kruginmi

Working through the data. I have the original ship plans but a number of things have been replaced / upgraded and/or changed. So you use the original data as a start, then figure out everything else. I still discover things seemingly every time I look at a photo I have taken. Biggest a-ha for me is the amount of wrap (copper and leather) used to keep chaffing and wear to a minimum. Never had thought about it in depth before. Makes a lot of sense, but most buried under rigging and never seen. The masting will definitely fit on a 18 x 24 inch piece of paper. This will make duplication pretty straightforward. Still need further work on the main mast, main boom and gaff. And now that I look at them, probably need titles for each component (for people not as sophisticated as us - haha).

It is getting real people. How many find drafting relaxing? I really enjoy this part.

Thanks Mark. Really hoping some places around here will be open by the weekend. Time will tell. Enough work to do on other things in the meantime. -Mark

Well, if I didn't know better I would think I know what I am doing LOL. I finally have a sheet of bulkhead plans that I am confident with for posterity. I cleaned up my drafting table prior and filed quite a stack of previous designs getting to this point. Pretty happy with that. Also uncovered my early on profile shot. The masting is all drawn out and triple checked on a separate drawing. What is seen here is pretty close. A pretty good day on my day 'off'. Found out my supply of 3/16" wood is only good for a couple of full bulkheads and currently have no way to get more easily. I might work on consolidating the masting designs onto a similar sized sheet for copying in the future. I also need to create a good Title Block for each page. Stay Safe, Mark

Well, it has been a long time coming, but I think I have the outer hull dimensions complete with good tracings to use. Now to forge ahead and start getting these full bulkheads cut out. Also, on the off time, make up a good set of plans for the future.

On to the next step of actually building a full hull (though POB). I need to use the frames on the 1/2 hull as templates for the full hull. However, they only show half a frame. Can't flip them over because they are beveled. You could do a bunch of drawing and meticulous duplication or.......make templates. Templates make sense for a number of reasons - need an accurate portrayal of what was built, need to transfer to plans, need to transfer to at least one build, need to remake bulkheads that are screwed up (highly likely). So I took some 1/32" basswood and traced both the forward and aft of each frame onto it. Then I cut close to the line. To finish, I affixed to the frame itself and sanded to shape. For the purists, yes, this introduces a 'small' inaccuracy, however it is well within the tolerances I find acceptable. The reason the deck side was not beveled was to allow these two templates to be aligned exactly in the ‘y’ direction. When you overlay these two templates the bevel introduced is readily seen: This gives you a great indication of what will be required sanding wise. Each frame will be handled this way, then the biggest template for each frame can be used on both sides of a centerline to truly mirror image the frame. The power of my 1/2 hull construction can be seen in its deconstruction: Using the designed bulkhead spine I have also rubber cemented the requirements onto the 1/8" board: It will take a little time to get all these templates knocked out but using 1/32" basswood is pretty fast. Hoping in the next day or two to start getting some full bulkheads cut out and slotted. -Mark

All basswood Eamonn. Wood frowned upon by many people for this hobby but it can be found (milled) in a few stores around here (in normal times). Knowing its strengths (and weaknesses) can lead to successful use. I pick up a piece here and there to spread out the cost over time, only way I could do this hobby. Druid is 96% basswood. I do have a limited supply of boxwood for the more detailed carving pieces (trim, figures, etc). It is nice to be able to run out if you are short a piece or two I agree. Mark

Realizing you have no idea what is in the basswood stash. So pulled out the big pieces and organized. this does not include the containers of smaller pieces.

Interesting question I had was how to draw this profile. I basically considered it a slice right through the middle of the boat. However, a side effect of this (with the deck camber) is that the railings shown should be reduced in height by about a planks height. If you look at the top of the quarterdeck you can see the delineation of the planking, then the false deck, then the underlying fore and aft bulkhead. By lowering the railings it would look like the railings are not on the same level with the quarterdeck which would be in error. Interesting. An option would be to omit the railing entirely but that might lead you to think the main deck was just like the quarterdeck (just flush). Just as the top down view shows a width to the widest point, which depending on the tumblehome, can be in a variety of locations. Drawing a set of plans for the first time has been very enlightening and I have a greater respect for the process. I think this reliance on just one view sometimes led to the issues I identified (and fixed) with the prototype. To jump start the bearding line I drew the main keel a plank's width below the lowest part of the bulkheads. The primary bulkhead will be an 1/8" while the keel will be 1/4" thick. My thought is that this will make planking cleaner. In fact, all planking can be done prior to the affixing of the keel itself (remember POB). Question: Should I keep it like this or move the thickness of the keel up to the bulkheads to allow the bulkhead to have the bearding line custom cut?

