Elia

Hey guys, 
 
Alas, the copper plating is finished!  It is such a relief to have finally finished that project.  I think it looks passable but there is definite room for improvement.  I give the guys who do a great copper job all the credit in the world, wow.  Anyway, here are the pictures of the finished project.
 

 

 
Im not sure what happened to the waterline on this side.  The line had faded almost completely but I thought I could make it out, apparently not.  The port side waterline came out a bit better, still not perfect though.
 

 
Well, I am super happy to be done with this portion of the build.  Next will be installing the rudder, cutting and installing the bulwark stanchions, and then the cap rail, bowsprit and the small details around deck level.  The build should be picking up in productivity, which will be nice considering I will have much less time for the next few months.  
 
Until next time,

Thx for your interest, Daniel
 
Here is explanation to your question
 
Working on part of bulwark with white panels, I made it wide as soon is possible to fit scale on C-plans. But, when time to mount them come, half of milimeter up, 1/4 mm down, layer of glue, and it drops almost 5mm wide instead about 4 mm. This reflects to outside look, because second rail from top must follow down edge of panels and future nailholder
 
Then, considering I am not able to make rail thiner than 1mm, additional wideness come, so, rail + space + rail on my model is 1+5+1 mm 
 
Admiral calls for dinner, so it will continue later ...
 
Extension ...
 
 
Ahhhh
 
My favourite ...
 
 

 
+
 

 
+
 

 
=
 

 
( Bob, you must try this : spinach, poached eggs, fried eggs on bread and milk )
 
Back to the Cutty
 
Where I stopped ? ( Full belly empthy mind)
 
Oh, yes
 
And when upper part of bulwark raised to 6-7 mm, Campbell plans can not be applied, because by them to keep in scale, planks had to be 5-6 mm wide, and I think it is to much
 
Looking at the pictures, I noticed that planks are little narrower than the space between rails, so, if space is 4,5-5 mm, than planks have to be 3-3,5 mm, and it looks (for me) right in scale by photos
 
Here are some photos to compare space between rails and planks, and wideness of planks with the hull
 



 
Next question - length of planks. In C-plans, there is nothing about it ( or I am blind)
 
In pictures, it is not clear, and to me it seems that place of composition of planks in same line is not visible because thick layer of black paint
 
That is my idea, to fill composition with putty or with wood dust on edges of planks in same line, and when black paint cover it ... I think it will be OK
 
 
 
 
 

Finished first side of hull, move to another, and good progres
 
 
God, I start dreaming this little things ... 
 
Cut,glue,cut,glue, line up, cut, glue, line up, cut ..... little booooring ... Fortunately, after this, there is left only one big planking job in front of me (main deck)
 
Edit: I forgot four boats !!!! And "roofs" of deck houses  !!! 
 
Another overeaten day (Christmas lunch). Hapiness is that in couple of days I ll start to work. If this eating situation continue, I soon could not pass through garage door (joke.. 190 cm and 95 kg with 55 years is not much ).
 
Here is new look and feel of CS
 

 

 
This days I managed to rescale C-planss to scale of my CS, and doing some compares
 
Bow and the stem must be corrected later when finish planking of second layer. Curvatures of bow and stem on Tehnodidakta plans are wrong. Holder of Nannie is also wrong ...
 
I hope to finish planking about 7-10 days, then to prelinimary paint it black, and in mean time to start finding somewhere in Belgrade Zinc foil for "coopering" 

Planks Close Encounters (of the Third Kind)

Thank-you to everyone for the kind words and support. The shipyard was quiet for a while, but lately I found the time and desire to make sawdust again.
 
Now on to the update.
 
I managed to cut the curved railings at the bow from a half dowel that I had first hollowed with some of my carving tools, and then installed them.
 

 

 
I used some brass wire, which I coiled, cut, and flattened, for the outer face of the round gun ports.
 

 

 
The railings are finished, as well as one of the stern decorations.
 

 
The flash was a little extreme in this photo and as a result the blue appears much brighter than it really is.

 
And this is where she stands at the moment.
 

 

Finished up the after cabin tonight except for the ship's bell. I will install the bell just before rigging so I don't have to worry about knocking it off or bending it.
 
