bhermann

Thank you all for nice comments and likes.
 
More details of the finished model:
(sorry for the dust visible on photos)                                                         
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Greetings, Matija

So I started the first layer of planking.  It is the first time I have done this and have read many tutorials which have helped greatly.  A few planks a night so it should take a while but I am in no rush.  Knowing that this will be covered up with a second layer definitely takes a lot of pressure off.  Each one gets a little better.  I am trying to approach it as if it will be the only layer so I can learn how to do it correctly i.e. not tapering the ends down to more than half the width, where and when to insert drop planks or stealers.  I end up dry fitting a couple and attaching with t-pins to try to figure out if I will need stealer before I actually glue.  This seems to work best for me.

There is one plank that needs some sanding as it is a bit high.  It has a seam because it "had an accident"  and broke after I shaped and fitted.  I also need to trim them all to length when I fit the front keel piece in.

This one here that has a low spot so I will be using some filler.  Again, good thing this is the underlay planking as this is definitely not worthy of display.

Overall progress.
 
I did try the plier type plank bender and found it to be more hassle and less effective than it's worth.    I am soaking and using an old modified soldering iron and homemade form tool to bend and found it to be much easier.  If you go a bit too deep with the pliers the plank ends up snapping when it bends.  That is the "accident" I was referring to in the first pic.

Thanks Elia, I'm glad that you like my work (and to everyone else who likes).
 
Dories were difficult to make, I made them a total of twenty until I got a satisfactory appearance.
Bluenose is currently displayed at the national competition ship modelers in Rijeka / Croatia. It is located in the city center in the window: 
 
 
 
 
Otherwise, waiting for a new owner from Germany come get her. The future owner has prepared a large glass box (approximately L120x W30 xH110 cm).
 
Sails of paper to verify the dimensions:
 

 

 
Finished sails:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Cheers, Matija.
 
next: details of the finished model

Amati did include sail cloth into the kit, but there is only enough material for one attempt, no mistake is allowed.
After some research in shops I found material very similar to Amati sail cloth and bought it enough for a few models
I borrowed Admiral's sewing machine and start to learn, from knowing what all those knobs are for to sewing first
 lines. After several days I managed to make three small samples, testing different colors and technics. The most
difficult was that with sewn rope on outer edges,but is a bit out of scale. Maybe I will use it on future bigger models.
I decide for first version (left - 2nd picture) with lighter thread. Than I made first real sail which came out fairly good, but
I am not satisfied because it wrinkles too much. I think that tread tension is a bit too high. 
Practice, practice,... 

Thank you Elia and all other, here are more photos:
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Cheers, Matija.
 
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 99 – Rails and bulwark continued
 
Most of the work since the Thanksgiving holiday has consisted of fitting the rails and planking around the upper stern.  This has been challenging and there has been some rework along the way.  I will forgo a full tutorial and summarize.
 
The planksheer rail was fitting around the stern in an earlier post.  To fit the members above this and to refine its exact curve better, I decided to start at the top where the heights are easiest to measure as shown in the first picture - and to adjust if necessary.
 

 
The top of the planking around the poop corresponds with the top of the poop decking at the side.  This is also the top of the frames and the underside of the fancy rail that caps the bulwarks around the hull.  These heights are critical.
 
In the next picture the first strake of planking below the main rail has been boiled and clamped to dry.
 

 
The main rail was shaped to fit and is only pinned in place.  It will be painted white and the surrounding hull - and the lower rail -black, so it will not be permanently installed until much later.  The dark, saturated plank being fit is held tightly against it.  These planks not only curve around the stern but twist to fit the slant of the underlying timbers.  Lots of new clamps here made for this awkward work.
 
The next picture shows the third and lowest planking strake being fit.
 

 
The height gauge is being used here to check heights at points around the stern.  The lower rail has been removed for this.  The next picture showing the finished work is the acid test.  I’m not sure which was a bigger problem in judging this, my glasses or the camera lens, but this is the final version.
 

