bhermann

Shipwrights,
 
A little more progress on Arethusa - masts and spars.  I've completed the basic shaping of the lower masts, upper masts, and the booms.  In this photo, top to bottom, are the main mast, the fore mast, the main topmast, the fore topmast, the main boom, the fore boom, and the jumbo boom.  Note the scale on the bottom of the green cutting mat in inches.  The grid squares are 0.5 inches per side.  The main and fore masts are just slightly greater in diameter than 3/8 inch.  All were formed from square stock bass wood stock.

This closer in photo shows the peculiar shaping of Gloucester schooner spars.  While circular in cross section, they are decidedly not axisymmetric.  The edge of the spar adjacent the sail is straight.  The opposing side is tapered.  The maximum diameter occurs 2/3 distance from the jaws (at the mast) to the tip.  My spars shown still contain a little excess material at each end of the spar.  They are shown with their jaw ends to the right in the picture.

 
[these were taken with my camera phone - quickie photos on the dining table]
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

I didn't update my log after my last regular visit to the museum as when I got there I found that I'd forgotten to pack the wood I needed to continue building!
 
I therefore spent most of the day talking to visitors and having cups of coffee in the members lounge!
 
On Friday I had some extra time at the museum desk so was able to do a bit of work on the 'counter rim frame' - pearling lugger jargon.  This is the frame that runs around the counter at deck level and onto which both the hull and deck planking butts.
 
Because it is fitted into the aftermost frames at deck level, fitting it is largely a case of 'suck it and see' (or trial and error).  So the roughed out frame is now glued and dowelled to the two aftermost frames ready for shaping.  By the time I'm at the museum next Wednesday the glue will be nicely cured and ready to work on.
 
The photos are, I think, pretty self explanatory.  The final one shows the typical kicked up stern of the Thursday Island luggers.
 
John
 




 

Over the past weeks I have been busy with two things: creating the fake stanchions (three between each pair of bulkhead stanchions) and sanding the deck.
With the stanchions I am around 2/3 done. The smaller they get the more often little edges of the wood splinter off (the wood is very dry and not so dense) which I then have to glue back on to get the right shape. This is a lot of work all in all.
 

 
 
I have started to sand the deck next to creating the fake stanchions because I think I would damage the fake stanchions when hitting these with a sanding block, so the deck must be done before gluing the fake stanchions in place.
I wanted to sand the deck not only as a preparation for varnishing, but also because the strips of wood where the deck is made of are not all of the same thickness. I discovered that some are (almost) twice as thick as others. Now first it looks better when the deck is (more or less) even, second I found out that the waterways (which are made of the same wood) are to be around twice as thick as the deck. This gave me the idea to sand down the deck to the thinnest planks and use the thickest deck planks I can find in the kit to make the waterways.
The pictures show some of the sanding progress and the difference in thickness of the planks which shows through the sanding. The pictures are made between sanding when I was changing the sanding paper on my sanding blocks.
 

 

 
 
While working on the deck, I also took some time to do some experimenting: I am thinking of shortening the deck planks to a more realistic length using a chisel, I need to cut out the places for the structures, I need to select a varnish (gloss or semi-gloss) and I am thinking of drilling holes for the trenails.
First test I did was to cut a few planks with a chisel. For this I took an X-acto chisel and cut it back to 3 mm. with a Dremel. Then I cut a few planks with the chisel and a small hammer. The chisel however is so sharp that it goes through the deck like through butter and when I pull it out I can hardly see the cut. These are the two cuts on one plank in just below the middle of the picture. For the second try I cut twice right next to each other. This is the cut just left and above the other cuts. It shows light on the picture, filled with dust from sanding.
To be honest, I do not yet know what to do with the results of this experiment…
 

 
The last picture shows my sanding blocks in need of fresh sanding paper and the modified chisel. especially the small triangle shaped sanding blocks are very handy as these can be held very well in different ways and are small enough to be able to maneuver on the deck. I cut the triangles from a 30x30 mm. construction profile and glued the sanding paper on it with white wood glue like I do with all my sanding blocks.
 

