Mike Y

Accidentally found a photo of Oliver Cromwell model (unfinished), planked in same style: Looks interesting actually!

Pops, yes, only in single direction. In the direction how plank is installed (hence it is one direction in front part of the hull, another - in rear part). For the scarf - no, I used dremel cutting disk to start a joint, and then file to shape it accurately. It is hard to cut thick boxwood with just a blade accurately enough.

Hi Floyd, About the bulkhead not lining up - not sure I understood the question. I had no such problem, sockets in false keel and frames should be widened a bit with a file, they are too tight. That is on purpose, and as far as I remember - described in a manual (at least, in Pinnace manual). If they are widened - then bullhead can move a bit, and then I used a jig to align them to 90 degrees. Of course, they should not be too loose - otherwise the glue joint will be weak, and bulkhead could be shifted to one side, causing a wrong hull shape. For the poly - I did it after sanding to have a consistent layer of poly closer to outer edge of the frame. It could be damaged while fairing s frame. However, applying poly before gluing frames could be also ok. I strongly believe that there is more then one right way of doing it

For Pops - frame fairing. First I protected the nice shiny keel from scratches with a masking tape: Then the idea is simple - sand away all corners, but do not sand too much to avoid skewing frame shape - laser cut char is a handy indicator, tiny strip of char remaining means "ok, enough". Any tools could be used - sandpaper, sanding block, files, whatever is preferred. Just don't rush it, make light passes. It will take an hour or more for each side. Some frames should be trimmed near the false keel: Left side - not faired, right side - faired. Tested the fairing using a plank, it should lay smooth on each frame, there should be a full contact. It will make glue joint stronger. After all, sanded inside part of all frames with a light grit, and applied a coat of poly: it would be tricky to do it later in that part of the frames, without leaving drops of excess poly between frames and planks. So better do it now. Lets have some fun - it's time for planking!

Per, before removing the frames I cut the "false deck" into pieces using dremel disk cutter. Or I misunderstood the question? Notice the remainings of false deck on frame centers on that Pinnace photo:

Connected frames together with a kind of false deck planking. It adds stability, frames or transom will not wobble. Scrap piece of wood on top is used to clamp the hull upside down into the table vice - it would be in that state while planking and treenailing. Now let's wait for glue to set - and it is ready for the frame fairing!

Thanks Mark! Yes, I also do it this way to send something flat Anyway, decided to use a sanding block with sandpaper glued to it, for perfect 90deg angle that would be fine. And silent. Thanks everybody for opinions!

It was faster then expected Small black levers on my lego jig are quite handy to make a fine adjustments of a frame angle and hold it in that state: Now all frames are in place! Perfectly straight, I could not find any problems while remeasuring angles and distances. There is a weird place around frame 0 - A - B, the spacing between frames suddenly changes. Not much you can do, the false keel is cut that way. Strange, but not a big deal. The difference is just around 1mm.

I already have dremel, and even a belt sander from proxxon My main usecase for disk sander is to form some shape with a precise angle.

It is truly gorgeous! Yep, repeating again but it have its charm and soul!

Used following checklist when mounting the frames. It all sounds very obvious, but would be good to repeat again. Bitter lesson from Pinnace build... * connection between frame and false keel should not be too loose * but it should not be very tight - tight connection will push away the glue and skew frame position. Light adjustments should be possible * all angles - must be perfect 90/180 degrees. Do not trust your eye, it lies when it comes to angles or parallelism. Use jigs and measurement tools. * frame must be inserted fully. Which is also easy to fail if frame connection is tight. * repeat all measurements multiple times. * after each correction - check all angles again. And again. * be pedantic! * let the glue set before gluing next frame, it is easy to skew alignment by accidentally touching freshly installed frame. * false keel should sit tight in the jig, use strips of wood or paper to achieve that. No wobbling allowed If I see that some frame is not perfectly fit - then drop of water weakens the glue, and I reinstall the frame. It's the case where saying "it is ok, nobody will see it" is not acceptable. Imperfect eye, measurement tools and light wood warping when glue sets will add a deviation, don't worry about it My jig was again made of lego - parts are perfectly square, make a strong construction, but easy to rebuild if needed (for example, for stem frames): Hope to glue all frames during next week, the weather is toooo good to be inside on a weekends

I also thought of buying Byrnes sander, but it is too big, and do not justify the cost (incl shipping plus custom taxes). If I ship something outside of EU - it is ridiculously expensive in the end. I don't need any precision or fine adjustments from disk sander - I just need it to be small and quiet, that is all. Table saw is another story, and I will definitely buy Byrnes table saw. I need a precision from the saw, plus lots of tilting tables and adjustable angles. It is expensive, but justifies the cost.