It's kind of hard to see but the skylight is cut out and I installed a piece of blackened wood covered in packing tape to simulate the glass. I was originally going to use a window from an envelope and let you see into the skylight a bit but that didn't look very good as I made the skylights too close to the frame and there wasn't enough glue area to attach the clear plastic
 
All that's left for the after cabin is to coat it in wipe on poly and glue it to the deck. It's pretty exciting to see parts being attached to the deck after so much work!
 

I couldn't come up with a good enough excuse to not work on the Saginaw, so I went ahead and made a little bit of progress...
 
I finished up one of the round (octagonal) skylights and added the paneled doors to the deck house structure. I still need to do a little more cleanup and detailing, but this is what I have now.
 

I haven't glued this into place yet, but will do that shortly. I had the darnedest time getting the windows into place. I tried cutting little pie sections, but they were small and impossible for me to control. So, I ended making a circular piece with a section cut out. 
 

This is the only way I could get the windows into the skylight. It doesn't lay flush with the frames, but at this scale, you really can't tell. I did have a little problem with a tiny amount of overlap at the ends, but it's pretty well hidden after I added the bars over the windows. Oh, yes, and those bars were so small and required so much care to affix that it was a very painful process. Give me ratlines instead any day!
 
 
Next, I dealt with the paneled doors. I needed to add knobs to the doors and just chucked brass nails into a dremel and filed the heads down to a more reasonable size. Interesting to note that the ground away areas are steel colored since these are apparently not brass nails, but brass plated nails. Not so noticeable at this scale. 
 

I attached the doors, leaving a couple of the doors ajar. Obviously someone aboard was careless and didn't close them properly, and either the seas are very calm or the roll of the ship will slam them shut. These still need a little clean up and they aren't perfect. But, these will be mostly hidden by the wheel houses and the hurricane deck.
 
The deck house is just temporarily put in place. I will need to get the wheel houses built before I can put this in place permanently.
 
Clare

I began the rigging process yesterday.  I began by lashing the Main and Fore Sails to their respective booms and gaffs.  The instructions and plans show the Main and Fore Sails lashed to the gaffs, but are secured to the booms only at the corners.  Looking at the photos of the actual Bluenose it shows that these sails were lashed along the entire boom.
 

 
I decided to lash my sails to the booms and gaffs, but opted for a running stitch.  Using a Tapestry Needle gave me enough of an eye in the needle to use 0.25mm rigging line.  The running stitch also allowed me to adjust the tension on the lashing for a uniform appearance.
 

 
I used the same running stitch for the Fore Sail.
 

 
Because I already had the Mast Hoops in place I used a method described by Dave Borgens back in August.  His method uses a simple cow hitch to secure the line on the Mast Hoop then running these lines through the sail to secure it to the Mast Hoop.
 

 
Couldn’t wait to see how the Main Sail looked on the model.
 

 
Now it’s just a matter of securing the appropriate rigging lines to the other sails.
 

I kinda shifted gears and decided to make the entry steps. They are cut from
swiss pear using the Byrne’s table saw.
 
 

 

 

 
I clamped a ruler to the hull where they were located to keep a straight line
and assist with the spacing.
 

 

Hi all, Thanks for stopping by and all the likes!
 
It’s really nice having a couple of days off with no obligations. You can really get some fun
stuff done. I assembled the main mortar carriage. It was pretty straight forward and like
the deck and beams below, very thick and rugged.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I have held off on the cap square and hinge until I have a cannon to match it to.
 
Now looking ahead to the chain plates here are two pictures showing how the plans depict them.
 

 

 
My question to you is would they be like that or would they be “links” like I did on the Confederacy?
 

 
Thanks
 
 

Happy New Year to all of you!
 
Hi Grant, Like I’ll have any issues wanting to get more accessories! OK I’ve been looking at the 
three and four jaw chucks and I realize that I will eventually need both types. The one thing I am
unsure about is if the self centering chucks are better than the regular jaws chucks. From what
I’ve read self centering is nice and handy but the independent jaws allow for more “accuracy”.
What types do you use?
 
Hi Ben, Thanks for stopping by. As I said above I will get a 4 jaw chuck just not sure which type
yet. You know you don’t have to wait. We can take that plunge together!
 
OK onto the fun stuff.
 
Here is the starboard side with all the assorted ring bolts in place. I made them from some 20 gauge
wire I had on hand.
 

 
I also figured I don’t need cannon barrels to make the carriages so I started on them. They are
made from swiss pear. I made two just in case I decided to add a second cannon. I figured it was
easier to make them together instead of having to go back and make a second one.
 
