Mike Y

Thank you for the encouraging words and likes !
 
I've been looking more at bowsprits and I really want this to be temporarily fastened, one I saw was just lashed to a thwart. When it's just being used to hold the bowlines, then it doesn't have to be so rigid. I have to think more about this.
 
So in the meantime I made the beam that sits midships, the sailbeam as it later was called as it supported the mast. The main function seem to be to hold the shape of the hull. While larger cogs had the beams pierce the hull timbers, these smaller cogs seem to have used large bolts called rose bolts to keep the hull deforming. This doesn't seem to have been a good solution as there often are damages on the strakes around the bolt from the concentrated forces.


And then I made the gangways so the crew do not have to crawl over the cargo to move around. I think these strong timbers also acted as stringers to help with the longitudinal strength of the hull. At first I planed to have them constant to the sheer line, but that would make them very bowed. And making them straight would take them very close to the sheer line. So I made them in between. The original gangways on the find I based them off were eight meters long! I can not take in how they managed to handle such a heavy timber and make all the notches over the futtocks!
 
I also started on the keelson when it still was easy to access the floor timbers. Both rosebolts, gangways and keelson are inspired by the Almere wijk 13 find. 

Next thing I would like to work on is to make the coaming of the gangway (green), but before doing that I have to make the knees (red), and before doing that I must make the windlass (blue).

Now all the futtocks are in place.

 
The space under the fore deck is much smaller than the aft space and I made a more simple door. This one isn't hinged but just kept in place by a bar. Holes used as handles are hidden under the bar. I have no idea if something like this was used, but it seems plausible to me.
 

 
 
And on a last note there is news of the masts I saw being cut. A couple of days after I posted about it I saw this news article about how they are preparing the sailing ship Götheborg for hopefully another trip to China. In the link there is a clip of them making the yards. The article and clip is in swedish but you can still see how they fasten the two pieces together to form a yard.
https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vast/ostindiefararen-gotheborg-far-ny-rigg
 

Thank you Håkan and Steven! Yes, the gap between deck and hull is really bothersome. I really do not know how (or if) they fixed it, but a simple molding sounds plausible to me. But yeah, it's really hard to do on your smaller scaled ships but I bet nobody notices those gaps unless they are pointed out.
 

Now the bulkhead is planked. It was interesting to make the planks as I first made a cardboard template and then glued together three over sized planks and cut them to size as one piece to match the template. But then I broke them apart again and glued them in place one by one to harmonize the gaps between them and the gaps around them.
 
The hinges and latch were quite fiddly. The pintles were 1,5mm stock I hammered flat on one end for what apparently is called the strap and then filed it to 1mm for the pintle. And when I see this blown up picture I see that I really need to clean up the extra hole I got from a first iteration of the latch
 

The door isn't large, but you can crawl to get inside the (relatively) dry storage space. It isn't a large hold, but I guess you can store sensitive and small items there. And yeah, it's hard to open the door when the main hold is full of goods, but it's better then having the door opening inwards and get it stuck by something inside blocking it.
 

I live in Gothenburg that used to have thriving shipyards and when biking through the area where they used to be but now holds normal industries and offices, they actually  were cutting new masts for a ship! The pile you see behind the old masts are the ratlines.

My first thought for the substrate for the aft deck was stringers bent to the futtocks. But I didn't like the idea for several reasons, among them the difficulties of shaping the top surface of it flat to the deck - too much work for something that will not be seen. So I thought of a simple system with straight beams forming a triangle. But as I started I saw that I needed to make recesses in these beams to fit around the futtocks. And the result was actually something I think looks quite reasonable as I treenailed the structure in place.
 

 
Then I added two small beams to support the deck. Their curvature was done by trial and error.

The center futtocks are in place. (yes, one of the floors are missing its watercourses, but I hope the ceiling will hide it)
 
The floors are heavy and densely fastened with wide treenails while the futtocks are lighter and have less and smaller treenails. I think this not only has to do with the forces being greater on the bottom but also that the clinker sides inherently are stronger.
 