 
Both rails have now been replaced with newly formed, clean versions.  The originals suffered from all the fitting, clamping and refitting.  The next picture shows a different angle.  All this work was done in hard maple because it will be painted and it was easier to bend.
 

 
The main rail is still only fitted temporarily.  The planking is now ready for Treenailing.  There will be a carved, gilded America eagle placed between the rails.  I can’t wait to plank below the lower rail around the stern – more twisted planks and more clamping issues.  A job for the new year.
 
With the stern work completed the top members around the rest of the hull will be easy to fit.  In the next picture the mizzen channels are being installed.
 

 
The top channels are set at the height of the main rail and the lower channels just below the planksheer.  Notches for the chains will be cut later in situ.  The channels will be capped with moldings much later.  In the next picture the starboard main channel is being installed.
 

 
There is still much work to be done on the port side.  In the next picture a section of main rail is pinned in place and one of the topside planks held against it.
 

 
There are two of these 6” x 3” planking strakes above the rail.  They must fit tightly down on the rail and the channels.  The channels were most likely bolted to the outside of the planking to keep them outside the main watertight skin, but I am installed them against the frames to improve their strength on the model.  The appearance will be the same.  In the last picture the uppermost planking strake is being held in place to check its height against the tops of the frames.
 

 
A white capping rail – the fancy rail – will fit over this, but much later.  There is no inside planking above the main rail, so the fit on the frames will be visible.
  
Ed

I spent the morning repairing the Bowsprit. I cut the bindings at the base to the spar, then cut the spar on each side of the forward metal hoop. I soaked some acetone around the hoop then used a small drill to drill holes in the wood through the hoop. This allowed me to remove the remaining spar piece from the hoop. I used an exact blade and cleaned up the mid spar on the bowsprit in preparation of mounting the new one.
 
Then I cut a pice of 3mm dowel to the length required for the replacement. I marked the taper point on the dowel. I put the dowel into the lathe and turned it and used sandpaper to taper it according to the drawings. I then drilled the two 1mm holes in the end of the spar first by drilling .6mm holes followed by the 1mm drill.
 
I sanded and stained the spar. I took a heavy black line and dropped it around the end of the mid spar. This would be underneath the new spar and retain the spacing between the two spars. Once I was happy with the, I used CA to lock it in place. Then I continued to wrap the spar but this time including the but end of the new spar. I continued until I achieved the necessary wraps then locked everything with CA.
 
Next I started restringing the spar. I rethreaded the two lines going through the holes and replaced the rings between them. Then I related the remaining lines taking care to insure they were not tangled. I touched up the end of the spar with white paint. and moved on to the fore mast to continue the rigging.
 
I spent a bit of time reviewing the Mamoli plans to understand exactly how they were notating the end points of each line. Most of the lines I had installed were not locked in place yet. I then cleaned up the lines locking them with CA and trimming the loose ends off per the plans. I will have to go back to these later and add all the requisite coils.
 
The I continued working up the mast . I will continue with the fore mast tomorrow. Hopefully with the majority of that mast completed. I have attached photos of the spar repair before and after.

I finished preparing the bulkheads, adjusting them so that the planksheer fits nicely and is flush with the outside of the bulkheads. I beveled each bulkhead roughly and will do a final sanding before planking. The transom gave me some worries, as usual, and I decided I will do the beveling after it's glued in place.
After dry fitting everything and ensuring  everything looked properly aligned, I glued all bulkheads with the planksheer  in place, for ensuring proper bulkhead alignment.
 

(that yellow carpenter glued looks really ugly when dried).
 

 
Next, glueing the planksheer and the 1/16 square strip along the hull; then I'm ready to start planking.

Good evening, one and all.  Have been working on the ECB with some nice progress. 
 
First, a full overhead view of current status.
 

 
What, you may ask, are those things hanging over the rails?  Well, mister man, them be home built nets for the hold. 
 
Yep, the Admiral has been busily making fish nets for the ECB.
 