 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your kind words Tim.
 
The sheer rails have been added as well as some of the cleats the plans call for.
Next I have to make a bunch of ring bolts and then the gun carriages. No Guns
yet but I might as well as start on the carriages
 

 

 
Also the quest for a lathe continues. I have ordered the Tabletop Machining
book by Joe Martin and will read up on lathe usage as well as annoying some
of you with dumb questions.

Finally everything is settling back down and getting back to normal.  I got a gift of a sign that makes my work area official, so I went in and started planking.  The plans say the planking is 2 1/2” X 7” and narrower.  That’s .05” X .15” so I’m planking with .07” thick figuring the sanding will take it down to .05”.  In the pictures you can see the gar board and the sheer strakes.  It looks like I will have to use a lot of filler planks at the stern, but that will be a few days yet.  I was looking at the planking of the Bluenose.  The one I was studying used 15 planks bow to stern.  It doesn’t look like I’ll be so lucky.
 
Bob
 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Keith, and Martin, for your comments--you're right, the admiration and inspiration we get (not to mention knowledge gained) from those who work at the highest level is often what drives us to do more, and better, than we ever could on our own.
 
 
Today's minor update:
 
As much as I've rhapsodized about the joys of my little cutter, I'm also feeling a little burnt out!   I didn't spend very much time on it today.
 
But I did decide that it would be better to do the gunwales before the thwarts, just in case I need "elbow room" while gluing the gunwales on, without the thwarts in the way.  (I do try, at least sometimes, to think ahead!)  In anticipation of that work, I also determined that the apron at the stem needed to be cut down from where I initially had it-- 
 

 
 
The gunwales need to be 1 1/2 inches thick, by two inches wide.  Using my rotary tool "thickness sander" I roughly sanded some stock down to approximately 1/16th inch square (about 3" x 3" in scale), wet and heated it, to set the curve. The piece on the left I have started sanding down to final thickness--
 

 
 
The next photo shows the difference between the rough form, and final thickness.   There's also a pretty significant kink in the curve of the un-sanded piece, but I think it will disappear by the time it gets down to its final dimensions.  In the background you can see I also had to re-glue the starboard rising piece.  It had come loose on some of the frames.  This is not a good thing--some earlier varnishing of the interior may have compromised the gluing integrity on the frames-- 
 
  
 
 
I think I am going to stain the gunwale black.  I'll do this before I glue them on.   The other pieces that attach to the gunwale--the breasthook, and a piece and some angles at the transom-- willI also be stained, but not the washboard.   The port gunwale has been sanded to the correct thickness, but not yet the width.  The starboard is still rough--
 

 
 
And that's it for now.
 
Ron

Lower Mast Continued...
 
Fish
 
Running down the front of the mast we had the fish.  This again was rectangular stock, but this time I did shape the inner surface, then glued it to the front of the mast, then the external surface sanded round.
 
Examining Steel - I noted that before the cheeks were added there were iron bands to support the central spindle of a made mast.  These were done in paper, and do not actually go under my cheeks or fish - they are just tiny squares, with matching bands on the rear of the mast.
 

 
Wolding, Trestletrees and crosstrees.
 
Once all that was sorted the wolding was added, with paper again serving for the wooden bands above and below.
 
I don't have any photos of building the trestletrees and crosstrees, so they are presented mostly built.  The foremast not complete since I need an item of served rigging in place before permanantly fixing them.
 


 
Bowsprit
 
Shaped in the same manner as the lower masts.  Constructing the bees was an interesting and rewarding task - I was able to actually install sheves here.
 



 
Test fitting....

 

This will mark the end of the historical photos - I've pretty much exhausted the supply of what is sitting around on my computer, and brings us mostly up to date.
 
First a couple of quick catchup photos:
 
Trial cannon - allowing me to test fit everything.
 

 
Current state of the rudder.
 

 
Lower Masts:
 
As mentioned before I chose to make the lower masts at this stage - to ensure that they fit and were straight while I could still get into the bowels of the ship if needed.
 
The construction process is essentially similar to what is outlined in TFFM:IV, with some allowances for building at 2/3 the scale.
 
Central spindle
 
Lemonwood Blanks were cut to length (not the full length on the masts, since mine terminate in the middle of the false keel), and maximum diameter of each mast.  On opposing sides, the centreline, cardinal points along the length (deck, quarters, head) and diameters were marked.
 

