Quimp Slattery

And hand tools generate much less sawdust, messy unhealthy stuff!

Don’t be silly, they wouldn’t have been able to plug them in to anything. 😁

Hi Captain, I’m in a top floor flat too and have the same concerns. For that reason, as well as a general desire on my part to keep things simple and old school as much as I can, I use a manual fretsaw and a piercing saw. It takes a little longer and makes my arm ache a bit sometimes. On the other hand I make my mistakes slowly enough to stop before I saw where I shouldn’t. 😉 And best of all, I feel ‘closer to the wood’ somehow it’s more satisfying to me to avoid using power tools, when possible. I often think of those marvellous eighteenth century Admiralty models and those made by the French POWs from soup bones and their own hair. No electricity in use then. 🤔

Heat setting the Titebond during the deck planking of my Alert (1777) is making the task easy and very quick. https://modelshipworld.com/topic/37081-hm-cutter-alert-1777-by-quimp-slattery-vanguard-models-164/#comment-1066894

😊

Is it permitted to begin a build log some way into the build? My hull is now double planked and receiving its copper sheathing - I began three months or more ago.

I have read that Cockbilling the yards of a ship was also done in harbour as a signal of mourning; for example at the death of its captain.

That's true, a well fitting plank will stay in place with unheated glue (especially if the glue has been allowed to coagulate a little and isn't too thick) but the bond will be soft for quite some time and I'd hesitate to push another plank firmly against it until it had hardened completely. The advantages of heat application are that it instantly sets the joint as firmly as leaving an unheated one overnight AND that the plank doesn't have to be perfectly shaped and bent - I'm new to this and my planks still need a little help. ☺️

I found that a very thin coat of glue worked well into the surface was most effective. I intend to try this system next time I first-plank over bulkheads, though that will be some time in the distant future. I plan to use the heat only on the plank-to-bulkhead joints and let the plank-to-plank joints dry in the normal way. Although, now I ponder the matter further, it might be useful to heat the plank-to-plank joins too. I wouldn’t be applying any closing pressure either way. I suggest that whoever tries it first reports back here.

Some afterthoughts. 1. I've only used this on a second planking. A first planking would be another matter since there would be only bulkheads and previous edges to stick to. I think instant setting will be useful but there will be new tricks to learn first. 2. The experience of setting so many planks in quick succession improved my cutting and bending skills tremendously. Repetition is such an important part of learning a skill and two planks a day wasn't helping me much. 3. I bend my planks to fit quite well before sticking. I can't say whether this technique will work for folks who rely on strong clamps to force their planks into position.

During this week's modelling on HM Cutter Alert I accidentally stumbled on an unsuspected quality of Titebond Original wood glue - it can be made to set instantaneously with the application of heat. I brush uniform layers on the hull side and the pre-shaped plank and dry both rapidly with a hairdryer. This takes only a few seconds as the amount of glue we use is so small. Then I place the plank in position and apply heat with my soldering iron based, plank bending tool from Model Craft. This reactivates the glue and the two surfaces bond instantly and exactly in place, pressed firmly down by the iron. I work along the plank from one end to the other and it's fixed. No drying time required, no clamps, no squeeze-out to be cleaned up. It's better than contact or superglue because there's no accidental 'grab' in the wrong position. The glue which has soaked into the plank softens it slightly which makes getting it into place much easier. Previously I could set two planks in a session, now I can do a dozen, and I can do much longer runs without difficulty. In fact the only limit is my stamina. This has reduced the time required tremendously and since planking is such a large part of a build, it has reduced the overall time required very significantly indeed, perhaps even halving it. Use this method and build twice as many boats! Why didn't I see this before? I believe it's because I (and the modellers who have inspired me in books and on line) come to model shipbuilding from carpentry and assumed that clamping and drying time were unavoidable. Perhaps we read about how the original vessels were build from huge timbers and don't see that in our scaled down working we have more in common with marquetry or veneering? Having spent a week experimenting and working up a repeatable, efficient technique I belatedly searched YouTube for "Titebond" and "heat" to see whether anyone else had got there first. The link below will take you to a fairly authoritative source - The Official Titebond Channel. The guy is veneering a table but the techniques and chemistry are all valid. Significantly, I now have faith that the bond will be permanent, because Titebond says so. I have not protected my planking (pear) with paper as the guy in the video suggests. I've had no scorching, just a little surface polishing which was easily removed when I sanded/scraped the hull that I had planked in less than a week. I doubt that I'm the first model ship builder to find this 'new' way to use glue. I haven't seen it described anywhere else though so I thought it would be useful to mention it here. Unfortunately I have no financial interest in Titebond. It probably works with other resin based wood glues, but I haven't tried any. Titebond also do a special purpose veneer glue which might be even more useful in ways of which I have not yet dreamed, but since Original works for me, I'll stick to it.

Bolsters? I think I read about that a few days ago. The ship is looking really fine. Excellent work all the way. If it's your first rigging job I wouldn't be surprised. (I'm so glad I only have one mast to deal with.)

I understand your feelings. I went away from MSW last year thinking exactly the same thoughts but returned recently to have a second attempt. It's not the chattiest of the modelling forums so far but as Keith suggests above, things might pick up in the northern winter. I personally believe that the very serious and scholarly mission statement of the NRG and the emphasis on making build logs a 'resource' for other builders in the future rather than a party right now for current members, discourages written encouragement, personal stuff (such as your memorial), and above all, humour in the logs. It feels safer to just like a post. (Even as I write this, I'm wondering if I will be in trouble for digressing into site politics.) However, it's still a brilliant site for seeing really good models built so I hope you find it possible to continue. The site will get even quieter if we all jump ship. There might be 40,000 members signed up but the great majority of the posting seems to come from just a few hundred people.

Oooh, shiny! Looks good to me.

That is how we fastened the elastic onto our catapults back in the sixties. Exactly the same technique. We knew it as whipping. Thanks for the memories. 👦