These holes sometimes got a bit on the small side I think as they can be used for tie downs.
 
I can hear you say 'Hey, you shouldn't put the scarf joints in one line, that will cause stress concentrations!' then I say 'Yes, you're right, it does'. This could actually be why the ship sank as the starboard side was broken off at this line.
 

The hull is now seriously pockmarked but a dark tar colour should calm it down.

It's almost half a year since I last posted here. You see, I got a bit tired of the planking and took a break to make something to use as cargo for when it's finished. So I made a plough. It can be disassembled to take up less space. It's based on a danish find from this period.
 

 
But as I browsed through books in the library for inspiration for ploughs (all Swedish university libraries are free to the public) I found a picture of a medieval rope that I couldn't wrap my head around as I couldn't see how it had been made. So I fell down another rabbit hole investigating rope making before the rope walk was invented. This resulted in this video if you are interested.
 
 
And then I got energy for finishing the planking!
 



The remaining strakes were clinker built and I finished off the sheer with a clamp like in the find. This clamp is attached with treenails. I placed these treenails between every frame, but they should really be placed every 12 cm (5")! And I also made them thinner as they really were up to 5cm (2") thick!
 
I placed blocks in the end of the clamp for reinforcement. The one in the bow is based on the block from Almere Wijk 13 and it has a cavity for the bowsprit. This block and both posts will be adjusted in size later.
 
You really can't turn your back to the kittens without them finding something new to use as a bed!


Next up is finishing the seams in the carvel built section as these were caulked with mosslaths between the planks.

All visable floors are done. The aftmost is shaped to the hull but not treenailed as I want to make the futtocks before finishing it as it will have a bulk head on it. The foremost of the visible frames will perhaps only be futtocks and also have a bulk head why I'm also waiting with it.
 

@Chuck Seiler Thank you, and yes, it bends so much easier! At first I thought something was wrong as it was so easy.
 
@Mark Pearse Thank you for the great advice! Now I first soak the planks and then hit it with the heat gun. I feel like I get more consistent results by soaking them first, but I guess one could just use dry heat with training.
 
The planking has started and I'm most impressed by the work they did on this ship. The largest planks are gigantic and it is so hard to imagine them heating them over an open fire before clamping it in place.
 

 
The planking is quite special on some cogs as it generally is clinker built, but has a carvel built area where the hull contacts the beach at low tide. And it is also flush at the posts.
 
This transition between carvel and clinker is sometimes mid-plank and sometimes at the scarf joints.
 



 
The ship feels stable and I'm able to remove it from the mould to attach the nails. It's much easier to clench them now instead of waiting 'til the hull is finished.
 

the clenched ends are a bit long and I'll try to make them 1mm shorter in the future. 

After building some furniture for the cats in the new apartment I finally have time to build more on this ship. First off I ordered some pear wood from Germany. Now I understand why people said that I shouldn't have use fir in my last build! This wood is just fantastic! Almost no grain and makes really crisp edges.
 
I ordered 2mm sheets for the planking and 12x25mm (1/2×1") for posts etc. It saws really nice with my fine pull saws.
 
The mould for the hull is built and the backbone of the ship - stem and sternpost, hooks and keel plank. They are held to the mould by removable wire with shrink tubing and two screws through the keel plank.
 
I used dry heat to bend the keel plank and will try it on the planks as well.
 



 

Change of strategy, it will all be built shell first. I really disliked how 'artificial' the frames in my old build was. Photographs of finds always shows much more 'organic' shapes and I see that look in builds here that are built shell first.
 
The mold will be in 6mm birch plywood
 

 
The mold will be adjusted in the ends as I build the stem, sternpost, hooks and keel plank.
 

But I can start in the middle and see how it works out

As the weather has been nice over the last two weeks, I've swapped my little shipyard for my bike. As a result, I haven't got as far as I had planned.