Jan-Willem
 
Here are the photos you requested.  Hope it helps.  That solid block you see runs all the way to the stem where it wraps around the bowsprit.
 

 
I think the stanchion count is accurate.   I suspect that not every frame is continued above the deck so the number of stanchions is less than the number of frames.
 
Enjoy, and let me know if I can share anything else with you.
 
Bob

Some of the bands required simulated hinges.  Here's how I did them.
 
Originally I tried gluing a piece of wire the the band but it did not hold up to trimming and filing very well.  So I decided to solder the wire in place.
 
I folded the wire so it "clamped" over the band and then used two hemostats to hold it in place for soldering.
 

 
Then I cut the ends loose and filed the remaining piece of wire.  Here is the final result.
 

 
The main boom has a couple of sheaves built in at the aft end.  I started with the idea of making working sheaves.
 
Drilling holes at the ends of the sheave locations was where I started this.
 

 
I then started to  carve away at the material between the endpoints with a rasp.
 

 
After going at that for a while, I decided I liked the look well enough and stopped after carving some of the material.
 

 
Bob

Next up, I started on the main boom.  It has a different set of hardware than the gaffs after the initial shaping is done and the jaws are added.
 
First a pair of belaying pins are put into the jaws.
 

 
A cleat is added on the port side.  I didn't pin it initially but I knocked it off enough times that I added the pin later.
 
Gluing and clamping the cleat.
 

 
and after install and shaping.  You can see that I mark top and forward directions - otherwise I'd forget..
 

 
The main boom uses a parrel rope, but no beads.  As there is no need for it to run up and down the mast, that makes sense.
 

 
There is a band with a bail - this was a bit complicated for me.  I started by wrapping the top and bottom pieces over the boom.
 

 

 
The two pieces are clamped together while drilling the holes for the bail.
 

 
Then the bail is soldered to the bottom of the band.
 

 
The top of the bail is them placed over the bail, a piece of stripwood is placed over the band and clamped with clothespins, and glued in place with CA.
 

 
After drying the whole thing is removed, the edges are roughly clipped, then finish filed.
 
Here are several of the bands that will be installed on the boom.
 

 
And in place on the boom.
 

 
Bob
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The next thing is the linkage for the block that will be rigged to the throat halliard.  I built the first one by adding the parts in place on the gaff.  It was a pain to get the shackle installed through the links, so for the second one I assembled all the parts off the gaff, then installed the completed assembly.
 
First there are a couple of links to make.
 

 
The complete assembly is  eye-link-shackle-link-eye.
 

 
After that the eyes are glued to the gaff jaws.
 

 
And finally a shot with the block installed.
 

 
The parrell beads are beads I picked up at Michaels Craft store.
 

 

 

 
 
Bob

Next up is the gaff  jaws.  These parts are provided in the wood billets for the kit.
 
The first thing needed is to shape the jaws as they have a curve at the end.   Since the supplied wood is a bit thicker than what is required it is a matter of drawing the profile on the side and sanding away the excess.
 
Profile lines drawn on the jaw.
 

 
One jaw has been sanded - the other has its profile drawn.
 

 
The pieces are laid out on the plan for positioning.
 

 
Then they are glued and clamped
 

 
Then holes are drilled for the "bolts"
 

 
and the rough ends are filed off.
 

 
A hole is drilled through for the clapper
 

 
and the clapper is installed.
 

 
The wire will be trimmed and filed to finish up the job.
 
Bob

The next topic I'll cover is gaffs and booms.  To give a feel for my somewhat erratic process, I started on these in November 2011 and was tying some blocks on a couple of days ago.  In the meanwhile I have also spent time on masts and lots of bands.  In short, doing an abbreviated log like this allows me to mask some of my scattered order of things.
 
