gieb8688

No one's ever going to accuse me of moving too fast. Closing in on finishing the port side planking. One thing I can say, this isn't my favorite part of the hobby. I'm plodding along, sanding with 100grit as I go to level out the planks. I think it's looking OK. 
 

 

Hi All,
Thanks for the kind words and likes. A small bit of progress working on the masts with the foremast being the simpler of the two.
 
The aft mast is a lot more detailed with additional platforms and pulleys for the boat booms. The upper masts are shown on a different render.
 

 
 
Disappointingly, the masts don’t show the locations of the step irons like the hull does, so these had to be guessed but were made up of 0.2mm brass wire bent to shape.  The 2 lower masts in this post were easy enough being simple tubes with straight runs of steps; but the upper masts are slightly conical and the step irons twist round and up for some of the way, which will take some working out.
 
 After inserting the steps into the masts, a length of 0.5mm brass rod was positioned to allow the steps to be pushed fully home with constant spacing before fixing.  I also shaped some thin balsa discs to insert into the ends of the tubes for rigidity.
 

 
 
A couple of shots of the finished lower fore mast showing bracing, lubber holes and the finished steps.  Rather than mx up water colours I used Tamiya XF-19 Sky Gray to paint them as the match was close enough. The laser cut supports were airbrushed with the same.
 

 

 
 
Both lower mast sections are finished.  The fore mast is lower but once placed on the super structure the tops will be same height due to the fore superstructure having an additional deck level.
The way the masts are made in sections may be problematic trying to align them all but I guess being made of straight and conical sections couldn’t be rolled as one piece.
 

 
 
Cheers
Slog

Completed sanding of the second layer.  Took most of Saturday.  Seemed like it took about half as long as the first layer.  Brushed on a coat of Gesso today.  I like gesso as sanding sealer for wood hulls.  1)  It's great for stiffening the little wood fibers that stick up so they can be sanded down.  2)  It's thick, so it fills minor cracks.  3) It's white, so all imperfections show up.  I use 60 grit for the first wood sanding.  It removes stock quickly (especially important when hand sanding) and leaves a surface with a little texture to give better grip for the next wood layer's glue or for the Gesso undercoat.  I'll use 150 grit for sanding the first coat of Gesso and any minor wood filling the white color shows is needed.  This I sand down almost to bare wood and any low spots needing filling will be evident if you use a sanding block.  Then comes a second coat of Gesso and another 150 grit sanding.  At this point, I don't expect any imperfections, but a little filler will take care of them.  Sand the deck upper surface so that all the edges are even,now.  If you had some Gesso buildup over the edge this will be sanded away and the edges of the deck will be ready for paint.  A little of the edge of this subdeck shows around the printed wood deck planking, so it's good to have this edge perfectly flat and color-coated (except break the edge slightly with sandpaper to ensure good paint coverage in this area--it's where one drills the holes for the deck stanchions).  Now, it's automotive primer from a spray can (don't have my compressor/detail spray gun any more) and finish sanding with 220/400 grit.  I'll scribe in any panel lines I decide to use with a #11 Exacto blade, mask and color coat.
 
Lessons learned from the second layer of planking and sanding:
 
Do a trial fit of the deck pieces when checking the clearances listed below as it's easier to sand the top planks of the first layer for second plank clearance without the deck permanently glued.
 
TRIAL FIT all the 1mm porthole backer ply pieces allowing an extra .5mm for the PE pieces so that they are even with the deck surface and the poly pieces.  No problem if the deck is a little proud of these pieces as you sand the edge of the deck down to be even with the hull sides, later.  The problem is if the porthole pieces extend beyond the edge of the deck.  If this happens, you'll be gluing stripwood to the deck edges.  I cut a small piece of excess PE brass to hold over the 1mm ply to make this exact.  Check that the poly pieces are about .8mm proud of the first layer of planking at both ends of the hull.  The time to do this is when you are sanding the first layer of planking .  This will save a lot of fiddling later when you are sanding the second layer.
 
If you are going to bevel the second plank that goes just below the armor belt, sand it before gluing it onto the first plank.  I found out about this detail too late and had to carve/sand the bevel while the plank was already glued the first layer of planking.  Photos of Bismarck show that the top of the armor belt was canted 30-45 degrees from horizontal.  This detail is not in the Amati instructions.
 
This is the time to glue the deck pieces on to the deck framework, or screw them down if you are making them removable.  I glued mine down.

