Altduck

Tadeusz
 
I want to thank you for posting this collection of detail photos.  Very helpful for a newcomer like me to see good, clear pictures of how these things were done on the various ships.
 
Richard

hello everyone
 
I thought of the idea and it works great !
 
1.make a photocopy of the bulkhead from the plans with the lines (of the center and WL)
2.now you need to paint the other side of the copy on the direction of the lines from the copy side by PENCIL
3.put the copy on the bulkhead with the lines outside and the pencil "paint" inside 
4.Now take a ruler lay it on the line and just mark the line with a pencil
5.by doing step 4 when you marking the lines on the paper you also marking under the paper Because the other side "paint" by pencil 
 
best regards 
Michael.

Mattss, Nick and Jjparsley,
 
Thanks for the kind words and encouragement.  I'm still moving at a finicky slow rate at planking. 
Here's where I am now.

Fitting the last planks, without any pointy ends, has been a challenge. It's an enjoyable and rewarding puzzle

Well, I got off the fence and ordered the Byrnes table saw with the standard micrometer, extended rip fence, miter gauge extension, spare belt, four Thurston 3" blades, 4 zero-clearance inserts, and the little bag of extra miter pins and screws.  I used the advice and link given above for the Hobbymill site to help decide which blades to get.  I'm so glad I ordered the Cutter Cheerful boxwood package in sheets.  My mahogany is all sheet goods as well.  Now I'll have something to cut it....very excited indeed!  I feel all warm and fuzzy.  

I am new to the forum and to ship building. Well sorta new. I began the Swift in 1999. Life and work conspired and the Swift went into storage after the bulkheads and main deck planking were completed. I recently dusted off the box and started again.
 
I have the rigging left to do. I made a ton of mistakes. So far I have been alone to sort the probems out. But at this point I'm not sure about things. So I Googled them. And that lead me here to your forums and build logs. They are a Godsend of information.
 
I've just mounted the main and fore sails to their respective masts. Next I'd like to mount the Jib on its halyard and stay (correct terminology?). I am studying the plans to understand exactly where each line goes. My plans don't have much detail. For instance I found that the flag and throat halyards have to feed through little holes drilled into the masts. NOWHERE are these holes indicated on my plans. I only found out about them by looking at pics in Gabe K.'s build log. Great log BTW!!!
 
When I worked the hull I got my first big surprise: As I know more than one Swift builder has discovered, the bow profile you get, does not match the required stem post contour. A little wood putty? Not hardly. Way too big a gap to span safely. I used little blocks cut from a spare bass wood plank and glued them into a random mosaic pattern to build out to the needed profile. You can just see the little squares in two of the hull photos. That did the trick. 
 
My first big thrill came with planking the deck. I included 2 photos of the planking. I was inspired by "Historic Ship Models" by Wolfram zu Mondfeild and "Ship Modeling from Stem to Stern" by Milton Roth. I don't know if a Virginia Pilot ever had a deck like mine, but the books made it seem plausible, I like it, and at ths point its here to stay. Even so I would appreciate any feedback on the deck and it appropriateness. So if this is an error, I will know better next time.
 
Next surprise was due to a big mistake I made in the bulwark planking. I did not check to see if I had enough plancking to do the bulwarks. As a consequence of using a complex planking pattern on the main deck, I ran short of planks to do the the outer bulwarks. BUMMER. I contacted AL for more. The wood was cheap. The shipping was not. I conserved the few remaining original planks to randomly intersperse with the new ones. The new blanks are much lighter and have a much tighter grain than the 16 yr old originals. Going down it looked horrible but on completon is hardly noticeable. 
 
When I had to get the replacment wood from AL, I ordered twice the wood that I needed "just in case." Good thing as the shipment got mangled during transit ruining a third or more of each plank. But the extra wood covered the loss.
 
Note the hull pic with some bulwark planking done, you can see the the hull is waiting for new wood.  BTW this has the best veiw of the mosaic used to fill in the bow.
 
Another consequence was spare time while waiting for new wood. So I decicded to build the deck houses. I planked the houses with the narrow sepalia (mahogany like) strips. When the new wood came in I switched back to hull planking, where I finished the upper bulwarks straight way and dived into the 2nd hull planking proper.
 
Here I made a big mistake, for the lower hull I continued to use the narrow sepalia planking that I'd started with on the deckhouses. The wide sepalia planking was the correct stuff to use. Needless to say I ran out of the narrow planks. Too far in to it to back out, I devised a jig that let me cut the wide planks into narrow ones. This allowed me to finish the hull.
 
A comment about mistakes like this: They make you feel really stupid, but sometimes they workout. The narrow planks fit around the hulls compound curves much better than the wide planks ever could have. Plus it just looks better and probably is closer to scale. Checkout the finished hull pic. The Sapalia (mahogany look alike) really shines and is just gorgeous. Lesson: Take your victories where you can.
 