As I mentioned in an earlier post, all gaffs and booms (and the bowsprit) have one straight edge and the opposite side is tapered on both ends.  It was important for me to keep track of that straight edge so bands, chocks, etc could be properly placed on the spar.  I found a way to do this that was pretty simple and worked well for me.  I taped the spar to a piece of paper and ran the edge of a pencil along one side.  The resulting line marked the straight side quite well for me.
 

 

 
Once the straight side was established, I could taper the opposite side based on the plans.  I won't show this again as I covered it ina previous entry (and I didn't take a lot of repetitive photos of the process ). 
 
Working on the main gaff, there are a bunch of stop chocks that need to be installed to keep the bridles and blocks for the peak halliard from sliding down the gaff to the mast.  I first tried to cut individual pieces and attach them to the gaff.
 

 
I was unhappy with the result as the pieces were difficult to clamp and impossible for me to get lined up nicely.  I thought about it and came up with the "chocks on a stick" idea.  I marked a piece of stripwood with the location of the chocks and the carved some of the excess wood away.  Here are the two sets in different states of carving.
 

 
I them placed glue on the strip only where the chocks would remain, positioned the first strip and clamped it in palce with my favorite clamping tool.
 

 

 
After gluing it looked like this:
 

 
I then carved away the excess wood and was left with oversized chocks (you'll note that on is missing here, I was able to glue a single one in place more easily than a whole lot of them).
 

 
I then followed the same process for the second set.
 

 
Finally all the chocks were shaped using a file and a rasp and this was the result.  Note:  Russ suggested that I could have glued the chocks to the gaff with the individual pieces facing in and then just cut off the strip.  That's why he is Master and I am just Grasshopper!
 

 
Bob
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

For the symmetrical tapers I use a similar sanding technique (because I didn't trust myself to keep from removing too much material if I tried the "chuck the dowel in the drill" method I have read about.
 
First I lay the spar on the plan and mark corresponding points on the mast and the plan.


 
The I use the caliper to measure the width of the mast at one of the points
 

 
and to transfer the width mechanically to the dowel.
 

 
This spar has had several locations marked and transferred.
 

 
Then into the vice for removing excess material as I did for the asymmetrical tapers.  I do this in 4 different planes to form a square section which is then sanded round to finish up.
 

 
And here is the result.  The top of the mast will be shaped later to form the ball that belongs there.
 

 
After shaping, staining and painting (and a bunch of other work) this is what they look like.
 

 
Bob
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 83 – Toptimbers/Middle Deck Framing
 
It has been almost two weeks since the last post.  In that time, work was done to prepare the toptimbers for final alignment and the framing of the middle deck was completed.
 
After aligning the toptimbers around the curved stern, all of the rest and upper futtocks – except those at the forecastle – were cut off and adjusted to their final heights.  Toptimbers on the odd numbered frame lines were cut back to the planksheer line.  The first picture shows the way the height gauge was used to set the tops of the timbers.
 

 
A strip of wood was taped to the top of the gauge arm.  The heights of the fancy rail and the planksheer were then set from the drawing for each frame and the heights on the model adjusted to match with a flat file.  Each timber was filed horizontally until the gauge arm just slid over the top.  The picture shows some of the toptimbers cut off.  The tops of the frames are now ready for final fairing and installation of rails and outer planking.
 
The clamps for the cabin deck were dubbed off and the stern hook for that deck made and installed as shown in the next picture.
 

 
This short “mezzanine” deck is the next to be framed after completion of the decking and inboard planking above the middle deck.  The next picture was taken during framing of the middle deck – specifically the installation of lodging knees and ledges.
 

 
Some of the port side lodging knees have yet to be installed.  The picture shows all of the toptimber work completed.  The next pictures show some steps in setting ledges.
 

 
In this picture a score for the ledge is being cut into the lodging knees at the side with a small chisel.  The scores in the carlings were cut earlier with a triangular file.  In the next picture a ledge has been fit into the lodging knee score and is being measured for its final fit.
 

