SJSoane

Thanks Michael, Remco and Ed. It is beginning to look like I will be a one-ship shipwright, at the rate I am going. Your comments help keep me on task!

Mark

Mark, once druxey started the puns, I couldn't help myself...;-)

Bill, thank you for looking in. I once dabbled in furniture making, and learned a great deal from Fine Workworking magazine in seeing how skilled cabinet makers tackled various tasks. I hold your profession in the highest regard.  I started my Bellona 25 years ago when I didn't know there were other ship model builders about, and had to learn everything by trial and error with a lot of error, and a handful of old books to give some guidance. But the Model Ship World website now provides a remarkable forum for sharing and learning. I have learned a great deal from the many skilled model shipwrights on this forum. I and others will be happy to help you as you find your way in this amazing field.

Mark

Thanks, druxey, it was also a gripping episode of clamping before the glue began to set. It keeps the pressure on....

Mark

Hi everyone,

I finally got the forecastle and quarterdeck clamps, and the waist stringer, installed.  I learned a few things. First, the clamps increase in width, therefore increasing the deck heights, the further aft. The officers got certain privileges. Second, the sheer of the moulding at the waist outboard is not the same as the sheer of the clamps and waist stringer inboard. So the waist stringer on its upper surface--where it follows the sheer outboard--is not completely parallel to its lower surface--where it follows the line of the sheer inboard. Subtle, but it shows just how complex and inter-related are all of the lines of the ship. I continue to marvel at the design.

I started on the clamps for the roundhouse, but then realized that these will be in the captain's cabin, and I need to think how I am going to color the cabin. The Princess Royal discussed in Rob Napier's book shows white bulkheads in the admiral and captain's cabins. I find white a bit garish, so may consider natural wood panelling. At any rate, the roundhouse clamp will have to wait until I think this through.

Mark

Doris, I will add to the congratulations. Those shrouds have perfect definition of the individual ropes. Did you say what kind of thread you used for making these?

Mark

Ed, Do I recall correctly on the Naiad that you fitted the lodging and hanging knees to the beams out of the ship? Would that help take care of the contortions in fitting and trimming while the beam is in the way? Having just said that, how would you temporarily fix it to the beam while fitting the assembly? I have done a deck of lodging knees, but have yet to tackle the hanging knees on the next deck. I am watching your progress with close attention!

Mark

Hi Remco, I am curious, too. What is the diameter of your boxwood treenails? It looks terrific.

Gaetan, I love the pelican. beautiful craftsmanship.

Thank you, druxey, michael, remco, mils, doris and john. Your comments are well appreciated. Work in my "other life" continues to pull me away from the shop, and so progress is all too slow....

Here I am beginning work on the forecastle and quarterdeck clamps, and the stringer in the waist. I always wondered what the clamp did at the fore end of the forecastle, where the sides pull out to form a drop for the anchor. It is a wicked twist from an inward to outward angle as the clamp continues from the waist to the future beakhead bulkhead.

I also found that I needed to refine the inner surface where the clamp will lie, now I know its location. You can see some recent filing in this area, which removed the patina that accumulates when my wood is left alone for a long time. That surface probably last saw some sandpaper or a file five years ago or more...

Best wishes,

Mark

Hi everyone,

I finally managed to finish the upper deck clamps, with a side tour to rearrange my wall of tools for the table saw, mill and lathe (it is like cleaning the closets or filing papers when you can't get going on something else).

I decided to color the clamps and quickwork red, and spirketting black, like many of the admiralty models I admire. So here is a nice ribbon of red around the hull until more inner works come in.

My long clamps came in very handy. I wish I had made more.

On the the quarterdeck and forecastle clamps...

Mark

Doris, beautiful work. You are a master!

Mark

Hi Michael,

I am just catching up after a few weeks away. It is looking great! When I read about the amount of ballast in an 18th century ship of the line, It did not seem possible. But now we see it at scale in your project, and it seems more likely!

Mark

Thanks, Ed, that makes perfect sense.

Hi Ed,

I have been away, and just caught up with your build. Looking great!

Your comment about the pillars between decks reminds me: do you do anything in particular to ensure that they all line up when looked at in a longitudinal direction? I can imagine how slight variations in the drilled holes would let them meander a bit relative to each other.

Best wishes,

Mark

Remco,

I had been resisting my wife getting a cat for fear of what will happen in the shop; and now you go and put a permanent cat in your shop. I won't be able to hold out any longer....;-)

Mark

Thanks, Michael, druxey, Grant and Mark. Those angled clamps at the upper deck level were definitely one of those projects that seemed straightforward starting into it, only to realize just how complex it really is. These really increase one's appreciation of the original model-makers. It really connects one with the past, to realize that someone made and fitted exactly these same parts 250 years ago.

Oh, my! They must have had numerous freight handlers selling little quantities of space, to accommodate all of those diverse goods.

Hi everyone,

I just completed fitting the upper deck clamps, from stem to stern. I was reminded of Remco's quote about treating every piece as if it is a model by itself. The last piece had to hook over the helm port transom, and fair into the forward face of the lower counter planking, while twisting from an acute angle forward, to almost vertical at the counter. Many pleasant hours were spent shaping and fitting these... I can also see that the spirketting right under the wing transom is going to be equally fun, as it curves along that knee while sloping back further up.

I had an ah hah moment, which notching the clamp over the helm port transom. To stop the saw cuts at exactly the right depth, I stuck two pieces of wood to either side of the blank with double sided carpet tape. I then clamped this in my vise, and used the wood stops to indicate when to end sawing with the razor saw. I don't know why I did not think of this earlier. It is now in my tool box of techniques.

Best wishes,

Mark

Karl,

Beautiful scrollwork and carving. What tools did you use for carving the rail once it was cut out?

Mark

Hi Michael,

Fabulous color choice. Looks terrific. We don't need to be afraid of color, color is our friend....

Mark

Ed,

Beautiful lines in the stern view. Ahh, ships, works of art....

Are you ripping the knees from the shaped blank on a table saw? Seems like the blade would be high, and a thin piece trapped against the fence on the last parting cut.

Mark

Ingenious!

Thanks, Alan, Grant and Ben. Please feel free to use, and if you improve upon it, pass it on. It is fun to think about the basic geometry of a process, and automate it.

Having said that, I have learned from Gaetan, Remco, Ed T, and David Antscherl about the virtues of hand tools. Gaetan convinced me to keep cutting the carlings mortises by hand, and sure enough, I got fairly consistent and accurate with repetition.

Perhaps life is most fun with both.....

Mark

Thanks, Gaetan, these videos are very helpful!

Mark

Hi Ed and Michael,

I think we have a wedge task force forming here. Here are my first efforts.

I threw away the first set because I did not have the grain in the same direction as the wedge, leading I am sure to the thin edges breaking off.

Round two, I could not think how to form the wedge on a long piece, from which I could cut individual pieces. So I ended up with the blank big enough for 4, and chiseled and planed the angle. Time consuming and imprecise.

Maybe mill the angle?

I look forward to brilliant and elegant ways to mass produce wedges from the two of you who are great tool-makers!

Mark