flutlo6180

Hi Steve. Welcome aboard! Very nice looking model. Thirty-one years - Wow! I am impressed with your patience.

Hi Michele. Welcome aboard and thanks for sharing the photos depicting your exceptional workmanship!

Hi Jake. Welcome aboard!

Hi J. Welcome aboard! I'm finding that mistakes are all part of the learning process, and you've landed in the right place to get advice and solutions when they do arise.

Hi Giuseppe. Welcome aboard!

Finally back to where I started with planking on the first band complete, but further ahead as the aft frames and counter area are rebuilt.

On 8/25/2022 at 3:43 PM, tlevine said:

Finally, the first broad strake looks too wide.

Toni, I am impressed that you could spot the broad strake error from my photo.  It wasn't so much as too wide, but too narrow in the forward section. The changes in width did effect the planking width and I am much happier with how much more consistent the planking width is on this second attempt.

The bigger issue was fixing the counter.  From this first photo, you can see that because I waited to install the transom and counter until later in the build I wound up filing off way too much. This error was in part the reason I couldn't envision how the counter, transom and framing should come together.

I ended up significantly building frames G through H back up to restore them to an approximation of their correct shape and it was easier to use some wood putty to fill in the irregular gaps from the shimming and to achieve a smooth surface and flow into the counter.

I also cut back the aft frames further back into the deadwood which also created a better flow for the planking into the stern post for the first and second bands, and also created a better surface area for gluing.

Overall, the result thus far is a significant improvement (IMHO) from previously, and I am very glad that I decided to strip back all the planking - including the garboard and broad strakes - to better address the issues. 

Hi Eric. Thanks for commiserating. I have worked the counter area and found several sections of the hull that required additional fairing and am back to adding the first band of planking. The extra practice with spiling is already showing benefits with tighter joints and better overall appearance. I'll post some photos with my next entry.

Thanks Eric and Toni.  I appreciate your words of encouragement.  After carefully considering how I wanted to proceed, It was clear that I couldn't adequately address the aft frames and counter area without damaging some of the lower planks. I've removed all of the planks to address the problems and focus on my fairing technique.

I did put the HM Alert - 1777 kit in the closet so it's not such a distraction.

10 hours ago, Cathead said:

Use thin battens obsessively until you're sure every plank will flow across that space and end where you want it, including the butt ends

Thanks Eric. It seems obvious to me now that I have not been checking the flow of planking the correct way, and perhaps more importantly not often enough.

3 hours ago, tlevine said:

Draw a line from the fore tip of bulkhead G up to where the counter and sternpost intersect.  Everything aft of that needs to be sanded off.

Hi Toni. Thanks so much for dropping into my log and providing me advice.  I'll check the broad strake width and If it is too wide then I plan to de-plank and start afresh - fortunately I am only at the first band and already purchased additional basswood sheets.  At a minimum, I will address the aft frames per your guidance and fix any additional areas needing more fairing. Doing so may also lead me to the conclusion that I need to strip back the planks and completely re-fair the whole framework. On the plus side, I am getting even more practice with spiling. 🙂

Hi Carlo.  Thanks for your encouragement.

Thanks for the photos Eric, and your comment! The pictures are very helpful in getting me to visualize how that junction could look.  It does appear that you filed back the last 4 frames quite a bit with the last 2 running much more vertical up to the wale in the third planking band.  Am I interpreting the photos correctly or is it just the camera angle?

I built up frames 4a and 5 and re-faired that section of the hull. The dip / knuckle is gone and I'm glad I decided to rework and correct the defect.

20 hours ago, Cathead said:

That in itself is a useful learning process

Thanks Cathead. Your reply reminded me that the whole purpose of this half hull kit is learning to plank properly. After thinking about your comment I decided to remove the planking from the first bow section band to build up frames 4a and 5 and re-fair that section of the hull to try and remove that awkward knuckle (I like the way you put that observation). The garboard and broad strakes don't exhibit that dip so I am leaving them in place.

While I'm in the process of reworking this section I am also going to address the counter as it is likely easier to do that now than after laying the second planking band.

I am curious as to how you addressed the counter with respect to the way the wale transitions into the counter and transom.

Today I finished with the first band of planking, installed the counter, and drew the layout the half stealer.

