kruginmi

While we are on the subject of improvements......your workspace is WAY too clean.  If my wife was to catch a look she would draw an obvious comparison to my space (with me on the negative side).  Please, throw some random tools / wood / clamps around for my sake (at least when taking pictures).
 
Humbly, Mark

Nick your right about the pins, was not happy with the way the futtock shrouds looked. Thanks
 
Mark no problem you were right about the hitch gives a clean appearance will continue with that.
 
Grant your right will finish main and mizzen then take a hard look and make a decision then. (cutting the shrouds was not cool wife's cat could not even scold her.)
 
Appreciate all the sage advice. It helps and old man get on the straight and narrow.
 
CAVEAT:TO ALL NOVICE MODELERS DO YOUR RESEARCH AHEAD OF TIME AND SAVE A STITCH IN TIME.  

Thanks for all the looks and likes!
 
This evening success breads motivation.  So....I continued on with the population of the main yard arm:  cleats and boom irons.
 

 
I had thought long and hard about the stunsl booms.  Carrying on the theme of the main mast I decided to try using black paper and mini-dowels for the irons holding them onto the main yard.  I don't think they turned out too bad.  Taking a step back I am definitely ready for that topmast yard.
 

 
Mark

Greg, nice story I guess if you want to make a full set of fillers - some of them should be glued only from the one side. Or buy the humidity controlling equipment? I heard they are widely used by the people who are into wooden musical instruments - guitars, violins, etc. They are a solid objects made out of thin wood, I can only imagine how it will be stressed when humidity changes dramatically.
 
After careful inspection, I found around 8 cracks per side.
Made a symmetrical cracks on the other side too, to reduce the twist and relief the stress in the hull.
Next time will do it from the very beginning. A single-side glued spacer every 3 frames or so.
The whole point of that spacers was to lock frames (avoid twisting and keep a clear 90deg angle) and to have a more solid hull when fairing.
 
Lesson learned! Hope the frames will go back to normal when the winter ends. Reeeally hope so

There is also the option of running a humidifier in your workspace to maintain a relative humidity of 30-35%.  Doing this in the winter and running a dehumidifier (aka A/C) in the summer made a big difference for me.

Having a solid wall of timber is probably not the best idea, as I found out on my Speedwell model, Mike. There are gaps between the fillers in the winter. I have filled them with sawdust and glue and they have appeared elsewhere. They'll probably disappear as the humidity rises, as you perdict.
 
I am reminded of the problem Franklin had when building his beautiful model Egmont (which was purchased by the NMM). He noted that his hull shrank almost 1/4" after framing as the humidity decreased. He applied a wet towel overnight and the length of the hull was the full 1/4" longer the following day. He then applied the wales and the problem was solved.
 
if there's one thing I learned after watching This Old House for 30+ years is that wood is a living material that expands and contracts. One must always compensate for this (although I'm not quite sure how this could be done with a full set of filler frames unless the model was kept in an environment with consistant humidity forever).

I can just imagine what you were thinking as it dawned on you what you had.  So sorry.  Hoping you get it put to right quickly!  (and without cost!).
 
I would also be scouring Ebay for partially built / incomplete kits to save $$ and get some extra parts.  I wish I could help (I do have 3 Revell full size Constitutions!).
 
Mark

Okay, I am currently confined to the family room watching the four year old so I started some poking around my computer.  This is a sample of my earliest stuff:
 
First thing to be tackled was the quick frame cutting guides that Mr. Hahn provides.  I was using Basswood so like he states for his builds, he had lots of wood and this significantly cut down the frame generation time.  I was unsure of replicating the guides as provided so I altered the method a little:
 

 
I cut out one jig piece at a time very accurately.  Using these as guides, I generated sleds for replicating.  First strips were cut from the boards equal to the piece width (constant over all jig pieces).  The sled has two slots for each piece required.  One of the slots is open ended allowing these strips to be inserted and the end cut to the right angle.  Then you flip the strip over and position the newly cut end against its stop and with one more cut the jig piece is made.
 
Then was production of the frames.  This is where the pics are lacking but I did work very closely with the frame outlines to insure the frame wood covered the required area that had to be cut out.  Production of the middle frames was pretty easy, it was went you went to the curvature of the bow / stern that you had to be careful.
 

 
I did not pre-bevel the frames and looking at the frames as they were trial fitted in the jig slots shows there was definitely work ahead for me internally (and externally).  Most of this beveling was done with cabinet scrapers and actually didn't take too long.
 

