Decoyman

My next project is the Chaloupe Armee en Guerre or Longboat Armed for War. This will be a scratch-built model at a scale of 1:36, from the plans available here: http://www.ancre.fr/vaisso25.htm.
 
I ordered my copy of the monograph and plans direct from ANCRE and they came speedily and at a very reasonable rate of postage. This is the first publication from ANCRE that I have seen, and I must say I'm impressed. The six sheets of plans are drawn beautifully and the accompanying booklet, which describes the boat and the construction process, is very well laid out. There are many illustrations of the construction process, as well as detail photos of a 1:18 version of the same boat. I should note that the original text was in French and has been translated into English by David H Roberts, who has done an excellent job.
 
 
 
Whilst finishing my Agamemnon (http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/1115-hms-agamemnon-by-decoyman-caldercraft/) I have been collecting pieces of wood I thought might be useful when scratch-building. I discovered The Toolpost (http://www.toolpost.co.uk), a treasure trove of woodworking equipment, in Didcot, about 15 minutes drive from where I live. They have a good selection of hardwoods and fruitwoods, mostly in turning blanks, as well as a selection of pieces of boxwood of varying sizes. They were also happy to cut every piece I bought into 1" slices on their bandsaw. This means I can now machine them to exact dimensions on my Byrnes table saw, which is a pleasure to use! I haven't finally decided which woods to use where, but I'm starting with apple for the keelson and ribs and will probably use cherry for the planking. I acquired a box full of odd pieces of wood, including a large amount of ebony, from eBay for a very reasonable sum: I might try turning one of the ebony pieces to make the large bow-mounted cannon.
 

 
The picture above shows (from the top) ebony, apple, box and cherry.
 
Before I could get going on the good stuff I needed to make a mould, over which the basic hull will be constructed. The instructions say to make this from 5 mm ply, which actually measures nearer to 4.5 mm thick. Unfortunately French plywood is not available in England; here we have 3 mm and 6 mm, which isn't much use. In fact the nearest thing I could find was 4 mm MDF, available on the internet in packets of ten 400 x 300 mm sheets at a reasonable price. This is still not thick enough. The mould is made from layers cut to the shape of the waterlines, if the layers are too thin then the whole boat will end up compressed vertically.
 

 
My solution was to interleave the MDF with layers of 0.5 mm cherry veneer, which I happened to have around, so that each layer was 4.5 mm in total. There were some benefits to this method: I could glue photocopies of the plans to each piece of veneer and then cut out each layer accurately using a scalpel. Once that was done I coloured the edges with a black permanent marker. This was so when I sanded the mould to its finished profile I knew that when I reached the black I was nearly there.
 
    
 
The next step was to glue the veneers to the MDF and remove the photocopies. I left them to dry overnight, interleaved with cling film and weighted down, and then cut each MDF layer out with a fret saw, slightly larger than the veneer stuck to the top. Each layer was drilled on the centreline at stations 5F and 5A and then stacked up and glued in order with dowels in the holes to provide alignment. I used dowels instead of the drill bits because I could sand the dowels along with the MDF.
 
    
 
There was a lot of arm-aching sanding to bring the mould to its final form. I used a Surform for quick removal and then coarse sandpaper on a block for accuracy. The end result was pretty accurate but not perfect.
 

 
To check the profiles while sanding I glued copies of the frame profiles to 1.2 mm card, as well as the keel. I used these to check I was getting the shape right, but I also cut them so they would slot together. Once the mould fitted all the card frames and the keel I was just about done!
 
  
 
In the last of the photos above you can see marking out for the recesses to take the keelson and the knee of the stern. To ensure the keelson recess was the right size I made a start on this piece. It's cut from a piece of 2.3 x 6 mm apple on the table saw, which I also used to cut the rebates for the frames. It curves up towards the stern so I soaked it in hot water for a while, then taped it to the mould.
 
   
 
Once the keelson had the correct profile I used it to adjust the recess in the mould. The last thing to finish the mould were two coats of varnish and a polish. The purpose of this is to protect the markings showing the frames and the wales and to try to stop the glue sticking the frames to the mould. We'll see how we get on with this in due course.
 

 
In the meantime the next task is to bend the frames round the mould.
 
More soon!
 
Rob

I am getting close to finishing the initial fabrication of the frames. In the next couple of pictures you can see all the frames across the keelson finished and then the futtocks added to the rearmost crutches.
 
 
 
Unfortunately I noticed that the keelson had acquired a pronounced downward curve (upward in the photos since the mould is inverted).
 
  
 
I wasn't happy to leave it like it was, so I stripped off all the frames - they were only pinned in place - and then planed off the first MDF layer from the mould down to the veneer leaf.
 

 
At this point it became clear that the whole mould was slightly curved, probably because I didn't clamp it to a flat surface when it was drying. Nothing serious, just slightly annoying! I was able to sand the veneer slightly more in the middle until the top surface was flat. Then I added a strip of cherry the same plan profile as the keelson, as thick as the distance between the top of the keelson and the lowest waterline and with a curve at the stern end. Once this was glued down I fixed 4 mm deep strips of veneer each side to set clean lines for the bottom of the mould (the MDF tends to flake off). Now I have a straight base for the keelson.
 
