until I finished the run.  Everything lines up super nice with just a few frames where the marking don't match up to the reference lines, but it may have been enough to frustrate me to the point of doing something stupid or rushed in trying to adjust.  
 
 
 
I decided to check for level across the battens and found every one fit within the center lines, however you can see the bubble favoring the port side of the lines which was about a .25mm variance.  Noodling on it for a few hours and trying to come up with a resolution, I went and checked measurements again and realized the bubble was reversed from the pictures (I needed to raise the port side to level).  I had changed the direction of the ship between taking the photos and the issue the whole time is that my workbench is not completely level.  I leveled the building board and the runs are now dead center.  Oh man, missed the forest for the trees on this one, but decided to leave my "problem" up in the post in case anyone else tries the same thing to save themselves some grief and check that the building board itself is level.  Everything is plumb, measured out and ready for the sills to be installed.

 
 

Good morning.

Bristol Marine has designed a new schooner, a Boothbay Harbor 65 that is yet to be built.  They asked that I build a model which will be based on their detailed set of plans and their input on details as the build progresses.  The vessel is unusual in that it is specifically designed with handicap access and is planned to be used for day sailing trips.   They gave me permission to do a build log of the model and I will be starting the build shortly and hopefully will have updates on a regular basis.  For now, I am posting below, with their permission, a drawing of the 65.  Bristol Marine is the company which is restoring the Effie M. Morrisey (aka Ernestina).   This opportunity to build the model came up as the result of an introduction to Bristol Marine by a very kind member here at MSW.
Allan
 

 

The deck is planked and the deck furniture in place.   The skylights on the forward cabin area (which is set up as a classroom for twenty students) did not come out as I wished so will be a do-over.   The top of the aft cabin can be removed to view the inside area and worked out as I had hoped.
 
For finishing the deck planks  I mostly used a scraper  to remove high spots then sand paper finish and still find this preferable to any other methods I have tried in the past.  I know this is common methodology, but for those who have not tried it, it is worth a go.  Stiff backed razors or even a  chisel can be used as a scraper if there is not a scraper already in the shop. 
 
Note there are side benches midships that seat 8 per side as well as the bench area going down into the aft cabin.   The back rests in this aft seating area are sitting loosely at this point but will give an idea on their shape.  These took a bit of doing as I had to start with a block of wood and cut, carve and sand to get the shape required.  There was no way to bend these as they are quite thick at the forward area where they make a 90 degree bend.   Not sure I like the design of these rests, but they do match the drawings.
 
There is a bit of clean up with a scraper and sand paper, but nothing major, mostly finger prints/dirt/pencil reference marks/small glue spots which will definitely show once a clear coat finish is put down. Photos really help spot otherwise unnoticed items to clean up and other faux pax.    

After the final cleaning up should she should be ready to start masts, booms, sails and rigging.  Going to give my first try using silk span and have been studying the supplement in Volume IV of TFFM on making sails with silk span.   I had always used maximum thread count cloth in the past, but want to see how well this method compares.   
Allan


 

Some up to date photos.   White is the theme on this schooner with touches of tans and reds so I have been using a combination of poplar for things to be painted, castello for tan unpainted finish including the deck planking and cherry for the cap rail.   There will be a number of trim pieces in red so will likely go with cherry or perhaps Swiss pear.  I gave Chuck Passaro's method of bending planks for the cap rail and waterways and must say I was pleased.  Being able to cut clean planks then bending rather than cutting curved pieces was a nice change.   I did soak the pieces first and I used two hold downs in the center portion of the board during the bending.  I used the boss' iron and used the steam setting as on my first test pieces the wood started to discolor when done dry.  Probably too much heat, but the steam did the trick.   I did trace the curve on paper and transferred it to the heating/bending board as a guide as the curves were not true arcs.  Once released from the makeshift jig the pieces held their shape very well. I decided to go with cherry for the cap rail, but found I could not use cherry for the trennals as they were much too brittle and would not go through the draw plate at the smallest diameter that I needed.  I opted for pear for the trennals and their cross section matches very closely to the color of the rail.   Once sealed and top coated they will show, but should be nicely subtle.  More photos of these in the next post.     Note that the deck house bulkheads are loose at this point as there is some finish work to do before fixing them in place.
 
Note that it looks otherwise in the first  photo, but the door to the head will swing fully open with plenty of room to spare.   
 
Does anyone know of  book they can recommend on rigging "modern" schooners.   I can try to go take a look at some at the local marinas but I doubt they have very many, if any that are this large.  The plans that I have from the architect shows the blocks and basic lines, but there are a lot of details that I would like to study if there are any good books available.
Allan

 

The fun continues.
 
