SkerryAmp

I have been working on some metal pieces as well. Here is a shot of the band at the top of the topmast. The entire topmast will be painted white, as will this band.
 
Russ

It has been a while since I had a real update, but it has been busy, both in the shop and out. Work gets in the way, but I have also had several commissions of late, some of which I will bring to your attention in time.
 
Here is a look at the wheel. The close up looks rather nasty, but once it is on the deck it blends in quite well.
 
Russ
 
 

After a lot of work, vacation, hot weather and more of that funny stuff I have find some time to work in the workshop ......
I paint the gunport lids ,drill a few hundred holes for the eyebolts and place them also.
Also glue the hinges as you can see 
Also make the chainplates and put pins in it.
Now I can drill again a few hundred hole to attach the lids.
And make the cables......
So another update will take some time.
But I'm still around as you can see.
 
Sjors
 
 

I've been pecking away at the build as time permits. I'm jumping around a bit but it keeps my interest up and avoids the repetitive work that gets old for me pretty quick. I'll post whats been accomplished by each photo below. Note that many items are dry fit and once I'm confident of the location and no need to move for access, I'll glue them in place. Pins were used for the majority of parts to reinforce their attachment. Forgive me if I mess up the nomenclature of the various parts. It's still mostly a foreign language to me.
 
Next on the list is to make the main topgallent/royal mast.
 
Next week I'm off to Ohio again. My mother bought a new desktop and her needs help loading Windows 10 and moving all of her files over from the old desktop (which will no longer boot up - darn), so the shipyard will be closed for a few days. It will be good to spend a few days with mom and dad.
 


I made and installed the aft starboard channel, along with the quarter boat davits, deadeyes that need rotated/glued/darkened, as well as the chainplates. I'll attach the chainplates to the hull as soon as I can align them with the angle of the shrouds. The main mast wedges are ready for painting, but I still need to make and attach the spanker step (?) The shroud sheer bars will be installed once I'm sure work is done in that area so I do not knock them off. 
 



The main mast, main topsail, main topmast/octagon swell/crosstrees and main top are made and dry fitted. I have some final sanding to do. I need to measure the swell to verify the diameter is not too large.

The fore mast is simply the dowel used to make the mast, sitting loose.

Here is a quick shot of the jack- screw on two carronade.

It's too hot to do much work in the garage so a quick minor update sounds like a good thing to do. I finished one channel with chain-plates, on the fwd starboard side. I'll use three steel pins and CA plus PVA glue to mount it in place. The photo shows it with the three pins holding it in place dry. The center pin hole is slightly too high on the hull which shows up in the photo. I'll make the center hole a bit bigger to correct the bow and secure the pins in place with med CA along with PVA for the wood to wood contact.  I was going to start on the aft channel, but after giving it some additional thought I decided I need to finish some deck work so I do not knock off the boat davits and sheer bars that get mounted with the aft channel.
 
I've been procrastinating on making the remaining carronade jack-screws (17) and rope coils. The jack-screws are simply a pain to make and I need to order more rope for the rope coils, but I need to finish these tasks before I paint myself into a corner. Below is a photo of a no. 90 brass hex head with a 0.017 drill bit. I drill the bolt head through in two locations 90 deg apart. Once the four holes are in place, I turn the bolt head to make it round, then add wire to simulate handles. The wire ends are dipped in CA glue to look like knobs on the end of the wire. I'll blacken the assy and then mount it on the carronade. 
 

I use my drill press to drill the holes and chase the holes with my hand drill. Four down fourteen to go.
 

Here you can see the center of the channel is slightly high. 
 

Someone needs to stow that anchor before a big wave rolls it into someone and kills them. 

As time permits, I've been working on the channel chainplates. This is a first for me and to say it's a challenge is an understatement. I tried several different methods and settled on one using pins in a board to help shape the wire. I'm trying to keep the OAL within the drawing spec but I'll know how well I did once they are hanging on the ship.
 
I also recently purchased a wood chopper from NorthWest Short Line and after market soldering station at a Hamfest. Both work great and after using the chopper a few times, wished I found it day one when I started with this hobby.
 

Jig for deadeye, similar type wire jig used for links.
 

Some of the links soldered. My soldering skills have deteriorated, no signs that I used to install and solder strain gages...
One assembly together with first effort at blacking - needs more work! Once assembled, I'll rotate the deadeye to it's proper point and use CA to prevent it from rotating.
 


Single edge razor blade held in by a single screw. Extra screws were provided.
 

From the top, walnut, pear and basswood. All with very clean cuts.
 

I managed to get some work accomplished over the past few weeks. The catheads are installed except for the tension rod. I need to pull to fwd facing eyebolts and reinstall. I did not notice how crooked they are until after I took the photos. They were evenly installed but i noticed the spacing was not quite right so I pulled them and reinstalled them crooked on the other plane! The aft boat davits were also installed, as well as the fore and aft fife rails. I still need to install the cleat on the aft fife as well as the bitt knees. The fife rails and bilge pump are pinned but will not be glued in place until I'm sure they are in the correct position or do not need any rework.
 