Also note the mix between old and new Mukali (bass wood like) in the upper bulwark. Not too bad given the disaster it could have been.

Rope belaying
Small size ropes are belayed with belaying pins, which are plugged into pin rails.
Pin rails can be situated on bulwarks on the ship side or made as the fife rails
around mast.
Belaying pins are made of wood or metal.
On the ship is used one only diameter of pins with diameter is of thickest rope used in rigging.  
Excess of belayed rope is coiled and hanged on the pin.
Ropes with bigger diameter are belayed on cleats, kevels, bollards or riding bitts

Wissemara.

Gotheborg. The ship is fully rigged and seaworthy.

Jylland. The ship is not seaworthy and running rigging is significantly reduced

Jylland. Basket for rope excess.




Kruzenstern. The ship is fully rigged and seaworthy.


Passat. The ship is not seaworthy and running rigging is significantly reduced

Victory. The ship is not seaworthy and running rigging is significantly reduced


Warrior. The ship is not seaworthy and running rigging is significantly reduced.

Bounty
Kevels ( staghorns )

Amsterdam

Vasa


Batavia

Warrior

Victory
 
Cleats

Gotheborg.

Gotheborg. Shroud cleats.
Ridding bitts


Batavia Ridding bitts on lower deck for mooring lines and anchor cable.

Victory. Ridding bitts for anchor cable.
 
Tadeusz
 
 
 
 
 

Running rigging
Hemp rope rigging

Gotheborg.Fully rigged and seaworthy


Gotheborg. Partly furled sails and most important lines.

Shtandard. Fore top sail.

Top and royal yards rigging

Gotheborg.Mizzen lateen sail rigging.

Sthandard. Mizzen lateen sail rigging.

La Glorie. Mizzen gaf sail rigging

Bonty. Mizzen gaf sail boom with sheets.

Sthandard. Mizzen lateen sail yard with rigging

Batavia. Parral.

Batavia. Main sail yard hlyard with ramshead block

Gotheborg. Crowsfeet wit euphore.

La Grace.
 
 

Less than a week after finishing the AVS, yesterday I got up far too early, and spent the day at the annual model show put on in Phoenix by the local IPMS chapter. The Modelzona show is one of the largest annual shows, this year it had 550 entries, with my ship as the only non-plastic entry.  
 
I entered the AVS into the Surface Ships class that included some pretty amazing entries, including a 1/700 scale Japanese WW2 carrier in the middle of launching a strike, that had 313 little tiny crew figures servicing the planes and manning the guns etc., as well as 4 different entries by a guy who is a professional model-maker as his day job.
 
At the end of the day, the AVS did quite well. I took first place in Surface Ships, and also Best Ship (all ship/submarine classes).
 

Don't confuse Vanda-Lay industries with Vandelay industries, two completely different things.

Enough of the anecdotes! It's very simple, really:
 
1) The tool should be properly sharpened (as already mentioned).
2) Aways cut away from yourself.
3) In order to do this, the piece should be clamped, not held!
4) Don't work when you are tired.
 
The only times I've damaged myself were when I failed to observe any of the above.

Here is the application of the Niagara name to the bow and the stern. The stern had to be added before rigging the yawl. This were printed using the artwork above on photo paper at 300dpi.
 
Here is the port bow name.

Here is the stern with a slight arc; keep in mind that once the yawl is added not much of this is seen.

 
Here I am adding the canvas straps that hold the yawl. First I glued the end of the strip to the top surface and then wrapped it around and glued in place for an overlapping joint. The strips are white fine canvas sprayed with starch and ironed so it could be cut with a sharp blade for a 1/16" strip.
 

 
The strips were then wrapped around the yawl and up and over the rail and attached the the upper ring on the stern bulwark. To tie the knot to the ring re-wet the strip to make it pliable and easy to tie.
 

 
Next came the two cutters. First I add the canvas rub strips to the wooden slide battens. Then I tied .018" rope to the davits using a clove hitch half way between the cleat and the end sheave. Wrapped the ropes around the cutters while suspended in place and tied a clove hitch to the round section of the davit brace and cinched up to hold the cutter parallel to the water level.
 

 
Here is a close up showing better detail.
 

 
This shows an overview of all in place. 
 

 
Now to make up the oars for them and any other details like the 20 sweeps which are mentioned on the plans, but no information on where they were stowed. Ideas on where they ought to be stowed would be appreciated, or if they need to be added at all.
 

I use a piece of scotch tape. Place the tape where you would place the plank. Using a fine marker, trace the edges of the existing plate on to the tape. Remove andd place on top of desired plank. You will see exactly and how much material to remove. Get it close, then sneak up on it for the final fit.
 
Works really well when it comes to scarfs.