As I wrote in the last part, I want to try a different technique for the after deadwood, especially to avoid milling on both sides. Firstly, the individual components of the deadwood are milled once with the correct side and once mirrored. In order to be able to glue the two sides together later, recesses are milled into which fitting pieces are glued before gluing them together.

The next picture shows the components removed from the board and trimmed.

Before gluing them together, a few small curves that inevitably result from the milling cutter must be removed. I do this with my little Proxxon.

The last picture shows the individual components after gluing them together.

A weak point became apparent when machining the parts. The direction of the wood grain of the tabs, which are used to position the finished component on the keel, follows the overall part. It would have been better to mill the tabs separately and rotate the grain by 90°. This would have made the components much less susceptible to breakage.

In the next part of the report, both sides of the deadwood parts will be milled and the deadwood glued together.

I have dozens of Speedwell NMM photos but curiously, not one of this area. I'm posting a photo of my completed Q'deck so people can see what you're shooting for. It's not as elegant as yours but should give people an idea of how it all comes together.
 

Amazing workshop, writing down a lot of ideas
Love your dust collection system! Do you have some central vaccuum that all hoses connect to, or are you using something portable? For example that hose next to the Dremel drill press seems to be connected to nowhere..

Thank you all for your appreciation!
The dust extraction system is centralised and I use one of these very powerful central vacuum units:

that hose next to the Dremel drill press has a connecting tube under the table that can be glimpsed under the electrical sockets and plugs into one of the wall sokets. The large suction jointed arm is also plugged into a wall socket and I generally use it when using the thickness planer. The central suction unit is operated by a remote control

I have completed the bench lockers and rudder trunk.  This finishes up the inboard side of the transom nicely I think.   I have taken many step by step photos but rather than go through the whole process here are some pictures.
 
Its pretty self explanatory actually.
 
The panels are made in two layers of .025 Yellow Cedar for the benches and rudder trunk.  Then its just a matter of shaping them to fit snug and neat in position.  You want a tight fir against the planked sides of the cabin.  
Small lengths of 24 gauge black wire was use for the benchtop lids.   Some laser etching showed where they go.  To finish it all up I added that aft-most beam permanently and also the framed for the rudder.  Everything s laser cut for you...even the planking for the inside portion of the counter.  The sides of the rudder trunk panels were beveled so they could be fit together with a tight mitered seam between them.  I have not added wipe on poly yet.  I want to do a bit of clean up and repainting where thing got scuffed up a bit.  But I expect it will clean up OK.  And I have already cleaned the inside of the windows as well.   It will get harder to do that now that this detail was completed.
 

 


 







 
 
 
 

Thanks Mike.   I am working on it a lot lately.   Mostly because I lack the wood to make many parts that are now out of stock.  So as I get more I will be busy with inventory.  So while I wait...
 
I managed to get the transom beam in position.  Much like the Winchelsea, it was made in layers to simplify it.  These are all laser cut.  But slightly longer than needed just in case.  They were pre-bent in a jig set up.  This is crucial.  I used some scrap 3/16 x 3/16 wood under the center to bend it.  I just clamped the end and then blasted it with the hair dryer on super hot.  Note the wood scraps on the ends too.  This protects the ends from denting and other damage.  All of the layers are done like this.  Using the 3/16" x 3/16 strip makes the perfect bend we need..
 
 

Testing it in place. Layer one.  Not glued in yet.  but pretty tight.
 

Then repeat with layer two on top.  No need to bevel the back edge.  Just slide it against the stern frames.  Then glue the top layer onto the bottom one while on the model.  I found that helpful.  You will be able to remove the whole thing because the bottom layer isnt glued in.   This way you can sand it a bit if needed and clean it up.
 

Testing the transom beam with the other six.   They should be the same height and a test with a strip of wood confirms this.  The deck planking will lay nicely on top.
 

