glbarlow

Port side
 
Finished the port side friezes and moulding. Excuse the messy work bench (the ugly yellow rag is part of my bow bumper cheap rig for turning the ship to work on the stern).



That led me to decide I didn’t like the starboard side as much so I’m taking it off and doing it again. I think it’s important to do all three sides of a ship model, or so it seems in my case.
 
 

Check out December in the 2023 NRG calendar Thanks NRG, and of course thanks Chuck for such a great model in HM Cheerful!
 
Off I go to make more moulding, hoping one day I get to the stern. Thanks for looking in.

Shingles, Friezes, and Moldings
 
This title sounds like a 80’s rock band or a law firm specializing in medical malpractice. It isn’t, it is about my hull becoming all fancy.
 
It’s been a minute since my last post. My wife and I took an Alaskan cruise, it was a great adventure filled with good weather, good food and drink, and fun adventures - time well spent with my best friend of 46 years. Finally back to Winchelsea I turned my attention to the hull sides and its combination of quarter gallery, friezes, and multiple moulding strips.

One little shingle, two little shingles, three little shingles… The quarter gallery roof is a fun little mini-project. I had earlier shaped and sanded down the roof block to match my galleries. It takes a little work to mirror the two as close as possible with two angles and the curve at play, the etched line on the top helps. Then the shingles; first I sanded them down to near 1/64th while still in the sheet, from there installed the first row using PVA (see I don’t always use CA). There are options in deciding the spacing, I preferred them in tight minimizing the gap. My roofer friends would approve I think.
 
Once dried I sanded them (as Chuck suggests) even more thin with 320 and 400 soft sanding sticks, particularly on the top, before laying the next row. They actually look pretty nice left bright.

I elected to paint them with Admiralty Paints Ironwood Black, as I noted earlier though meant for iron works it’s a nice matte black, and the same paint used on the wales. Though it may be a bit hard to tell in the photograph, the right one is weathered, the left still in the matte black base. I weathered them using Doc O-Brien’s Grungy Gray weathering powder. I really like the 4 brush set (from Micromark) for application, I use them all, the smallest to apply, the round to remove excess, the (actually in back in the photo) the third to feather it and finally the larger brush to buff. I think it makes for a nice look, the shingles now appear to be gray slate (in my humble opinion). I’m going to experiment with some form of fixative, but multiple tests before I try it on the roof. Any suggestions that doesn't make them shiny appreciated.

With that the gallery is complete, except the very detailed railing on top which I’ll save until later when I’m less likely to break it off. Neither the roof or the nice lady on the side are glued in place as yet.

A pause for a maintenance break, replacing the 320 grit sandpaper and cleaning my ever faithful Byrnes Sander. I use Denatured Alcohol to clean the aluminum tables and mitre gauge, also to remove any residual adhesive from the front of the wheel.  I was surprised how well GlideCote (which I learned from Jim Byrnes) works. Making the table more like a sheet of smooth ice, the wood glides easily and consequently is easier to manage. This plays a bigger role on the saw and thickness sander, it’s still handy here as well.

After installing the first more narrow middle moulding I decided I didn’t like the look. So, like I do, I removed it and made a new moulding.
 
The top moulding is laser etched. All the moulding is attached with CA except the volutes.  They are also laser etched, I needed time to get them positioned so used PVA. I also broke two sanding them, @Chuck was kind enough to provide replacements, I then decided they looked really great not sanded…..
 
Then it was on to more life lessons of paper glued on wood. I mentioned in the last post my initial reservations on using printed paper and how wrong I was. It is easy to apply and looks great. I print them with highest quality on my Epson ink jet printer then spray them with Winsor & Newton Fixative. Once dry I outsource them to my much more talented wife to cut out. With the need to always align at least one edge directly up against (and not under) wood moulding, having a clean cut line is imperative, she’s far better at that than me.
 
The frieze was relatively easy to cut out  from the ports with my Swann-Morton #11 scalpel - though I started with a fresh blade. The key is to first let the glue stick adhesive thoroughly dry so its rock hard.

Having intentionally covered the fixed blocks I located them by drilling from inside, slowly, through the holes made back when they were installed. I threaded some nice Syren Rope through both holes from the outside and pulled it back and forth from the inside to restore the grove making it a block once again. A sharpened #2 pencil completes the look.
 

A dilemma. The upper stern hull frieze did not fully cover the area above the roof for my model.


The solution was easy, once I thought of it, print out that same frieze at 150%, cut between the solid blue and the frieze, match the seams when glued on the model. It worked out great.