 

 
But wait, there's more!  We can't have the crew shivering on the cold cabin - so knitted using common pins as the knitting needles, we have a scale blanket for the crew.
 

 
I am still working on the stove - using the Fatsco Tiny Tot Stove as a model, it is made of a dowel cut to scale (about 18 inches tall, 13 inches in diameter).  The legs are just toothpicks.  Will be adding some sand into the base and a cooktop before running the stovepie to the overhead.
 

 
Have been working on color scheme - think I will go back to a grey for the outside of the wet well - the brown just doesn't feel right.  I like the bottom red on the interior.  Will leave it partially unpainted as a repair underway.
 

 
I will be keeping this section unplanked.  I will also be leaving off some deck planks - probably around the wet well and also at the cabin.  Not quite sure yet.
 

 
I also have finished the bulkhead between the cabin and the hold.  The hold side will be painted in the same way as the hold so it looks a tad weathered and worn.  The cabin side will be a dirty white - backs up to the coal stove, so it would tend to get a bit mucky.  I still need to do some more painting and paneling for the cabin before I start installing the deck framing.  The forward hold is nearly finished, just need to decide what is going to be in there and anchor it in place.
 

 
Appreciate any suggestions or ideas on how to make it look better - still a long road to travel with this one and am enjoying the ride!

I mixed Yellow ocher, some orange and white...not right.  Second Mate gave me the proportions she uses for flesh tones including some green.  Eventually it came close enough.  Thin strips of a piece of a manila folder and the first three bands are done.  I'll touch up the joints with a dab of paint.
 

Thank you, E&T. Very kind words.  Right now I am a bit stressed over both progress and precision - and of course the two are sometimes in conflict as you must well know.  The work on the upper bulwarks and rails - especially around the stern - is going slower than my impatience would like, but with the long sleek lines of the ship there is little room for error because every bump or imbalance stands out.  The work has taken me back through the drafting process and even to the original table of offsets on a few occasions.   I sometimes long for the complex breaks in line and the clutter of external features of the earlier ships. But the challenge is part of the deal - so who's complaining?
 
Ed 

... deck and equipment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Matija
 

Ahoy
          Here is another update of the standing rigging been away from the bench for a little while now back at it. all is left to complete the forward standing rigging is the bowsprit stay chains and bob stays are added next. 
 
 
                                                                        Boats

The head of the mast has been built up (timbers added to each side) and tapered to the appropriate lines.  The seams were highlighted with soft pencil lines to simulate tar.  I tried using copper for the bands, but once formed to shape, they could not be slid up over the top for soldering so I reverted to (acid free) paper.  I used the same paper I used for tarring the keel on the Echo section.  I still may paint them with the "Iron black" I have (if it's not dried out).  I started on the wooldings.  First one took a little work holding the first wrap in place, but the next two went smoothly.  Three more to go.  I used Syren Ship Model Brown line (.018").  That's very close to the 2 1/2" diameter line called for in the instructions.  Still trying to figure how I'm going to make the wooden bands above and below the wrapings.  I have some chisel shavings I've cut down that may work, or I could sand a wood strip down to .0312" square and steam / heat bend it around the mast.  David used card stock painted to match the Costello Boxwood but I think it might be more difficult matching the color with my limited supply of acrylics.  Does anyone have any suggestions?
Maury

Well, here are the results. I planked a few sections of the inner bulwarks with the riveted planks. I still need to trim the ends to be flush with the gun ports. Not as precise as I have seen other modellers create these rivets, but I think the overall effect is what I was after. It will be a while before they are painted, so I am curious to see what they will look like then.
 

 

 
 

Thanks all. After a fine Thanksgiving break I am back to work. I am excited to have the hull planking finished, at least for now. I did some more work on the wales to get them as smooth as the rest of the hull, so here it is after a medium and fine sanding of the whole hull.
 

 
Scott - I hope I didn't make it too smooth. I know when I prime it, I will find that I have more blemishes to fill and sand out.
 
