bhermann

Bob, no need for an old ceramic tile. Just for fun I took a steel pizza pan from the kitchen and used it. In order to hold the little brass piece to the copper 'rod', I used a straight pin and a magnet to hold it in place.
It took a bit longer because of the thicker copper and it also used more of the paste flux, but it worked.

I show the result along with my second futtock stave to show that my first try worked as well as my second one. It was not an accident.
Notice also the extra glob on the brass piece. I have to be careful where I put the flux/paste.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 40 – Aft Half Frames 1
 
As in the forward section, the aft half frames lie between the cant frames and the aftermost of the full square frames.  They bolt to the vertical side of the deadwood and are square to the line of the keel.  When installed they will be hard to distinguish from the full frames that rest on the keel.  However when the horizontal bolts are installed the difference will be more obvious.
 
I installed the first of these following the method used on the forward frames.  As shown in the first picture these, although separate, were fabricated as a single assembly held together with temporary cross-spalls.  This assembly would then be slipped over the deadwood at the correct height.  The breadth at the top is held by the spalls and alignment set using the center string line.
 

 
The next picture shows the erection method.
 

 
The sides are contained by the two clamped squares located at the line on the base drawing.  The center of the spall is marked and aligned with the string.  The height on both sides is set using the vertical caliper based on heights taken from the drawing.  This worked well except that gluing and accurately clamping at the deadwood was a bit involved.  I soon adopted the simpler method shown in the next picture.
 

 
In this method the two frame halves are installed separately.  The ribbands at the planksheer were extended back into the cant frames.  These ribbands are then used to set the height and breadth of the frames at the top, where they are pinned tightly through the ribband as was done for the full frames.  This method roughly mimics actual shipyard practice.
 

 
This turned out to be a very much simpler method with equal accuracy.  In the next picture a half frame has been lightly clamped at the bottom and the frame is held so the top of the aft top member is at the top of the ribband. The ribband has been marked with the joint line of the frame for fore and aft alignment.  A pin hole is being drilled through in the picture.
 

 
Once pinned at the top it is an easy matter to rotate the frame to apply glue to the face, then position and clamp it in place by one of the methods shown above.  This process is almost too simple.  However, it does depend on an accurate ribband line.
 
To help assure this, a spreader was inserted and pinned at frame 33, about midway in the remaining open space.  Sized from the pattern for 33, this helps maintain the correct curve of the ribband breadth.  This spreader and two measured strips are shown in the next picture.
 

 
The strips are loose and were merely used to check the breadth at the last full frame and the last installed half frame.
 
The last picture shows the hull at present.  The remaining gap in the framing should soon be filled.
 

 
Apart from the clutter of my workshop in the background, this picture gives an idea of the length of this hull – and of the L/B ratio.  This is one long slim ship -  roughly 240 feet long by about 43 feet broad – about 6/1.  Naiad:  3.7/1.
 
 
 Ed

I am not happy with the way the futtock shrouds go around the stave. The drawing shows futtock 'extensions', which I took to mean a metal part with eyes at both ends for the shrouds. 
I decided to try this approach with some brass wire. Using a fixture I made some time ago for other loops and things, I bent the wire into short sections. I needed five.

 
Then I tried to silver solder these to the futtock stave. It did not work well. As soon as I tried to add another one, the solder came loose on the one before. Back to the drawing board and I found that I should solder all of them at once. Below you can see that I simply taped the pieces to the stone slab, added a tiny amount of solder paste (the grey stuff in the picture), and hit it ever so briefly with the torch.
You might think the torch would ignite the tape, but this goes so fast that the edge of the tape was barely scorched.
 
 
The result seems OK. Before and after blackening.
 
I will use this one for the starboard fore mast and make another for the main mast.