Next step is to capture all the deltas in a new profile drawing (to include false deck and planking). It is important that all the prototype measurements align with this capture (as much as possible - there is a deck slope port and starboard). Once satisfied, I will start capturing the bulkhead profiles. These will include fore and aft profiles per (capturing bevel amounts). This will be the master to create the exploded component view - keel, fore&aft bulkhead, and eventually slot depths. Whoops - Forgot to add the false keel. Probably raise the height of the aft stem more into the hull (specific name escapes me at the moment).

Alright, think I am at the end of the road for this prototype. All outer bulkhead bevels added and the blocks shaped fore and aft. I am not beveling the deck portion on this build. I did have to add a 1/16" skin to a section of one bulkhead but other than that, everything worked out. The blocks I kept putting off thinking they will require lots of carving, sanding and other. In my mind they had grown into 1" by 3" by 5" monsters. The truth very different. Pretty straightforward. I might add some dowels through the keel to keep it in place. -Mark

I think I am left with beveling the lower frames, and adding a block at the extreme fore and aft for plank affixing. Maybe this afternoon. Added a false keel. Had to cleave off the keel forward of the scarph joint (don't ask) so vertical line at V7F frame is this fix (ignore). Everything appears ship shape and to plan. Making templates coming up.....

Come on In Eamonn - the water's fine! I don't know about that 'league' comment - given the number of missteps and do overs I have done HaHa. I came out of the initial draw up phase pretty confident I had knocked it out of the park - boy that is funny. Here's hoping that when I do the full POB the same voyage of discovery won't be retaken LOL. When you do a Frankenstein build though, no one can 'really' criticize you since you are doing a what if. Well, they can criticize but you don't have to listen! Thanks for the kind comments, I will buy you a beverage of your choice should ever we meet. -Mark

I feel like I am posting the same pics over and over again but there are HOURS of work in between. This series is called 'Almost There' haha. I am thinking another solid day and this just may be. Did some sculpting of the stern (again) but pretty complete. I still need to add a block below the wing transom to allow shaping of the stern and better attachment for planking. The bow is pretty set, with the exception of the bow block (same purpose) and a few other minor details. I (of course) got messed up with the railing height (my template meant for above the false deck, started to apply without it so......some 'repairs' are required. Final shaping of the bulkhead bevels are soon to come. This process has been very educational (and frustrating) but getting back into the groove needed some re-education. I am looking forward to the next step of a good set of drawn plans and then a full POB build to validate. Stay Building My Friends, Mark

No time like the present. Got'r done. (well, keel assembly still has to be redone, but that is easy). The pivot point to rotate the bulkheads was easy after all - the reference point I used to locate the bulkheads originally was the step up from the deck to the quarterdeck, so the pivot used was the deck so this alignment remained. The plans overlayed with the Hannah sure look a lot more alike. Finally, transferred to the building board. I had to take off and reset the locating blocks but that was no big deal. Some frames show a bit off because of some drawing issues, I was in a bit of a hurry to get this done. Never Give Up, Never Surrender -Mark

Oh boy, big changes coming (I blame Druxey LOL). Cleaning up the work area today and decided to do some comparing against Harold Hahn's Hannah plans. From an above view pretty happy the comparison is pretty close and there is close alignment (frame width and spacing the same, etc). The same can also be true from the side view: The deck profile is almost scary on how close it is (I aligned at the keel). The difference in the slope of the frames is readily apparent. What I didn't think was that for the distance of the step up to the quarterdeck and for the railing posts, the difference really isn't that much. The keel depth will be re-verified but is much deeper on the Chapman plans. So.......I am going to redo the ship to have frames vertical to the keel. This isn't as bad as it sounds. I will redraw the profile and figure out the point for the bulkheads to pivot at (deck, waterline or keel). I will then figure out how to mount to board so the bulkheads are still perpendicular to the slot cut in the board. The existing bulkheads will be modified as necessary (shouldn't be much) to conform to the new design. At the bow may need to recut one or two but time will tell. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do LOL. (again, thanks Druxey). It will be a better model in the end. Mark