In wood working, hand-made joints, such as dovetail joints, are always done by making one side of the joint first, then using that part to scribe the other part.  There is no way to get a tight joint by making the two pieces independently.  Since the devil in in the details, they are:
 
1.  Whatever the profile of the joint, scarf, dovetail, miter, or a simple butt-joint, the surfaces of the joint must be exactly square to the surface of the profile. Otherwise, you may be tight on one side and have gaps on the other.  Using a file to finish joint by hand will  always end up with a convex surface and gaps on the edges.  So, have a good small square, with a light behind so you can see gaps.  For small parts there may not be a good surface to place the square, place both the piece and the square on a flat surface.  
 
2.  To help make a square cut, place the piece on a cutting board, then cut straight down, at 90 degrees to the board, with a sharp chisel.  You can use a block of wood to keep the chisel at 90 deg.  Cabinet makes us what is called a "paring chisel" for this which sharpened to 15 degree angle instead of the usual 25 degrees used on general purpose chisels.  An X-Acto chisel (#17, #18) is a good choice for model work.  The tool needs to be razor sharp, and do not take off too much in one cut - just take off shavings.  Use other tools to get the rough shape.
 
3.  With one piece made, the shape is copied to the other piece with a scribing knife, which has been sharpened on only one side of the blade so the cutting point is tight against the part you are tracing.  There is no way a pencil tracing is accurate enough.  You could use a #11 blade, but since it is sharpened on both sides there is a good chance that the scribed line will be 1/2 the blade thickness away from traced part.   A razor blade may work, but you may want to break if off to look more like a #11 so you can scribe in to corners.  Commercial scribing knives can be expensive, but Lee Valley Tools sells a reasonably priced one.  There's no reason you couldn't make your own by re-grinding a dull #11.  I've tried using scratch awls and needles for scribing, but I found they tend to follow the wood grain.   I would only use a point scriber for tracing concave curves that a flat knife couldn't follow: however, I can't think of any ship joints like this (unless you change you hobby to making jig-saw puzzles.)
 
4.   After you have roughed out the shape of the second piece to close to the line, the benefit of the scribed line comes into play.  Just hook the edge of the chisel in to the scribed line and cut straight down.  Even if your eyes can't see the line, you can feel when the chisel hooks.  In some cases, you could scribe both sides of the joint and cut from both sides.  One trick when cutting from both sides is to make the surfaces slightly hollow (concave) to ensure the edgers are tight.  Some people consider this a bit of a cheat, but it does ensure the joint line has no gap, which easily happens if the joint surfaces are evenly slightly convex.
 
After a test-fit of the joint, some paring cuts or scraping may be needed, but you will be very close to a perfect joint.  If a joint surface is convex, you can scrape it in the middle with the edge of a knife with a round profile (#10 knife).
 
If my description of the process is not clear enough, there are lots of places on the web that have good pictures.  Start at www.finewoodworking.com.   
 
Bruce

Oh bloody hell............. Someone one has just spent £161 from my account ☺️

I sent Mike a PM about his question. Here it is for those of you who may get some benefit from it :
 
Yep, it is impossible to get the 2nd deadeye through the gap between the lower mast and the topmast. That's why I don't fit the topmast until AFTER I've rigged all the shrouds and stays. The pics below will show my method :
 

 

 
 

 
I do a similar thing with the topmast shrouds and stays - I leave the topgallant mast off until they are all rigged. I make all the pieces of the whole mast up on the bench before I start fitting anything permanently without gluing the three pieces of mast together. I even leave the Mast Tops off until that section has been rigged.
 
Here's a LINK to the post in my build log of Vulture where I start fitting the shrouds.
 
BTW - the shrouds don't go from starboard to port. They are rigged in pairs for each side. That is, the first two shrouds on the starboard side are looped around the mast, followed by the first two for the port side. Then the 3rd and 4th shroud for starboard, 3rd and 4th for port etc. If there is an uneven number of shrouds the aft one for each side goes from starboard to port using a "cut splice" around the mast.
 
I hope my explanation is what you were looking for.
 
  Danny

This post was prompted by a request to further explain my rigging of deadeyes and i must admit when i looked back over my log my previous post on that stage where slightly confusing with my many wandering ideas . As i am at the rigging stage at present it seemed a good idea to explain more full my method and hope it may be usefull to others who like myself have not mastered soldering . Excuse the many pics but i find it the best way to explain .
 

 
this is .5 mm coated brass wire ,any finer may not hold it,s shape , any stronger is too hard to bend . once you have the correct length they are simple to mass produce .
 

 

 
the 2 ends are pushed past each other which leaves a double thickness at the bottom of the hook 
 


this then fits snugly into the slot in the channels 
 

I then drilled and put a very fine pin in to hold the deadeye in place and take the pressure of the chainplates 
 

the cap on the channels then covers everything 
 



the first link of the chainplates is then hooked in and the end closed in , No solder was used at this stage either as the pin inserted earlier will take the pressure of the chain , I hope .
 