A small but fun item accomplished. I made and installed the remaining cabinetry at the stern in the Great Cabin. This consisted of the rudder head housing and two benches. They were made from boxwood sheet and strip and finished with Wipe-on Poly. The "cushions" on the benches are boxwood, shaped and then painted a maroon color. The cabinet knobs are the smallest nails that I had on hand. The penny in the first photo gives an idea of the size of these pieces.
 
Bob

Update time !
 
The middle deck has his planking.....
With ( for the first time ) the tree nailing......
I also plank the bow deck.
That's it for the moment.
She goes on the shelf and the San Ildefonso is coming down again.
When the main mast has his shrouds and ratlines, I'll be back to the Aggy again.
 

 
 

Greetings,
 
My next step was to glue the turret race to the aluminum tube, I used a combination of CA and yellow all purpose glue thinned with water.  
 

 

 
The next step in the instruction booklet states: "Snip eight ammunition belts from the photo-etched sheet.  Paint the tips of the bullets copper, the raised portions black, and leave the cartridge case natural brass, and set them aside for later installation. 
 

 

 

 
Cheers,
Tim       

After adding the shrouds on the port side, I attached the batten at the bottom and then did the futtock staves higher up.
I used pieces of .013 inch thick brass, blackened. To hold them in place and to allow me to adjust the horizontal spacing of the shrouds, I tied each with some thin sewing thread with some CA glue. After each shroud is tied with the thread, I will use my handy end snippers to trim the stave.

The sketch on page 7 of the plans really helps.

Current part of build
 








 
Enjoy the pics and have a great time.
Best regards
Doris

Other pics:








 
 
I also finished some blocks (they are made of wood on CNC lathe) and placed them on decks according to plans. In the past I made paper blocks but there were problems with rigging tension - some blocks did not hold this tension and became distorted.
 







 

Hello dear friends,
Thank you very much for your kind words, your feedback and praise is a great honour for me! I appreciate your support a lot.
Well, nobody is perfect, I have also various mistakes on my models, but the main thing is, that I love this hobby a lot and enjoy making models. And of course I feel happy sharing this pleasure with you all.

Some details on RC were improved - for example gratings - there was a mistake with correct orientation, so I modified the gratings using strips of foil imitating wood. And another change -  had to shift the upper part of rudder and its wooden pole forward (about 7mm) to place there an iron ring for a tackle. The rudder is still fully functional.






 
Improved gratings




 


 

Thanks all.
 
Completed the gun port lids including the bridle port.  Time to start working on the channels and chainplates.
 
            Bob R.

The time has come for the tedious part of the build.  The Ratlines!  This is probably going to take me longer than I am anticipating, but I want to make sure that at this stage of the build I don’t do something that is going to detract from the overall appearance of the model and I sure don’t want to damage any of the other structures or rigging.
 
I used the jigs I made for the Deadeyes and glued a horizontal guide to them to provide uniform spacing for the Ratlines.
 

 
I did a little research, both here in the forum and in two of Lennarth Petersson’s books on rigging, to get an idea of just how to properly tie the Ratlines.
 
I have also secured the expertise of a Ratline expert.  He assures me that he is the one that put the “Rat” in Ratline.
 

Hull Planking Complete, day 16, 67 hours
 


I decided to plank the top and sides of the hull with mahogany strips. I cut the strips roughly to length, soaked them briefly in water, and glued them with medium CA. The water makes the CA set up quickly. I only glued my fingers to just about every plank.
 
 

Unfortunately the kit did not have quite enough planks, so I visited my favorite local Woodcraft store. They had a sheet of 1/16" mahogany that I ripped into planks on my bandsaw. You can see a slight color difference on the outer few planks of the sponsons.
 
The nails are purely decorative. They were added after the the hull was planked, filled, and sanded. I marked nail locations along each bulkhead at the center of each plank. I had to drill holes for each nail to avoid splitting the mahogany. The drill was a couple thousands of an inch smaller than the nails, so the tails went in easily. I tapped the nails flush, and cleaned up with sandpaper. I still have a lot of nails to add on the back of the hull.
 

