Wintergreen

as I said earlier...
Michael, your standard is very good and we are our own worst critics. However, a picture can both enhance an hide what we consider defects on our builds.
I agree with John above though.

as I said earlier...
Michael, your standard is very good and we are our own worst critics. However, a picture can both enhance an hide what we consider defects on our builds.
I agree with John above though.

as I said earlier...
Michael, your standard is very good and we are our own worst critics. However, a picture can both enhance an hide what we consider defects on our builds.
I agree with John above though.

as I said earlier...
Michael, your standard is very good and we are our own worst critics. However, a picture can both enhance an hide what we consider defects on our builds.
I agree with John above though.

Hi Christian,
 
I've missed your updates since last summer. Very nice and convincing half model for a start.
And 1:32...that's Geatan style, impressive. 
Clean job on the keel so far, very nice.

Thank you all for the likes.
 
Build part 35
 
I modified some small clamps that I made a while back, I took out the spring and added a short length of styrene tube, this enabled the clamp to close with a degree of pressure not easily available with the springs.
 

 
the small diameter of the bent brass part allowed me to get into a pretty tight spot.
 

 
After the planks were glued I gave a leveling sand ready for the filling.
 

 
next I thickened up the coloured glue and spread it over the surface as if I was grouting tiles...... I won't do that again
 

 
It was really hard scraping this all off my thumb is sore from the pressure.
 

 
It looks OK not quite as good as I wanted... I am thinking about the next move....
 

 
Michael

Hi Christian,
 
I've missed your updates since last summer. Very nice and convincing half model for a start.
And 1:32...that's Geatan style, impressive. 
Clean job on the keel so far, very nice.

Continuing the assembly of the stem..
 
I used temporarily spacers to fit the Knee of the Head, which is only 10'' thick, to the stem.


Next I shaped the Knee of the Head using the info David Antscherl gives in his books. After this I glued the completed assembly to the stem. Therfore I used brass pins and the earlier descriped spacer. At last I shaped the competed stem to the hopefully right thickness.






 
In the moment I work on the lower apron and the rising wood.

I've finished the "Disposition of Frames" drawing.
 

 
I am not quite happy with the position of the timberheads between station line 17 and 19. But this is the position I got from the As Built plan of the Fly.
 
Next I will built my building board and start with the model.

Today it rained all day, so I had enough time to finish the design of the cant frames





The Bollard Timbers and Hawse Pieces are missing to complete the planning of  framework.
The individual components and the frames I'll draw later during the build.

Next, the construction of the two-stage slipway is on the ToDo list, then I can lay down the keel for the model.

Welcome on bord, Antony
 
The completion of the hull of my control model in the region behind the last frames has attracted much longer than expected.
When planning the last phase of the construction I realized that the body plan of the original drawing and therefore my reconstruction at the top of the last two frames is too narrow. So back to the drawing board and the frames 19 and 20 newly constructed. The hull at frames 20 is now about 1 mm wider in the region of maximum breath than originally. With the help of several buttok lines and the new water lines I have also redesigned the transoms

I haven't add all changes on the test hull, so you can see in the pictures the not entirely harmonious course of the lines.





The first step of my little project -the reconstruction of the lines- is complete.
In between, I have asked myself several times whether the construction of the half-model was even necessary. After the problems in the reconstruction of the transoms and fashion pieces, that define the shape of the stern, have identified, the construction of the test model was more than worth. I am happy to have the mistakes now and not found during the construction of the POF model.

In the next few weeks I'll construct keel, frames and all other components that are needed to build the hull. In autumn I like to start the construction of the POF model. Until then, one last picture which shows the side view of the test hull.
 

Thanks Johann, druxey, Mike and Nils for your nice comments and all others for the Likes
 
Next I've installed all bulkheads until frame 20 and the filling pieces.
 

 
Then my favourite pastime - sanding
 

 

Its such a pretty little ship, John.
 
Hope you are well.

Its such a pretty little ship, John.
 
Hope you are well.

Its such a pretty little ship, John.
 
Hope you are well.

Thanks for all the fine comments and encouragements.
 
Build part 34
 
The cockpit area planks have been trimmed to withing a 1/64 of the cockpit stringer and the longest planks cleaned up a bit.
 
Now the planks are getting shorter and will go a bit faster.
 
All of the billets have been curved ready for splitting.
 

 
gluing progresses
 

 
Something I have been thinking about is to finish gluing all the forward planks including the king plank then do a preparatory sanding. Next using a razor blade like a putty knife and forcing a thickened glue into the remaining space for the caulking. I was wondering if anyone has thickened up the glue with the Costello dust and how it responded.
 
Michael
 
 

It seems forever since I last updated the log.  Things have been pretty hectic around here plus both Pam and I have had a few health issues which have slowed things down considerably.  Thankfully I'm now able to get back into the workshop.
 