    
 
Next I cut a new layer of MDF in two pieces to fit around the keelson trough and, once the glue was dry, planed and sanded it to shape. Another couple of coats of varnish to stop the frame glue sticking and job done! A nice straight keelson ready for the frames to be re-fitted.
 
     
 
Rob

Jeronimo,
 
I saw your log and the photos of the finished boat - fantastic work. I hope mine is somewhere near as good (although I have my doubts… we'll see).
 
Aykutansin,
 
Thanks for the encouragement - do you have a build log of your own?
 
Here are some more photos of progress to date. I've set the keelson in its recess in the mould and started adding the frames. The instructions suggest pinning through the frames. I decided to use push-pins. A big benefit is that they can be removed more easily once the frames are finished (you don't want to miss a pin after adding the planking - removing the shell from the mould would be a bit difficult…). Another advantage is that lifting a pin slightly allows the frame to be adjusted laterally until its position is perfect.
 
 
 
I'm using apple for the frames as well as the keelson. Slicing it up into 2 x 2 mm pieces results in incredibly smooth faces straight from the saw. I give them a rub-down with 400 grit wet and dry used dry then soak them overnight. The first picture above shows all the pieces cut up: there are 30 of them, corresponding to 30 frames, each strip is 300 mm long. The second picture shows a set of timbers for a typical frame - a long piece for the floor and two shorter pieces for the futtocks.
 
The following pictures show steps in adding the frames to the mould with the keelson in place. Interestingly nothing is glued yet. The keelson is intended to remain loose until the hull is removed from the mould, at which time it will be pinned and glued in place. Initially I soaked the wood in hot water, but I found I broke quite a few pieces trying to bend them round the sharp curve between the floor and the sides, so I added some household ammonia to the water. I am now having more success, but this may be because a] I'm getting better at forming the bends or b] I've left the wood to soak for longer or c] I tried microwaving the container with the ammonia solution before taking the wood out. Anyway it seems to be going OK!
 
     
 
In the first three images the floors are being added; in the last three I am starting to add the futtocks. The darker pieces have been added later and are still wet.
 
 
Rob

I am getting close to finishing the initial fabrication of the frames. In the next couple of pictures you can see all the frames across the keelson finished and then the futtocks added to the rearmost crutches.
 
 
 
Unfortunately I noticed that the keelson had acquired a pronounced downward curve (upward in the photos since the mould is inverted).
 
  
 
I wasn't happy to leave it like it was, so I stripped off all the frames - they were only pinned in place - and then planed off the first MDF layer from the mould down to the veneer leaf.
 

 
At this point it became clear that the whole mould was slightly curved, probably because I didn't clamp it to a flat surface when it was drying. Nothing serious, just slightly annoying! I was able to sand the veneer slightly more in the middle until the top surface was flat. Then I added a strip of cherry the same plan profile as the keelson, as thick as the distance between the top of the keelson and the lowest waterline and with a curve at the stern end. Once this was glued down I fixed 4 mm deep strips of veneer each side to set clean lines for the bottom of the mould (the MDF tends to flake off). Now I have a straight base for the keelson.
 
    
 
Next I cut a new layer of MDF in two pieces to fit around the keelson trough and, once the glue was dry, planed and sanded it to shape. Another couple of coats of varnish to stop the frame glue sticking and job done! A nice straight keelson ready for the frames to be re-fitted.
 
     
 
Rob

I am getting close to finishing the initial fabrication of the frames. In the next couple of pictures you can see all the frames across the keelson finished and then the futtocks added to the rearmost crutches.
 
 
 
Unfortunately I noticed that the keelson had acquired a pronounced downward curve (upward in the photos since the mould is inverted).
 
  
 
I wasn't happy to leave it like it was, so I stripped off all the frames - they were only pinned in place - and then planed off the first MDF layer from the mould down to the veneer leaf.
 

 
At this point it became clear that the whole mould was slightly curved, probably because I didn't clamp it to a flat surface when it was drying. Nothing serious, just slightly annoying! I was able to sand the veneer slightly more in the middle until the top surface was flat. Then I added a strip of cherry the same plan profile as the keelson, as thick as the distance between the top of the keelson and the lowest waterline and with a curve at the stern end. Once this was glued down I fixed 4 mm deep strips of veneer each side to set clean lines for the bottom of the mould (the MDF tends to flake off). Now I have a straight base for the keelson.
 
    
 
Next I cut a new layer of MDF in two pieces to fit around the keelson trough and, once the glue was dry, planed and sanded it to shape. Another couple of coats of varnish to stop the frame glue sticking and job done! A nice straight keelson ready for the frames to be re-fitted.
 
     
 
Rob

Jeronimo,
 
I saw your log and the photos of the finished boat - fantastic work. I hope mine is somewhere near as good (although I have my doubts… we'll see).
 
Aykutansin,
 
Thanks for the encouragement - do you have a build log of your own?
 
Here are some more photos of progress to date. I've set the keelson in its recess in the mould and started adding the frames. The instructions suggest pinning through the frames. I decided to use push-pins. A big benefit is that they can be removed more easily once the frames are finished (you don't want to miss a pin after adding the planking - removing the shell from the mould would be a bit difficult…). Another advantage is that lifting a pin slightly allows the frame to be adjusted laterally until its position is perfect.
 