 
The last picture shows the completed framing of the middle deck.  It will now be sanded fair.
 

 
Work on the middle deck waterways will be next.
 
 Ed

Planking the bow section.  Cut a template from the provided drawings to plank this section.  Should finish planking the main deck this weekend.
 
 Bob R.

Ahoy Mates 
 
Well its been quite a while since my last post but that does not mean nothing has transpired in the shipyard. We can say for a few months it was next to nothing but the shipyard never really shut down. 
 
 
As anyone who has been following my log knows, I seem to have a slightly unhealthy obsession with gunports and their appearance. This is combined with my ignorance and undeveloped skills, but overcome with by a level of determination that borders on insanity. It has taken me quite a while to reach this point. The gun port framing was done six times on one side. This BTW was a mistake as I learned that the position of gunports does not have to be determined by the framing but can be adjusted in the final filing and sanding after planking if you prepare it this way. On my build around "take 4" I made the framing for a slightly smaller port using slightly wider pieces of wood. then I finished them to the proper size and orientation with a file and sandpaper after the planking. Care and caution must be exercised as any wood removed can not be easily replaced but for me this way has more options and yields better results in much less time  
 
First I painted the interior sills red which I loved on everybody else's ship but for some reason I did not care for on my Ratt. Probably because I am only doing the sills. Black was brought out but the Red put up quite a stink and did not leave with out a fight. 
 
I use long paper strips to transfer measurements from the port side ports to the starboard side ports which will remain slightly smaller until the inner gunwale is planked. I mark the paper and then cut those marks with my Xacto knife so I can accurately transfer/mark the other side of the paper. Port is a mirror to starboard so you need to flip your ruler. It all sounds so simple now "lol" 
 
After an accident in the shipyard I learned a nice trick to paint the inside of the gunports. Apply a thin coat of WOP to the surrounding "wood colored" area first then paint. This way you can come back and easily sand away stray paint to get a sharp line. Any paint on the wood finish just sits on top of the WOP and sands away easily leaving a sharp crisp line. A fresh coat of WOP prevents any paint from soaking into the wood like it did on my initial attempt. This is much harder to correct BTW. In one of the pics you can see where I have gone back and re-re-re-filed the line for the lower sills which was not up to par after sanding. The black really shows any irregularities in your work. I will re-coat with WOP, and repaint until I get get the clean "straight" line I want. Its a side project.  
 
I spent a lot of time with the trim. What you see here is "take 4" on the trim and "take 6" on that fancy step down "thingy" which I think I will now go with. I was burning the midnight oil with the Vanda Lay trying to come up with something here. I made both the trim and steps with the Vanda Lay. Although the trim does not follow the plan it does look "acceptable" to me. My stern window position is too high and has the "scale" trim running into it. It 's not a very good look and after multiple attempts  I have decided that a "trimming of the trim" is my best option. I was however able to duplicate this window and its height on the starboard side. In shipbuilding; it isn't whether or not you can perform the task but whether you can repeat it on the other side that counts. 
 
Speaking of which I did make one more try, to save the step in my wale plank by adding a piece of wood which has now been completely removed, I am finding that many things I did wrong in the beginning are still haunting me and I expect this to continue just a little bit more. Like in chess I see it pays to be a few moves ahead in shipbuilding. I still have some minor issues with the poop and stern decks, but after that I am telling myself that my earlier mistakes should only cause minor issues. Well; less me cutting out the transom windows but I am working to resolve that now. 
 
I am also experimenting with a slightly "weathered" look which I have found a blue kitchen scrubber sponge to be very useful for (see insert). In one of my painting accidents I recently also found that  simulated gunpowder residue can be created using flat black oil paint and a wide feathered brush. This also adds another nice weathering effect, although I am not sure if I will use it on this kit: We will see.
 