 
I also somewhat modified the actual gluing up of the frames into the slots.  I created a faux-keel which had the width of the keel (no slots) but was extra thick to insure no distortion.  I worked very hard to precisely position two full frames both aft and forward - insuring the frames were 90 degrees to the board, their height was correct and the keel absolutely level as it sat in place between them.  The rest of the frames had their extension pieces (into the board) clipped just a little.  I then worked towards the middle from the ends.  Each frame would have glue applied to their extension pieces and pushed into their jig board slots.  The faux-keel would be clamped on the verified good frames fore and aft then the new frame pulled up into place and clamped to the faux-keel (verified it was 90 degrees to the board).  I also would insert temporary spacers (usually not necessary).  Periodically I would use the produced keel with slots to verify it would fit and never had a problem.  I think I saved a lot of abuse on my good keel this way.
 

 
I guess my main take away is to never think what you are told as the process as being the only way.  You can always personalize and change.  If it doesn't work out, try again.  For my next ship (based on Mr Hahn's plans) I will custom make each frame piece (but still include the extensions).  I believe I can do it pretty quickly now - I don't think I would have had the confidence back then AND it will be probably a slower process.
 
My signature piece of purple heart for the false keel is apparent in these photos.
 

 
Stay Building My Friends,
mark
 
If people have any interest, I can add some photos every couple of days.  Actually makes me feel like I am doing something.....

Hi,
 
Happy New Year.  The running rigging is about done.  I’ll be concentrating on the sails next.
 
     Walter
 

 

 

 
 
 

John, you are very kind.
 
I still do smile when I walk past the model in my house.  Funny thing is revisiting this build album.  There are several pics where I am left scratching my head and trying to remember how I did that - hah hah.  As I tell visitors, it wasn't a build of a ship - it was hundreds of builds of hundreds of items that put together, made a ship.
 
Looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.
 
mark

John, you are very kind.
 
I still do smile when I walk past the model in my house.  Funny thing is revisiting this build album.  There are several pics where I am left scratching my head and trying to remember how I did that - hah hah.  As I tell visitors, it wasn't a build of a ship - it was hundreds of builds of hundreds of items that put together, made a ship.
 
Looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.
 
mark

Wow, Patrick.  Great progress.  Love your innovative approach for building.
 
Happy New Year, Mark

scanned all-absolutely awe inspiring!  

A little addendum to the story of my Druid.  Grand Rapids (here in Michigan) has hosted for the past six years an event called ArtPrize.  This is a city wide hosted event focusing on art, both professional and amateur.  There is a prize purse in excess of half a million dollars so this isn't small.  This year saw 1536 entries spread over 174 venues.
 
My wife wasn't impressed with a lot of last years entries and said she was going to enter the Druid, which she did.  So I earlier this year became an official entry of the 3-D category (with 346 of my closest friends).
 

 
I ended up being hosted by a seafood restaurant actually directly across from the art museum:
 

 
Over the course of the last week and a half I have been on site talking about my work to over a 1000 people.
 

 
I made up small business cards to advertise (standard fare for this event) but took it up a notch with a customized card holder:
 

 
I do not want to turn this into a 'what is art and what is not' topic but I was the only ~accurate model based entry (all years).  It was a little hard to keep my ego in check with the consistent outstanding comments people directed at me.  There was lots of "My Grandfather / Father / Son would love this / used to do this."  "I grew up with one of these in the house and have always loved them...."
 
The feedback was worth it if nothing else.  I did meet a special youth that I invited over for some ship modeling discussions.  Peter has faced a lot of challenges but has been working on a model of the Titanic with popsicle sticks and pictures (no plans):
 

 
There is a lot of interest out there in models, particularly ship models.  Do not be afraid to engage and put yourself out there,  I can tell you the rewards are huge.
 
Stay Building my Friends,
Mark
 
 

With the painting decisions made it was time to take the plunge.  After many trips to the workshop and back for the many coats I am quite pleased with the result.  The yellow is quite muted in the photos, seems a little more yellow in person:

 
I intend to keep the outer yards as well as upper masts in the natural wood color as is shown.  As a side note, most everything you see can still be disassembled.  I also did a raw cutout of the remaining two yard arms which still have to be shaped:

 
Looking forward to serving some strops and trying out this rigging thing.  I do have to get back to that hull eventually.....
Mark

I have been doing several samples and think I have finally hit upon my solution set for the Druid-X.
 