Frame alignment is really critical to have a smooth shape of the hull, better fix it now, not fixable if planking is done. I had just one single frame a bit out of line on Pinnace, it was hardly visible when model is not planked. Result - skewed hull shape. Nobody sees it except me, but I know it's there

Thanks for the tips! Speaking of, have you ever been in maritime museum in Karskrona? Is it worth visiting to see lots of good models? Or their collection is as small as in Sjöhistoriska?

Thanks for a feedback! Probably I just looking on a wrong youtubes. Will try proxxon.

I'm looking for a small and not powerful disk sander. Feature-wise, it should have a tilting table. Proxxon is a perfect match, but according to youtube videos, it's quite loud. (http://www.amazon.com/Proxxon-37060-Disc-Sander-125/dp/B002XZMJZ4/) I have proxxon belt sander, and it's disgustingly loud. I use it very rarely due to that. Is there some sander that is reasonably quiet? And small? I don't need lots of power to sand frames, for example. I can go with time and grits instead of pushing detail hard, loading the motor.

Hej Per! I'm in Stockholm. If you too - I would be happy to invite you for a grill & beer I'm not a native swede though, moved here just 2 years ago. But pretty much enjoy people and unspoken rules here P.S.: Do you know some shipmodelling clubs in Sweden? Apart from a Boat Builders on Skeppsholmen, who build 1:1 models.

Stuntflyer, you are right. Thanks for noticing that! Really appreciate it. It got rounded when I unglued keel from false keel and was sanding away remainings of the glue. I made a very big bevel on Pinnace and it was a mistake - caused a tiny gap between plank and keel. So on Longboat I opted for a small bevel. If it's too small - easy to fix with a sharp hobby knife

Per, maybe it's no need to worry? That parts would be sanded away when the planking is done, so it should not be a big deal, if it do not stop you from installing frames or planking. Making false keel of boxwood could be tricky (cuts for frames must be on a precise 90 degrees).

I used this photo from somebody's build log (sorry, forgot which one): When doing that scarf, the trick to avoid misalignment is to use a constant and predefined cut depth, because it will affect not only the "cutoff" parts, but the edges of the planks. And keep in mind that it's a fully mirrored joint, so both sides could be cut clamped together. Here is the sketch, notice that all red lines are equal (representing the cut depts). But maybe there is some easy trick to cut that scarf quick, clean and precise. I did just a few scarfs, and hope that some experienced builder can share a trick to make such scarfs fast and easy

Ok, boxwood stem and keel looks really better, I actually did not expected how better! Sanded it with 400 => 600 => 1200 => 2000 grits. After 2000 grit castello starts to change the color to a deeper yellow, and starts to have a shine. Really interesting transformation! Need to experiment a lot when it would be a time to apply some protective finish: Used another kind of scarf joint for keel. I know it is not the joint that should be really used on a keel, but it just looks nicer, and just wanted to practice that tricky joint on such scale. Looks ok, or maybe I should have made it longer? Right now joint is done on an angle around 60deg, but maybe something closer to 70-75 would be better (if joint length is three times joint width). What is the golden rule of thumb for such joints? Close-up: Next step is frame fitting. Frames are gently sanded, and ready to go!

Floyd, maybe we had kits from different production batches, in my kit the stem have a proper grain direction, and it's not fragile at all. But thanks for a heads up! Actually decided to make stem and keel out of boxwood. The reason is different - stem is a bit grey, and it's not something you can sand away. It's just how basswood looks like when it's cross grain: It's quite visible on a contrast with keel, which have another grain direction. Looks dirty. So making it out of boxwood.

Thanks Chuck! Now I understand. Will do a proper marking this time

Stuntflyer, thanks for coming! Your build log is one of my references! Understood the idea, will try. However, question still applies. What is the benefit of mounting the gardboard plank early on? I installed it quite late on Pinnace, and failed to find any problem caused by it. Or I'm probably just missing something, because lots of experienced builders mount it as early as possible, so it should make some sense. Would appreciate your thoughts!

Floyd, no, I didn't applied poly. I will apply it later when things are done. No feeling that it's fragile. Of course, you should handle it with care.. Plus the layer of poly is sooo thin and not so strong, that it will not protect stem from breaking if I, say, hit it with the hand. But also there is no load on a stem. While planking, I clamp the hull using temporary piece of wood glued to frames on top, and frames are connected with each other: I don't have exact photo, but imagine a piece of scrap wood glued right on a center. It's quite a strong construction, hull is flipped upside down and clamped in a table vice, and then only way to break stem is to hit it accidentally