 
 
I'm using apple for the frames as well as the keelson. Slicing it up into 2 x 2 mm pieces results in incredibly smooth faces straight from the saw. I give them a rub-down with 400 grit wet and dry used dry then soak them overnight. The first picture above shows all the pieces cut up: there are 30 of them, corresponding to 30 frames, each strip is 300 mm long. The second picture shows a set of timbers for a typical frame - a long piece for the floor and two shorter pieces for the futtocks.
 
The following pictures show steps in adding the frames to the mould with the keelson in place. Interestingly nothing is glued yet. The keelson is intended to remain loose until the hull is removed from the mould, at which time it will be pinned and glued in place. Initially I soaked the wood in hot water, but I found I broke quite a few pieces trying to bend them round the sharp curve between the floor and the sides, so I added some household ammonia to the water. I am now having more success, but this may be because a] I'm getting better at forming the bends or b] I've left the wood to soak for longer or c] I tried microwaving the container with the ammonia solution before taking the wood out. Anyway it seems to be going OK!
 
     
 
In the first three images the floors are being added; in the last three I am starting to add the futtocks. The darker pieces have been added later and are still wet.
 
 
Rob

Jeronimo,
 
I saw your log and the photos of the finished boat - fantastic work. I hope mine is somewhere near as good (although I have my doubts… we'll see).
 
Aykutansin,
 
Thanks for the encouragement - do you have a build log of your own?
 
Here are some more photos of progress to date. I've set the keelson in its recess in the mould and started adding the frames. The instructions suggest pinning through the frames. I decided to use push-pins. A big benefit is that they can be removed more easily once the frames are finished (you don't want to miss a pin after adding the planking - removing the shell from the mould would be a bit difficult…). Another advantage is that lifting a pin slightly allows the frame to be adjusted laterally until its position is perfect.
 
 
 
I'm using apple for the frames as well as the keelson. Slicing it up into 2 x 2 mm pieces results in incredibly smooth faces straight from the saw. I give them a rub-down with 400 grit wet and dry used dry then soak them overnight. The first picture above shows all the pieces cut up: there are 30 of them, corresponding to 30 frames, each strip is 300 mm long. The second picture shows a set of timbers for a typical frame - a long piece for the floor and two shorter pieces for the futtocks.
 
The following pictures show steps in adding the frames to the mould with the keelson in place. Interestingly nothing is glued yet. The keelson is intended to remain loose until the hull is removed from the mould, at which time it will be pinned and glued in place. Initially I soaked the wood in hot water, but I found I broke quite a few pieces trying to bend them round the sharp curve between the floor and the sides, so I added some household ammonia to the water. I am now having more success, but this may be because a] I'm getting better at forming the bends or b] I've left the wood to soak for longer or c] I tried microwaving the container with the ammonia solution before taking the wood out. Anyway it seems to be going OK!
 
     
 
In the first three images the floors are being added; in the last three I am starting to add the futtocks. The darker pieces have been added later and are still wet.
 
 
Rob

My next project is the Chaloupe Armee en Guerre or Longboat Armed for War. This will be a scratch-built model at a scale of 1:36, from the plans available here: http://www.ancre.fr/vaisso25.htm.
 
I ordered my copy of the monograph and plans direct from ANCRE and they came speedily and at a very reasonable rate of postage. This is the first publication from ANCRE that I have seen, and I must say I'm impressed. The six sheets of plans are drawn beautifully and the accompanying booklet, which describes the boat and the construction process, is very well laid out. There are many illustrations of the construction process, as well as detail photos of a 1:18 version of the same boat. I should note that the original text was in French and has been translated into English by David H Roberts, who has done an excellent job.
 
 
 
Whilst finishing my Agamemnon (http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/1115-hms-agamemnon-by-decoyman-caldercraft/) I have been collecting pieces of wood I thought might be useful when scratch-building. I discovered The Toolpost (http://www.toolpost.co.uk), a treasure trove of woodworking equipment, in Didcot, about 15 minutes drive from where I live. They have a good selection of hardwoods and fruitwoods, mostly in turning blanks, as well as a selection of pieces of boxwood of varying sizes. They were also happy to cut every piece I bought into 1" slices on their bandsaw. This means I can now machine them to exact dimensions on my Byrnes table saw, which is a pleasure to use! I haven't finally decided which woods to use where, but I'm starting with apple for the keelson and ribs and will probably use cherry for the planking. I acquired a box full of odd pieces of wood, including a large amount of ebony, from eBay for a very reasonable sum: I might try turning one of the ebony pieces to make the large bow-mounted cannon.
 

 
The picture above shows (from the top) ebony, apple, box and cherry.
 
Before I could get going on the good stuff I needed to make a mould, over which the basic hull will be constructed. The instructions say to make this from 5 mm ply, which actually measures nearer to 4.5 mm thick. Unfortunately French plywood is not available in England; here we have 3 mm and 6 mm, which isn't much use. In fact the nearest thing I could find was 4 mm MDF, available on the internet in packets of ten 400 x 300 mm sheets at a reasonable price. This is still not thick enough. The mould is made from layers cut to the shape of the waterlines, if the layers are too thin then the whole boat will end up compressed vertically.
 

 
My solution was to interleave the MDF with layers of 0.5 mm cherry veneer, which I happened to have around, so that each layer was 4.5 mm in total. There were some benefits to this method: I could glue photocopies of the plans to each piece of veneer and then cut out each layer accurately using a scalpel. Once that was done I coloured the edges with a black permanent marker. This was so when I sanded the mould to its finished profile I knew that when I reached the black I was nearly there.
 
