oakheart

You may not have noticed, but there’s not been much in the way of progress here. They say things come in threes, well that's been true for me. It’s been a bad time for me lately, on a weekend some weeks ago now. Saturday : Robin a good friend of mine died after fighting cancer for a very long time. Sunday : Liz . My big sister died, suddenly from a medical condition nobody knew she had. A week later : I had a medical scare, loads of tests with prodding and every type of scanning known to mankind. Thankfully the lump turned out to be benign. Whew! After spending time in France helping Robins widow sort out his unfinished projects, he had 4 classic cars in pieces, some of the parts labelled and stored in boxes some randomly placed on shelves, I'm sure he knew what and where everything was. I got to thinking about my own projects and what I want to achieve. What is it I want? I want to produce some nice looking models, made from wood. I don’t really need them to be historically accurate in every detail. They should be: well made, well finished and if possible look at least similar to the original. So in response to my thoughts. I am declaring this model of the Bounty Launch FINISHED. It has served its purpose; I have learned the basics of making a wooden model ship. That includes planking, realising that small scale is harder, understanding that I should work with good quality materials. But the most important thing is that by doing this build log I have learned a lot from you rogues on here. So moving forwards, I will be starting a new Build log, the new project will be an English Cutter from the 18th or 19th Century Hope to see you over there. Sorry about the rant, I know this is not a self help group. Now back to the modelling, well tidy up the workshop and sort all my stuff out. Tim

Hi Riotvan The tug I am building, an 85 ft Harbour tug designed by Francis Smith, a quick google search will give you loads of ideas. have a look here https://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/board,126.0.html there are loads of tugs https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3015172-85-foot-Army-ST-Tugboat and this smaller scale https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?827506-Army-Tug-St-Type I just used some really cheap 4mm ( 1/8" ) plywood for the frames and balsa for planking, as that's what I had 'in stock' filled in dips with ronseal wood filler and I will GRP ( Resin and cloth ) over the whole hull. Tim

OK. back again after a turbulent couple of weeks. I have been playing with weathering paint FX for the as sailed version. First tests : with the green I was trying to get the kind of slimy look you get on old timber, not sure if this would happen on a boat at sea? a close up and here is a dirty inside The brown is a bit much, but I like the effect. Comments please. Tim

Some say it was because it's easier to repair a carvel ship when traveling in far off places with no ship yards. Tim

Hi Allan I have used Jenolite "Kold Blak" make sure the steel is really clean, no oil. Tim

Hi toolmaker That is some really good planking, something I will aim to achieve. My 2nd build is going to be a cutter the Rattlesnake sister to the Alert so I will study your excellent planking before I attempt to do mine Nicely done, and as Allan said thanks for sharing Tim

Glad your back, hope the eyes are good now. That planking looks really good, what is the finish you used? Tim

Thanks Christian I hope to do a plank on bulkhead scratch build of a Cutter as used in the South East Kent area of the UK The Rattlesnake was built at Folkestone a town I know well. Any information I can get will help with drawing up my plans. I have chopped up the Danish drawing and imported it into Fusion 360, next I start tracing the station lines for the bulkheads. It's the same as I did for this launch model, just bigger.. Tim

Hi Christian You developed some drawings for the Alert http:// https://modelshipworld.com/topic/4993-naval-cutter-alert-by-anobiumpuncatum-scale-132-pof/#comment-144239 Would it be alright if I used these to help me develop my 1:64 scale version of the Rattlesnake? Tim

Thanks Christian, I will watch out for the differences. I have the drawing from RMG as well as the one from the Danish archive. I really should finish this build first, but there is no harm in setting out plans for a new build, is there ? Tim

Hi Allan The rear platform sits about a scale 6" off the keel. I will redo the main floor planks based on Craig's comments above If the kudos was really meant for me then thank you, ( now my head really will swell ) Sort of lost focus over the last week, back now and will try and get some bits done on this build Tim

So here is my interpretation of the floor, does it look right? needs some cleaning up round the edges. Tim