I am now starting to experiment with decking using paper for chalking and my gunports. Can you say ADHD. I really like the paper and found that just bending the gunport hinge around the lid looks much better then creating a full on hinge at this scale. I am not a big fan of the cluttered but its historically accurate and functioning look that I seemed to be able to create so well with my previous attempts. Sometimes less really is more 
 
Last but not least. There is concern as to whether I will be able to show 20 guns. I have 10 of the nice brass ones and can not currently secure anymore. I called Frank and Chucks are too big too. If anybody has a lead as to where I can get ten more of these brass cannons please let me know 
 
Thanks for stopping by

Wow, I guess I haven't updated this in a while. I gave the port side wale planks an initial sanding before moving onto the starboard side. I thinned down the bottom three wale planks so the wales will flow into the rest of the hull planking. I also thinned the wale planks at the stem to be flush with the planks above. I will sand these all some more when I do the final sanding of the whole hull before painting and coppering.
 

 

 
I turned the hull around and started adding the two remaining planks between the gun ports and the wales on this side. It took me over a month to get the port side where it is from this point, but hopefully I will have more time to work the starboard side so it won't take as long. We will see...

As promised, a pictorial update. 
 
I have all the frames installed, and the clamps along both sides to support the deck beams.  While not necessarily correct, I opted to do the clamps in one piece for the strength it will provide vice the laminated layers with 3 sections as on the real ECB.  When originally built, the clamps would probably have been in 3 sections port & starboard scarphed together, cut from 2 x 10ish timbers. 
 
You can see the clamps on either side.  The foreman s checking the temporary bracing between the frames and clamps at the midship section.
 

 
I also have started installing the cabin - here you can see the first 3 beams and posts for the cabin deck.  there will also be beams (no posts) at frames 20 through 22.
 

 
 

 
The view from above at the overall shape - remember, the outer battens that are pinned on are just temporary for stiffening, but will be somewhat useful for fairing the hull later on before planking the exterior.
 

 

Greetings,
 
I have completed the spray shields, I have to admit it took a couple of attempts at getting the curve in the correct place.  I have to admit I have lot's of cleanup work to complete but that will all come before the final coat of paint.
 
 
 

 

 

 
Now on to the engine room hatch!
 
Cheers,
Tim
 
 

Ok let me offer some more input from a racing sailor. The "long pole" is the spinnaker pole. The spinnaker is the huge light weight sail that is attached to the head of the mast and used only to go fast down wind. Depending on your point of sail (angle on the wind) you fly the spinnaker with or without the jib. The spinnaker is also called the chute or spin for short. Often the last leg of a race is downwind and so you will often find the chute flying for the finish.
 
The member of the crew known as "mast" (often this was me). Is often found laying flat on his back staring intently as the top of the mast (head) and watching for the slightest indication that the chute is collapsing. It is his responsibility to control the spin sheet and pull in or out to keep the sail flying. This guy has no idea where the boat is and where it is going. He concentrates on just one thing. Fly the Chute!
 
The spinnaker pole is attached at one end to the mast and the other end to a clew of the spinnaker ( a spinnaker has 2 clews and no tack, i.e. there is no corner of the sail that is permanently attached to the boat.)
 
PS you have never lived unless you have had the Spinnaker "sky the pole". I.e. some idiot did not keep the downhaul taught. This idiot (yes me) got lifted off the deck and for a few seconds Hanging over the water off the port bow.
 
PPS if you are crewing on a race boat you should remember to let go when something bad starts to happen.

For those who work exclusively by hand (or those of us not to be trusted with power tools ), I included a brief description of some of my tapering methods in my log.
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/217-bluenose-by-bhermann-model-shipways-2130-164/page-3
 
Check posts #33 and 34 for the details.
 
Bob

Okay Folks,   back for some more fun and excitement in the land of mayflower construction!
 