 
These references were used to chisel/plane a taper into the mast...
 

 
Then the process was repeated to taper the other two sides.  Once all four sides were tapered, then the sides were marked out for octagonals and the mast shaped into an octagonal.
 


 
This was then Clamped in a vice (baswood in the jaws to protect and sanded round.
 

 
resulting in this....
 

 
Cheeks
 
After all that work we then cut a chunk of it away...  In full size practice the mast cheeks were shaped around the mast, Hard to do at scale so we cheat by cutting the mast and attaching the cheek to a flat surface.
 
Marking out the angles through the head and the end point of the cheeks on the mast spindle...
 

 
These define the line that we run the mast through the tablesaw (triple check and deep breath time...)
 
The cheeks themselves are rectangular stock, rounded in the same way as the mast, with trangular notches ready to accept the bibs.
 

 
Here is a mast, slimmed down with it's cheeks with bibs attached (with their slight outflare)
 

 
When you glue that all together you get this...  The bands on the head are paper.
 

 
 
 

Looking good, Remco! I made a very convincing brick hearth for Druid some time ago but it is hidden in the bows of the model. Long lengths of 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" stock were prepared with vertical "mortar joints" slit in every 8". These lengths were offset and laminated over slightly inset 1" fillers to represent the mortar in between layers. After assembly, the hearth was painted with antique white (making sure to get into all the mortar joints), followed by dry brushing the surface with a brick red color. It's more of an assembly line approach but it worked well for me. I've no doubt, however, that your's will look amazing whatever technique you use.

Ok , I accept the challenge Mr Druxey......... 
 
So first I need a plan to work from. Based on what I found researching the hearth I drafted this, no grill on the opposite side I guess as the hearth stands agains a bulkhead. Comments more than welcome!
 

 
Now how about making it from real bricks.... First a little testing with dummy wooden bricks to see if this could work. 
 

 
Woodglue tinted with pigment to give a mortar look. Not quite satisfied with that its to thin to make a real layer... need to think about this, maybe thin strips of paper to make the spacing between the bricks first..
 

 
This could work so I ordered some ceramic bricks from a modelshop, now all you guys have to do is wait until they arrive....
 
Remco

The chocks were fitted next.  The edges were highlighted with pencil to make the seams stand out.
 

 

 
The assemblies were then glued in place.  The aft partner was glued using the log pumps to help alignment.  
 

 
After the glue was dry, I cut the mortises for the ledges between the partners carlings and the middle carlings.  Because of the locations of the pumps and the main topsail sheet bitts, only two ledges would fit.  The multiple bolts were added and a coat of finish was applied to seal the bolts in place.  I typically dry-fit the bolts, only using glue if the hole is too large.  The last photo shows how it will look with all six pumps in position.  
 

 

 
 
 
 

Thanks everyone for the "Likes".  
 
My next project is beam set 12, which includes the main mast partners.  The beam set itself is straight-forward.  The main mast partners is similar to the fore mast partners...only larger.  The carlings are half- mortised into beams 11 and 12.  I had previously made the decision not to cut the mortises on beam 11 ahead of time because any mistakes would be very obvious.  My intention was to cut them in once I had the mortises cut on beam 12 so they would be exactly parallel.  I could not cut them to my satisfaction because the upper well was in the way of the chisel.  I did not wish to remove the upper well and possibly damage it so I faked the fore tenon.  In the pictures you can see the recess cut into the carlings for the partners as well as the difference in the thickness of the fore and aft tenons.
 

 

 

 
The next pictures show the fore and aft ends of the carlings after they were installed and before final sanding.
 

 

 
The aft partner was addressed next.  This has octagonal holes cut into it for the pumps.  Now comes the tricky part.  These log pumps extend through the previously cut holes in the lower deck main mast partner and insert into the pump intake lateral to the keel.  They also need to be perpendicular to the keel and slightly canted away from each other.  The holes in the lower deck partner needed to be "adjusted" to accommodate this three dimensional arrangement.  That's a euphemism for totally trashing the holes.  After the aft partner was temporarily glued in place, I inserted the logs down to the hold.  I made a veneer of boxwood and planked over the lower deck partners to disguise the error.  In the third photo you can see the widened hole in the lower deck partner before the repair.  The fore partner was made and the last picture shows it in place.
 