The panels for the Captains Cabin were placed with minor adjustments. The inboard stern
counter was planked and then the margin planks were placed next. They required a little
more work on my part. I took paper and cut a template of the curve at the bow and transferred
it to sheet stock. I then marked the inside curve and the cut it out and final fit it. Scarph joints
were cut and then the margin planks were added. After the margin planks were added the
checkered floor was sanded to fit.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Whew now I'm on to building the hatches. 

Thank you for the comments And advice guys, I’ve gotten underway and so far it’s looking ok. Everything is measuring out pretty even so that’s good.
JJ
 

I was just reading about this on Chuck's topic and he gives a good explanation about it on page 15.

Good morning and thank you all for the like, more photos.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Un Saluto.

I elected to take what I thought was a short diversion, and at the same time had a larger diversion thrust upon me. The large one was a long undetected leak in our dishwasher drain resulted in a six week demolition and reconstruction of our kitchen. Not fun, lots of contractors, noise and dust to deal with every day and not much ship time at all. But enough of that.
 

 
What I though was going to be a short diversion while all the above was going on, was completing the stern port lids. I used Chuck’s hinge mini-kit with the instructions printed from his website. It all seems pretty straight forward, but as our British friends say there is a lot of fiddling to get all the tiny pieces to come together.
 

 
First I glued three strips of planking together, long enough to cut more than two lids. I measured, cut, and gently sanded to get those planks to fit flush to the opening (the WOP will bring out the seams as its done on the rest of the planking, they show up faint here).
 

 
Once that was done I measured, cut and glued and painted red a smaller set of planks to to fit within the interior of the port (the difference of the 1/64th rabbit), shown here inboard with a photo also designed to display the most possible dust particles (I cut the bowsprit hole earlier today, more on that later).
 
I created the lid lift ring by wrapping 24 gauge black anodized wire around the right size drill bit and with a little snipping, shaping, and bending, pulled it through the lid. So far, easy and fun.
 
The fiddling comes not in following the instructions to paint, mount and install the hinge plates or cutting 1mm lengths of tiny brass tubing for the hinges along with very short pieces of 28 gauge wire, it’s getting it all fitted together and mounted. Nothing difficult in concept, just working with tiny pieces and tiny holes. Between dealing with contractors in the kitchen I managed to get it done over a longer period than I had anticipated. Anyway…patience tested and passed.
 
Every stern on every model I’ve build has been an adventure. It seems on many kits it’s an afterthought, just that thing at the end of the ship. At least in my case it was always an adventure in adapting and overcoming little challenges to get everything to fit and call it a stern.
 
 

 
None of that’s true with @Chuck Cheerful. It is a well guided process from the initial base, to adding the counter, completing the planking as it rises up then finishing it off with a fun to make square tuck. Then there’s the fit of the transom to the counter and the addition of rail and moulding strips. There’s my choice to follow Chuck with a RED painted counter with me adding black to the fashion pieces either side meeting the transom rail and the contrast of my choice of a natural stern post, and of course those fiddlely port lids. It all works, it looks like a stern should look in my humble opinion. I’m kind of pleased with the final finished stern of my Cheerful (still one more coat of WOP to go). I hope you like it and decide to build one of your own.
 
The contractors are gone, now I’ll do the port side moulding.

Wow, thank you Michael, Jean-Paul, JJ, and Rusty for your comments.
Rusty, you have mentioned you used holly for decking before.  Are there do’s and dont’s for Holly? Does the same blade in the table saw used for Yellow Cedar, will work?
I worked today in a draft for the Qgallery freeze.  Bellow is my starting point.  Which me luck to turn this into a 4 color rendition with paint a brushes.  The pencil draft is at 5X scale.

 
Best
G

Thanks Matt, most of the credit goes to Chuck’s beautiful design.
Thank you for those that are following my posts and for all the likes.
I added the columns to the galleries. This was a lot of delicate work wit mini chisels and diamond files.
 

 
The resin figures were painted as recommended by Chuck.  I used an artist brush to add the stain into the shadow areas of the figures.  Then I removed the stain to create highlights with a silicon artist brush.   After 24 hours the figures were sealed.  I got a macro lenses for my phone, you could see where the stain accumulated.  In some areas you could see doted lines which are left by 3D printing or Jack’s 3D carving.
 



 
The picture below shows a before and after to show best the effect. 
 

 
My intend was to match as much as posible the colors of the surrounding wood.  The detail of this carvings are amazing; for example the leave Coronas around the circular gun ports are not identical but rather mirror image of each other.  Jack’s attention to detail shows up very clear.  The windows fit was perfect thanks to those spacers used during construction.
 
 

 
The quarter galleries got the same treatment.  I added the acetate film after cleaning the laser char with alcohol.  I glued the windows before adding the top and bottom parts of the columns.  
 

