Mike Y

You wipe off all excess water when you pull the soaked plank from the water. So it would be just damp, but not dripping wet.
I had no problems with getting moisture into the bulkheads. 
 
However, you will need lots of small clamps. There was a nice topic somewhere, about making a simple clamps from a paper clips. Looks like this, and very handy:

But always put a small pieces of scrap wood or card between clamp and plank, basswood is so soft that it would be smashed otherwise.
 
P.S.: don't overthink it, just get started! There are spare planks in the kit, you have a room for a mistake, especially if you use a glue that could be dissolved with water or alcohol. Planks are attached incorrectly? Not a big deal, tear them away, glue again. I used PVA-style glue, just add a water, glue joint is getting weak, you remove the plank and reuse it again.

Works now! No acetone, just a mechanical force of a metal circle brush

Thanks for the kind words.
 
Maury, I had to make the door a bit longer, but now you're mentioning it, I probably better put the extension above the door. It does look a bit strange now. I fear taking the door out will damage the pantry, let me think about that.
 
Fleas Druxey? I thought I was a step ahead of you by adding the palliasses and now your starting about fleas. Boy where does this end.....
 
Work moved to the outside of the hull. The knee of the head (made 1,5 years back) is now permanently fitted as I had to add the iron plates to the bottom of the hull.
 

 
I glued them temporarily in place to draw the outlines and then used a chisel to remove the wood so it fits flush to the hull. I'll remove them to prevent any damage to the plates.
 

 

 

 
This concludes TFFM Vol 1, a bit of a milestone, this took me 4,5 years to complete and still two volumes to go......... I hope everybody is patient enough to bear with me till the end (and throwing challenges at me will make the journey longer..)
 
Remco
 
 
 
 

The pinnace was build from a NMM plan 

K, hit a major non-repairable snag.  Got the first two planks on (each side).
 
Somehow, (not sure how since I used a block) the second bulkhead from the stem is too small, causing a major "sinking" of the planks.
 
Gotta re-order the kit since I was using CA and can not get it apart.
 
But as Arnold says,  "I'll be back".  
 
PS Next time gonna use plain old wood glue.
 
BTW anybody know of a video tute on fairing the bulkheads (maybe I can see what I did wrong?)

Well done Mike - I suspected as much, but acetone usually dissolves the coating that's sometimes applied to brass. You may need to try a few different types of thinners until you find the one that works, perhaps a Polyurethane thinner may do the trick. They may need an overnight soak in the stuff.
 
  Danny

I followed the advice working with a coarser sandpaper to begin with and followed up with 400 grit.
The sheets came out very nice. The discoloration is natural in the wood. Nothing I can do about.
The upper sheet hasn't had the removal of dust attended yet.
 
The keel and stem piece will be from HobbyMills longboat boxwood upgrade.
I scanned part of the plans and cut out the keel template, attached it to the boxwood sheet and saw it.
The connection notch on the keel was cut out using my very new fine-tooth saw.

 
And the final outcome, this without sanding at all.

Very odd. My brass starts blackening almost as soon as it hits the Blackener. The main secret to it is to VERY THOROUGHLY clean the brass - try polishing it if the vinegar doesn't work, or use brass from another source and see if there's any difference.
 
BTW - your ratio of 8:1 is about spot-on. It's not critical to get it exact.
 
  Danny

Installed oar locks. Their crisp edges a bit in contrast with a smooth hull. I tried to smooth them, but on that scale I can't make it accurately. So let's call it a feature

 
While making a photos saw how innacurate is the twart moulding... I should have make it from boxwood, but. I had no boxwood back then... And it is deeply in a boat structure, can't find a way to replace twarts without traces.
Well, I will blame that drunk rowers, who was trying to hide contraband in that mouldings!

A little progress on the whales, but first tool time.
I should have bought the rip taper jig from Jim when I ordered my table saw. Unsure why I didn't at the time. I made my own version. A few brass bars, aluminum plate & bolts assembled in the right way makes a very useful tool.
 

