Elia

To put the rule to the test, or - in other words - here comes the big rag, part 1.
 
To get the overlap right this time I constructed a small light table: 2 logs, some glas and a lamp.
 

 
Above light from underneath, below light from the top.
 

 
To get things straight I printed the pattern onto a paper and glued it face down onto the glas with a minimum spray glue.
As I also sprayed the back of the paper, the silk is nicely fixed and does not move while working. Do not face the print towards the 
silk, or the heat will transfer the laser toner onto the tissue - unless it is wanted :-)
 
The silk I used for the gaff was is pongée 8 as this sail was a more heavy cloth.
 
Constructed a small cutting machine for the panels ...
 

 
... and started bravely ironing. First side went rather fast, then flipped over, adjusted to the grid and restarted and went immediately tilted ...
 

 
... but was no problem to scratch that off :-) 
 
Here the result in changing ambient light conditions, just what I wanted to see, every time it looks different :-)
 

 

 

 

 
The overlap is still to broad, that was a mistake of mine. To make the overlap more visible, I still added a 1 mm stripe atop, see the spaghetti in the back of the picture. It was surprisingly easy to do and exact in the outcome. 
 

 
Then the slightly curved reef bands and the other doublings ...
 

 
... and step one was done.
 
The size of the sail can be seen as soon as my little ship yard worker is added. 
 

 

 
And just for fun: The original out of the box :-) :-) :-)
 

 
So next steps will be great fun: Adding the bolt ropes and the glue-paint mixture and waiting if everything stays as crisp as it is now!
 
XXXDAn

Hello Andi :-)
 
The last engraving with Victory showing the old fashioned entry port - as depicted in Slade´s drafts - is 1779 Victory, „Sailing by the White Cliffs of Dover“.
 
In 1780 she had a refit also and was coppered for the first time - and since that day the port vanished from all sources until it reappeared in 1828 after another repair. But by then, the port was one more opening further in the back. Since then it was to be seen in all sources until it was moved to todays position in the 1920/30ies.
 
The disappearing side entry port is nothing specific to the Vic, it started to disappear from all first and second rates around 1760, the time of the Seven Years' War and the War of Independence - high times on the seas and plenty of trouble with the french. A coincidence? The ports just started to reappear around 1803/1805.
 
XXXDAn

Your experiments look very effective, Daniel. Try using acrylic paint with a ruling pen to get the seam doubling with less transparency and see what you think. I've used this  very effectively at a much larger scale (1:48) on SilkSpan. One needs to pre-stretch any paper as one would for watercolor paper to avoid sags and wrinkles when wetted. Also, Silkspan won't tear when wet.

So I went on to search for different kind of papers and found something from the restoration department :-)   Immediately had to try this out - and I never have been that near to what was being encapsulated in my strange brainsalads ...     ... the back side was without any crisps ...     ... and the transparency was perfect too ...     ... and if I still manage to fit the doubling on the front and back sides to to match ...   ... and I further on renounce to put two strips of "canvas" atop each other - as to be seen in strip n#6 -...   ... yep, then ...   ...   ...hihihihihihihihi...   That is why I immediately did the next test piece. And got the appearence even closer to my aim. The doubling is made a layer thicker as it consists in reality of 4 layers of cloth, not just two. Also I added some copper thread in the seam, even though it will possibly be a bit difficult in a larger sail.     Then painted with some diluted wall paper glue dyed very carefully with a mixture of 3 parts light grey and one part yellow ochre :-)     Here some shots of the nice play with light, changing appearance from frontal, side and back light           Slowly we go :-)   ... slowly ...    
XXXDAn