    
 
The next step was to glue the veneers to the MDF and remove the photocopies. I left them to dry overnight, interleaved with cling film and weighted down, and then cut each MDF layer out with a fret saw, slightly larger than the veneer stuck to the top. Each layer was drilled on the centreline at stations 5F and 5A and then stacked up and glued in order with dowels in the holes to provide alignment. I used dowels instead of the drill bits because I could sand the dowels along with the MDF.
 
    
 
There was a lot of arm-aching sanding to bring the mould to its final form. I used a Surform for quick removal and then coarse sandpaper on a block for accuracy. The end result was pretty accurate but not perfect.
 

 
To check the profiles while sanding I glued copies of the frame profiles to 1.2 mm card, as well as the keel. I used these to check I was getting the shape right, but I also cut them so they would slot together. Once the mould fitted all the card frames and the keel I was just about done!
 
  
 
In the last of the photos above you can see marking out for the recesses to take the keelson and the knee of the stern. To ensure the keelson recess was the right size I made a start on this piece. It's cut from a piece of 2.3 x 6 mm apple on the table saw, which I also used to cut the rebates for the frames. It curves up towards the stern so I soaked it in hot water for a while, then taped it to the mould.
 
   
 
Once the keelson had the correct profile I used it to adjust the recess in the mould. The last thing to finish the mould were two coats of varnish and a polish. The purpose of this is to protect the markings showing the frames and the wales and to try to stop the glue sticking the frames to the mould. We'll see how we get on with this in due course.
 

 
In the meantime the next task is to bend the frames round the mould.
 
More soon!
 
Rob

Jeronimo,
 
I saw your log and the photos of the finished boat - fantastic work. I hope mine is somewhere near as good (although I have my doubts… we'll see).
 
Aykutansin,
 
Thanks for the encouragement - do you have a build log of your own?
 
Here are some more photos of progress to date. I've set the keelson in its recess in the mould and started adding the frames. The instructions suggest pinning through the frames. I decided to use push-pins. A big benefit is that they can be removed more easily once the frames are finished (you don't want to miss a pin after adding the planking - removing the shell from the mould would be a bit difficult…). Another advantage is that lifting a pin slightly allows the frame to be adjusted laterally until its position is perfect.
 
 
 
I'm using apple for the frames as well as the keelson. Slicing it up into 2 x 2 mm pieces results in incredibly smooth faces straight from the saw. I give them a rub-down with 400 grit wet and dry used dry then soak them overnight. The first picture above shows all the pieces cut up: there are 30 of them, corresponding to 30 frames, each strip is 300 mm long. The second picture shows a set of timbers for a typical frame - a long piece for the floor and two shorter pieces for the futtocks.
 
The following pictures show steps in adding the frames to the mould with the keelson in place. Interestingly nothing is glued yet. The keelson is intended to remain loose until the hull is removed from the mould, at which time it will be pinned and glued in place. Initially I soaked the wood in hot water, but I found I broke quite a few pieces trying to bend them round the sharp curve between the floor and the sides, so I added some household ammonia to the water. I am now having more success, but this may be because a] I'm getting better at forming the bends or b] I've left the wood to soak for longer or c] I tried microwaving the container with the ammonia solution before taking the wood out. Anyway it seems to be going OK!
 
     
 
In the first three images the floors are being added; in the last three I am starting to add the futtocks. The darker pieces have been added later and are still wet.
 
 
Rob

My next project is the Chaloupe Armee en Guerre or Longboat Armed for War. This will be a scratch-built model at a scale of 1:36, from the plans available here: http://www.ancre.fr/vaisso25.htm.
 
I ordered my copy of the monograph and plans direct from ANCRE and they came speedily and at a very reasonable rate of postage. This is the first publication from ANCRE that I have seen, and I must say I'm impressed. The six sheets of plans are drawn beautifully and the accompanying booklet, which describes the boat and the construction process, is very well laid out. There are many illustrations of the construction process, as well as detail photos of a 1:18 version of the same boat. I should note that the original text was in French and has been translated into English by David H Roberts, who has done an excellent job.
 
 
 
Whilst finishing my Agamemnon (http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/1115-hms-agamemnon-by-decoyman-caldercraft/) I have been collecting pieces of wood I thought might be useful when scratch-building. I discovered The Toolpost (http://www.toolpost.co.uk), a treasure trove of woodworking equipment, in Didcot, about 15 minutes drive from where I live. They have a good selection of hardwoods and fruitwoods, mostly in turning blanks, as well as a selection of pieces of boxwood of varying sizes. They were also happy to cut every piece I bought into 1" slices on their bandsaw. This means I can now machine them to exact dimensions on my Byrnes table saw, which is a pleasure to use! I haven't finally decided which woods to use where, but I'm starting with apple for the keelson and ribs and will probably use cherry for the planking. I acquired a box full of odd pieces of wood, including a large amount of ebony, from eBay for a very reasonable sum: I might try turning one of the ebony pieces to make the large bow-mounted cannon.
 

 
The picture above shows (from the top) ebony, apple, box and cherry.
 