For me the proper line from the forecastle volute to the stem did not follow the planking as it does from the volute to the stern. I spent time with the plans and came up with a couple of jigs to get the correct spacing for the run of the moulding. (it is not coverging at the stem, just the aspect angle of the photography).


I’ve been clear in my posts that all of my work is perfect, I never do anything wrong, nor ever need to fix anything…NOT! Lesson learned in my new paper world. As shown in the previous moulding its been my practice to have a continuous run of moulding over ports. I’m confident of my skills to then free the ports with my Excel #11 blades. Paper, unlike wood, is very unforgiving, a small mistake results in the paper tearing. It initially was a tiny tear but I couldn’t just leave it. Once the moulding was removed, it didn’t matter, I was removing and replacing the frieze. As Rusty noted in a recent post I could have just showed the finished work and pretend it never happened, I prefer to share what went wrong as well as what goes right.
 
Though it took time there is no harm no foul. As Chuck points out on his model, it is difficult to find any seams once the pattern is matched and new frieze section glued in.

Having tossed my continuous run approach I switched to cutting the lower moulding section by section, matched up the width with the gentle use of my freshly maintained Byrnes Sander, then glued it in place. I cut a spacer clamped up tight to the upper moulding to keep an even line though all the sections.
 
With that a few photos of the finished side. Though a semi-professional photographer I just use my iPhone for all my build photos. An as all seasoned photographers know a badly wrinkled piece of material is a proper backdrop. Not true, I just didn’t feel like ironing it. While the iPhone does nice work, it does tend to squeeze curves and warp aspect a bit. So things are actually straighter, or curvier, than they seem. Also I removed the tape, but not the residue, from the stem.





Now all I have to do is turn the ship around and do it all again on the port side. As always, thank you for your likes and especially your comments. I hope I’ve provided a bit of entertainment for your day.

Making some progress these past few days. More detailed post later but just one photo for a quick update on forecastle work. 

Making some progress these past few days. More detailed post later but just one photo for a quick update on forecastle work. 

Starting the QGalleries
 
This post will look a lot like many other fine logs that have gone before me. I’ll once again say how wonderful MSW, build logs, and this group project are as a ready resource, in addition to Chuck’s fine monograph of course, in helping guide my build. Maybe I’ll offer something new to those that follow, or at least serve as confirmation doing as others have done.
 
The q-galleries are an exercise in patience. Not difficult in and of themselves to make, given the nice laser cut parts Chuck provides for chapter 3, they require a great deal of precision in getting the measurements, location, and references lining up one part to another, and those to yet another.  Like many elements of the build, getting the “infrastructure” right is critical to how the final product will look.

First up is cutting out the gallery template and marking the location of the top frame and roof. I thought for a moment why not just get some crayons, color this in and call it done, but decided to continue forward when my grandkids wouldn’t let me use their crayons.

I glued on the upper frame after checking and rechecking measurements. There is the reality that every hull is different and there likely won’t be an exact match. It’s amazing though how well Chuck’s design works, things just seem to fit and/or have the built in latitude for adjustment. I will give myself a little credit for my obsession all the way back to fitting the stern frames and gallery framing against the plan. (the template is just loosely sitting there for the photo).

Next up is adding the lower frame or floor along the line of the wales. Here it's held up for checking using my new best friend, double sided tape. It holds well and is easily removed.

I prefer to work both sides of the ship rather than completely finishing one, so while waiting for the PVA glue to dry at various points I worked on the transom cove. I’m happy to report I did not break those lovely but very fragile scroll parts (they come as two, then mated on the cove). Don’t need it yet, but it was a nice distraction.

Not sure which log I saw this on, so thanks to my fellow builder for the idea of installing the head before adding the q-frame planking. I’ll have to say fitting it this way from the side verses working from the top was a straight forward approach, just had to gently fair the outboard edge to match up with the upper and lower frame.

After fairing the frames I added the “planking,” a 1/32 layered sheet that easily bends on multiple axis to nicely cover the frame. It was a bit of a challenge for me to line it up to cover top and bottom, fore to aft. Just a little fumble fingered work, it’s purposely oversized to allow for that adjustment - I just had to do it. I resorted to CA here, it’s not going anywhere now.

I spent several hours sorting out how to attach the gallery roof. Pie-shaped it has to hold itself up (for now) glued to two sides. Ok, that’s not so hard…maybe…  The challenge is attaching the slippery little pie so that it is parallel to the upper frame, like the lower frame reasonably closely following the run of the planks, and be in line with the deck. After a few false starts I elected to install some temporary “scaffolding” after measuring remeasuring, then measuring again. The final challenge for me was to have both port and starboard roofs the same height above the upper frame and the same height below the top rail of the hull on the side and the transom at the back.  I had to carefully remove my scaffolding after the glue had a little time to hold and before it became glued to the hull too. 