The instructions don't mention the bottom of the hull. I think you're supposed to just use the thin plywood bottom, but I knew it would look bad where I sanded through the top ply layers. So I visited my favorite local Woodcraft store again and bought a roll of flat mahogany veneer with a pressure-sensitive adhesive backing. I had to buy a roll 1' wide x 8' long for $45, but it turned out to be a good choice. It cut easily with a knife, stuck on perfectly, and looks beautiful.
 
Any suggestions for finishes?
I haven't decided what finish to use yet. I'll probably start with Watco oil to bring out the color, but I'm don't know what to use after that. Does anyone know about spar varnish? That's probably what was used on the real boat so it seems like a good choice, although I would prefer to use something available in a spray.
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 39 – Aft Cant Frames
 
Clipper Ship Note:  The longitudinal hull lines on the American clippers introduced some new terms and redefined some old ones.  Furthermore, the names of some these lines differed between builders.  Young America’s table of offsets was generally similar to most of the breed.  It included the following longitudinal lines.
 
The wale delineated the top of the band of thick planking also called the wale.  As in earlier ships, the curve of this line defined the sweeping fore and aft sheer of the ship.  In clippers, unlike RN 18C ships, the line was higher forward and lower at the stern.  In Young America’s case the band of heavy wale planking extended downward about ten feet almost to the turn of the bilge.  The wale line was high - usually two feet or so below the line above – the planksheer.
 
The planksheer defined the underside of the rail that capped and sealed off the main inboard and outboard planking.  It was essentially parallel and at the level of the top of the main weatherdeck waterway.  The planksheer rail was penetrated by toptimbers of the frames that ran up to a higher level at the tops of the sides.
 
The main rail line defined the underside of the main rail.  It was about three feet above the planksheer and about 18 inches below the rail that capped the tops of the toptimbers.
 
This last line was called, in the case of Young America, the fancy rail.  In other ships it was known as the monkey rail.  It defined the top of the side from stem to stern.  Young America’s fancy rail is at the level of the poop deck aft and slightly higher than the topgallant forecastle deck at the bow. 
 
Another open rail was constructed above the fancy rail along the poop deck to help keep the crew out of the drink.  On Young America this was a wood rail on turned brass stanchions.
 
All of these rail lines were, for the most part, parallel curves.  Below is a body plan with the lines marked.
 

 
So, back to the model.
 
The first picture shows cant frames 48 forward to 45 installed.   The square is positioned for checking the cant of frame 45 on the port side – from the base drawing.
 

 
The next picture shows a different view of the assembly at the same stage. 
 

 
The “feet” of the cant frames were left a bit on the heavy side and will be sanded back fair to the bearding line later – probably before bolting.  Otherwise the frames are pretty well beveled to their final shapes.  Two more pairs to go.
 
In the next picture the template has been placed over the tops of the frames at this stage to check position.
 

 
The next picture is a view from under the stern at the same stage.
 

 
The space between the two central stern timbers will later be fitted with a chock shaped to the helm port.  In the next picture, frame 44 on the port side is being held in place during fitting.
 

 
In the next picture this frame has been installed and frame 43 on the starboard side is being glued in place.
 

 
The last picture shows all of the aft cant frames installed before the clamps on the last were removed.
 

 
The 12 aft half-frames - 42 to 31 - will now be made and installed to complete the frame installation.
 
 Ed

Hello all,
 
Finally an update, it was long overdue.
 
The railings and the grating at the bow section are in place. They just need a little touching up and staining.
Now I can really see where I made the mistakes. Before placing the railings I wish I had thought of using a template to get the right angles/roundings like J. (JCT) did on his Half Moon.
But that is water under the bridge and something to keep in mind for future reference.
The rudder is also in place.
 
Tomorrow it is time to start shaping the masts and spars.
 
Thanks for watching.
 