Jim is correct in that those cross sections are made by Unicorn which is one of the largest pirate mfg’s in China.  They have stolen designs from many others such as Amati, Panart, Mantua, Corel etc.  And yes the Druid kits you mention are copies and knock-offs of Harold Hahn’s Druid plans although reduced.  They are 1 to 1 copies actually.
 
Their kits are not allowed on MSW.   Purchasing them means giving monetary support to them.  
 
And yes they are cheap, as is typical of Chinese products.  

Post Thirty-seven
 
Planking - Band Two
In the light of the modifications to Band one, Band two is re-set and the  tick divisions re-marked.

1221
In practice I am following the previous planking line and the bow taper remains constant at 3mm.
A shallow edge bend at the bow  is required on each strake, and full width planks run to the stern.

1218
The run up to the stern post requires both edge bend and twist  on the aftermost planks of strakes 11,12,13.

1207
I found it easier with these to fit the stern post edge first and trim the other end to fit the plank butt.
The tight curve was formed from a longer strip  to ease the process and avoid splitting.
With the eight strakes of the second band completed  it is time to review and re-check the planking runs.

1236(2)
The planking line matches each side as measured down from the keel against the bulkhead positions, and at the bow and sternpost.
 
I had a change of mind about using the extra Pearwood strip I purchased for the wider strakes, the colour difference is too marked against the very pale and uniform kit planking.
The resulting spiled planks would stand out  too much and be a distraction if  I am able to leave the hull unpainted.

1211(2)
Any wider spiled planks including the Garboard will be cut from some of the ‘waste’ 0.8/1mm Pearwood fret which is too good to waste.
 
Fitting  the Garboard.
My best guest is to use a slightly wider 5mm strip, broadening to 6mm at the sternpost.
This was cut and shaped from fret Pearwood of a matching tone.  At the bow it begins at b/h 1.1 and runs uniformly to b/h9 where it gradually broadens to 6mm at the sternpost.

1213
Once the curve at the stem has been formed the strake is wetted and clamped in position to form the subtle angles as it runs along the keel line.

1224
 For the Garboard I used pva glue given the good clamping positions.

1244

1233(2)

1239(2)
There are now nine strakes left to do.
 
I will re-mark the  plank lines, hopefully to best effect, and work both up from the garboard and down from  the wale.
The final spiled plank should  appear at strake five up from the Garboard, tucked away beneath the hull.
 
B.E.
16/11/21
 

Most full frames up now and starting to fit the sections of longitudinals before they get glued together, we don't want any tight troublesome joints when trying to drop in a 3m long part

Thanks Hof
Well today was a milestone, I completed step 1 and started step 2 erection of main frames.
The ones with the tenons driven home are in, 2 are just sitting there at the moment. but once all the frames are in things will get interesting, I was planning on doing this at Xmas so ahead of schedule.
The importance of accurately shaping the top of the bread and butter portion can't be overstated, if it's out it will throw out everything, so I had to check the heights from the base board at every frame and get it within .5mm and lower, never higher if it's not spot on, that way I can unscrew the foundation plate a tad if it needs to come up a bit later, the foundation pieces on the top edge of the bread and Butter are not glued down of course so the whole top sides can be removed from lower once built to a point where it is strong and rigid and it can be removed and the hull carved and equipment can be fitted unencumbered, then it will be glued down.

 
The above picture also has the first layer of the bow block laminations in place.

 

Love your model Keith, beautiful work, beautiful.
So today while cutting a few more sheets I decided to try some joints, I was nervous about this but as you can see they are working well

This will require some means of pushing down onto frame because even though tight we have this.

 
The Puzzle joints to join panels are fine.

Dry fitted and staying together on it's own. It will just need to be sandwiched between a couple of cauls and greaseproof paper to keep it flat.

Step 30 Mooring deck plates .4mm

Step_16
Major Step
Fitting Hull side panels along full hull, tenons should align everything and make hull rigid.
all panels to have frames (pink) AND weld seams (red) marked on from shell expansion to aid fixing .4mm plates to this surface
 
 

Step_11_Fit forward Longitudinals and inner partial frames

Step_06_Install main Longitudinals into frames
 

Step_05 addition of stern half bulkheads, frame doubler to allow change in deck thickness and inside of tonnage openings midships
 

Step_04 Slide Assemble SmokeRoom Floor,Hatch and Uptake casing.
 

Step_03_Assembly of Main Longitudinals, check overall length for any compounding error and correct.
Assemble with bottom edge against a straight edge.

Step_02_fitting of main frames into tenons in foundation plate.
 