Tonight, the goal was to continue deck items in order to be ready for rigging adventures this weekend/next week,  so tonight was knights and pumps.    In reviewing this all I can see I forgot something - but if nobody notices I will just sneak it in there and none will be the wiser =).
 
Anyway,  to make up the pumps here is the route I took for those who may be intersted.
 
First, I am really not adept and handling and working with the small parts and pieces yet, so trying to cut the cylynders and wall them up was really giving me pain.  So, I tried a different approach.   It took a dowel and cut it down some , about 5 inches or so I then took some narrow strips and cut them to about 3 inches and wrapped the dowel in them.   This is what would be the cylynder blank.   The idea is to cut the section I need for the cylynder and if something happesn I have more material already done up to try again.   This time around I didn't need it however.
 
Anywho =)
 
The Blank was then taped up to allow for drying.
 

 

 
Once that was dried I had some gaps between the planked wall so using some hobby light i filled it all in, this would smooth out the transitions as well as stain a hair darker than the wood and look like caulking/sealing material (i hoped).
 

 
Cleaned up the blank,  removing filler material from the faces of the planks and cleaning up any errant glue that may be on there.  I just used a small cotton pad and some alchohol and wiped it all down.  Works like a champ!
 

 
Then I went ahead and measured the lenght of the cylinders I needed for the pumps.   I taped them up at the cut marks in order to hold the unit together when the saw hit it and didn't vibrate loose or splinter.  There are three cut marks,  the first is to trim the end flush, the second two are the breakpoints for the cylinders.
 

 
Using my handy dandy Microlux cut off saw I cut them cylinders nice and neat!
 

 

 
Going by CHucks instructions I grabbed the proper wood in accordance with the booklet and cut, shaped and carved the handles and drilled holes into the cylinders.
 

 
I took some Tamiya masking tape (yellow),  sharpied it black and trimmed it to size to use as the bands on the pumps.  Assembled them all up and whalla - finally I have some pumps!!
 

 
I got them installed on the deck and all is good with the world!!  (also got a knight on there as well)
 

 
 
My HUGE apologies for any grevious spelling or grammar mistakes throughout this,  it is a little late - been at this most of the evening and wanted to get this update in before i retired for the evening.
 
Am very much on a mission here so I am sensing some late nights in my future =)
 
 
Thanks all for stopping in!

YOu can either order pieces online or find a local hobby shop that carry balsa wood strips.
 
OK, decided to move forward and lace in the main sail. Probably a good idea to do it now since the more rigging to work around the harder it is. I didn't do all the loops up the mast and down the boom, just enough to hold it in place for now. The "hypotenuse" of the sail must have been a little longer than it should have because it doesnt pull tight and causes the sail to lay an inch or two to the side, Not a problem when seen from the side. My main problem with the main sail was the lower reef lines, those came out the worst before I started using my sewing machine better, but I kept it. I'll just 'pretend' the sail is old because of use.
 

 

A simple man’s guide to sail making (part two)
 
The sail has been cut out complete with a hem all the way round, the positions of the cringles have been marked along the edges.
The hems are folded over and a small slit where the cringles are to be placed is made with the scalpel.
0.1mm line is then placed along the hem inside the fold and fished thro with a small pointy thing, to form the cringles.
This is the position so reached.
 

 

After the first few cringles have been formed the hem is glued down using neat PVA to hold the cringles in place.
 
In the pic below all the cringles have now been put into place.
 
Down each side from the top are the three pairs of Reef cringles, followed by three Bowline cringles; the leech line is attached thro’ the top two.
 
At the clue is the cringle for the blocks..
 
Across the foot of the sail are the cringles for the buntlines.

Bands, patches and linings
Additional strengthening pieces of ‘cloth’ are now required to be added to the sail. These are all attached to the aft side of the sail as shown above (Fore side on British ships.)
They comprise:
The reef bands, three narrow strips thro’ which the reef points are fixed.
The Patches small squares of material below the reef cringles at the leech.
The Top lining, the most distinctive addition whose purpose is to protect the sail from wear by friction against the mast top.
The Lining cloths which are strengthening strips staggered down the leech of the sail.
A bit like wallpapering this part, cut it to size, slap on the paste, and stick it down.
 