Next on the list are the channels and chainplates.... 
 
Again, sorry about the dust and paint nicks but after all it is a construction site...     

A minor milepost in the overall build but a major one for me...
 
Six strakes have been added and to check how the tuck planking went, I taped the sternpost into position and took a few extra shots.   Roughly sanded (sorry about the sawdust) and there's some gaps need filling.  Overall, I'm feeling pretty good at this point.  At the stern area, I'm off by about 3" (scale) which could be tolerance buildup or one side was of the transoms was off by that much.  I'm thinking it has more to do with some tolerance buildup and the angle the planks came into tuck.  The bow is about 2" (scale) off.   
 
I do like the way the lines are shaping up with planking.
 
I need to re-mark off the hull and re-check the measurements and then do a few more strakes before putting the garboard back on.  And sand, sand, sand.... <cough><cough>:  Luckily the air filter system I've added to the workshop is doing it's job.
 



 
Comments, questions, abuse is always allowed.  Ok.. maybe not the abuse part... 

Still hammering away...    Thanks for the likes and comments.
 
Here's the latest pics.  Starboard side wide wale planking is complete.  Needs final sanding and bit more caulking (  ) of some planks that I didn't quite get fitted right.  Relatively minor fix, in my opinion.  the splotchiness is from wiping it down with water to raise the grain for the final sanding.  An interesting effect is that not all Swiss Pear is the same color.. some is darker than the others.   Interesting.
 
Next comes the narrow planks.  per measurements, I need 28 strakes.  Seven strakes at the stern to the deadwood so I need to take those into account as they are 9" planks on the counter to the deadwood. After that, they can be wider as they run to the garboard.  The bow will need serious tapering and I'm starting to mark everything out.
 
Any tips, oops, or advice appreciated.
 




 

Here's the close up pic I promised....  I'm not done sanding or "caulking"/crack filling yet and there's sawdust all over...   but you should be able to see how the ebony flows and fills the area between fore end of the channel (the open spot) and the main wale and how the main wale planking is all blended together. The wide planks (wale planks) are all about 1 foot wide, actually a bit more since the French foot was bigger than the English foot.  The rest of the planking is approximately 9 inches wide, and again, it's slightly larger than the comparible English planking.
 

 

Hi Mark,
 
2 comparisons with 64 and 74 guns.
 
-Observe the similutude between the pilaster, on yours and on the 74.
 
-Roughly, planking has 2 thickness.
 
For the 64 guns, 1729, in orange is the thickess and  in purple is thinner.
I would guess that 40 years later, although planking still has 2 thickness, they simplyfied the process.
 
For the 74 ,  in black, for the wales only, planking is thicker and in yellow, thinner.

Thanks for the "likes" and comments.
 
Druxey.. I'll try. 
 
Dan... thanks for explaining the anchor stowage planking.  You beat me to it. 
 
Hi John,
I have the pictures from Boudroit's History of the French Frigate 1650-1850    As built, she had wales similar to the English but her decorations including quarter galleries were typical for the period.  See pictures.

 
After a rebuild/Great Repair or whatever the French called it, she resembles the Belle Poule and it also appears the L'Hermoine is similar (same period) in galleries, planking but Licorne, has the full Arms of France for the stern decoration due to not having the chase ports on the quarterdeck level.   The wales were converted to as shown and also as you explain.  It's been a bit confusing at times especially since Hahn thought it was Le Venus that should be used.  Le Venus  was an 18-pdr of a later period and design. 
 
One big surprise was they went from 5 stern windows (4 real and 1 deadlight) to 7 windows (4 real and 3 deadlights).  Also, the original design had lids on the ports.  After the rebuild.. no lids.
 
One thing I did discover from Boudroit's works is that the 8-pdr and 12-pdr frigates were very similar and the biggest difference as far as visual is that on a 8-pdr, the quarter deck stops on the aft side of the main mast.  On the 12-pdr, the quarterdeck continues to the fore side of the mainmast.  
 
The more I get into this build, the wilder some things seem to get. 
 
Edit.. accidentally hit "post" while writing this.

Thanks for the "like", the comments and looking....
 
Here's the current state...  
 
The wale (wide) planking is complete on the port side.  Work is continuing on the starboard side.  I've temporarily tacked in place the garboard strakes in order to measure the remaining area for the "normal" planking strips.  I'm also sorting out how many battens I'll need...  I'm thinking probably 3 of about 8-10 planks between battens..
 
At this point, I know I'm going to need drop planks and stealers since various monographs show them...  I'm assuming this was the normal method for the French ships and not the monograph author's but haven't been able to verify it.
 
Click on the image to enlarge and as always ideas for improvement are welcomed.
 