 
 
 

Just going to post my "instruction manual" pages here in case its of interest while I get into my head the assembly order 
Step 1 - foundation plates assembled and glued to top of bread and butter lower hull.
 

Here is a couple of parts to show the accuracy of the joints and how it was prepared in 3d to be transferred to 2d and on to CNC

I then cut on the CNC

And after sanding the sheet and cleaning up tabs we get parts that fit like this.

Notice the corners are "dogboned" to clear the radius from the corners of the holes, the pen work is also done on CNC with a pen attachment so frame lines are perfect

This image shows the Smoke room, one of the passenger areas that needs to be fitted out due to large windows, note the green area which is removable floor to access the spaces under, the join in the floor falls between tables and chairs.
The engine casing will support the ceiling which is also part of the removable assembly that lifts out. I have added a photo of the space so you can get a feel for it.

I have a question and would like to know suggestions on ways to make a very delicate and troublesome fitting.
Grills
The big metal finely spaced grills used into engine spaces.
I need to make a lot of these with an average size of about 55mm high by anything from 12mm to 60mm wide, they are all fitted into  a frame which has radiused corners, does anybody have suggestions other than brass shim and solder?
I suspect the blades are bent at a 90 degree angle which would make jigging harder, or easier depending how you look at it.
Image below of typical fitting
Measurement from deck to deck is 69.6mm to give idea of size
 

Here can be clearly seen the variation in stages of oxidisation of the decks

Thanks Yves
Yes I suppose I am using all techniques , to be honest once the CnC is all cut sanded and removed from sheet it should take very little time to assemble and look like a ship again, the hardest part for me will be deciding when to paint each section, have had automotive acrylic paints made to the BS381c standard and will be airbrushing, though the decks which have a lot of oxidisation and touchups will have to be done with Tamiya and done by hand along with weathering techniques, the green decks always look grubby.
The hull plates will be laid in .5mm 3 ply  with grain vertical and the edge very lightly arissed or bevelled, the weld bead then gets glued into the slight depression left and the bead rolled with a serrated roller to give effect of weld, the tin canning effect I want to get but understate will be sanded into the high build primer by sanding between frames with finger taking advantage of the un uniform nature it will give, at least that's the theory at this stage, I have not actually tried it yet, the other is to make a rubber screed with the tin canning shaped cut in and hard filler applied to each plate once on hull though this will take a lot longer, but hull an ship will be fully tin canned as this ship had it a lot and was noticeable.
I am wondering if making a scale paint roller would yield good results for deck paint to get the pattern you get with uneven coverage.
The deck is a colour called forest green, its a dark almost Brunswick green but quickly goes chalky and a pale verdigris colour so was always being touched up. decks were done in a compound called Semprene which was rubber system about 1 1/2 inch thick applied to steel decks, I will be making this from 1mm ply prefinished off ship and glued into place after other paint is done on waterways and deck bars etc.
Below you can see the effect, both those colours are the same paint but the bridge top is faded version, image has a cast, yes I know it looks blue but its not.
the second image has no cast and is correct colours as far as photos can be

And here are the first 5 sheets of parts cut from high quality 5 ply 6.5mm Wisa ply.
 

Hi John and Harry
Yes it is certainly one of those "where was I when" moments, I was only born in 71 so not even alive although I am from Wellington, but half my family worked for the Union Steamship company and the Naval Architect who designed her was a friend of the family so it all became too much to ignore, I fell in love with the ship because of her looks, not because of her fate although in saying that a good deal of the reference I have is from the wreck including 4 hours of video documenting her scrapping as well as just her short  2 year  life. John I never knew that was planned, luckily it blew out as fast as it hit, by 11.00am it was just a regular Wellington Storm but yes it was a very significant moment for design to, many Ro Ro rules and standards were changed because of her sinking and ways of stopping free surface water effect.
Harry you are correct, not one person died on the ship, they died sadly on the rocks in the monstrous sea breaking on the shore or a couple of exhaustion after floating around for so long waiting to be rescued.
her looks continue to inspire artists and modellers, I frequently get requests  for sets of plans and photos for things ranging from paintings to models, even from people with no ties to NZ, quite amazing really.
 

You will notice above the substantial Aluminium beams on the building board.
Here are some images of the cad model a few hours away from being ready to cut the parts.
Assembly should be fairly quick as it all  slots together, yes I have done fit tests and yes it does go together.
The first image shows the main longitudinal girders that help tie it all together and the first 3 images are with the superstructure lid off, the 4th shows it on.