With the light behind the full effect of the various additions can now be seen.
A series of holes were drilled thro’ the Reef bands to take the Reef points, and again on the Head lining to take the Robands.
Some 150 reef points are required on the Topsail.
 
Once the sails are in place they can be manipulated at any later stage by the simple expediency of wetting them down.
 

The Mizen sail, the Brails that control the sail furling are all in place, there are matching lines on each side of the sail.
 
 

a simple wet down of the sail and haul on the Brails and the sail is loosely furled.
 

 
Modelspan is a tough material and in my workings with I had no failures.
 
 

 

I would use modelspan for kitting out models certainly up to 1:96 scale.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 82 – Stern Framing/Alignment
 
At the end of the last part, I promised to complete the description of adjusting the stern into its precise shape.  I have found that regardless of the care taken in aligning frames during erection there is always some degree of error that needs to be corrected at some later point – especially on something that will be as prominent as Young America’s beautifully curved stern. 
 
The heights of the stern timbers and the aft part of the poop deck were carefully set in the last part.  This allowed the poop deck transom to be installed as shown below.
 

 
There is a clamp on each of the glued stern timbers and aft cant frames to secure this piece – except in the case of two of the stern timbers that were about 3” outside the line.  One can be seen in the above picture.
 
After the glue on these had set, each of the glued timbers was through bolted with epoxied copper wire as shown in the next picture.
 

 
As discussed previously, these “functional” bolts are glued at both ends.  The two misaligned stern timbers were then clamped and glued as shown below.
 

 
I wasn’t sure if these could be pulled into place or would have to be removed and reset, but fortunately they could be clamped and glued without distorting the other timbers.  This picture also shows the concurrent installation of the cabin deck clamps, but this will be discussed later.
 
With the circular stern lined up, there was a bit of work to do on the poop deck top timbers.  There was a bulge of about 2” in the starboard side – enough to disrupt the symmetry of the poop deck when viewed from aft.  In the next picture this is being remedied.
 

 
The deck template has been pinned in place at three points.  The slight bulge is being pressed into the template with the rather large Jorgensen clamp.  The errant timbers were then soaked with water inside and out down to the middle deck clamps and left overnight.  I anticipated further wetting and using a hair dryer on this are but that was not necessary.  The timbers remained in their correct alignment when the clamp was removed as shown below.
 
 

 
The alignment is almost perfect but it will be again checked and if necessary corrected when the cabin and poop deck beams are installed.  The last picture shows this area with the template removed.
 

 
With the frames in this area set accurately by their inboard faces, the outboard faces were sanded fair back to the specified 6” siding.
 
The large pine ribbands on the outside of the hull are now redundant in this area at least and will soon be removed.  This picture also shows the cabin deck clamps installed.  I will get back to that later.
 
 Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 81 –Aft Decks Framing
 
To break the monotony of making more knees, I deferred the work to finish the middle deck lodging knees and went on to some other things that will be coming up on the agenda shortly.  The first was cutting and finishing the view openings in the lower port side hull.  he first picture shows the three openings cut out.
 

 
The forward and center openings extend from the first futtock heads up the middle deck clamp – the aft opening only up from the lower deck.  After these were cleaned up by filing, sanding, etc. – and while the model was inverted on the bench – all of the remaining simulated bolts were installed up to the level of the middle deck.  The next picture shows hole locations being marked for the middle deck lodging knee bolts.
 

 
The blue masking tape, set at the top of the deck clamp, is used as a guide for the lodging knee bolts.  There is only space for three bolts through the frames for each knee bolt – one through the frames where there is a beam and two through each intermediate frame.  The resulting 4-2-4-2 pattern can be seen in the next picture.  The regular pattern is often disturbed by bolts for the iron strapping lattice.  There is nothing regular about these bolt patterns.
 