First off, my palette:

 
I use sanding sealer prior to the acrylic paints, topped off with a top coat.  My original thought was a satin top coat, but that proved a no go.  I used a flat and that seemed to do the trip, though the camera shot shows it with a more of a gloss than it does.

 
The white will be the lower hull (no copper), black for the wales and yellow for upper hull and lower masts.  The red is a darker one that I like (no historical research here, just something I found).
 
Finally, being able to paint the masts and yardarm the next step will be rigging.  How will I get those lines nice and served?  With my new Serv-O-Matic of course:

 
Tomorrow is them treating the main yard and lower main mast.
Mark

Okay, I am currently confined to the family room watching the four year old so I started some poking around my computer.  This is a sample of my earliest stuff:
 
First thing to be tackled was the quick frame cutting guides that Mr. Hahn provides.  I was using Basswood so like he states for his builds, he had lots of wood and this significantly cut down the frame generation time.  I was unsure of replicating the guides as provided so I altered the method a little:
 

 
I cut out one jig piece at a time very accurately.  Using these as guides, I generated sleds for replicating.  First strips were cut from the boards equal to the piece width (constant over all jig pieces).  The sled has two slots for each piece required.  One of the slots is open ended allowing these strips to be inserted and the end cut to the right angle.  Then you flip the strip over and position the newly cut end against its stop and with one more cut the jig piece is made.
 
Then was production of the frames.  This is where the pics are lacking but I did work very closely with the frame outlines to insure the frame wood covered the required area that had to be cut out.  Production of the middle frames was pretty easy, it was went you went to the curvature of the bow / stern that you had to be careful.
 

 
I did not pre-bevel the frames and looking at the frames as they were trial fitted in the jig slots shows there was definitely work ahead for me internally (and externally).  Most of this beveling was done with cabinet scrapers and actually didn't take too long.
 

 
I also somewhat modified the actual gluing up of the frames into the slots.  I created a faux-keel which had the width of the keel (no slots) but was extra thick to insure no distortion.  I worked very hard to precisely position two full frames both aft and forward - insuring the frames were 90 degrees to the board, their height was correct and the keel absolutely level as it sat in place between them.  The rest of the frames had their extension pieces (into the board) clipped just a little.  I then worked towards the middle from the ends.  Each frame would have glue applied to their extension pieces and pushed into their jig board slots.  The faux-keel would be clamped on the verified good frames fore and aft then the new frame pulled up into place and clamped to the faux-keel (verified it was 90 degrees to the board).  I also would insert temporary spacers (usually not necessary).  Periodically I would use the produced keel with slots to verify it would fit and never had a problem.  I think I saved a lot of abuse on my good keel this way.
 

 
I guess my main take away is to never think what you are told as the process as being the only way.  You can always personalize and change.  If it doesn't work out, try again.  For my next ship (based on Mr Hahn's plans) I will custom make each frame piece (but still include the extensions).  I believe I can do it pretty quickly now - I don't think I would have had the confidence back then AND it will be probably a slower process.
 
My signature piece of purple heart for the false keel is apparent in these photos.
 

 
Stay Building My Friends,
mark
 
If people have any interest, I can add some photos every couple of days.  Actually makes me feel like I am doing something.....

Wow, Patrick.  Great progress.  Love your innovative approach for building.
 
Happy New Year, Mark

Wow, Patrick.  Great progress.  Love your innovative approach for building.
 
Happy New Year, Mark

Thanks Mark! Greatly appreciated and all the best for 2016.
 
Cheers and thanks
 
Patrick

Wow, Patrick.  Great progress.  Love your innovative approach for building.
 
Happy New Year, Mark

Hi everyone and many thanks for all of your comments and well wishes for the New Year! Greatly appreciated.
 
I've done some more work on the major components of the superstructure; paying particular attention to how they can be removed easily for viewing.
 
Here are the latest progress shots.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Thanks,
 
Thought I was up on my knots. Googled (3 different variations)  I think the one that should be used is where both lines end up in the inside?? Again good advice re:mainmast.
 
Always enjoyed the shrouds & ratlines it's actually the beginning of making a ship a ship enjoy the actual rigging more.
 
Again thank you for your sage advice.
 
Have  prosperous and healthy New Year.
 
John (almost forgot) ROLL TIDE the big A 

Have completed forward shrouds and ratlines, not happy with futtock shrouds may reattach  with a smaller line.

Hi Mark
 
Thanks.  It certainly looks like you've got your work cut out for you over the next couple of years! I bet you'd be a happy boy once it's all over.
 
All the best for 2016.
 
Patrick