With that both galleries are ready to be closed up with posts, windows and moulding followed by the roof and touch up painting. If you never hear from me again you’ll know it didn’t go well or I’m still trying to scrape wood into molding.
 
Thanks for stopping by, your likes and comments are always appreciated.

Making some progress these past few days. More detailed post later but just one photo for a quick update on forecastle work. 

An Upright Hull at Last
 
Thought I’d share a few photos of my Winchelsea hull upright.
 
I thought about what would be easier to do now than later in the build, following the always good practice of reading ahead.

I drilled out the rudder port. To line it up I cut out a copy of the counter frieze and loosely taped it to the counter (I’ll get a better fit, only concerned about the rudder port) after cutting out the black area representing the port, drew a pencil line, drilled a hole, and worked my way out with a #11 blade and sanding sticks. I pulled out the rudder pieces from Chapter 5 and held the two parts together that pass through the port (the dark line shown in the photo is the rudder) to confirm the hole was big enough. I stopped well short of the black line, I’ll adjust later as needed. The still unassembled rudder went back in the bag.

I used the jig from Chapter 10 to determine the height of the stern frames and cut them down about 1/8th higher than the jig to allow for future adjustments. Why not paint them black, as they eventually must be, while I’m at it. I will admit I broke one during the hull planking, fortunately it was a clean break and easily glued back together. I waited until the planking was complete, it has bothered me looking at it all that time. Now it’s fixed.

Finally I painted the stem. It was always going to be black, I’d rather deal with occasional touch up and get it done now while it’s relatively easy to do.

With that the hull is prepped and ready for the next steps, the transom, upper counter, and quarter galleries - can’t wait.  Once again, excuse the rushed iPhone photos with their work light glare.
 
As always thank you for stopping by with your likes and your comments. I really appreciate it.

Making some progress these past few days. More detailed post later but just one photo for a quick update on forecastle work. 

Not at all, that makes it all the more impressive. 

Making some progress these past few days. More detailed post later but just one photo for a quick update on forecastle work. 

Making some progress these past few days. More detailed post later but just one photo for a quick update on forecastle work. 

Making some progress these past few days. More detailed post later but just one photo for a quick update on forecastle work. 

What a process doing this all from scratch. Amazing work.

Making some progress these past few days. More detailed post later but just one photo for a quick update on forecastle work. 

Hull Planking Complete!
 
It’s a big day, after more than four months of doing nothing but planking the enormous Winchelsea I’ve completed planking her hull, yay! A little story on how I got there:

It begins with my once again championing Chuck’s planking technique. No way I’d gotten anywhere as good a result without heat bending planks. The one shown here is next up on the bow and, like its cousins, will fit perfectly without forcing flowing with the curves. It does take time and patience, there are planks that took me 10 minutes to shape (midships), others that took two hours, and more than a few that took almost an entire day. Many took multiple attempts to finally get one to fit right, more than a few were cracked in half and flung across the room - patience yes, but come-on man, fit already.

RIP. I’m sad to say, after hours and hours of use on Cheerful, Flirt, and 96% of Winchelsea my travel iron gave up and died. No matter, off to Target and $12.95 later it’s identical replacement is now in service of my shipyard. Maybe I shouldn’t leave it plugged in all day.

I spent over a week fairing the frames months ago, that doesn’t mean I did it completely right. With my limited abilities I sometimes needed the plank dry-fitted in place to see how it flowed. I am not reluctant to use a shim on occasion (never more than 1/64th needed fortunately) to make an adjustment where needed. In this case the rabbet slot wasn’t as deep as I’d like, a Swan Morton mini-chisel with two very sharp blade sizes (thanks @Blue Ensign) was perfect for making it a tad deeper.

In the vein of not always doing it right, the tick strips Chuck provides were a gift, saving hours of work lining the hull. However, as faithful as I tried to be I wasn’t always near faithful enough. Occasionally I got out my planking fan (also provided by Chuck, but with the Cheerful monograph) to check and often re-mark. Were I really good at cutting and adding planks maybe I wouldn’t have needed it, but this extra step payed dividends.


