dvm27

I have had some requests for our discontinued photoetched sheets over the past few years. The sheet is depicted below and was designed for those building a Swan class model at the classic 1:48 scale. They are difficult and expensive to produce but I would be willing to do it one last time if ten individuals commit. They cost $60, plus postage. Included are door hinges, lantern brass housings, horseshoe and dovetail plates and gunport straps. In addition (and the main reason we designed the sheet) included are all the components necessary to build the complicated metal chain pumps (except the brass tubing) that reside within the pump housings. Those of you building a Swan, Echo, Triton  or Chuck's new Pegasus cross section may consider purchasing one of these sheets as nothing similar is on the market.
 
If you would like one (or more) of these sheets please send me an e-mail at dvm27@comcast.net. Please do not respond to this post here. This will be the last time these sheets will be produced! It is my impression that Chuck will not be including details of the pump mechanism in his new Pegasus cross-section in order to keep the cost managable. 

In preparation for fairing the hull I added some supports to the bulkhead extensions. Some of these are less than an 1/8" wide and are a too flexible, I think. Eventually they will be reduced to a 1/16", but not until some planking support is in place.

Fairing the hull was straight forward using various sandpaper sticks along with a lot of batten checking. It will be faired again after the gun port sills and lintels are in.

The bow filler pieces needed a lot of attention. The curve changes constantly as it moves up the stem and many checks with a batten were necessary to get the fit right. I also started work on the gun port sills. A batten was used to establish a smooth flow of sills along the hull while using the reference lines that are etched onto each bulkhead as a guide. Slight variances were visible once the batten was pinned to the hull. After making final adjustments, a sharp pencil was used along the top of the batten to draw the final sill locations on the edge of each bulkhead. The batten was then removed.

When adding a gun port sill, a temporary batten was clamped to the opposite side of the hull. The top of the batten is flush with the sill locations drawn on each bulkhead. Though not shown here, I used a 3/8" wide cross-spall across the batten to the other side of the hull where the new sill was located. Pressing the sill to the cross-spall, while holding the cross-spall against the batten, flattens the upper edge of the sill parallel to the other side.


Mike

The lower part of the well and lower deck beams have been temporarily installed.  The well is still missing the finishing touches like the hinges on the doors.  There are pins extending from the corners of the well into the bottom of the lower beams.  Once completed, the mast step will be almost invisible (but we will all know it is there).
 

 

 

 

It has been another long time since posting but I have two excuses.  First, I went on an extended vacation and started Echo because of ease of transport.  Second...  The second reason is a combination of funny and terrifying.  I had Atalanta sitting on the floor in preparation for taking some photos.  I then tripped on willow-the-wisp and fell into the model inflicting a significant amount of damage to Atalanta.  This included resetting every cannon, installing a new quarter deck rail, new side moldings and several other minor repairs.  Three weeks later I am able to post the photos that I hoped to take on that fateful day.
 
The tafarel carvings have been installed and the assembly has been glued and pinned to the stern timbers.  The rail was fabricated from five pieces of wood.  The relationship between the caprail and the quarter deck rail was difficult to see on the plans.  I hope I built it correctly because I am not doing it again!
 

 

 
 
 
 

Now I am too scared to proceed, with thoughts of blood, glued fingers, watching clocks....🙂

Great progress report Chuck! Technically, the upper sill mortises are angled cuts and the lower ones are called birdsmouth mortises (V-shaped like a beak). As they are only an inch or two deep and cause endless difficulties to everyone but David Antscherl I think your simple mortise solution is excellent. During the fairing process the joint itself becomes barely visible anyway. And any slight gaps are easily erased by placing some white glue in the space followed by light sanding.

Thanks to a terrific response I can proceed with the order. I'm just going to wait a few days before proceeding as I keep receiving additional orders.

Lovely work, Siggi. Your planking shows the beautiful flowing lines of your model. And the finished figurehead is a reminder of the level of perfection you strive for in your models.

Now that the barge has been released from the building board it can be used to hold the model in the upright position.
 
Chuck supplied the wood pieces and now it is held firmly is place.
 

 

 
Next I sanded the tops of the frames flush with the planking in preparation of adding the cap rail.
 
The cap rails finished width is 5/64". you can see that a piece is plenty wide enough was provided.
 

 
You can see I marked how wide it would be when sanded to its proper width.
 
The rails were added and then sanded flush to the outboard planking.
 
I then marked a reference line to guide me while sanding the inboard  frames and rail.
 

 

 
I also used a 5/64"  gauge to ensure a correct width.
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

"Too much information". But accidents do happen in the workshop Druxey so we must be prepared!

"Too much information". But accidents do happen in the workshop Druxey so we must be prepared!

Just to clarify, Mike, I use only two small beads of CA at the extreme end of the plank to make sure the plank does not move while the carpenters glue sets. This was Harold Hahn's technique and it works quite well, ninety seconds of digital pressure (by the clock). This also works quite well for bleeding - five minutes of direct pressure by the clock.