Anja
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

After cleaning up the shipyard a bit, here goes....   New framing wood has been ordered but due to Jeff at Hobbymill's schedule it won't be here until late (very late) April.  I'm planning on using up my existing stock of swiss pear, ebony, pear, silver maple, and cherry and maybe some boxwood if I see fit. 
 
At this stage, I'm poring over the plans and notating such things as wale, gunport, and deck clamp locations on the individual frame drawings as I'm planning on putting some reference points on the frames physically as I cut them.  This should solve some of my previous issues..  With 60 frames, this is going to take a bit.
 
I have a new build board laid out and prepped but not cut.  The frame reference board is ready to go.
 
I'm still making a final decision on whether to stick with cherry or go with boxwood for the keel, stem, and stern items.   Version 1.0 sits forlornly in another part of the shipyard waiting for various bits and pieces to be cannibalized.  I'll be re-using my old fabricated measuring tools and making some new ones.
 
Hopefully, by the time the framing stock arrives, all the plans will be annotated and scanned, all the bits and pieces from V 1.0 will be cannibalized, and bunches of new bits will be fabricated and then ready and waiting. 
 
It's time to do this beast right and proper... and to have some fun doing it.
 
Footnotes to the build:  I'm adding to this as I discover things.
The Hahn plans lack a lot of details so additional sources will be needed.
    a) Hahn's "Ships of the American Revolution" is a must to understand the building method.
    b)  I also recommend the "La Belle Poule" monograph from ANCRE.  This has period bits and pieces along with the proper rigging as Hahn used La Venus which has pointed out to me as being from a later period.
 
 

The deck furniture is coming to a close.  I've been working on rings.
 
I had soldered several rings before I asked my question and decided to continue on.  I'm using soldering paste, so its not a big deal.  More difficult is the painting.
 
I've decided to paint the rings and then install them in a manner that allows me to do a bit of touch up (since I'm basically too impatient to allow them to dry for a few days).  So, below you can see freshly painted rings stuck in the tops of yogurt cups (the plastic grips the brass very nicely) and a few installed through some tape that ask as masking.
 
I'm really wishing I had "toned down" the white paint before painting everything, but I'm not willing to redo.  Lesson learned for next model!
 

 

Thank you all for your input, and helping me decide where to go from here. What bothered me was the stark white appearance of the coiled line, rather like white nylon or white cotton rope which it certainly would not be.  As such, it becomes the center of focus rather than a coil of rope in the background.  This is where I wish I had modified the color of the line before beginning the rigging.  In fact I did experiment but was not pleased with the result.  I should have persisted using the expert advise from some of our members.
 
I'd like to use the full coils if they can be blended in with the background.  The following photos are experiments in retrograde coloring of the lines.  The problems are obvious.  Areas with C/A glue will not take up stains, if one succeeds with the coils, all other lines will have to be altered and most of all, it's a pain................    I've tried to use similar lighting in the photos, however, we all know how lights and cameras drastically alter the appearance. I'm experimenting with washes (very dilute paint) but of course masking become a daunting task.  I'll report later on the results (or lack there of).
 
Each photo of untreated line is followed by one of treated line.  The unfinished coil on the right can be used as a control.  Unfortunately, they were taken on different days. Cheers, Gil
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Here is another small update. I had some time to solder up the chainplates tonight. There are ten total. Each has an eye soldered in its upper end and is drilled for two wires that will fasten it to the hull.
 
Here is a photo of a dry fit. Never mind the wires, they will eventually be glued in and cut off. Also, the chainplate will be cut shorter, just below the bottom wire. That will happen only just before final installation. The rail is notched for the chainplate to lay flat against the hull and there will be a wooden cap fixed along the outer edge of the rail to help secure the chainplates upper part.
 
Questions and comments welcomed.
 
Russ
 
 
 
 

I used the jolly boat as a pattern.
 