I followed a butt shift pattern that I extrapolated from the plans (which show only above the wales) then marked it out on the frames with my red pencil. Not being a total masochist I didn’t actually cut the planks at the first line of joints nearest the bow and last line nearest the stern, it was much easier and crisper to run those planks to the next joint, fitting the resulting longer plank. I then used this flat sharp blade to notch the joint into plank at the proper location before laying the next plank. So that secret’s out.
 
You can see in the upper right corner I’ve hand drilled one of three #4 machine screw size holes in the keel.  I don’t know yet what the final display board will be or if these holes are even needed, but it’s much easier drill them now than with the model finished.
 

So finally I came to the last plank - I had to sit for a while to appreciate how far I and this wonderful, but very large, model had come since I started it last November. With my zen moment over - it then it took me several hours to get it to fit, as for the last time broken rejects were flung across the room, and all was peaceful at last.

It may be hard to believe, or wonder why, but everyone of these sanding tools were used during the course of the planking. A bit extreme I’m sure but these Soft Sanders are perfect for the job. Last two times I ordered adhesive sandpaper the manufacturer included a number of half width sanders, so naturally I had to put sandpaper on them. I used 150, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600. and 800 grit at various times, again an excessive range I’m sure. I even used 1200 on the wales after they were painted to remove a few scratches without removing the paint. In addition to the soft sanders I frequently used my little wood blocks with the same adhesive sandpaper attached (every plank was beveled using those). The flexible sticks of 400, 600, and 800 grit shown in the photo are new additions from Amazon that were also helpful.
 
I realize that last paragraph was way more information than anyone cares about, but I feel an obligation to thank not only the plank bending process, but the tools that helped me get to this point.

Speaking of people to thank I absolutely have to thank Jim Byrnes for his amazing machines. The angle of every plank at the bow and every plank joint was shaped or squared by the Byrnes Sander. Every plank used was first run through the Thickness Sander (shown with my vacuum attachment still on top. It flings a lot of dust, I’d rather than was into my shop vac and not the air. It also fits the saw and the sander. (Also note the tape on the bottom with Up and Down direction marked for those of us easily confused, though maybe it should say More and Less). Every plank was milled on the Byrnes Saw, the most essential, and likely the best tool in my shop. I shared the story in the tool forum of the saw starting to make an atypical noise. I called Jim, after troubleshooting with me he sent a replacement part and guided me on installing it. It then worked fine, but was the blade was rubbing the blade cover, so he cut a replacement with the slot moved over a milimeter or two and sent me that. There is no better example of superb workmanship coupled with incredible customer care than Byrnes Model Machines.

Next up was the stern post. More complicated than you’d think but for good reason, it took several hours to fit. The laser cut post is cut large on purpose, because every hull ends up slightly different. The challenge is to both cut it to the proper length and shape the curve to fit at the counter, and of course to have a flat, squared, and leveled surface there where I’d terminated all those planks. I used practice pieces to sort out both the length and the curve. I could shorten the post, but of course I couldn’t un-shorten it, so several scraps were used to get it close with final sanding from there.

It was then marked, centered, clamped (including my handy large rubber bands doubled for the length required) and attached with Titebond III.


And it was done. While I didn't need wood filler in the planking itself I did use it along the seam of the stem, sternpost, and keel. I like the look. That look was made better by the use of the Winsor and Newton Pro Markers markers Chuck mentioned in his log. In my case Almond was the preferred color to add over the wood filler, I think it blended well.


 


In these photos and the ones above the WOP is freshly applied, hence the sheen bounced by the work lights. It drys to a nice satin finish, that in turn will age and even out nicely with time.
 
So, Chapter 2 is complete. I have my finished hull, after another coat or two of WOP on the port side I’ll finally turn her over right side up and begin the next phase. I’d like to say I’ve enjoyed planking (well, I kinda have) and wish there were more to do (I definitely don’t). Chapter 3 is about as different as it can be from Chapter 2, I’m looking forward to it as the next challenge.
 
Thank you all for your support with your likes and comments - its nice to hear from you and is very appreciated.
 

Wonderful work Fred, definitely a result to be proud of. Very well done, fine craftsmanship in the details that separate Cheerful from other models. You’ve done a great job.
 
While I’d like to see you back at Winchelsea and if you decide Speedwell is too much as a full scratch consider Vanguard models like Sphinx or Indy for fully rigged opportunities. I think Chuck’s intends to rig his Speedwell, but I imagine that’s a ways down the road. 
 
At any rate I look forward to following you next project. 

AND Planking Continues …
 
I started planking in early March, and I’m still and it and I’m still not done and I still have more planking to do and I’m having so much fun... I’ve now completed 16 strakes both starboard and port - with 8 more to go on each side.