Now it is on to more interesting work. Planking the inside bulwarks is the next task, with all those rivets to show. My original thought was to try using small drops of CA glue to simulate the rivets, like I have done on pintels and gudgeons in the past. This works fine on metal, but on wood the CA just soaked into the wood. OK, I thought, how about if I put some wipe on poly on the wood first. This slowed the soaking down, but eventually I had the same result. Time to come up with a new method.
 
I had seen other builds where they bought individual rivets from a model railroad company, but when I priced these out they seemed a bit expensive. So, I came up with my own way to make rivets. I drilled some holes in a strip of wood, dipped the end of a wire into CA, then pushed it into the hole. I cut the wire off and repeated in the next hole. The wire was sticking up a bit, so I trimmed it flusher to the wood, then used a ball peen hammer to gently tap the ends down, which also mushroomed the wire just enough. I was happy with the look and the process wasn't too bad, so I made up a jig to help. Here is the story in pictures:
 
First, here are the tools I used for this. That cutter does a good job but does not cut the wire completely flush, which worked out to be a good thing. You can see the jig I made up, which is just two strips of wood with offset markings to show where to drill the holes for the rivets. I am drilling two rows per strip, offset by half the distance between rivets, which is the pattern on the current ship. I am not yet sure if I can fit two rivets at the end of each strip, but I may try that. Most of the strips go between the gun ports, so they will be short.
 

 
Here I have a planking strip in the jig and am drilling the holes. On my first attempt, I glued the wire into the holes with the strip still on the jig, but when I pulled the strip off a few of the wires stayed glued into the jig. I now drill the holes then take the strip out of the jig before gluing in the wires.
 

 
I dip the end of the wire in a small puddle of medium CA. You can see my patented CA glue holder using small cups from my daughters contact lenses. I have a lifetime supply of these.
 

 
Then I push the wire into a hole and cut it off with the cutters.
 

 
I can get into a pretty good rhythm this way. After I fill a bunch of holes, I go back and trim the wires again to get them closer to the wood and here is how they look at this stage.
 

 
I then use the file shown to gently file them down a little bit more and brighten the ends.
 

 

 
At first I was going to use them like this, but after sleeping on it, I decided they were too sharp and still too high, so the next day I found this ball peen hammer and tried tapping them to see if they would flatten out a bit. I used this jewelers block that I had to keep the wires from pushing through the back of the strip.
 

 
And here you can see the final result on the right, the wires on the left have not been tapped down yet.
 

 
I was a bit worried that the tapping would flatten the wood out too much, but you can see from the side that the wood is still in pretty good shape. I will cut out a few strips and see how they look on the bulwarks tonight, but I think they will look good. Its a bit of work but not too bad, relative to all the other work that still needs to be done. This is such a prominent detail that I don't mind taking the time to make these strips.
 
I don't yet know how to handle the curved planks at the bow. I think I will have to bend them to shape before adding the rivets, then add the rivets before gluing them to the bow. I think trying to bend the plank with all those holes would just break it.
 
I am also in the process of designing a cradle for the model but that is a story for another day. I did measure the contour of the hull in the two places that the cradle will support, since this seemed like a good time for that before I start coppering the hull.
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 98 – Planksheer / Main Rail continued
 
The planksheer rail around the stern was made from hard maple.  Although the remainder of the rail is Castelo, my stock was too old and dry to bend around to the required curve.  No problem with the maple.  All the maple will be painted.  In the first picture the section around the stern has been formed and is being beveled to fit against the slanting frame timbers.
 

 
In the next picture the rail is being positioned and pinned at the proper heights using the height gauge.
 

 
This fitting took some time.  The bevel of the rail is most pronounced at the very stern and is vertical at the forward ends of the piece.  With the pins setting the heights, the rail was glued into place as shown below.
 

 
Lots of clamps required for this.
 
There was a lot of waiting during the forming and gluing of the stern rail, so work continued concurrently at the bow.  In the next picture, planking above the main rail is proceeding.
 

 
Space has been left for the main rail itself.  This will be installed after it and the surrounding planking are painted – as described earlier.  In the next picture all of this planking has been treenailed.
 