Before I could get going on the good stuff I needed to make a mould, over which the basic hull will be constructed. The instructions say to make this from 5 mm ply, which actually measures nearer to 4.5 mm thick. Unfortunately French plywood is not available in England; here we have 3 mm and 6 mm, which isn't much use. In fact the nearest thing I could find was 4 mm MDF, available on the internet in packets of ten 400 x 300 mm sheets at a reasonable price. This is still not thick enough. The mould is made from layers cut to the shape of the waterlines, if the layers are too thin then the whole boat will end up compressed vertically.
 

 
My solution was to interleave the MDF with layers of 0.5 mm cherry veneer, which I happened to have around, so that each layer was 4.5 mm in total. There were some benefits to this method: I could glue photocopies of the plans to each piece of veneer and then cut out each layer accurately using a scalpel. Once that was done I coloured the edges with a black permanent marker. This was so when I sanded the mould to its finished profile I knew that when I reached the black I was nearly there.
 
    
 
The next step was to glue the veneers to the MDF and remove the photocopies. I left them to dry overnight, interleaved with cling film and weighted down, and then cut each MDF layer out with a fret saw, slightly larger than the veneer stuck to the top. Each layer was drilled on the centreline at stations 5F and 5A and then stacked up and glued in order with dowels in the holes to provide alignment. I used dowels instead of the drill bits because I could sand the dowels along with the MDF.
 
    
 
There was a lot of arm-aching sanding to bring the mould to its final form. I used a Surform for quick removal and then coarse sandpaper on a block for accuracy. The end result was pretty accurate but not perfect.
 

 
To check the profiles while sanding I glued copies of the frame profiles to 1.2 mm card, as well as the keel. I used these to check I was getting the shape right, but I also cut them so they would slot together. Once the mould fitted all the card frames and the keel I was just about done!
 
  
 
In the last of the photos above you can see marking out for the recesses to take the keelson and the knee of the stern. To ensure the keelson recess was the right size I made a start on this piece. It's cut from a piece of 2.3 x 6 mm apple on the table saw, which I also used to cut the rebates for the frames. It curves up towards the stern so I soaked it in hot water for a while, then taped it to the mould.
 
   
 
Once the keelson had the correct profile I used it to adjust the recess in the mould. The last thing to finish the mould were two coats of varnish and a polish. The purpose of this is to protect the markings showing the frames and the wales and to try to stop the glue sticking the frames to the mould. We'll see how we get on with this in due course.
 

 
In the meantime the next task is to bend the frames round the mould.
 
More soon!
 
Rob

Jeronimo,
 
I saw your log and the photos of the finished boat - fantastic work. I hope mine is somewhere near as good (although I have my doubts… we'll see).
 
Aykutansin,
 
Thanks for the encouragement - do you have a build log of your own?
 
Here are some more photos of progress to date. I've set the keelson in its recess in the mould and started adding the frames. The instructions suggest pinning through the frames. I decided to use push-pins. A big benefit is that they can be removed more easily once the frames are finished (you don't want to miss a pin after adding the planking - removing the shell from the mould would be a bit difficult…). Another advantage is that lifting a pin slightly allows the frame to be adjusted laterally until its position is perfect.
 
 
 
I'm using apple for the frames as well as the keelson. Slicing it up into 2 x 2 mm pieces results in incredibly smooth faces straight from the saw. I give them a rub-down with 400 grit wet and dry used dry then soak them overnight. The first picture above shows all the pieces cut up: there are 30 of them, corresponding to 30 frames, each strip is 300 mm long. The second picture shows a set of timbers for a typical frame - a long piece for the floor and two shorter pieces for the futtocks.
 
The following pictures show steps in adding the frames to the mould with the keelson in place. Interestingly nothing is glued yet. The keelson is intended to remain loose until the hull is removed from the mould, at which time it will be pinned and glued in place. Initially I soaked the wood in hot water, but I found I broke quite a few pieces trying to bend them round the sharp curve between the floor and the sides, so I added some household ammonia to the water. I am now having more success, but this may be because a] I'm getting better at forming the bends or b] I've left the wood to soak for longer or c] I tried microwaving the container with the ammonia solution before taking the wood out. Anyway it seems to be going OK!
 
     
 
In the first three images the floors are being added; in the last three I am starting to add the futtocks. The darker pieces have been added later and are still wet.
 
 
Rob

Jeronimo,
 
I saw your log and the photos of the finished boat - fantastic work. I hope mine is somewhere near as good (although I have my doubts… we'll see).
 
Aykutansin,
 
Thanks for the encouragement - do you have a build log of your own?
 
Here are some more photos of progress to date. I've set the keelson in its recess in the mould and started adding the frames. The instructions suggest pinning through the frames. I decided to use push-pins. A big benefit is that they can be removed more easily once the frames are finished (you don't want to miss a pin after adding the planking - removing the shell from the mould would be a bit difficult…). Another advantage is that lifting a pin slightly allows the frame to be adjusted laterally until its position is perfect.
 
 
 
I'm using apple for the frames as well as the keelson. Slicing it up into 2 x 2 mm pieces results in incredibly smooth faces straight from the saw. I give them a rub-down with 400 grit wet and dry used dry then soak them overnight. The first picture above shows all the pieces cut up: there are 30 of them, corresponding to 30 frames, each strip is 300 mm long. The second picture shows a set of timbers for a typical frame - a long piece for the floor and two shorter pieces for the futtocks.
 
