glbarlow

Hey Bob, how’s your Flirt coming along?

Thank you Bob, much appreciated Thank you, your planking is more than fine and impressive as well. Thank you Bob, I follow your build and think ‘some day I hope mine looks this good.’

Thanks Chuck. I’m ready for it, each plank a project. I’ll just keep telling myself that.

Check with me in a about a year 😄

Drop Plank and Wales With the hull above the wales complete it’s time to move on to the rest of the hull. Before doing that I took another look at the bollards. I think they turned out ok, especially as I wasn’t at all sure how to go about these at the start. One of the great things about Chuck’s Winchelsea is it's much like an actual ship in both appearance and construction. I’ve built eleven models at this point and not once before did I need give a second thought to bollards and how they integrate with the hull. Fun stuff. My work room was a complete mess from the work above the wales, there were tools I hadn’t seen for days and sawdust everywhere. My Rabbit Air Filter has been working over-time keeping up. So since I had the mess already it was a good time to rip and plane some ¼ planks. Even after several hours at it I know I don’t have enough to complete the hull, but I do have enough to make a good start. I’ve become quite fond of my Byrnes Thickness Sander, though I think I’m pretty consistent with the saw, the sander brings the planks within a .002 tolerance and makes it much easier to get an evenly planked hull. (I also planed the 7/32 planks for the wales post clean up but elected to carry the sander outside, it throws some significant saw dust.) With that done I took a day to do a deep clean of the workshop. It won’t last long like this, but it’s nice for the moment (ignore the pile up on the shelf, I could only spend so much time cleaning). The rest of the room looks the tool corner too, or it did on that day. I had a lot of trouble sorting out the drop plank when I built Cheerful. I guess that experience paid off, Winchelsea’s was a piece of cake. It helped, a lot, to have Chuck’s laser cut option and his abundantly clear instructions in the monograph. Following those instructions paid off, as it often does. Marking the two rows on each bulkhead made lining up the planks and making the necessary cuts easier to complete. I only wish the wood matched color a little better. I was a little baffled at first on how to terminate the plank at the counter. My working assumption had been it would just lay on top the bottom counter plank, but that’s not the case, it tucks in behind that bottom plank. Ohhh, I said when the fog cleared. I had to remove and replace my balsa filler piece to accommodate this tuck. It makes cutting the stern planks more fun since they have to be a tight fit on both ends, no slack to cut off it it had it just laid on top the counter. That fit is a tad more challenging as it has a nice twist and curve to it, which will get even more fun as I work my way towards the stern post. There may be a few do-overs before I’m done. Jewelry makers are a frequent source of modeling tools. I’ve long been a fan of my trusty travel iron to bend planks, but the curving and twisting is made more easy by this simple crafters hot air device. This relatively inexpensive tool is easy to hold and plenty hot enough to accomplish the job. The brass clamp in the background allows me to grip the tip of the plank without crushing it and keep my fingers from becoming part of the plank. This bend, twist, and curve was achieved without water, no soaking necessary, nor did it take long. The nice thing about this method is I can work my way to the right curve, each plank a project, until the plank lays right where it goes. If I go too far I can unbend using the same method. This photo and the one below are an advertisement for Chuck’s plank bending technique - it you haven’t tried it, you should. You might not think so looking at it, but the wales and all the planks above have a gentle but definitive S-curve. There’s no forcing a plank to fit, the heat bending, and in my case experimentation, is required to fit these planks. Once the curve is determined and I add the curve for the bow it just lays right in saying “glue me.” I mentioned before I soften the inside edge of the next plank (top or bottom depending which way I'm going) to tighten the fit. After laying in the four rows for the wales (the unpainted black strake is the 5th row, I’ll add it after painting the wales.) it was time to thin the wales at the bow to simulate them fitting into the rabbet. After completing the other side I further tapered both sides into the stem - any more will have to wait until the black strake is installed. I like how Winchelsea’s wales curve into the stern, such a sleek look these frigates. With the wales installed the lower counter is complete. In case you’re wondering about all the tape, Alaskan Yellow Cedar is a beautiful wood and easy to work with, part of the reason for that is its a bit soft. I banged Cheerful around enough that this time I’ve fluffed up some black masking tape or green gaffer tape to protect the many edges from me. I try to be careful, the tape helps when I’m not. As an aside - I would have never know this if not for this forum - a minor dent or ding in the wood can be raised with steam. I hold my travel iron over the dent and magically the majority if not all the dent disappears. It takes a little temperance though, too much and the wood burns, the WOP peals off and the glue disintegrates - or so I’m guessing - fortunately this hasn’t happened to me…yet… I did a quick B&W print of the counter painting and what do you know, it’s a close fit. I pass on my thanks to the Winnie builders before me. My counter was heading a different direction back at the beginning but reading multiple build logs and asking questions steered me in the right direction, the adjustments and foundation I built then pays off now. With that I’ll be ready to tape, mask, and paint the wales after the WOP I applied as a sealant is dry. Until then thank you for your likes and comments - it’s fun to share and read about the work we do on this great forum. I know the Winchelsea builders ahead of me are both inspiration and guidance.