The top deadeye was measured for length using the simple tool and then siezed in place 
I didn,t worry about leaving a small space at the top of the deadeye as it turned out usefull when finishing tieing the lanyards . 2 further seizings finished the process 
 


The 2 on the left have been trimed and are hopefully finished .When tieing off the lanyards i brought the line through the space between the deadeye end the first seizing on the shrouds , this kept it in line and ment the final tieing is on the back of the deadeye . Hope that makes sence ? I,m pleased to say that the solderless stroups held up under the strain of tightening the shrouds so i think i can safely say they work !!!!     Any further expanation needed i will gladly provide ?
 
last 2 pics show the mainstays from the missen mast ,i have been warned they are better fitted now than when the shrouds are on the mainmast .

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Everyone,
 
I have been building the deck fittings, hatches, and so on from cherry.  I made the hole in the hull for the bowsprit this morning:  drilled a small hole and than filed the hole to the finished size with a round file.
 
-Jason
 
 

Rudder made from cherry.  Blank cut out using dremel scroll saw, then carved and sanded to shape.
 
 

I like the railing you added on the upper deck; looks like you added a stairway access as well since previous photos, so I'm sure the passengers will appreciate the rail, too.
 
Very nice model.

Thank you to everyone, Strangely enough after all this time I decided to put another row of railings on the wheelhouse deck because somehow the boat just didn't look finished. I reckon it was well worth the effort.
I really am very grateful for all the comments and especially glad that the unpainted approach is appreciated.
 
 
 

Interesting.
 
Was there perhaps one ship "Solen" sunk at Gdansk in 1627, and another of the same name built in 1669 and sunk in 1694?

We are nearly at the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania.  I would like to recommend Dead Wake by Erik Larson which goes into the background of many of the passengers and crew of the Lusitania under the command of Captain William Thomas Turner as well as the German submarine U-20 under the command of Kapitanleutnant Walther Schwieger.  She was torpedoed a little after 2 in the afternoon of May 7, 2015 and sank in 18 minutes.
 
This is a non-fiction work but nearly reads like a novel.  Mr. Larson has done his homework and written a book that is not to be missed.   I could go on for a long time on this book but suffice it to say that it is "must read" for anyone with any interest in maritime history, the history of WWI, or history in general for that matter. 
 
Allan

Chris,
 
What a wonderful space to work with!  Just setting up your shop should be lots of fun, before you even start to use it.
 
I don't see much in the way of power and lighting but it looks like the main panel is in the far corner, so it'll be easy.  Before you enclose the remaining walls, you might want to run some 110VAC power around the walls and perhaps in the ceiling for drops out in the middle of the room.  Also, lighting of course.  I moved into a house with a smaller available shop space some years ago and it had minimal P&L as well.  I put in power outlets every 4 feet + or - along the walls, and about 4 ft above the floor so they would be above any benches I might install.  And I alternated the outlets so adjacent ones were not on the same breaker.  And - the ceiling lights I added are on their own circuit so if I ever amp out a tool circuit, the lights stay on.  If there aren't enough breaker slots in the panel, you can add a shop sub-panel.  That's what I had to do. 
 
You might start by sketching and designing the final ultimate plan, and what activities and equipment will go where, and what the power, ventilation, separation from other activities, etc. will be needed.  Then estimate the costs and priorities for each portion of the work so you can do it in a logical order when you choose to.  This way, when you can add something, it fits into the master plan.
 
Congratulations on your new home, shop and growing family,
 
Richard

Chris,
 
What a wonderful space to work with!  Just setting up your shop should be lots of fun, before you even start to use it.
 
I don't see much in the way of power and lighting but it looks like the main panel is in the far corner, so it'll be easy.  Before you enclose the remaining walls, you might want to run some 110VAC power around the walls and perhaps in the ceiling for drops out in the middle of the room.  Also, lighting of course.  I moved into a house with a smaller available shop space some years ago and it had minimal P&L as well.  I put in power outlets every 4 feet + or - along the walls, and about 4 ft above the floor so they would be above any benches I might install.  And I alternated the outlets so adjacent ones were not on the same breaker.  And - the ceiling lights I added are on their own circuit so if I ever amp out a tool circuit, the lights stay on.  If there aren't enough breaker slots in the panel, you can add a shop sub-panel.  That's what I had to do. 
 
You might start by sketching and designing the final ultimate plan, and what activities and equipment will go where, and what the power, ventilation, separation from other activities, etc. will be needed.  Then estimate the costs and priorities for each portion of the work so you can do it in a logical order when you choose to.  This way, when you can add something, it fits into the master plan.
 
Congratulations on your new home, shop and growing family,
 
Richard