Yea, I redid the stern. Every just say 'not good enough'? It is for a prototype and was 'good enough' for measurements, but I could refine a few things so I put on the good tunes and started over. Now I am content. -Mark

Druxey, the conundrum is that I need the above waterline version to reflect that seen at the museum. This will include the addition of gun on the centerline of the boat, which can be rotated port or starboard - though this feature will be removable. It is for their public excursions (pirates, for the kids/adults). They sail/motor 3 - 4 times a day 1-2 hours. The railing supports, but more specifically the step up found to the stern are all perpendicular to the waterline. It did push me to the enclosed POB version. Who knows, might create a second one that is more accurate, I will have all the data to do so. It is an interesting exercise. -Mark

Pretty productive day - take them when I can get them. Focused on the stern aft of the wing transom. This is currently being setup as a bulkhead prototype but the intent is to also get the information for a POF set of plans. I worked with the prototype and generated the key transom set pieces (can't remember the name of these things). Trip down memory lane with the Druid. The problem here is that the wood is 1/8" thick (6" scale). This will snap in multiple pieces if you look at it wrong. So back to original construction techniques - laminate. I used 2 pieces of 1/16" thick wood and glued together rotated 90 degrees with respect to grain. Then there was a lot of measuring, cutting, sanding, frowning - repeat. Worked through all of the required things to consider (like the window and carving a slot into the transom for them to fit. I sit back and am happy with the progress today. Thanks for dropping by and taking a look. -Mark

A host of clean up tasks to bring everything up to spec: - Redid first bulkhead. Somewhere this thing mutated. Now makes sense and looks right. - Lower false deck edges sanded flush with frames. - Upper bulkheads cut to allow for false deck - Upper false deck deck to shape - Rearmost bulkhead cut out Now actually looks like something. I did laugh at myself (you have to in ship modeling). When I removed all the paper templates from the frames there was some slop in the alignment slop (to be expected). I cut some wedges to firm things up. Half way through sanding I realized I had left the left side of the slot filler (ship to edge of board) tight but not affixed to allow for this correction. Remove all wedges and push in my adjuster. Job done. The Building Board is getting a little crazy (I glue on another bench). If I didn't know any better I look like I know what I am doing LOL. Thinking of adding another bulkhead forward. Since I am going to make a full POB this would be in line with this process. The rest will be a basswood block shaped. I want to get the stern buttoned up so that will continue. Then the Bow. All the masts, spars and such are all drawn out and correct (same as used on actual boat). The key is to get the frankenstein hull complete enough so I can make accurate plans that I trust. -Mark

Decided to tackle the false deck next. This was not straightforward for a number of reasons but I thought the stability a false deck would bring would help so there you go. I did bevel the upper part of each bulkhead to allow a smooth transition fore and aft. Figuring out the false deck dimensions are not necessarily straight forward. Yes, there is an outline defined but the dimensions extend to the widest part of the ship at each frame, which may (or may) not be found at the deck level depending on the tumble home (but it is a start). So the first thing I did was take each bulkhead and scribe the deck level on the inner edge. I whipped up a Deck camber guide and drew in the deck extending to each bulkhead edge. Then, I drew in the rails that projected up to to hold the railing. Of course, doing some quality control checks showed the railing posts were too short and had to have small pieces added to achieve the necessary dimension. Here was my first dunder head moment: I had carefully measured, cut and sanded to the precise level just below the planks.....BUT did not include the space required for the false deck. MORE measuring, cutting and sanding (I had good tunes going so that was ok). I checked the resultant widths against the outline drawing. Above the false deck there was quite a bit of difference, below not too bad. I decided to cut out the deck as defined and sand any excess off later. Each bulkhead was measured against the deck to accurately place the railing post. This was cut out and verified. Finally the bulkheads were put back into their respective stations and all the pieces put on. (Seemingly the the first time) everything worked and I could look at this stage as being done. Still need to sand the little excess off of the false deck and actually put the bevels in below the false deck but calling this as milestone done. Now looking hard at the bow. That first bulkhead just doesn't look right. I need to re-verify and get that area so it makes sense. THEN sand the bulkheads to correct bevels. Stay Building My Friends. -Mark