The following pictures show steps in adding the frames to the mould with the keelson in place. Interestingly nothing is glued yet. The keelson is intended to remain loose until the hull is removed from the mould, at which time it will be pinned and glued in place. Initially I soaked the wood in hot water, but I found I broke quite a few pieces trying to bend them round the sharp curve between the floor and the sides, so I added some household ammonia to the water. I am now having more success, but this may be because a] I'm getting better at forming the bends or b] I've left the wood to soak for longer or c] I tried microwaving the container with the ammonia solution before taking the wood out. Anyway it seems to be going OK!
 
     
 
In the first three images the floors are being added; in the last three I am starting to add the futtocks. The darker pieces have been added later and are still wet.
 
 
Rob

Jeronimo,
 
I saw your log and the photos of the finished boat - fantastic work. I hope mine is somewhere near as good (although I have my doubts… we'll see).
 
Aykutansin,
 
Thanks for the encouragement - do you have a build log of your own?
 
Here are some more photos of progress to date. I've set the keelson in its recess in the mould and started adding the frames. The instructions suggest pinning through the frames. I decided to use push-pins. A big benefit is that they can be removed more easily once the frames are finished (you don't want to miss a pin after adding the planking - removing the shell from the mould would be a bit difficult…). Another advantage is that lifting a pin slightly allows the frame to be adjusted laterally until its position is perfect.
 
 
 
I'm using apple for the frames as well as the keelson. Slicing it up into 2 x 2 mm pieces results in incredibly smooth faces straight from the saw. I give them a rub-down with 400 grit wet and dry used dry then soak them overnight. The first picture above shows all the pieces cut up: there are 30 of them, corresponding to 30 frames, each strip is 300 mm long. The second picture shows a set of timbers for a typical frame - a long piece for the floor and two shorter pieces for the futtocks.
 
The following pictures show steps in adding the frames to the mould with the keelson in place. Interestingly nothing is glued yet. The keelson is intended to remain loose until the hull is removed from the mould, at which time it will be pinned and glued in place. Initially I soaked the wood in hot water, but I found I broke quite a few pieces trying to bend them round the sharp curve between the floor and the sides, so I added some household ammonia to the water. I am now having more success, but this may be because a] I'm getting better at forming the bends or b] I've left the wood to soak for longer or c] I tried microwaving the container with the ammonia solution before taking the wood out. Anyway it seems to be going OK!
 
     
 
In the first three images the floors are being added; in the last three I am starting to add the futtocks. The darker pieces have been added later and are still wet.
 
 
Rob

I think  this comment might be fairly obvious, but the fact of the matter is I'm having trouble maintaining my enthusiasm for rebuilding my Agamemnon log.
 
However, despite the lack of evidence and a coherent storyline… I have actually finished! The whole thing!! It's taken me 11 years, 2 months and 3 days exactly. I have no idea how many hours I have spent on it, but it's a lot. The entire build was done on our kitchen table, which meant having to clear away before every meal and share it with my children when they did their homework. There are two lights hung quite low above the table, and when I got to the masting stage I bashed them nearly every time I moved the model from the top of the piano to the kitchen. Nevertheless she's still in one piece. Here are a couple of pictures:
 

 

 

 
She's very difficult to photograph most of the time because either she's against a wall, which results in an overlay of confusing shadows, or she's on the table with the lights in the picture and the kitchen clutter in the background. I took her out into the garden for the final shots, but even that isn't perfect. I'm considering getting some professional pictures taken in a studio, but for that I'll need a car with a higher roof.
 
I hope you like it!
 
Rob

Jeronimo,
 
I saw your log and the photos of the finished boat - fantastic work. I hope mine is somewhere near as good (although I have my doubts… we'll see).
 
Aykutansin,
 
Thanks for the encouragement - do you have a build log of your own?
 
Here are some more photos of progress to date. I've set the keelson in its recess in the mould and started adding the frames. The instructions suggest pinning through the frames. I decided to use push-pins. A big benefit is that they can be removed more easily once the frames are finished (you don't want to miss a pin after adding the planking - removing the shell from the mould would be a bit difficult…). Another advantage is that lifting a pin slightly allows the frame to be adjusted laterally until its position is perfect.
 
 
 
I'm using apple for the frames as well as the keelson. Slicing it up into 2 x 2 mm pieces results in incredibly smooth faces straight from the saw. I give them a rub-down with 400 grit wet and dry used dry then soak them overnight. The first picture above shows all the pieces cut up: there are 30 of them, corresponding to 30 frames, each strip is 300 mm long. The second picture shows a set of timbers for a typical frame - a long piece for the floor and two shorter pieces for the futtocks.
 
The following pictures show steps in adding the frames to the mould with the keelson in place. Interestingly nothing is glued yet. The keelson is intended to remain loose until the hull is removed from the mould, at which time it will be pinned and glued in place. Initially I soaked the wood in hot water, but I found I broke quite a few pieces trying to bend them round the sharp curve between the floor and the sides, so I added some household ammonia to the water. I am now having more success, but this may be because a] I'm getting better at forming the bends or b] I've left the wood to soak for longer or c] I tried microwaving the container with the ammonia solution before taking the wood out. Anyway it seems to be going OK!
 
     
 
In the first three images the floors are being added; in the last three I am starting to add the futtocks. The darker pieces have been added later and are still wet.
 