Ok, time to do some stupid things ...
  ... I! WANT! ... I! WANT! ... I! WANT! ...   ... sails :-)   For some time already - actually years - I was cogitating about how to do the sails. For scale reason I do not like the cloth ones as for their too coarse structure, paper ones almost always end up with small crisps and waves from painting. Silk is too transparent. Paper easily gets crisps and tears and rips if formed in a wet state. Cloth is too rigid for my scale to give a realistic fall of the folds, paper is ...   Also I wanted to find something more realistic for the usual way of imitating the seams with pencil - or even worse black stitches. In reality the stitches themselves are mostely invisible as they have a similar color to the sail. What one can see is a difference in transparency as the area of the stitches consists of 4-time folded cloth, being almost invisible with light from the front and to be seen as a "shadow" of blocked light if it comes from behind.   Could go on for ages lamenting. So I decided to laminate ... (Got the pun?)   That is why I wanted to try a unusual test, combining both materials. Cloth with paper glued to both sides, thus giving the better paper structure but using the strength of the cloth within. By using wall paper glue, I aimed in being able to soften up the sail where needed by wetness or steam to be able to form the sail afterwards.   One still is young and has dreams ...   So on we went, trying out a series of small squares of 5 cm of different cloths and papers and surprisingly this crackpot idea really seemed to be not completely out of this world.   So and even further we went, investing in a wedge frame, putting the Silk of pongé 5 - the thinnest I could get - onto it ...     ... and evenly spreading the glue. Then ading the thinnest paper I had on both sides. And one sees immediately the problem, the paper gives: the waves and crisps.     Got better after drying ...     ... the transparency was perfect ...     ... but the sidelight revealed the small crisps still being there.      Next I tried to glue the seams onto this base which did not work at all, as the paper got soft with the glue ...     ... ripping to shreds and proving its unwillingness not to perform straight lines :-(

Depends on the material also: cotton (as used in the USA) would be more whitish, while flax and hemp (as mainly used in Europe in the pre-industrial age) would be more greyish-yellowish. The older the sail the more light-greyish it would be, presumably, due to the constant exposure the elements and light.
 
Small fishing vessels frequently used 'tanned' sails (as in the above botter), the resulting colour being anything between a dark red, reddish brown and yellow ochre, depening on what was smeared on the canvas.

This is my most recent attempt in 1/87 to show the reef points in a realistic as possible way:
 

 

Wefalck, thanks for your insights! Nice to hear from someone with more experience in this regard.
 
Regarding reef points, I forgot to say this: I had tried to simulate what you decribe, but found that I was simply unable to tie a knot tightly enough on both sides of the sail to look right. There was always enough slack so that one side or the other shifted outward slightly, ruining the effect. This may well be simply a failure of skill; if it could be done right it'd be great.
 
This particular model is in 1:64; I used bond paper because it's what I had on hand. I model on a tight budget and find great value in reusing materials already available to me. As I'm just an amateur, this sometimes is more important to me than perfection. For my model, the paper is close enough on inspection for all but the most knowledgeable, and here in the American Midwest, there is virtually no one knowledgeable enough to know the difference.
 
Kiwibob, I have not tried rice paper, as noted above I used what I had on hand. I appreciate the suggestion, though, as now other people can try it and see if they prefer it.

As I have used this technique on virtually all my models made over the last couple of decades, I may be allowed a couple of comments :
 
Not sure what scale you are working in, but 'bond' paper seems to be rather heavy even though it would be a good quality of paper. I would rather go for something as thin as possible.
 
If I wanted to stich-on the bolt-rope (I never worked in scale, where this would be possible physically), I would use the thinnest fly-tying yarn I could get holds of (something like 18/0 and perhaps even split it).
 
The reef-points are actually held in place by stiched-on crown-splices on both sides of the sail. These can be simulated by two figure-of-eight- or over-hand-knots that are pulled very close to the sail.
 
Not sure, whether 'dafi' presented his technique (already) in this Forum, but for his 1:96 scale HMS VICTORY he developed a three-layer technique using self-adhesive tapes as used by book-restorers to (almost) invisibly patch up ripped pages. Strips of that paper-tape are pasted from both sides onto a backing of very fine silk weave ('silk-span') to create the effect of the sail-panels. This composite can be crumbled and creased to give a realistic cloth effect and when stitching-on the bolt-rope the silk-weave prevents the edges from ripping out. Interesting technique, but I have not yet used it myself.