It seems like these, plus my travel iron and craft hot air gun are the only tools I’ve touched in months, probably because they are. I do spend a lot of time with my Byrnes collection of saw, disc sander, and thickness sander so there’s that.
I’ve always been comfortable tapering planks with a metal ruler and a sharp object, with the longer planks required for Winchelsea I added a separate cutting mat along with double sided tape. I put a strip of the tape on the mat and stick the plank to the tape - it doesn’t move while I’m sliding the blade along the tick marks I’ve transferred from the ship.

I have the problem of being somewhat of a perfectionist and not being very good at my job - the result is a lot of wasted wood from rejected planks and excess. I was feeling bad about this until my wife walked in the shop, looked at the pile and said “We’ll have some great summer projects for the grandkids using these.” I looked up and said “Of course, that was my plan all along.” We’re going to Alaska on a cruise this fall, I plan to find an Alaskan Yellow Cedar tree and apologize for how much of his brethren I’ve wasted.

The port side bow has turned out ok so far, it’s nice because it’s more or less measure, cut, fit. It’s still 'every plank’s a project' with the bending, fitting, edge softening, and gluing - each plank can take up to an hour or so to make. Then of course there are the repeats when that doesn’t work … grandkid projects I now call them.

Remarkably both sides look more or less the same in this view I’ll likely never see or notice once the ship gets turned right side up, but still.

There was so much excitement at reaching this stage a guy with a mandolin came by to play a few tunes.
I’m not as concerned with the variances in the wood color, for one thing there are different number of coats of WOP, the port side has only one. The AYC soaks up the first coat like a towel.  There will be more light sanding and more coats of WOP before I call it done. Plus, as I see my Cheerful on its shelf everyday I know somehow this nice wood just evens itself out over time. I probably should have milled all the planks at once, thrown them in a pile and used whatever came out first, rather than try matching as I’ve done, and not done well. In fairness it changes a lot with that first coat of WOP.

Then there’s the stern - Planks at the bow make take an hour or two, midship less, but these stern planks starting at the turn to the stern post wore me out. I really struggled with the stern on multiple levels.  One plank might take me a day to get right. I’m fortunate these aren’t very heavy, so they didn’t do much damage when I flung the rejects against the wall.

In another macro view I won’t often see it’s somewhat a miracle both sides are near equal.  At least unlike the starboard side and the multiple rip and replace I didn’t have to repeat that for thr port side, so I must have learned something along the way. It is nice to know the counter will be covered by a frieze and a moulding strip eventually covers the seam.

I’m still not that happy with the stern, but I got there - it is in fact a stern. Even with wider planks and knowing I’m on the tick marks it looks like a lot of ground to cover at the stern post with just eight more strakes to go. I’ll make it work, that’s what wider planks are for.


More and more it looks like an actual ship.


With that it’s time to reverse course and start down from the keel, so next up are garboard strakes.  By my estimation (and no I’m not going to count them) with 32 strakes done below the wales and about 3.25 planks to a strake (depending on the butt pattern) I’ve added over a hundred planks and have about half that still to go…but who’s counting. Of course that’s not counting rejects, I mean grandkid summer project material. I’m just taking it slow, admiring build logs of those who have a deck, and working it a day at a time.
 
Thank you for the follows, likes and comments - it really helps keep me going - one plank at a time, then another plank, then another plank……
 
 
 

With the exasperation of my previous post behind me...
 
Planking Continues
 
It’s been a while since my last post, but it’s not been due to a lack of effort. I have struggled a bit with the transition from the counter to the stern post on the starboard side as you’ll see below - and I get to do it again on the port side, anyway…

I elected to continue starboard with the 2nd belt. There was a slight bend I wanted to correct, plus the counter to stern post was on my mind and I wanted to get past it. There is a lot of remakes and broken wood involved (by me when It doesn’t fit properly, stupid wood).

Things started well enough as I climbed up towards the keel (working upside down).


The bend to the transom was challenging but manageable. As always I used my travel iron and dry heat to achieve the necessary bend and as I moved to the stern post also a twist. The craft hot air tool I mentioned in an earlier post is helpful in achieving the twist although if I’m not careful I can scorch the wood, something I have never done with the iron.

After I’d finished the second belt I decided I didn’t like the look and so I ripped it off…it would be three more attempts before I got past this point.

I still don’t know if I’m happy with it, I’ll wait until I get the the port side transition. The objective obviously is to have them match up, though practically once the ship is upright it and the fact generally we see our models from one side, and not zoomed to macro scale it becomes one of those obsessions I could do away with (he said knowing he wouldn’t).
 