To finish off the transom beam, you can glue the final 3/64" thick layer on the top.  This one will show so take your time cleaning it up.   The back side was beveled to sit flash against the stern frames.  The same was done on each end against the bulwarks so I got a tight fit.  One of the red arrows shows this top layer.  Note that it is narrower and leaves a nice rabbet on the forward side to accept the qdeck planking.
 
The other red arrow shows a laser cut filler on the 3/64" thick.  This is glued to the bulwarks and will be important in the next step.
 
And finally...the iron straps are added.  These are laser cut on black laser board.  Each iron strap is in two pieces.  One on the beam and the other curved section on the deck clamp.  These will hardly be seen.  In fact I think they are mostly covered later...what a pity.
 

Next up was the planked inboard side of the transom.  This is laser cut in one piece with etched lines to show the planking.  Just bevel the sides for a tight fit.  Also bevel the bottom edge as well.  This was actually pre-bent in that same jig set up to establish the curve.  It worked great.   Use the 3/16" x 3/16" strip in the center like before.  Once I got a tight fit I removed it and painted it red before gluing it in permanently. This helps me keep a crisp edge on the bottom with no sloppy paintwork.  Then glue it in...
 

The top of this area was prepared next.  It is laser cut in a way that the grain makes it super easy to bend.  So no jigs are needed.  In fact be careful as it is delicate.  The top is done in two halves.  I have given folks and extra set just in case.  There are notched for the stern frames.  They are laser cut smaller than needed so you will need to enlarge them to fit tightly around the stern frames.   The back edge was also beveled so it fit nice and tight.
 
Then repeat with the other side.  Note how the top is flush or nearly flush with the cap rail.

Then a front mold piece finished it all up.  Sanded to fit tightly and all prepared for painting.  It is also 3/64" thick.
 

 
Then its all painted and cleaned up...once the paint work is tidied up, this really finishes off the inboard side of the transom well.
 


 
Next up I remove those six qdeck beams once again and start work on the locker benches and rudder trunk.

Thanks Rusty...
 
Just a small update...
 
Now that the aft platforms are completed it made sense to plank the great cabin next.   First thing to do was add the laser cut deck clamps.   These have notches cut for the qdeck beams.   You can see the deck clamp added below.   The aft side needs to be beveled to fit flush against the transom.   The forward side is left a bit long so you can trim it to fit neatly in place.  That forward-most beam notch is a bit longer to give us some wiggle room later for the placement of that beam.  In addition before gluing it in...you must shape where the qbadge window is.  Sand the shape into the bottom edge of the deck clamp as shown.  Because it could be in a slightly different position model-to-model, this detail is not laser cut into the deck clamp.
 
NOTE the red arrow.   The bottom of the notch in the clamp should be even with the top of the window or even slightly higher.  But it should not be below the top edge of the windows.   If it is, you should make adjustments before gluing it onto the model.  In addition, the bottom of these beam notches should NOT be altered.  However, when you test fit the beams and find you need to make adjustments, you can absolutely enlarge the notches on the sides and top for a better fit.   Just carefully chisel out some of the deck clamp or the planking above it to accommodate your beams.  

 
Next we will plank the inboard side of the great cabin.   I am sure most of you could do this without any issues, but to help make it easier, there is a template on the plans.  See below.
This should make it easier to cut each strake with the appropriate tapers.  There are six strakes.  I highly recommend that these planks be cut from a 3/64" sheet as they are somewhat wide at the stern.   Plus they are pretty much all drawn out for you.  I will also add that you may have to make small adjustments because depending on where you aft platform ended up , you may have a slightly different area of space.  Adjust the template accordingly and cut your planks to fit.  Again they are 3/64" thick.
 

Below shows the cabin planked inboard.  I carefully cut around that window and did simulate caulking for the plank seams.  I just used full length planks rather than show any possible butt joints.  They wont be seen anyway.  Note the forward edge of the planking runs down the FORWARD edge of the hull frame.  Keep the forward esge nice and neat right down the edge of that hull frame.
 