I just apply a couple of small drops of cyano to the plank at the very tip. As for the yellow glue I apply it to the hull and edge of the plank. Probably the cyano sets on contact if it overlaps the yellow glue on the hull but I had no problems. As always, I clean the joints with a paint brush dipped in water before any squeeze out dries.
On my hull I used cyano every 4th or 5th frame with yellow glue on the rest. But I had spaces between the frames. Your wales gluing surface is continuous so I would just add a small pencil mark on the surface of the plank to be installed and the corresponding wale location for the location of the cyano drop. Needless to say you want to press that plank into position exactly where you want it as the cyano bites quickly! Think of it as an internal clamp.

Just to clarify, Mike, I use only two small beads of CA at the extreme end of the plank to make sure the plank does not move while the carpenters glue sets. This was Harold Hahn's technique and it works quite well, ninety seconds of digital pressure (by the clock). This also works quite well for bleeding - five minutes of direct pressure by the clock.

Just to clarify, Mike, I use only two small beads of CA at the extreme end of the plank to make sure the plank does not move while the carpenters glue sets. This was Harold Hahn's technique and it works quite well, ninety seconds of digital pressure (by the clock). This also works quite well for bleeding - five minutes of direct pressure by the clock.

Just to clarify, Mike, I use only two small beads of CA at the extreme end of the plank to make sure the plank does not move while the carpenters glue sets. This was Harold Hahn's technique and it works quite well, ninety seconds of digital pressure (by the clock). This also works quite well for bleeding - five minutes of direct pressure by the clock.

I just apply a couple of small drops of cyano to the plank at the very tip. As for the yellow glue I apply it to the hull and edge of the plank. Probably the cyano sets on contact if it overlaps the yellow glue on the hull but I had no problems. As always, I clean the joints with a paint brush dipped in water before any squeeze out dries.
On my hull I used cyano every 4th or 5th frame with yellow glue on the rest. But I had spaces between the frames. Your wales gluing surface is continuous so I would just add a small pencil mark on the surface of the plank to be installed and the corresponding wale location for the location of the cyano drop. Needless to say you want to press that plank into position exactly where you want it as the cyano bites quickly! Think of it as an internal clamp.

Lovely work, Siggi. Your planking shows the beautiful flowing lines of your model. And the finished figurehead is a reminder of the level of perfection you strive for in your models.

Yes, adding deck clamps and internal details makes clamping of the outside planks more difficult. What finally worked for me was to glue only the first 1/2" or so of the plank in place (also using a couple drops of cyanoacrylate on its edge at the rabbet). As no curves are involved here all that was needed was digital pressure for 90 seconds until the cyano and carpenters glue tacked. Then I used one of your horizontal clamps on this section and let it set for several hours. Once the fore end of the plank was secure on the hull it was relatively easy to glue in the rest of the plank, repeating the above technique every inch or so. This way you are only dealing with short sections of curves or twists at a time. It is time consuming but worked quite well for me.

I just apply a couple of small drops of cyano to the plank at the very tip. As for the yellow glue I apply it to the hull and edge of the plank. Probably the cyano sets on contact if it overlaps the yellow glue on the hull but I had no problems. As always, I clean the joints with a paint brush dipped in water before any squeeze out dries.
On my hull I used cyano every 4th or 5th frame with yellow glue on the rest. But I had spaces between the frames. Your wales gluing surface is continuous so I would just add a small pencil mark on the surface of the plank to be installed and the corresponding wale location for the location of the cyano drop. Needless to say you want to press that plank into position exactly where you want it as the cyano bites quickly! Think of it as an internal clamp.

Lovely work, Siggi. Your planking shows the beautiful flowing lines of your model. And the finished figurehead is a reminder of the level of perfection you strive for in your models.

Lovely work, Siggi. Your planking shows the beautiful flowing lines of your model. And the finished figurehead is a reminder of the level of perfection you strive for in your models.

The closer you can bend the plank to its final shape, the easier the process will be. Greg's progressive gluing from the bow rabbet aft is another useful technique. Large rubber bands and shaped softwood blocks often work where clamps refuse to go.

Hello, and many thanks for your comments and likes.
 
now the upper ship is planked. It was't always an easy job, but it's done. For that event, Leo was invited to take his seat. 
The underwater ship would be easier, because there are no port holes,  but may be other hardships. 
 

 

 

 
  

Great progress report Chuck! Technically, the upper sill mortises are angled cuts and the lower ones are called birdsmouth mortises (V-shaped like a beak). As they are only an inch or two deep and cause endless difficulties to everyone but David Antscherl I think your simple mortise solution is excellent. During the fairing process the joint itself becomes barely visible anyway. And any slight gaps are easily erased by placing some white glue in the space followed by light sanding.