 
In the picture bellow, you could see how nicely the gallery and Qgallery windows align.  Gallery windows are not glued.
 

 
I paid special attention to the placement of the feet and heads of the main figures and carved the moldings whit mini chisels to accommodate them.  I noticed that Jack rolled the tail fin of the fish to fit the molding so I followed the placement of the fish as in the plans.  Everything got sealed with Testor’s matte seal.
 


 
I chose to paint black behind the corner figures to enhance the contrast and it payed off.  The molding around the figures were carved with mini chisels for a title fit
 

 
Once the darks behind the gallery windows build up the white paint will show best.  I am planning to use a little white here and there in the model because I will plank the deck with holly.
 

 
Next I will add the hand painted freezes.  I have collected a bunch of Mer figures that I will add.  
 
Best,
G
 

Thanks Rusty, as with all vacations it was much too short and I need another one ASAP!
 
So I’m back on the wagon and onto chapter 3, I got the transom placed, the upper counter planked, sanded and a Dry test run on all the windows. So far so good, very happy with the results so far. Hope to get the framing started in the next couple days.
The windows required very minor adjustments to fall in line and will require very little manipulation when it comes time to glue them in place.
 
JJ

Thanks Chuck and Rusty.
 
i started a mad sanding storm today and managed to get one coat of WOP on her below the wales, I’ll let it dry overnight and sand again the spots I missed then go over with 400 grit before flipping her over and finishing the top sides, stem and stern post.

Thanks for the feedback and all the likes.  Jim, thanks for the reminder on that sander.  I remember seeing it quite a while ago and adding it to my wish list then promptly forgetting about it.  I love the Dremel in the router table, but it's not the best freehand device.  I think that sander is one of those things that were I to buy it, it would somehow disappear into my wife's craft room, so I would have to buy a his and hers.
 
The fairing is complete.  I can't believe how fast the underside went.  I thought it would be a two day affair, but I was able to get some good time in the afternoon to just plug away at it.  In hindsight, sanding the bow fillers took about the same amount of time as the entire underside of the ship.
 
I created a little jig out of some 4x4 and used the pink highlighter to color all the frames.  A couple frames also came up a bit short and ended up with a bit of basswood shim.
 

 
I quickly realized I needed to go outdoors for this as the amount of sawdust being created was insane.  I was going to do the same sequence of port center, then starboard center, port stern, starboard stern, etc, but just got on a roll and took the port side down in a couple hours.
 
 The hero of this story is the Diablo 1/3 Sheet dual density sanding block using an 80 grit sanding sheet.  The soft side gave up the ghost and tore apart as I was fairing the last couple frames at the stern, but it was an absolute beast on the underside of the hull; 70 minutes for the entire starboard sidel.  This exercise took me 7 days, but will easily be cut in half in the future.  The port side took twice as long as the starboard at each stage as I worked my way through the best angle of attack.
 

 
The lines look clean and this is definitely the most symmetrical model I've built. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Second attempt at framing port side, I think I have a nice run of the cap rail now. I had to lower the last three gunport sills by a couple of mm to make it work. Still needs to faired in, and I’m going to redo the framing on the other side to make the angles consistent (the last frame is still too high and causes a bump on the cap rail run  ).
Thanks for the kind words and encouragement!

I suppose most of us like/need drawing the task at hand by way of deconstructing or reverse engineering and so understand what to do and visualise the result. I use the numbers, if only approximate, to help ,especially drawing larger scale to  fill in the missing information (usually that I missed or forget). Given the front minimum thickness of chock, the aprox. angle 20, I can see the aft thickness. 
Yesterday's failed   trial with sloping groove set me thinking to different approach.
Abandoning the 6.36 block, I took  one 9.3 X30X30, made the groove horizontal, across grain, and the, turning the block over and slanting flat underside (will be upper side ) to 20angle, milled this horizontal, so the groove (with its uniform depth and parallel sides) now becomes a 20 deg. slope. Front and back are now sanded to 90deg to top.
The depth of the piece is now sawed in half. The second half can now be placed upturned spot glued a sides, forming a squared piece for easier working.
The extra depth is important to allow for the "wing" effect (as seen from above)
While this is drying, return to groove of timbers, clamp in place and with greater care and using the sliding sanding stick, form them more accurately.
Removing the timbers again, lay on plan and mark high point of the underside of uppermost rail- the second line 11.5 below top of timber. This is the upper mortise line. HORIZONTAL -90deg to timber. It is on the INNER aspect of timber. According to Kevin 2mm deep. I commit to a chisel at last. Masking tape to set depth of cut. Tap Tap Tap with small hammer. IT WORKS. Terrified I will decapitate the head but its cross grain. More confident, trapping the piece with fingers (behind) I push from lip of grove, angled slightly downwards , towards cut and remove slivers until clear to base of mortise cut. Seen from front or back, the result is a right -angled triangular gap. Treat the other side, and when held together  they become an isosceles triangle. Again, the point of the angle is the upper lip of the groove. Very satisfying. The chisel blade prevents the convex that tends with sanding small pieces by hand.
Back to the chock.
The (temporarily) combined piece can sit flat and the diagram in TFFM of the view from above can be transferred (traced) Note again the wing shape. Overall depth  requires at least 6.6mm. The pieced is shaped with the wings overlong. The two piece are now seperated. 
The flat top is thinned slightly so the thinnest part above the groove (hopefully the centre) is 2.65mm
Now for the fun. 
The with of the stem at mortise is 7.8mm
Each side the upper mortise is 2mm deep, giving total 9.8mm
The lower end is 0.0     Lucky with chisel already, but I won't push it, I use the hand band sander to make the bevel by stages -parallel fore-aft sloping down. Firstly with the timbers separately on the work table to check angles and fit, then offered to them when clamped to the stem until touch by touch, the fit. When sure and satisfied, glue. 
 To misquote TFFM and Winston Churchill  "Never in the field of ship modelling has so such time and and so much effort been to produce  a piece so small" (Not true of course)
 