All the spars have now been made but, as can be seen in the photos below, not yet detailed.  The jaws of the mizzen boom and gaff have now been finished off, so the next job on the spars will be to get some bands made, which means I'm really going to have to haul out the soldering gear soon or I'll run out of things to do on the model for lack of metal fittings.  I still have the dunny to make plus the windlass is only half done, so maybe I can put off the soldering just a little longer.
 
PS:  I actually enjoy soldering once I get started, but it seems to take me a heck of a long time just to get the equipment organised.
 
John
 

 

 

A Christmas update.  The 'Pritt' continues to move ahead slowly.  The pin rails are now fitted (although I now realise I forgot to photograph the model with them fitted - next time).  The belaying pins on these vessels were, generally, simple iron or steel bars fixed through the rails - nothing fancy on a pearl sheller!  The rudder has now also been fitted and the tiller made, but only temporarily in place for the photographs - it still needs painting and the steering blocks fitted before it's finally permanently fitted.  The end of the tiller kicks up like that at the end so that it's about hip height on a man standing to steer, although steering was generally done using the tiller ropes.
 
You will notice the unusual fittings for securing the rudder.  This type of rudder fitting is typical of T.I. pearl shellers - the upper gudgeon is simply a plate that is passed through a slot in the rudder abaft the rudder post and the lower gudgeon is a round fitting into which the lower end of the rudder post fits.
 
The masts have been commenced - the main mast has been shaped and the mizzen is tapered ready for shaping.  The spars are being made from Celery Top Pine, a traditional Tasmanian boat building timber and beautiful to work with.  I got a couple of scraps of it from a boatyard when we were visiting Tasmania a couple of years ago.
 
A happy Christmas to all.
 
John
 

 

 

 

 
 

Another update.
Not that I've been busy as a bee, but things are nevertheless progressing. (it can also be the fact that our pastor asked about it the other day...)
 
The first strakes I put in, without scarfs. Really tedious and hard to get proper alignment and nice joints to stem and stern. So, to ease my burden I changed the habit and cut the planks in two. The joint is a simple box joint, slightly angled. I will not put a covering piece on the inside, instead there are pins drilled through the topmost plank , into the underlying plank. This is also done at stem and stern.
The aftermost plank goes on first and the pin at the rear helps keeping the plank in place longitudinally. While the furthermost plank gets the pin in place prior to gluing to aid in proper fitting in the box joint.
 
A really sharp carpenters knife is useful to work away the waste. Apart from that, ordinary files are used and a little no 12 Stanley low angle block plane to work on the plank height (or width, whatever you want to call it).
 
Also notable in the pictures are my very untidy workplace. As can be seen in the pictures is the crude hull shape. Lots of dents and gaps and so. But since the plank thickness is 4 mm there is no real danger for me to be able to sand through the sides. As for the gaps, I will try wood filler of the sort that cabinet makers use.
 
Here is the sequence. 
Plank bent to shape... 

 
...and fitted to stem.

 
The open joint where the rear plank is glued and pinned in place.

 
at another angle and the tool.

 
Held and glued in place

 
And finally the clamps gone, Alas this is of course the other side. Clamps at the rear are holding next two planks in place so we are really picking up pace here...

 
About the sign on the wall in the first picture...did I mention that I bought a blue ocean sailing yacht, late august? Didn't I? But I DID! A long long dream come true and I am so so happy!
 
 
 

Hopefully the updates will come a bit more frequent from now on.
 
As previously noted, an awful autumn, but recovering is steady. Yay.
 
Strake no 3 in place and 4 on the go. Did one of those silly mistakes again. Cut a plank a couple of mms too short...gah! Good practice to fit new ones though...
 

 
And before you ask, a close up of the new homemade clamps. When comparing to Eds original I realize I some day might want longer rods to widen the gap. Well, they were quite easy to put together so over time they might get siblings.
 

 

Laying deck is messy regardless of scale it seems. In full scale the sikaflex used for caulking decks, smeared all over...gah. And then it is scraped off...lika caterpillat turning butterfly.
 
I think we all look forward to coming posts, Michael.

Laying deck is messy regardless of scale it seems. In full scale the sikaflex used for caulking decks, smeared all over...gah. And then it is scraped off...lika caterpillat turning butterfly.
 
I think we all look forward to coming posts, Michael.

I was just able to finish the steam wipers and the throttle housing before the holiday break.  I played around a little with the lighting and exposure time and think the photos turned out a little better.  I think the secret is as little light as possible when photographing brass.
 

The sheer strake proved challenging in more ways than I had anticipated. First, this strake tapers to a point at the bow. Finessing this was not easy. Secondly, I had a minor mishap. While working with the hull off the plug, my sleeve caught the unsupported aft end of the strake and it snapped off. So, a re-do. I flattened and re-assembled the broken plank to show its peculiar shape. Wes mentioned a U.S. quarter, so I've included one for scale.
 
I will not remove the shell from the plug again until both sides of the aft ends are complete and united with the outer transom! 

Further progress. The garboard is in on the port side and the forward plank on the starboard. The interesting thing is that, at any point in planking, provided one has spiled and shaped the plank to lie without stress, one can remove the model from the plug and it will retain its shape.