I am posting today as a warning to others......Man, have I made stupid quality issues throughout! Attention to detail. This has almost become like work (ok, not really, and I am making progress). First up the stern. Remade the stern post to look more tidy and took a wack at a wing transom (or two or three wacks). The thing I keep forgetting is that the measurements can't solely be taken off of the as built plans, that the lower hull is from Chapman. Sigh. Finally got there in the end. Still need to cut the slots for the rear bulkhead supports (three per side). Still some tweaking to go there.. Bow: BIG ISSUE (okay, found out not so bad). I cut the template for the area between the foreward most bulkhead and the stern post (from the as built plans - the deck should be spot on so easy peasy). WRONG. The frame and template did not match up at all. I thought bad thoughts and swore the as built plans had issues. So frustrated I almost tore my plans in two. Deep breath. After cooling off and rationally looking at it I finally figured out I had mapped the frames wrong (ME). I had used frame W when I had labeled everything X. Luckily X was smaller in profile than W so with some quick measuring I cut the frame correctly and everything lined up. Phew. Bow: Another Issue. The drawn template laid down on the forward edge of the stem post (can't even remember the right lingo right now) as opposed to the bearding line. After more head scratching figured I had taken the as built deck dimensions (good job), but the as built layout did not include the protrusion of the stem past the planking. The as built ship is an unsinkable Coast Guard approved tub and really doesn't need or have this. So......I redrew the front of the ship to extend it out. Now the deck is the same as the as built (kudos) and I have the stem to seat my bowsprit on - Win Win. So lots of issues to work through but solutions found that didn't involve starting from scratch. Again, so glad I decided to do this 1/2 hull mock up to get through these things. Next up is to finish the rear bulkhead then cut out a false deck for strengthening the bulkheads but also to validate the deck perimeter and sand correctly. Wish me luck. -Mark

What a noob. I have been away from this hobby too long LOL. Thinking about what I had been doing (largely on automatic) and specifically the stern and realized a couple of facts: 1. I still need to cut the bearding line which would reset the planks into the keel but ALSO setup up for flush mount on the stern post (at least for the garboard strake). 2. The lines I had used from the Chapman I had forced to be the OUTSIDE of the planks. Duh. So the frames used on the stern were a plank width too wide on the bottom. Take the combination of the two and you have a much more organized stern that actually fits together. You have to laugh at yourself sometimes. The frames still have not been beveled so that will also help a lot. I do pat my back that this 1/2 hull is to prove out dimensions prior to investing in a bigger build so I take solace. The wing transom will be next to finalize this stern build area. Also the final stern post will have a dado into the keel. I also decided I didn't like the amount of keel above the frames, so I sliced down to an 1/8" total. Looks better. Pictured alongside is a 1/16" thick plank (3" scale), 1/4" wide (12" scale). Stay Building (and learning) my Friends, -Mark

On wards and upwards. The ends of the frames (near the keel) were a little hacked up. So, I cut a bit off and reconstructed to clean them up. I cut out a basic keel shape and also cut the frame slots out. The frames stick a 1/4" into the keel. An 1/8" of this will be a 1/8" slot for the frames to sit on and insure they are centered. Might cut the total slot to 3/16". The beauty of a 1:1 1/2 hull prototype. The bow is soon to come. Need to reacquaint myself on how to terminate the planks on the stern (below the waterline) for a Bermuda Sloop like design. No room to curve into the stem at all, has to have a bulkhead like piece to land on. Above the waterline need to also identify the wing transom and related architecture. Have to dig out my books. -Mark

With a good fair wind I added the braces tonight. Everything still removable and all bulkheads lay flat to easily transfer to vellum when everything done. Next up is to clean up the bottom edges to the bearding line and work on getting the 1/2 keel added for strength. Also need to cutout a false deck to get that sizing correct. - Mark