The bow is looking ok. Lessons learned (or re-learned) for the port side on how to avoid getting off track.  While I single planked Cheerful there is just so much more to Winnie as all of it’s builders know.
 
The top belt has two coats of WOP the bottom only one, it will even out when I do the final sanding and apply additional coats. Right now it’s more protective than finishing. That white plank at the top and the top of the port will be covered by the frieze later.


The quarter shots continue to show the long graceful lines of this wonderfully designed model.

With the first two belts on the starboard side complete I now turn my attention to the many planks it requires to get to this same point on the port side. Maybe by the end of May I’ll get there. Once again I say how much I like the golden glow of the Alaskan Yellow Cedar.
 
Thank you all for your likes and especially the comments, they are inspiration and motivation.

First Band of Planking
 
It took two weeks, I’ve completed the first band of 6 planks on one side (and two on the other) for the main hull planking.
 

 
Chuck providing us the tick strips is such a great gift. While having lined the much smaller Cheerful using a planking fan was a good learning exercise, without the tick strips provided for Winchelsea it would have taken me forever to do. As it was it was a full days work marking, making sure I had it right, then adding red ticks for my plank shift pattern and then blue marks to signify the bands. The chart tape helped me check the line. I made a few adjustments after this and will note the tape no longer stuck at the bow, so it looks ajar because it is.
 

 
I started by doing two rows on each side, I wanted to be sure I was past the drop plank without the challenges I had with Cheerful. This time it went so much better. From here on I am alternating sides after completing a band.
 

 
I’ve shown my plank bending station before (a raised board, clamps, travel iron and the recent addition of a craft hot air tool), here’s basically all the tools I need for planking. The dispenser for my Smith Industries medium CA, an Excel #11 blade along with a Swann-Morton #11 scalpel blade (for no rhyme or reason I’ll cut planks with either or both), the home-made sanding blocks I use to soften the inside edge of each plank where it meets the adjoining plank, pencil for marking and metal ruler for cutting. Missing is the the #2 wood pencil I use to “tar” one edge of each plank. I've recently added a new tool, double sided tape. I can hold the plank down for longer cuts required for Winchelsea without concern of it slipping beneath the metal rule as I cut.
 
I use this spatula to apply the glue to the back side of the plank over each bulkhead. Basically I lightly “butter” the back side as I go, gluing either one, two, but never more than three bulkheads at a time depending on the place in the run. This allows me to keep the plank close, limit to the small amount of glue needed, and firmly hold the plank both to the bulkhead and up tight up against its neighbor a little at a time. My forearms are generally sore from the resulting isometric exercise at the end of the day.
 

 
It’s a slow process to attach each plank this way, but it works for me and I’m sure it’s much faster than not using CA. I don’t start that process until I’ve tapered the plank per the tick marks and shaped it at the bending station strictly with heat, no water needed. As has been said, each plank is its own project. It can take me a few minutes or an hour or more to get the plank to the to lay where its supposed to be with no force added by me other than gluing it. Chuck’s method was a game changer for me, I really don’t know how I ever planked a ship before. It’s amazing how wood can be shaped with no more than a little heat. The bow is a challenge, the stern even more so. The planks there both curve (with the iron) and bend (using the hot air blower). One of many nice things is if I bend a plank too far I can just as easily unbend it. I do split or crack one now and again, but that’s my lack of patience, not the process.
 
PS: I'm sure I've said all this in other posts, it's just so fun to share.
 

 
The nice thing about wood is generally when you screw up you can fix it. The upside down Winnie slipped (not on its own, so I guess I should say I pushed it) over its foam stand and broke one of the transom posts. Fortunately it was a clean break and a little splint surgery had it back where it belonged. Note to self, don’t do that.
 

 
So with that and two weeks later the first band is complete. Here it is after a light sanding. I made need a bit of an adjustment at the bow, easily done with the next couple of planks
 

 

 

 

 
And here’s a few after more sanding and a light coat of WOP.  I don’t want to sand it too much until its’ finished, but I like to get the rough spots out of the way. The first coat of WOP is soaked in like a paper towel soaks up water. I like to give the wood a little protection (from me mostly) and of course the fun of seeing how it looks. Smart money would be not to sand it at all until it’s complete but where’s the fun in that.
 
One band complete. That sounds great until I remember there are six total bands.  Back to work, more lumber to saw first. As always thank you for the likes and comments.

Wales, First Layer
 
I completed the first layer of the wales. I usually try to make my logs either entertaining or informative, this time here’s a few photos for reporting purposes. 
 