 
Once the planksheer rail around the stern was installed, the rail was continued forward on the port side.  In the next picture it is held in position with pins and is being glued.
 

 
Planking of the upper sides will now continue up to the top rail – the fancy rail.
  
Ed

Cabins and equipment on deck:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Matija

Well, she's done.. Here's a pic of the Bluenose Schooner.

deck, continued..
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Matija

...hull is made out of plywood and maple:
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Greeting Matija.

Paper templates are finished. I am still waiting for sail cloth, than will post my sewing progress   .

I start at the center of the head and work around the sail back to the center of the head.  I overlap the ends a little and basically seize the ends together through the sail with stitching.
Keep in mind; I work in larger scales on sails for working models.  The bolt rope is stitched on in a short-hand version of how they are actually sewn on (I skip a couple of lays of the rope with each stitch).  The bolt rope is also glued to the sail with fabric glue as I sew it on.  The nylon line I used for the boltrope is soft enough that it basically crushes together under the stitching and looks like a short splice.
 
This is the best image I could find where you can see the overlap at the head.  You should be able to pick out the stitching which is a tanish color that matches the flax I've used to sew the real thing.  This is a fore tops'l for a 1:20 scale Baltimore Clipper schooner.  The sail is made of Supplex, the seams are drawn with a .03 permanent marker on both sides, offset slightly from each other.  All tabling, hems, bands, etc are glued on with fabric glue.  All holes are made with the tip of a hot soldering iron.  Cringles are made by taking a turn around a round toothpick and seizing the eye to the sail at it's throat, and on either side.  This is done on full size sails as well, but because my sails are driving working models, I don't want the boltrope slipping through a zig-zag stitch from a sewing machine and closing up the eyes and cringles.  This sort of seizing is done every where something will attach or pull and every 4 or 5 scale feet along the bolt-rope as I sew it on.
 

 
I have simplified things a lot, especially on Constellation where I've used a simple eye in the bolt-rope at the clews instead of the iron rings and hardware she probably would have had.
 
BTW: While sewing on a bolt-rope, I've missed a cringle or screwed up in some other way that the easiet fix was to cut the line and pick up from there.  Here I overlapped the bolt rope just as I did at the head.  The first time I cut the three strands of the bolt rope at different lengths to taper it, but after that I didn't bother with tapering.
 
Having sewn real bolt ropes to real sails, I'm happy enough with the appearance I get this way, and it's much much easier than trying to use a sewing machine.

More on the shelf, I have made 'legs' for the self, here is the first set getting treenailed.
 

 
Here is both sets of 'legs' being tree nailed to the shelf, and put into temp position for photo, the upper cleat has been glued into position, the lower cleats will be also glued in but I will hold of on installing till lots else is finished.
 
The ends of the legs need to be trimmed to bring shelf to horizontal (it has slight upwards incline at the moment).

Ahoy Mates
 
This being my 1000th post I would like to thank all of you here at MSW who make this site what it is. I would not be here without you. 
 
:) Thank you :)
 
 
Mark:  We both know; "As always" would be me redoing it at least three times. 
 
Augie: I was inspired by a pear tree of all things. Or what's left of one on someone's deck, thx
 
Dragzz; She is my first;
 
Martin: I really like your choice of words. 
 
Sam: Sadly the Beaminator was lost. RIP
 
Popeye. I am now using concentric pins to push Evergreen strip styrene (.100 x .250) against the planks; it works even better 
 
JSGerson: Byrne's saws for everyone "lol" 
 
Scott: For a quite while there; you were not alone 
 
 
Back to the build;
 
Ahhh! The joys of learning. I am hoping that if anything my kit shows that a cavalcade of errors can still look pretty good.  Criticisms aside I am very happy with my results here; warts and all.  I will apologize right off for the length of this post. Yea its a bit of a whopper "I know" but it is my 1K. I will make sure 2K is worst "lol"  That, hopefully will be a rigging post. 
 