I glued two pieces of scrap balsa to get the thickness I wanted. I turned the jolly boat upside down on the plywood and drew the outline of the jolly boat. I also drew the center line of the boat and the width of the keel. I then used the Michelangelo method and removed everything that did not look like the boat. I used a couple of grades of sand paper so the removal was not too fast which made it easier to keep the two halves looking the same. I figured if this process went badly I just lost a little scrap. As I got close to shape I add the keel and bow pieces. The boat was a little to deep, so I sand papered it to a better depth by rubbing it upside down on the sandpaper.
 
The new boat is only 45mm long and will sit between the two life boats so I did not think it had to be perfect.
 
Oh,   Michelangelo was to have said when he carved his sculptures that he just removed everything that did not look like the sculpture.
 
Nenad, your work is one of the reasons I joined this forum.
 
 
Omar

Coming from a young salt, thank you. 
Here is a view I don't hope to see again. It is 'pre-main-shrouds'.
The lines from left to right are the two lines of the flag halliard, the royal backstay, the topmast backstay, and the four lines for the topgallant halliard (belayed as shown). I may still make a very small coil for the flag halliard.
 
I'll do the same on the starboard side and then do the shrouds (I think).

I finished off the rack........there really wasn't much else to do.   in the last picture,  I had drilled the holes and installed the eye bolts.   I didn't cement them in in case I needed to remove them for any reason.  I did have to remove the center one.....a piece of chain was captured in the eyelet.   then all three were cemented in place.

the skis were then cemented in place and the chains were hung on the outer ones with hooks that I had fashioned from a couple of other eye bolts.

the Phylly C was ready to accept the new addition

 
 
........and then the rack was cemented in place.   nothing to it 


 
I feel better already..........this build is hear-by finished.   this build turned out to be quite a bit of fun,  aside from my getting carried away.   I still have the plans......who knows.......I may even come up with yet another variant.........I do have one in mind.   but not right just yet.........the admiral would kill me if I did....LOL!    thanks to all for the comments and looking in......I hope you enjoyed it! 
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 38 – Stern Timbering 2
 
After setting the eight stern timbers, chocks were installed between them in scores at the “knuckle” where the timbers change direction upwards.
 

 
This knuckle gradually smoothes out into a curve in the cant frames section.  The assembly has not been sanded at this stage.  Some sanding has been done in the next picture, which shows all of chocks installed.
 

 
With this work complete, the cant framing was continued forward.  The next picture shows the method used for final beveling the frames before setting.
 

 
The first step in this process was to rough shape the frames on the disk and spindle sander.  Fine cut rasps and a #0 cut half round file were used to trim the frames right back to the lines on each face of the patterns on each side.  All this work could be done by hand, but the power tools save time.
 
In the next picture frame 47 has been installed on the starboard side and its port counterpart is being fitted on the port side using a template.
 

 
These templates were very easy to make by creating a view of the three profiles on the CAD worksheet for the cant frame.  They were then printed on heavy presentation paper and cut out with a knife.  This eliminated pasting to heavier stock and cutting on the scroll saw.  That was the method I had used previously.
 
The next picture shows the gluing up of the above frame.
 

 
The stern template and two clamps hold the frame in position.  In the next picture the next frame, #46 is clamped and glued on the starboard side. 
 

 
The next picture shows a closeup of the foot of the frame and the clamping.
 

 
The wet areas on the wood are from washing off the excess glue. 
 
In the next picture a knuckle chock has been installed between frames 48 and 47 on the starboard side and its counterpart is being glued in on the port side.
 

 
And so it goes.
 
 Ed

Just for fun, I added the full tail of line for the jeers.  0.75 mm. line is very near to scale for the 2.5" (6 mm.) line  and 36" would be nearly equivalent to 250' on the real ship.  Which is best used in a model?  A token coil to suggest additional line (as in the previous post) or the entire tail which is perhaps more realistic, but a bit overwhelming?  And the winner is?