You might see some laser cut qdeck beams in that picture as well.  They are just laying on the lower platform.  Although we wont be adding them just yet, it will be to our benefit to have them handy while we do the next steps of fitting out the cabin benches and rudder trunk details.  The laser char was removed from the deck beams and they were cut to length.  It takes some practice on the first few to get the length correct so they sit nicely in those notches.  But dont throw it away if you cut it too short.  Just use it for the next shorter beam and work from the forward side aft when doing this.
 

 
Test fitting the qdeck beams....none are glued in as I mentioned.  Note the extra space on the first beam at the deck clamp notch.   This will let us move it around where needed when we start work on the bulkheads there.  If any of you are having a problem slipping the beams into those notches, you could easily add  another strip of say 1/8 x 1/32 cedar following the bottom of the notches and it would be fine.  I did not find the need to do that however.  But you might find it easier if there was a second layer that stood proud of the planking a bit to rest your beams on.  Builder's choice...
 

Good morning Group,
 
After some spending some time in the doldrums, I have restarted Le Gros Ventre and spent the past month working on this assembly.  I probably built each part a half dozen times...
 
Decisions, do I begin the installation of the frames or tackle the other really tough part of the build, the hawse extensions?

This instead is the front room where I stored all my lifelong models......
 

here is my workshop in its current state....!
 




 

Kevin, I'll accommodate you now!
here is my workshop that has just been refurbished:









 
 

I finished with this little decorations:





 

Lovely progress, Mark. Looks like the grill bars could use de-greasing!  
 
Hope you are recovering well.

Thanks Jeremy 🙂
 
Right I'm back from the hospital and I've been repaired but apparently it's no work for me for a few weeks.  So completely ignoring their requests I decided to get on with a bit of ship building to keep me sane 😜
 
Picking up where I left off my next jobs are to make the ships stove and the small office.  Both of these parts require a bit of deck for a base so I did this first.  I made these parts of the deck as they should be underneath them rather than just placing a bit of wood for them to stand on.  The deck under the stove has a layer of metal on top I guess to keep the heat away from the wood.
 


The stove starts with a pretty simple wooden box with 4 legs that go through the base.

I then lined 3 of sides with bricks that I bought online at 1/24 scale - I never realised that building ships also involves brick laying!  The only tricky part of this job was the small corner 45 degree bricks.  To get the 12 that I needed cost me about 40 bricks!


I never really know how much detail people want but next I needed to cut the brass strips for the iron cage that fits inside.  These strips were cut from 0.25mm thick brass and are 1.2mm wide.  To do this I use double sided tape to hold the brass on a sacrificial piece of wood.  It's dead simple but the clean up of the saw takes about 30 minutes as the sawn tape just sticks to everything inside of it.


 I wanted the cage to be half decent so I opted to use a plug to try and get a good fit.  It's a nice snug fit inside which does not allow for the brass cage.

I then marked out and milled the cage to be made - The inside cuts are 0.5mm deep and the outside cuts are 0.25mm deep.  It's not perfect but it's good enough.

Next was to solder the pre-cut brass strips into the plug.

This can then be pushed into place and the brass can be easily folded over the edges of the stove without loosing any of its intended shape.


The result turned out quite nice




Finally the brass was blackened; the bottom bricks installed; the feet cut to a 5 degree angle to suit the deck; lifting eyes made and my favourite - the grill bars were installed.  I've not explained how the grill bars were fitted as this caused me some thinking as they are sunk into the bricks - so how do you think this was done??





I'm very pleased with this little stove which I guess took 10 - 12 hours to make as there are many elements to its construction.  It's a bit glossy on the inside at the moment but I'll sort that out before it's finally installed.  I have 2 more parts to make for it which help firmly fix it to the deck.  Other than that I'll make a start on the small office next.
 
Cheers Mark