 

 

 
The whales are made from pear tinted with Fieblings (mahogany and black 6:1) The edges are pre painted as if fear for the paint running into places it shouldn't the sides will first be sanded flush before I can paint it. All planks are pre bend using a steam iron and the admiral's hair dryer
 
All looks a bit messy at this point
 

 

 
Remco

It seems like every day I add things that now make a significant difference in the look.  Yesterday was the timberheads, gluing the cap rails down and assembling and fastening the ladders.  I have talked / covered how this was done in other parts of the build so I just attach some new photos:
 

 
Boy, that camera angle sure makes those ladders look totally crazy width wise.  That is optics.  I have the cleats, blackening the chimney and the eking rails left before gel coating and moving back to the quarterdeck.
 
Stay Building my Friends,
Mark

Thank you all for all those suggestions. I will try to find all or most of them through my library.
 
When I posted this thread I was thinking of where I was a couple years ago when I started this model ship building. I had sailing experience, did some minor model building but was totally ignorant of all the terminology and the in-and-outs of old sailing ships. Since then many of you helped me with good references (such as Petersson's book on rigging).
So, what I had in mind were some books for beginners in this hobby. Something that could be used in addition to the plans and explanations provided in kits.
 
I found one book that serves that purpose (at least in my opinion). It is 'The Visual Encyclopedia of Nautical Terms Under Sail'. The tittle continues with 'An illustrated guide to the language of the great sailing ships and the men aboard them'.
The book is full of great drawings, photographs, explanations of the various parts of sailing ships, etc. etc. Although not related to modeling, it even has a wonderful section about navigation, its history, tools and the mathematics involved. Below is one page picked at random.

Superb build!

Prepared all metal parts. Manual suggests to use black paper, but it looks so-so, will use blackened brass instead.
Imitation of bolts is done by bumping it with a dull nail.

Waiting for a blackening liquid to arrive...
 
Rest of the day was spent on oars. Tricky little things, if you don't have a lathe.
I turned them from a square boxwood stock, holding it with bare fingers. Even on a minimum speed it was hard, now I don't have a fingerprints on a few fingers anymore

 
When painted, they look cute (no poly yet, will be better after a coat of poly):

Applied stain. Hat tip Amfibius, with wipe on method it's much better:

 
Some spots on a bow do not soak any stain. I tried to scratch and gently sand them to "open" fibers, but no luck.

 
Then added a coat of a wipe-on poly. Reflections are not as strong in real life, it's just a lamp that I use when taking photos


 
Whole staining experience confirmed that the best stain is no stain, good wood do not require any staining, just a gentle cover of a poly.
 
Now looking forward to inner hull sanding!
 
Also ordered boxwood longboat, will do the next build better then this one

Yahoo! Finished the hull planking!
Looks ugly before sanding:

 

(Yes, wood is of different color, no more basswood!)
 
But much better after sanding:

 

 
Final sanding would be done after a treenails imitation. Planks are quite thin, dont want to sand them too much
 
Now it really feels like a boat!

Installed gardboard planks. That was quite easy, but more time-consuming then regular planks.

Result on a "good" side:

Gap for remaining planks is quite consistent, looks ok.

And here is the other, "bad" side. Planks are overtapered on this side.

The gap is widening closer to the front part of the hull.
Will try to slowly fill it by a weirdly shaped remaining planks, let's see if it is fixable, or I will need to tear down the whole side of the ship and re-plank.

It was trickier then expected
If you just put the top plank into the bow "slot", then it's just going vertical, without following the hull shape:

 

 
 
To make planks follow the shape of the hull, I lifted to top plank a bit higher on the bow, and tapered the second plank.
In hindsight it's pretty obvious, no matter how you bend the planks, they should be tapered. But I was too much following the instructions, and surprised that it was not mentioned there (or I was not reading carefully?)
 
So that's how the bow looks like when second plank tapered and first plank lifted higher (it's just halfway inserted into the bow slot):

 

 
The second plank was also a bit tapered on the stern:

Well put, Jason, and there is the essence of the issue - at the time in question (177x), there was no true American "Admiralty" to make those decisions - they issued general requirements to purchase "Sloops" or "Schooners", then for some "Frigates".  Individual colonies then also had vessels built, but to no set mold or designs.  The first effort at a standard design criteria wasn't until the first 6 frigates were ordered in the 1790's - and even those, whilst built based on the model and preliminary draughts by Humphreys, varied dramatically in final product, influenced by the builders personal vision and the Naval Captain (assigned to each as superintendent during construction).  Add to that the subscription built vessels (such as the Essex) which were totally designed and built based on the local contract - then sold to the Federal government when completed. 
 