For anyone wishing to do their deck in this matter I will share here what I learned. 
 
First; this takes a bit more time to do then just marking the planks. Although it is more work, My personal opinion is paper used to simulate caulk on the deck looks much better, making it worth the extra effort. It's not really much harder either: It is a few more steps. 
 
Each plank needs to be checked and fitted as you would with or without the paper. The convex curve of the deck will cause uneven seams if planks retained their 90 degree cuts. Uneven seams really stand out with paper caulking making "seam management" slightly more of a concern.  Planks were tested fitted twice. Once before the paper to get their shape and then again after the paper was glued on to confirm there would be no fit issues during the final installation. I used a length of styrene plastic and my concentric pins to apply side pressure to install planks. The Beaminator snapped early into the project. The styrene strip is the better way. Fitting the last plank which required paper on both sides was actually much easier then I anticipated (only a few redo's). 
 
All clamping had to be worked out and tested prior to the installation of any planks.  Once a plank goes in there is only a few seconds to position it. The paper tears or deforms as soon as the glue starts to get a hold on it. I used non waterproof PVA so redo's were not difficult; but removing the paper aftermath was a bit messy.  
 
Although it made the paper more prone to tearing or delaminating, I found that moistening the paper on the plank a minute or two before installation really helpful. I am not sure but think it may have softened the glue used to put the paper on (tighter seams were much easier) and it may have prevented the glue used during the installation from bonding to the paper right away. My though is that the dry paper was like a wick. Before I came up with this I was having problems with "bunch ups". A thin layer of paper would separate and then accordion back on itself if the plank was moved seconds after being placed. I only put glue on the wood surfaces too, never the paper itself. Either way, there were less plank installation problems and more seam consistency once this simple trick was employed. 
 
 I thought I did well with the line of the planks, I did rip out my first attempt for this reason: Butt joints on the other hand are still a problem for me. Hopefully once the deck is populated my errors here will not be as noticeable. Thankfully the deck is pretty busy. I think I will try marking the bulkhead centers on my next outing. I recall having this same problem during hull planking. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I still have the poop and forecastle to do. My filler planks are slightly asymmetrical near the bow too and I attribute this to my earlier hull shaping debacle. I knew this going in and why I installed the basswood edge filler.  
 
Keeping on with complaints; I am not 100% sure about my scarf joints. They were made by edge gluing planks. I found cutting off and using a section of the same plank the easiest way to maintain color/grain and hide this cheat. I did not have any wider stock. Martin: Use thin super glue next time, its waterproof and you can soak them afterwards. To me my scarf joints just seem big and out of scale compared to the rest of the deck. Thankfully they are placed where no one should see them. I might try "hooked scarp joints" on the fore deck.  Not sure if my skills are up to this task. Time will tell. 
 
To keep with full disclosure; I sanded a soft spot on my deck. Its not horrible but I can see I still have not yet learned to control my obsession with sanding.  I also still need to work on my wood selection. There's a knot where a treenail should be and some unattractive color in other pieces that I could have easily not used. I'm learning and the knot is now a treenail. 
 
On the bright side; I added a new type of treenail (0.020 brass rod), I got the brass rod idea after seeing NMBrook's work on his decks grates and Piperjoe's Skipjack.  I developed a simple trick to better align my treenails too; this really was a very productive project. I always used a pin to make a starter hole for my drill/pin vise. But now I only do a very small "prick" first using a ruler for the spacing. Then I come back, and if necessary, angle the pin to move or fudge the hole as needed to create the final larger starter hole. I used to try to do this correction with my pinvise when I drilled the hole but finding you are off your mark with the hole already drilled isn't very productive. The brass also let me use a smaller diameter treenail then I would have been able to achieve with wood. I actually used my hobby hammer to drive some of them home. I really do love treenails. 
 
In more ways then one, for me; this post is a milestone. Thanks everyone for stopping by, your help, comments, and your likes. 
You guys ROCK.  
 
PS: My favorite view is of the deck seams through the ports.  I will try to preserve this as I litter the deck.