 
In this picture the next row of bolts – the middle deck waterway bolts – have been installed just above the lodging knee bolts described above.  The remains of the CA glue on that upper row is being filed off in the picture.  This picture also shows the vertical rows of hanging knee bolts through the even numbered frame pairs.  All this work was done on both sides, but on the starboard side up to the waterline only.  The starboard topsides will be planked so there is no need for simulated bolts.
 
Work also started on the framing of the after decks.  The main or upper deck extends only back to frame 36.  From there aft it was a few steps down to a cabin deck located as a sort of mezzanine between the middle and main decks.  At this point also, there were a few steps up to the poop deck.  A template cut to the shape of the poop deck inside the frames is shown in the next picture.
 

 
This template is for final checks on frame alignment.  Also in this picture the toptimbers of the odd numbered frames have been removed in this area.  These were helpful in aligning the frames but only extended to full height on the even numbered frames.  The others will be cut down later.
 
The template was also used to shape a curved deck transom for the poop deck as shown in the next picture.
 
 
 

 
To avoid grain weakness issues, this was made in two pieces joined by a hook scarph.  It is being glued together in the next picture.
 

 
In the next picture the poop deck clamps have been installed and the transom is being fitted at the stern.
 

 
The top of the poop decking will be flush with the tops of the frames.  The frames will then be capped with the “fancy rail.”  This rail runs in a line from stem to stern.  In the next picture the tops of the stern timbers and frames have been precisely trimmed to their correct height and a gauge strip is being used to set the height of the transom from the tops of these timbers.   
 

 
There is some tolerance for error on the heights of the lower decks, but there is none here.  Any variation will disturb the line of the upper rail and will be very apparent.  The deck clamps also need to be precisely set.  The one in this picture had to be shimmed up about 1” so the deck planks will be flush with the tops of the frames.
 
My adventures with these very visible final alignments will continue in the next part.
 
 Ed

It has been some time since my last update and with a little time off of my feet I've been able to do little things here and there on Arethusa.
 
I have begun making masts....first time in oh, about 5 years!  I'm following my method I wrote about in the downloads section some years ago.
 
Here are some photos showing the major steps.  My only process change has been to use a plane to remove material instead of the rasp/file originally shown.




 
On the hull - I touched up the anti-fouling paint and hull sides, made some little scroll art at the bow names, and applied Dullcoat over the outer hull.  It is the first time I've used Dullcoat and I am happy with the results.  The shininess of the acrylic paint is gone and hull details are more clearly visible.  One odd and funny (to me!) aspect of the photos - you may see what looks like scupper run-off 'weathering'.  It isn't.  What you are seeing are reflections from clear, highly glossily packing tape I used to seal the 'work stand' box. 



 
On the deck I finished painting the checker boards.  I've deviated from my 'pristine' modeling approach by applying a semi-transparent paint layer to those details and the deck battens.  I think it gives appearance of worn painted boards and battens.  Also worked on were attached the windlass brakes and connecting links.  Luckily I hadn't glued those down yet - I found one of my soldered joints to have broken.




 
And a final photo showing the two lower masts.  The masts have been tapered and cut to length, only requiring flats and rebates where a host of spar related hardware goes.

 
Cheers,
 
Elia
 

Prepping and staining the masts.
 
First the section where the trestle tress will be installed is masked off.
 

 
Both masts are put into the vice and the pre-stain conditioner is applied.
 

 
Fifteen minutes later the excess is wiped and stain is applied.
 

 
The masts drying in place.
 

 
The idea behind staining the masts was to give them the look of being oiled (slushed) to allow the mast hoops to slide easily.  I used Minwax pre-stain and walnut stain.
 
The base of the main mast:
 

 
And again after gluing on the guard (aluminum foil glued with PVA).
 

 
The fore mast after staining.
 

 
Bob