 
 

Additional photo showing use of porthole template. Notice frame 3 has
been trimmed for cathead at this stage.
 
 
 
 

Good morning and thank you all for the like, more photos.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Un Saluto.

After my modeling malaise earlier this year, I now seem to want to build Winnie all the time now. 
 
The latest work has been to make up and mount the coamings and gratings, the partners, the stove base and the center deck planking .The coamings, partners and stove base were done using the laser cut parts. The gratings were made from the boxwood grating kits. The bolts in the partners were simulated with black monofilament. I began the planking with the strakes between the coamings and partners.
 
I am now continuing the planking working outward.
 
Bob

Hi all,
 
I've been plugging away a bit at a time on chapter 4.
 
After fitting the laser cut and etched false deck I added the first layer of bulwark planking. The fore deck clamp needs
to be bent and with the cutouts for the deck beams can make it fragile. I carefully bent it around the outside of the hull
and then heated it with a hairdryer and let it cool. After all of the first layer of planks and deck clamps were in place I
confirmed that the Captain's cabin paneling was starting in the correct location I marked the fore edge and then added
the second layer of spirketting.
 

 

 
I have painted the bulwarks but still have a few more coats to go. Once I've finished painting I'll add the Captain's cabins paneling.
 

 

 

In 1980 I was involved in medically examining English athletes for the Moscow Olympics (which they subsequently boycotted). This is where I first learned about the importance of visualization to perfect physical activities. (when I was younger these were called fantasies). The relevance to those model building will be apparent when I tell you I awake in the middle of the night planning  how to do something. This was especially true when considering the head of the timberheads. The simple method of shallow saw cut and shaping is prevented by the parallelogram effect and backward slope. In past models I must have missed this or fudged it. Checked out Kevin's video -at first this upset me because my small table saw's blade is of fixed height. The middle one, blade to thick and not as yet built a sled. Fortunately he later discards this method (Phew!!!). At least reminded me to use some trial pieces. The medium saw was inaccurate in at least one of the dimensions required then-lightbulb moment- my dividing attachment for the proxxon milling. Used vertically, it will rotate the head to compensate for the parallelogram. Not enough, as about to return to some free hand work, I thought -what if I slightly rotate the attachment to match the slope of the stem. The narrowing of the piece as is rises upwards is not a problem over such a short distance. Trial piece not so successful but I can see this is a solution. Drawing at a larger scale, calculating the spacing and depth of cuts and using 1mm bit. I commit myself. Just remember to double check which wheel you need to turn and which direction. Eyeball the end of the piece to check they are horizontal to the table. Working each side, firstly fore aspect,  I removed 1mm down at depth 0.3mm, another 1mm at depth 0.5, 1mm at .2mm and final line a further 4mm at depth 0.5. Rotate piece within the attachment 180deg. Starting from top, this first past should be about 0.5mm further down- fitting the slope to aft of stem. Repeat previous steps. Now rotate 90deg and releasing the holding nuts, the attachment can be angled  to follow the slope. Double check the direction of the angle allows it to run parallel and repeat the same sequence of cuts. Rotate 180deg. and change direction of holding  attachment to opposite and again follow line of slope. Its sounds complicated reading this but it is quite simple. 
I took Kevin's idea and used the mini proxxon sander P13 with barrel head and it shapes the widest gap quite well. I was less successful with the mini files and sanding. Not completely satisfied . Maybe later on remove top bit and refashion. The problem is seeing the 3D and the great craftsman on this site makes me want better for myself.