 
Rob

I think  this comment might be fairly obvious, but the fact of the matter is I'm having trouble maintaining my enthusiasm for rebuilding my Agamemnon log.
 
However, despite the lack of evidence and a coherent storyline… I have actually finished! The whole thing!! It's taken me 11 years, 2 months and 3 days exactly. I have no idea how many hours I have spent on it, but it's a lot. The entire build was done on our kitchen table, which meant having to clear away before every meal and share it with my children when they did their homework. There are two lights hung quite low above the table, and when I got to the masting stage I bashed them nearly every time I moved the model from the top of the piano to the kitchen. Nevertheless she's still in one piece. Here are a couple of pictures:
 

 

 

 
She's very difficult to photograph most of the time because either she's against a wall, which results in an overlay of confusing shadows, or she's on the table with the lights in the picture and the kitchen clutter in the background. I took her out into the garden for the final shots, but even that isn't perfect. I'm considering getting some professional pictures taken in a studio, but for that I'll need a car with a higher roof.
 
I hope you like it!
 
Rob

We now get to one of the more interesting parts of the build - the prow. I found this quite fiddly in the way the kit is designed to go together: the V-shaped frames which form the cross-sectional shapes of the headrails are quite clunky, not particularly accurately shaped I suspect, and have quite small details which are cut from a relatively crumbly ply. As a consequence corners tend to fall off. Nevertheless I managed to put everything in place, although I fitted the main head rails too far forward which, once this was pointed out, meant that they had to be redone. In my defence I did follow the plan, but the plan is wrong in this respect. Jotika again came to my rescue by sending me replacement parts.
 
Here are some progress photos of this area:
 



 
It's not entirely obvious, but the head rails are too far forward in the previous shot. In the next shot you can see more clearly that I have now bevelled off the corner of the beakhead bulkhead and temporarily clamped a replacement rail in place.
 

 
Finally here is a view of the prow with the replacement rails fitted and painted (and looking a lot better). I must say that I have found the constructive criticism offered by the members at MSW very helpful, and I think I am producing a better model as a consequence of their comments. Thank you to everyone who contributed to my previous blog.
 
I am now off to finish fitting the mizzen topsail yard. More later.
 
Rob
 

The next stage was the coppering of the hull. The plates supplied with the kit are easy to use, although they are not strictly prototypical as they don't overlap each other. I used thick CA in a blob on the back of the plate which, when the plate was applied to the hull, spread out just enough to stick firmly. It also stayed loose long enough to allow the plate to be slid exactly into position. The relatively small size of the plates meant that smooth lines of plates could be made without generating unsightly gaps as I progressed around the hull.
 
Some of the plates weren't embossed properly, judging by the way these mostly came stuck together, I suspect they had gone through the embossing machine in pairs. However there were so many spare that this wasn't a problem. In the following photo the one on the right has not come out properly; the one on the left is fine.
 

 
Where cuts were necessary I was able to score the plate along a straight-edge and then flex it until the two halves came apart.
 
I started along the keel and worked my way up to the waterline.
 

 
Here are some views of the completed job. You can see how the plates mostly adjusted themselves around the three dimensional shape of the hull; only a couple of rows of stealers were needed at the stem and stern.
 



 
I also coppered the rudder and blackened the hinges. I was subsequently told that the straps should be copper, so I will have to paint these using copper paint as part of the final snagging when I am provisionally finished.
 

Ok - I've been stung back into action!
 
My last post was about the making of the ship's ladders. Fitting these completed most of the work to the 'structure' of the main gun deck. The only other major fixed component was the capstan. The pre-cut components fitted together well, but I rather stupidly decided to spin the completed unit in my lathe to tidy up the edges. Oops! The bit cut into the relatively soft timber and chewed it up in moments. As I recall it looked worse in real life than it does in this photo.
 

 
Fortunately a call to Jotika resulted in replacement parts at no cost (thank you Jotika), so I was able to rebuild it, this time successfully.
 
The next stage was to paint the hull as far as was necessary to be able to start the coppering. I installed a thin (0.5 x 0.5 mm walnut) strip at the waterline to make a neat stop for the top edge of the copper plates. I painted the insides of the gun ports red first, then between the wales in yellow. Finally I painted the rest of the exterior satin black. I used Humbol colours exclusively. The yellow is no. 74 - Linen, which is much paler and less orange than the ochre currently used on Victory and which seems very popular elsewhere on this site. Personally I prefer the less strident colour palette achieved with this choice. Others may think differently, of course.
 

 
A general view of the upper gun deck (at this stage the first capstan is temporarily in place).
 

 
Here you can see the waterline strip and the painting of the gun ports.
 

 
This photo shows the yellow bands after the first coat. As I recall it took at least three coats, rubbing down carefully between coats, to get a good, opaque finish.
 



 
And finally some shots of the exterior with the rest painted black. There was a small amount of retouching to be done, but by this stage I was pretty pleased with the quality.

The companionway ladders were made much the same way as the gratings. The sides are pre-routed with grooves for the treads machined in; the treads are cut from 1 x 4 mm walnut. I fixed a stop temporarily in my mitre box to ensure they were all cut to the same length.
 
Once I had the kit of parts ready I glued the top and bottom treads to the respective grooves in the sides using CA. Once these were set I slid the remainder of the treads into place and dipped the assembly in dilute PVA.
 