 
 

A side update... I'm doing the drawings for the ship's boats and I'll be putting one together while waiting for glue to dry on the main hull.    So as not to "interrupt the flow of things", I'll either make them a separate log like Danny did for his, or just hold off until the planking is done.  Here's a bit of where I am on these. 
 
The longboat drawings are done but still need some tweaking.  Seems that I didn't always account for kerf which I finally managed to get down to 0.015" (0.381mm).  And man, these things are tiny.  Might just be the end of me....
 
Here's two pics of the parts being cut, which is something I couldn't do on a scrollsaw to save my soul.   I tried and failed several times.

 
 
And here's the resulting parts.... the keel is 5" or 125mm long.  The keel and assorted structural members are 1/16" (1.5mm) thick cherry.  The frames (which look like bulkheads are 1/32" (0.79mm)) cherry and the other parts (knees, seats, thwarts on the upper left and upper right) are 1/32" from scrap holly but I'll have to redo them in boxwood as soon I as get some milled down.  I'm planning on using Chuck's method but gluing the bulkheads upside down into a basswood jig for handling and planking.
 
There (hopefully) will be two more boats.  A barge and cutter and all will be nested into the longboat.
 

I'm hoping for opinions..  and fear not, I can take critique... 
 
I've sanded and shaped quite a bit on the last cant frame and the transoms.   Is this better?  Does it need more work?
I removed 5 planks, the 3 now installed are only tacked into place and will need beveling, etc.   But I wanted to get an opinion.  I'm thinking they look 100% better, but not sure how "accurate" it is.  Do I need more work on this area?
 
I managed to sort out what my references show (unfortunately, no planking expansion but that's to be expected) for plank that's now wrapped around a bit.  Which what the references seem to show.
 
Thanks in advance.  
 

Being the conservative builder that I am especially when it comes to major changes, I've done some serious reshaping of the transoms.  I think I'm close but I'd like some other opinions.  I've blue taped down some thin battens.  If it looks good, I'll start bending the real wood and planking.  The ends of the existing planking are not a problem.  I have some fashtion pieces that cover the counter timber ends and the hull planking timber ends.
 



 

To quote Shakespeare's King Henry V: "Once more unto the breach, dear friends,"
Or maybe Daniel (Dafi):   "Mass Destruction!!!! hihihihi!!!!"
 
Bottom photo is the mod to be made... I need to arc more.   Planks are stripped, power sander and sanding sticks at the ready... 
 


 
 

Really looking sharp Popeye - the color choices are fantastic and the little details are making it awesome!

Love the whaleboats - they are done up very similarly to the mayflowers, you did a great job with them.  Inspiring seeing them actually go together correctly (considering mine my wife lovingly referred to as the mayflowers giant peanut.. needless to say it is not on the ship =) ).
 
Went to see the Morgan this past week - it was an experience and adds a bunch as I read back through your adventure building it!
 
Fantastic work!

Augie, ever so humble - from where I sit you certainly deserve the praise - that is such an incredibly looking model.  The detail, cleanliness and tightness is really coming together to make work of awesomeness (yes that is a word, I say so).
 
Carry on - loving it!!!

Sorry Mark, I was looking at the third photo. By drawing on the background it seems to me that the strakes at the stern should have a more harmonious bending and not folded so neatly. Perhaps the transom should be tapered a little to avoid the edge so sharp. Or am I wrong?

Been a bit since that last update... I stripped off 5 strakes of planking at the stern and reworked it with some help in the form of advice and mentoring from Dan and Druxey.  They set me straight and on the right path.   I'll do a bit more sanding (still rough only for now) and then turn the hull around and to the other side.  I did some templates and the shapes look pretty close so I think that side will go a bit quicker.  I shouldn't have to plank, rip off the planks, sand and then replank several times... 
 
I have a dummy fashion piece held in with the blue pin to get the plank ends correct and I'll be fitting the real thing later. I'm not too worried about the plank ends being 100% squared up as there's a reasonably wide covering trim plank that will go over them.  Besides, isn't it supposed to be deal with one headache at a time.
 
I just noticed....my work area is beyond messy... sorry.
 
Thanks for the comments, the help, and the support.  Back to motoring on and making sawdust.
 

Really looking sharp Popeye - the color choices are fantastic and the little details are making it awesome!

Minor step but for me a scary one.   Rather than put off drilling holes for the mounting bolts and pedestals, I chose to grab the beast by the horns and go for it now.  That way if something went really amiss, it would be fixable.
 
So, I set the ship under the riser on the workbench, grabbed my Dremel drill press and proceed to cobble a way.  I rotated it around, clamped and screwed it to the riser. It took a good 10 minutes of fiddling to get everything centered up and squared away.  After inserted a very small bit, I held my breath and drilled.  And it worked like a charm.  I turned the ship around and repeated for the forward hole.   Took a picture for posterity's sake. 
 
The pedestals fit nicely and the screw didn't do any damage.