 

 

 

Well Druxey let's see what song this Swan is going to sing over the stove.... I might make an early brick type galley to see how it looks and decide then.
 
Between looking at stoves, hearths and all that comes with that (does give an appetite seeing those big grill's...) I dry fitted most of the upper deck beams so now I can sart working on the bulkheads on the lower deck. 
 

 

 

 
Remco

Thanks for the link to Dr Michaels works. That is some amazing work, his ebony blocks are amazing also. I completely understand what you mean about spending an hour just looking and feeling the completed boat. It never ceases to amaze me what we are capable of and how practice always pays dividends.
 
I don't think looking at work such as his or yours ever intimates me, it just make me want to try harder, knowing what is achievable with effort. I can't even imagine planking a small boat in ebony but now seeing it makes me want to try. This is such a great hobby as one can practice for years and will always continue to learn and improve their skills. I like that spacer idea, I think I'll use that.
 
More great work Ron.

Armament:
 
Unable to find a 6pdr I liked I ended up making my own. 
 
I took a commercial barrel that was at least the correct length and shape, ripped off the trunnions (because they were much more centre than lower 1/3) and replaced them, carved the design on the top of the barrel, added the flat section around the touch-hole.  With my master done to satisfaction I then cast in whitemetal.
 
The foundry in full production.

 
The freshly cast cannon before cleanup...

 
To start making carriages I shaped a single block of timber that I can then slice off individual carriage sides.  I made sure the grain ends up running along the carriage side.  The shaping was a matter of multiple passess through the tablesaw adjusting the blade height and fence accordingly.
 

 
I do have one cannon built, but can't find a photo of it, so I'll get a camera out and update this post when I get the chance.
 
Figurehead:
 
My first ever attempt at carving in the round.  still very much a WIP.  Boxwood.
 


 
Rudder:
Anyone paying attention to earlier full hull shots will be aware that the rudder is fully coppered.  However I have a couple of photos of where I am in the process of doing hardware...

 
 
Colin

Interior Fit:
 
While also working on the exterior some of the main deck components have been assembled.
 
Capstan Step,
I think this was Holly - It's been oiled so looks different in the last photos to the deck planking.  It's 3 individual pieces slotted together.

 
Gratings and Coamings:
 
Gratings were manufactured from Boxwood, one side notched, with straight pieces glued across the notches.  I made larger then cut them down to size.  The coamings are of jarrah, beveled, rounded off, cambered, and I used a camber on the inner face to force the gratings to bend a little to reduce the sanding involved in shaping them.
 


 
Ladders:
jarrah and holly, coamings made the same way.
 

 
Mainmast partners:
Made from Holly.  This was one of the interesting components to build, as the plans disagree on different views.  Some views they are notched to allow for the outboard leg of the chainpump to pass by, in other views it clears the partners and no notch is needed.  Building the chainpumps showed the latter was correct.

 
When you put them all together...



 
You can see also in this the riding bitts have been completed and are in place as well.  Deck planking between the structures has started there as well.
 
Colin

Continuing on.
 
Getting there.
 
I can't find any pics of the lower hull planking in progress apart from this .

 
Coppering:
Coppering is done with individual plates, prestamped with a nail pattern.  I bought 7/16" (I think) adhesive copper, and cut into 3/4" lengths.  I was really pleased to find a width of copper that was exactly right at my scale.  For the whole hull I used an entire 32yd roll with about 100 to spare.
 

 
I tried an experiment to get the nail pattern right.  I took a 2mm thick peice of strip, glued a nail pattern on and drilled holes in the appropriate place.  Then I used acupuncture needles through the holes and on 2 edges.  The AP needles are 0.25mm diameter, so are actually pretty close in scale to the nails.  The nail pattern I produced was like this...
 


 
Pros: good pattern that burnishes down beautifully.
Cons: Fiddly.  There are 40 odd needles that need to be in place, even depth, glued down.  They are smaller than the smallest holes you can easily drill.  They are designed to pierce skin easily. They do blunt, and bend.   To make the press easier to hold, I created a handle out of scuply around the rear side of the needles.  
 
I got delayed in coppering so the first few plates went on about 6mo before the rest.  I decided to take a pic to show people what you can expect from copper that has been handled, and exposed to air.
 

 
Progress....





 
Just visible in the last pic is the batten along the top edge of the copper.
 
Colin