 

 

 

 

 
I’ve only done rough sanding, I’ll wait until I complete more planking above and below to do more, I’ll also even up the sides as visible from the stern then. I did not follow a butt shift plan for this under-layer except to not to  place them at the same place for the plan’s pattern I’ll use on the top layer. Obviously no reason to pencil between planks either.

So after a week of waiting on some parts to show up that I had cut wrong prior, I was finally able to get back on track. 
I started by assembling the bulkhead former, this is in 3 pieces but I’m toying with switching to two or possibly even one if I can find a box large enough. This goes together pretty easy, I used wax paper and smashed it in a vise until the joint was dry and then repeated until complete. I also added a rabbet strip, this was just basswood I cut on my saw, it required slight heat on the bow to make the curve easier.
Next is the knee, at 1/48 the knee and the false keel parts are just shy of 5/16 which is great, it will leave you some room to sand the parts and that’s what I did, now all these parts are two pieces of 5/32 AYC glued together, cutting 5/16 in one shot just had too much angle to it, it made assembly pretty difficult, but I’m still working on trying to improve the laser cut, perhaps I’ll get it in one piece someday but not for this model.


As you can see i just etched some of the parts on to the main part of the knee, this is actually pretty convincing, I did however toss in a reference line for the paint and where the wales meet the knee, I don’t like it and probably won’t keep it there, but it will get painted over on this model anyway.





Once the knee and all the false keel parts were assembled I measured the width of the former and subtracted it from the cedar pieces, using this number, roughly 1/32, I layed the former down with the 1/32 spaced sheet underneath and glued the knee and keel parts onto the rabbet. This kept everything in line and centered very well. I carefully sanded the AYC with 100, 220 and finally 320 and gave it a quick bath in some WOP just to protect it from my filthy hands.

 
Next I assembled the stands and lined them all up with a level and glued them down, the next set I screwed down, otherwise I’d never be able to lift the model out. From here I just dry fit and tested all the bulkheads, some required a bit of filing from different laser settings, the production parts will not.


 
 
Tomorrow, if I have any time, I plan to start installing the longitudinal frames to lock it all together, from there I’ll build the new stern jig and start installing the frames.

JJ
 

Thanks for explaining. I had no idea, I just glue stuff on😁

Margin and outboard Planking
 
Time for the margin planks, waterway, and outboard planking.

I started with the quarter deck. The margin planks are heat bent with my trusty travel iron (I had a brief flash back to those long months planking the hull). I elected to use one long strip and then once shaped I use the template as a pattern to cut a scarf joint midway.

I did the same with the four planks, all ¼ widths I’d ripped and run through the thickness planer, tapering the planks towards the stern per the template and using a razor saw to simulate the planking end cuts and then adding #2 pencil along the long edge for caulking. Running a single long plank with the simulated break made for a cleaner run and easier fit. (the angle of the iPhone photo makes it seam the port side planning seem wider than starboard, it isn’t).
 
I half-rounded a strip for the waterways to finish up the outboard work. This small strip adds a lot, it won’t wash away any water but it does a nice job of bridging the deck and bulwarks.
 
After sanding and 4 coats of WOP it’s done. I may WOP the beam tops late,r for now I haven’t. The q-deck was easy enough and done fairly quickly, the forecastle not so much.

The forecastle margin planks are too curved to bend a plank so they are cut from 3/64 sheet. I started with the template (template beams and actual beams were lined up for measuring, just not for this photo) then added Tamiya tape to make up any differences (really not much, but some) with my hull and transferred the outer edge to the sheet. The outer edges were then cut roughly with a #11 blade.
 
Using dividers, and a technique learned from Rusty, I drew the proper width for the inboard side. This step is done after the cut and completing sanding of the outer edge.
Once again I again did the full length and cut the scarf joint after the fitting, amazing how nice they match up that way.

My Byrnes sander does a nice job of rough sanding the outer curve smooth. The new version with the reversible direction makes it even easier. I converted my mill into a sanding table for rough sanding of the margin and forecastle planks inner curves.

The same process of starting with template, modified by tape, transferred to sheet with double sided tape, rough sanded and finally the time consuming part, final sanding by hand with sanding sticks to a tight fit.

While there are only 6 planks plus the margin plank they are all cut from sheet and sanded to custom fit, a slow process but a rewarding one with the final result.  Once again the waterway and 4 coats of WOP are added (four because that’s how many I used on the main deck so the finish and tone match up). The WOP is wiped on and off and lightly sanded between the second and third coat.