The concept of a standardized naval construction program - plans, materials, methods and so on - was much slower to take root in America, partly a result of our desire for "States Rights" during the earliest days of the Republic, and also a general mistrust of central government. 

We should be also careful with comparing that, measurement standards could be different (internal/external could be messed up, for example)

Interesting commentary, gentlemen.  I would imagine that the British kept a close eye on ship design in Europe for obvious reasons.  To my eye, British ships were generally more purpose built, more efficient looking (lovers of French and Spanish vessels please hold your fire).  We Americans seemed to gravitate toward the British designs.  I would imagine that those interested in architecture would have similar discussions relating to British vs. European cathedrals.
 
Fascinating stuff!

A general difference is that the United States, at her founding, had an unlimited timber supply. As a result, we didn't have to scarf a whole bunch of little timbers together, like the British did, to make a larger piece.  For example, we didn't have to make 'anchor-stock' type wales on our ships, like the British did. We just used long straight timbers. If the British had had a similarly nice piece of timber available to make their wales in the same easy way, they would have instead used it for something more important.
 
The first Sloop of War Wasp, for example, built in the Washington Navy Yard in 1806, had a 100 foot keel. It was made of only two pieces scarfed together, one of which was an 84 foot long straight stick of hickory! She also had choice bits of walnut, locust and cedar in her upper frame.

While the arrangement of spaces would be similar, each ship would be unique as there was no standard in the Colonies. With very few exceptions, the American ship builders were not experienced with war ships - they built merchant and fishing vessels.
 
As to framing, very few had any knowledge of the British Establishment, and not many had been trained in British yards. Many were self taught - learned the skills in a yard but little formal training. Each had institutional knowledge to guide him, not written rules.

Most of the early U.S. shipwrights were British trained, so there would be very little difference in structural engineering.

Completed Model
3 months, 180 hours
 
I put in a lot of hours the last couple of weeks and finished my hydroplane model and stand. It took a total of 180 hours to build the model over three months, but one of those months I was on vacation and didn't work on the model. Here are the photos of the completed model.
 

Framing and planking the hull was a lot of fun. The mahogany finished up beautifully and the headless brass nails shine like jewels.
 

The vacuum formed plastic cowls were a pain to build. They are finished with Krylon products: several coats of white primer, many coats of gloss cherry red, and several coats of gloss clear.
 

The silver trim strips around the cowls and on top of the rear cowl are soft white plastic painted with Testor's silver paint. The silver paint looks OK, but not as nice as the chrome plated parts. The trim strips would not stick to the painted cowls with CA so they are held with more brass nails.
 

The rudder, prop, and exhaust manifolds are diecast and chromed.
 

The aluminum piece on the nose is nailed through the plastic. I pre-drilled the all the nail holes with an undersized bit and an electric drill. When I was done I realized that each time I drilled a hole some plastic would melt and stick to the bit, so that each hole got progressively larger. I had to fill the holes with epoxy and start over.  Then I attached the aluminum piece with heavy duty double sided tape before nailing it down. There are probably 100 other nail holes drilled into the plastic cowl, and I had to scrape the drill bit clean with a razor blade after every one.
 

There is a lot of nice detail in the cockpit. The steering wheel is another diecast piece with a painted rim. The floor and foot pedals are photo-etched aluminum.
 

The dashboard has photo-etched holes surrounded by tiny rings. Behind the dash is a cardboard piece with printed gauges. The nine cowl hold-down clamps are made from three separate photo-etched pieces epoxied into tiny springs and nailed into place.
 

I drew up the stand from some photos of the actual stand that I found on-line. It is built from 1/4 inch basswood and painted with the same Krylon primer and paint as the cowl, but I left off the gloss clear coat. The top is black craft foam attached with double sided tape. The lettering was done with a Brother label maker using white-on-clear tape. I added a couple of leftover decals for fun. The base is African ribbon mahogany that matches the look of the hull.