 
 

The bitts were mostly straightforward: sand the component parts, glue them together and paint them. One set - the ones which sit around the stove had the two rebates in the cross piece too close together. I had to widen each of them symmetrically and then insert small pieces of walnut to reduce them back to the correct width. Once these alterations were complete and the parts rubbed down and painted the alteration was invisible.
 
The alterations:
 



 
The finished article before painting:
 

 
After painting:
 

 
And installed in the ship:
 


 
As you can see from the final picture above the stove was completed and installed at the same time. This is a set of white metal castings which I glued together using epoxy resin and painted. Here are a few photos of the construction sequence:
 



 
More to follow!

The other bit of progress achieved before I started my log was to install and plank the upper gun deck. Since then I have made the various fittings, including gratings, bitts and the stove.
 
Like most kits the gratings come as notched strips like coarse combs. I found the easiest way to assemble these was to fit them together dry and then to dip them in dilute PVA. Once the glue had set I trimmed off the excess timber and sanded the top, bottom and sides. Here are some step by step photos:
 

 
Some of the gratings dry-assembled. A 'grid' is made to suit the overall size of each grating:
 

 
Next the gratings were dipped in dilute PVA and then the excess dabbed away using kitchen towel:
 



 
Finally each grating was trimmed and sanded smooth:
 

 
Once this stage was complete I added the coamings around each hatch, some of which incorporate the openings for the companionways between decks. 
 

 
Here is an example of one in situ. The corners were cut square and butted. I believe the real ones were half-lapped at the corners, but I didn't think this would be visible at this scale.
 
And here are a few more. On some of these you can see that i have added shot garlands along the sides.
 



 
Rob

Back in the years before starting my original build log one of the reasons why I wasn't getting on with my ship was lack of space, particularly in our old house. I was however able to make the ship's boats.
 
I followed the instructions pretty much to the letter and, by and large, this was OK. The wood provided is thin, which means it bends easily to the profile of the hull, but it is also relatively coarse-grained, so the edges tend to splinter. In fact the edges are often rough straight out of the box (which is a problem with nearly all of the timber supplied with the kit). I overcame this in the usual way - filler and paint.
 
I'm not entirely happy with the floors of the boats, which are flat and too high and not very prototypical. I added oars made from bits of scrap (there's plenty of spare wood available), and these hide quite a lot of the floor.
 
Here are some photos of three of the finished items. I'm afraid I didn't take any progress photos of the boats.
 


 
You can see in the second picture how high and flat the floor is.
 
Finally here are pictures of all four boats finished off the ship:
 


 
And in their final position in the waist.
 

 

Jeronimo,
 
I saw your log and the photos of the finished boat - fantastic work. I hope mine is somewhere near as good (although I have my doubts… we'll see).
 
Aykutansin,
 
Thanks for the encouragement - do you have a build log of your own?
 
Here are some more photos of progress to date. I've set the keelson in its recess in the mould and started adding the frames. The instructions suggest pinning through the frames. I decided to use push-pins. A big benefit is that they can be removed more easily once the frames are finished (you don't want to miss a pin after adding the planking - removing the shell from the mould would be a bit difficult…). Another advantage is that lifting a pin slightly allows the frame to be adjusted laterally until its position is perfect.
 
 
 
I'm using apple for the frames as well as the keelson. Slicing it up into 2 x 2 mm pieces results in incredibly smooth faces straight from the saw. I give them a rub-down with 400 grit wet and dry used dry then soak them overnight. The first picture above shows all the pieces cut up: there are 30 of them, corresponding to 30 frames, each strip is 300 mm long. The second picture shows a set of timbers for a typical frame - a long piece for the floor and two shorter pieces for the futtocks.
 
The following pictures show steps in adding the frames to the mould with the keelson in place. Interestingly nothing is glued yet. The keelson is intended to remain loose until the hull is removed from the mould, at which time it will be pinned and glued in place. Initially I soaked the wood in hot water, but I found I broke quite a few pieces trying to bend them round the sharp curve between the floor and the sides, so I added some household ammonia to the water. I am now having more success, but this may be because a] I'm getting better at forming the bends or b] I've left the wood to soak for longer or c] I tried microwaving the container with the ammonia solution before taking the wood out. Anyway it seems to be going OK!
 
     
 
In the first three images the floors are being added; in the last three I am starting to add the futtocks. The darker pieces have been added later and are still wet.
 
 
Rob

I think  this comment might be fairly obvious, but the fact of the matter is I'm having trouble maintaining my enthusiasm for rebuilding my Agamemnon log.
 
However, despite the lack of evidence and a coherent storyline… I have actually finished! The whole thing!! It's taken me 11 years, 2 months and 3 days exactly. I have no idea how many hours I have spent on it, but it's a lot. The entire build was done on our kitchen table, which meant having to clear away before every meal and share it with my children when they did their homework. There are two lights hung quite low above the table, and when I got to the masting stage I bashed them nearly every time I moved the model from the top of the piano to the kitchen. Nevertheless she's still in one piece. Here are a couple of pictures:
 

 

 

 
She's very difficult to photograph most of the time because either she's against a wall, which results in an overlay of confusing shadows, or she's on the table with the lights in the picture and the kitchen clutter in the background. I took her out into the garden for the final shots, but even that isn't perfect. I'm considering getting some professional pictures taken in a studio, but for that I'll need a car with a higher roof.
 
I hope you like it!
 
Rob