I have found some 25mm ( 1 inch ) dia. ready made sleeves. I now have to make something that will fit in the chuck and spin true. The workshop is too cold today, so will work on the hull instead. Tim

The thickness sander I cobbled together for the cedar planks needs rebuilding, he double sided tape on the sandpaper keeps letting go so the next hull is on hold. Instead, I have started on the floor and internal parts on the Basswood hull. Not sure of the correct flooring layout, so have copied what I can see in the photos of other builds I will add photos later, just having my morning coffee. Tim

Wow - that is impressive. Nice work indeed. Tim

Hi Allan to answer your questions ship : HM Cutter Rattlesnake date 1777 British Royal Navy Thanks for the heads up on the dates Tim

Hi Allan Just found this page, really interesting. https://www.arc.id.au/ArmstrongPattern.html I will be using it to find the shape for an 18th C 6 pounder Tim

Hi Craig, thanks I had not seen that, it will be very useful. Interestingly the access stairs are shown running fore and aft, on ZAZ7910 they are shown sideways. It would make no difference to a typical hull model, but it shows the difference that could happen with different builders What is great is that you can read the text, I have transcribed the mast sizes Rattlesnake Dimensions of masts Main mast 78’ 6” 20.5” dia BowSpreet 38’ 6” 18” Boom 58’ 10” 12 5/8” Gaff 40’ 9” Storm Gaff 17’ 9 3/8” Top Gallant 35’ 10” 9” Square sail yard 49’ 8” 9” Top Sail Yard 36’ 9” 8 ½” Mizen Mast 38’ 2” 9 ½” Out Rigger 33’ 9” 8 ¼” Yards 30’ 6 ½” Jibb Boom 30’ 8” 7 ½” Driver Boom 27’ 6 ¾” Tim

Very nice work it is too. Planking is looking really good. Tim

I think that's what I will aim for, it will cover up all my mistakes, with a bit of extra weathering from the journey I think it could look very interesting. Add a bit of dried blood spatter on the inside from those boobies they ate raw. Mind a good deal of that would have been washed away by all the sea water coming into the boat and being bailed out again. Tim

Hi Craig, I made it here, some really nice research. Have you completed the drawings? I am just starting out on my interpretation of the Rattlesnake built at Folkstone ( sister to Alert ) so all of the information gathered here will help me on my way. Tim

Lessons learned so far: Pay more attention to the early stages. Like cutting and sanding the frames to shape. Do more work on fitting the planks, I did find it tedious to keep putting in on to check, take it off to sand, put it back on bla,bla,bla Try different methods of clamping I need to slow down and not try to rush things. At these small scales I need to learn to use a more delicate approach with my tools. So my thinking is to move on to the next hull build and leave the 2nd fixings of internal details for later. That way I still have my planking skills ( ha. ha. ) fresh. I may experiment with more planks on the next hull, we don't know how many the original had anyway and it should lessen the problem I had with planks not laying flat. The Cornish Maritime Museum full size build used 14 per side, I think maybe they did that for the same reason. Tim off for a coffee and a read of Craig's cutter drawing log

Nice work on the cutter, way ahead of me as usual 🙂 I am going to read the whole thread with my coffee. It could be a candidate for a build. I was in Melbourne / Sydney in October 2022 visiting relatives, shame I had not found this community at that time. Did a bit of research into the First Fleet while I was there. Tim

Chuck Passaro and others have been singing the praises of Alaskan Yellow Cedar, look for Chucks longboat build log on this site. I then found somewhere in the UK to get some so ordered some. It does look nice and works beautifully. Basswood ( Lime in UK ) carves beautifully with sharp tools but it goes all kind of fluffy / stringy when you sand it. Using a brand new Stanley Knife blade as a scraper gives a really good surface finish. As long as you don't get glue on the surface, It will stain nicely to any wood colour you want. I have a love / hate relationship with it on this build. Tim

And there was me looking at your plug method and thinking I must try that as it gave you a good result. Let's see how CrazyCraig gets on with his separate futtocks and floors. Tim