Are your ropes crossed and then seized? I’m sooo far from doing guns….

Plus with Model Expo the paint is probably dried out. Why buy an old design when Vanguard has such nice new ones.

Nice jig, what's holding the sticks in place? You're work is always a marvel to behold. Those deck planks lay so perfectly at the stern.

I use Smith Industries medium CA, it shouldn’t take much to hold, I can see why thin CA wouldn’t work. Dip the tail in the glue then into the pre-drilled hole or use a straight pin to apply the CA to the shaft of the eyebolt. I’ve used CA to attach hundreds of eyebolts with lines and lines of rigging ands have no failures. Medium CA is all you need.

You’ve made a really nice model BE, it all looks great. The “borrows” from chuck’s Winnie really step an already excellent design from Chris. We’re all fortunate to have these two outstanding designers to help guide our work.

I’m certainly no expert and I’m sure however you want to do it will turnout great. From a model perspective I doubt just crossing it would stay in place, either a small seizing or a dab of CA. Hopefully people smarter than me might have a suggestion. I’d not seen your way before now, which doesn’t mean anything I see something new on this forum all the time. I admire your goal to rig them all, it will look great.

You definitely have some creative approaches to making elements of the ship, interesting and well done.

Thanks Chuck, VTH (and Beckmann). This is just what I was looking for.

Yes it was, but painted canvas won’t work in my model😁

Well done.

I’d like to make the captains cabin floor using two different woods in the traditional diamond pattern. I’m sure there is a method for doing this that will produce an even consistent floor at about 3/64 thick. Anyone have a tutorial I could reference or suggestions how to go about it?

A suggestion, I think the breaching rope would be a crossed loop at the rear of the gun rather than seized. The rigging looks great, the natural flow of the ropes is very impressive.

I get that. I thought my purpose built room was more than big enough, now I wish I had more bench space, but then the rule of fill all available space would result in more tools. What I really need is a dust vacuum to attach to those nice holes on my Byrnes tools and doesn’t take up all the floor space. You have a nice shop, we don’t have basements in Texas due to the soil conditions.

I’m very glad it is of help, that is my primary goal for my logs - to help others as I’ve been helped.

You may want to check the rake of the masts mounted this way, or maybe it will look like it’s charging forward 😂

As Chuck notes the first layer is all the same thickness, it is the second layer where the black strake is thinner.

Nice crisp paintwork, so important to do right yet some seem to splash it on, well done. Ultimately it’s up to you and seems you’re committed now. However the model will appear unleveled once mounted in my opinion. I used two different height brass pedestals to account for the natural waterline. I believe the provided stand also accounts for this and could be used to mark the line. I think it would be hard to change course from here on the paint but you may want to see how it looks with the sheer parallel to the stand verses the keel.

How’s your build going?

Nice work, enjoy seeing where I hope to be someday.

That’s really excellent paintwork, makes for a very nice overall look. Well done!