A few issues came to light as I completed this phase of the build. First, I needed to fair frames 3 and 4 a bit more as there is a dip on frames 4a and 5. The directions for installing the counter aren't very clear. At first, I thought the writing would face inward and realized my error after gluing which presented another opportunity to release the PVA and start over.  I'm am also concerned that I will need to build up frame H when I get to installing the wale as it doesn't appear that the junction will look right. Finally, I'm not really pleased with the layout for the half stealer and will likely redo that when I start on the next planking band.

Next step will be laying out the separation line for bands 2 an 3.

Hi Victor. Welcome aboard.  My first build was the San Juan Felucca. My last post of that build log lists a number of lessons I learned during the experience.  While I am still quite the novice, I'll be glad to answer any questions you have / share my experience about that build.

Thanks Cisco.

Completed the garboard and broad strake installation. 

Fiddled around with the trying to get a good fit in the stem rabbit and ended up remaking the forward broad strake section twice before I figured out what I was doing but overall I'm happy with the fit. I ordered some additional 1/32" basswood to ensure I have enough on hand if I need to remake many more sections.

The first band line layout is shown with the purple lines on the frames.  The marker for the second band is only on the dead flat for now until I finish installing the counter. Using the spiling technique to shape the first plank section wasn't as challenging as I anticipated and the dry fit for the middle plank in the first row of band one is reasonably good after some fine tuning. 

I recognize that this is only 1 section of one row in the dead flat area so I am checking my confidence with spiling, but at the least I now understand the process.

Hi Chestcutter. Welcome aboard.

I achieved another build milestone today with shaping and gluing down the aft garboard plank. The initial dry fit was pretty good overall but I wasn't completely happy with how it fit into the rabbit. Cutting a slight bevel into that edge improved the fit. I've laid out the garboard plank forward and will fine tune the shape during dry fitting after the glue completely cures on the aft section.

The layout

Dry Fit

Glued and clamped.

Hi Wieslaw, welcome aboard!

I'm just about ready to start planking!!!

Today, I rebuilt and faired frame 5a using the scrap basswood, cut the frame tops back to match the topline, and laid out the wale as planned.

I proceeded further and also laid out the line for the garboard strake.  Discovered that the 10mm Tamiya tape on hand isn't quite wide enough to properly layout the garboard plank for transfer to the basswood.  Another unfortunate materials delay, but I'm pretty excited about where I am with this build.

I received the HMS Alert kit from Vanguard over the weekend and will take this forced break to crack open the box and start reading through the instructions.

The shim installed on Frame E raised it the the right height and I was able to get the section faired.

As I started fairing the midship frames I found that Frame 1 was also low and was successfully shimmed.

I decided to wait to layout the top rail line until after shaping the shimmed frames and laid out the line after some fairing of the hull.  Aft top rail came out well as shown below.

Laying out the top rail for the forward section revealed an issue with frame 5a and the filler piece at the stem.  Looks like I inserted the frame to far towards the keel and it is about 1/8" below the top rail line.

I considered trying to build up this area to fill the gap and then recalled the issues I had with my felucca build by trying to press forward, and decided to tear down this section and rebuild using replacement pieces. I've stacked 3 layers of scrap basswood cut to shape of Frame 5a which should work. I used the basswood because it's easier to cut it to proper shape then the plywood.

My plan is to rebuild this area tomorrow (I need to buy some alcohol tomorrow to release the pva) and then finish the top rail line, trim the frames, and then layout the main wale line.

Hi TJ, Welcome aboard. If you are so inclined, post some photos of your Bluenose and Constitution builds in the gallery.

Framing is complete. I opted to wait to install the transom and counter until after several courses of planking are finished as suggested in the instructions to avoid breaking. 

Getting the bow filler cut to follow the rabbit line wasn't as challenging as I feared and I like the end result.

There is and issue with frame E as shown below which is a bit over 2mm lower than the line between frames D and F.  I have a piece of limewood planking from my felucca build that is the right width and 2mm thick should work as a shim to build up this frame. My plan is to soak the piece, shape it to the frame and then glue it in place once dried. That extra piece should be sufficient for me to fair the frames in this area.

Another good build day and its starting to look like a hull. My efforts yesterday to trace the frame outlines for cut lines on the back of the frame sheet paid dividends. Frames E through 4 and spacers installed, bearding line drawn, and the shallow slope sanded into the deadwood.

Hi Rich. Welcome aboard.

Hi Allen. Welcome aboard.