A lot of cut up templates and Tamiya tape were used to make it all work. My blue canary tape is also shown - it serves as an early warning before an elbow snags a cannon barrel. Kinda dumb, but it works.

There is a pronounced curve to these planks, while they were cut with that curve, clamping while gluing keep them that way.


The completed quarterdeck.

 

The completed forecastle.
 
On to the center planking and deck furniture. As always thank you for your comments and the likes and for stopping by.

Margin and outboard Planking
 
Time for the margin planks, waterway, and outboard planking.

I started with the quarter deck. The margin planks are heat bent with my trusty travel iron (I had a brief flash back to those long months planking the hull). I elected to use one long strip and then once shaped I use the template as a pattern to cut a scarf joint midway.

I did the same with the four planks, all ¼ widths I’d ripped and run through the thickness planer, tapering the planks towards the stern per the template and using a razor saw to simulate the planking end cuts and then adding #2 pencil along the long edge for caulking. Running a single long plank with the simulated break made for a cleaner run and easier fit. (the angle of the iPhone photo makes it seam the port side planning seem wider than starboard, it isn’t).
 
I half-rounded a strip for the waterways to finish up the outboard work. This small strip adds a lot, it won’t wash away any water but it does a nice job of bridging the deck and bulwarks.
 
After sanding and 4 coats of WOP it’s done. I may WOP the beam tops late,r for now I haven’t. The q-deck was easy enough and done fairly quickly, the forecastle not so much.

The forecastle margin planks are too curved to bend a plank so they are cut from 3/64 sheet. I started with the template (template beams and actual beams were lined up for measuring, just not for this photo) then added Tamiya tape to make up any differences (really not much, but some) with my hull and transferred the outer edge to the sheet. The outer edges were then cut roughly with a #11 blade.
 
Using dividers, and a technique learned from Rusty, I drew the proper width for the inboard side. This step is done after the cut and completing sanding of the outer edge.
Once again I again did the full length and cut the scarf joint after the fitting, amazing how nice they match up that way.

My Byrnes sander does a nice job of rough sanding the outer curve smooth. The new version with the reversible direction makes it even easier. I converted my mill into a sanding table for rough sanding of the margin and forecastle planks inner curves.

The same process of starting with template, modified by tape, transferred to sheet with double sided tape, rough sanded and finally the time consuming part, final sanding by hand with sanding sticks to a tight fit.

While there are only 6 planks plus the margin plank they are all cut from sheet and sanded to custom fit, a slow process but a rewarding one with the final result.  Once again the waterway and 4 coats of WOP are added (four because that’s how many I used on the main deck so the finish and tone match up). The WOP is wiped on and off and lightly sanded between the second and third coat.

A lot of cut up templates and Tamiya tape were used to make it all work. My blue canary tape is also shown - it serves as an early warning before an elbow snags a cannon barrel. Kinda dumb, but it works.

There is a pronounced curve to these planks, while they were cut with that curve, clamping while gluing keep them that way.


The completed quarterdeck.

 

The completed forecastle.
 
On to the center planking and deck furniture. As always thank you for your comments and the likes and for stopping by.

Thank you gentlemen for your replies and likes.
 
Trussben - thank you for your post. I had forgotten the plans illustrate the treenailing. My "workshop" isn't big enough to keep the plans unrolled so these things can get overlooked. I used a dark pencil and woodfiller for the treenailing so far - all below the wales. Im not sure about it (and I may yet paint the hull). I'm going to order a drawplate and see how I get on doing a proper job on some scrap before I decide how to go forward.
 
In the meantime I have finished planking the hull. It's OK. Some of the seams could have been tighter but otherwise I'm pretty happy  with it.
 




I intend to have a go at painting the figures and fancy scrolls rather than using the printed friezes. If I fall short of what I hope to achieve I can always stick the friezes on - but at least I will have had a go. In readiness I have given the topsides a first coat of Prussian Blue.
 


The transom went on with no alarms or difficulties. The windows fit perfectly with no adjustment - so thats all a relief.
 


 
 
 

I have finished the shells for the QGs. I cut the black strake/wale (just in front of the pie shaped piece) rather than try to rebate the outer shell of the QG - which is a bit of a tricky bit without the additional difficulty of trying to rebate it.
Here is the result. All went very smoothly on both sids happily.
 


The internal planking is all but done. I'll finish that today and then its red paint time and starting the deck planking. Deck planking let down my last attempt at Winnie so I shall take special care and hopefully, bringing to bear the learning and experience of my last go, I shall make a better job of it.
 

 
Al the best
Fred