Paper intended for max longevity is made of rag from fabric rather than wood pulp. It'll be labeled "100%rag". Wood pulp is full of acids that oxidize the paper and make it brittle and yellow. Some suggest that sealing paper on all sides with a varnish or coating of some kind will block oxygen from aiding the decomposition of the paper but I imagine it wouldn't guarantee immortality.

Allan,
 
Check the first post; I used bond paper, which is a high-quality durable paper originally used for government bonds and now commonly used for archival papers or theses. It's expected to be a long-lasting paper because of its intended uses. It also has a nice rough texture that really simulates cloth well at small scales (as compared to printer or photo paper, which is too smooth and shiny).
 
You raise a good point, depending on the intended life of the model. I don't imagine that any of my models will outlast me or have any interest beyond my lifespan (I'll be shocked if they're still of interest to anyone in even 20-30 years), so I'm not real worried. But I could definitely see how a more professionally-minded modeller might have concerns about the long-term durability. I suspect that coloring the paper with pastels doesn't hurt, as it's just a surface treatment. I don't know whether any kind of fixative spray would affect the lifespan one way or another. Finally, I don't know for sure what the glue will do; I know most modellers swear by basic wood glue as a very stable and long-lasting fixative, and assumed that it would behave the same way with paper, but can't say for sure.
 
Thanks to everyone for checking in; please let me know if you try it because I'd love to hear about other people's experiences (better yet, post here so we can collect more experiences and advice).

Part III: Adding reef points
 
Reef points add a lot of visual interest to sails, and they're easy to add in the paper-sail method.
 

The reef bands were glued on in Part I. Where to place the reef points is something of an uncertain topic; I found references for a variety of options, including one point on each seam, one point within each panel, and two points within each panel. I chose to use the first approach. Because the paper layers were extra thick here, due to the seam and reef bands, I used a small drill bit to open up a hole rather than trying to drive a needle through.
 
For the reef points, I cut a series of rigging rope a bit longer than I needed. I wanted my reef points 2 scale feet long, so I cut the rope 5' long to allow for trimming, then used a deadeye/block threader to run each line through the sail. The threader creates a strong crimp in the line, so I tried to center each line in the threader before pulling it back through; the crimp then becomes a natural reference point holding the line in place where it passes through the sail.
 

When all the lines for a given band were threaded, I clamped a piece of wood across the sail 2 scale feet below the reef band as a reference marker. You can get the length right here in two ways: either trim each line to the right length relative to the crimp, or don't worry about the crimp and pull each one back through the sail until only 2' are left on the side you're working on. I then used a fine brush to gently apply a bit of glue to a line, then pressed it into place on the sail with its tip against the wood. You only have to hold the line in place for maybe 10-15 seconds for the glue to take hold, before moving on to the next one. I like to get glue from the tip to about 2/3 to the sail, not all the way to the sail. This means the line naturally bows out a bit where it comes out of the sail, giving it some 3D texture. Don't overdo the glue or you'll get weird stains on the paper. Also, don't worry about trying to get each line perfectly straight; they're going to want to curve this way and that, and buckle a bit, and that's exactly what you want because that really makes them look like loose lines dangling down. You want just enough glue to hold them relatively flat so they look like gravity is working. If you glue them too flat or perfect, they'll look glued on and artificial.
 

Once one side is done, it looks something like the image above. Then you just turn the sail over, clamp the wood at 2' again, trim the remaining lines to length, and glue them in the same way.
 

If there is more than one reef band, do the upper one first, since you're overall working on the lower side. Above, you see the same process being repeated for a lower line of reef points.
 

And here are the two completed lines of reef points. They have a nice randomness that looks like loosely dangling lines. Note that, once again, I slightly messed up this demonstration by not cutting the upper line of reef points quite evenly (they're too short on the left). It figures that my demonstration sail would be the sloppiest of any I've made so far, but I hope the idea comes across. And, as above, this sort of things fades away when the sail is placed in the full context of a rigged model.
 
I'm quite happy with this method. I've now made all six of the sails for my topsail schooner this way and feel that they have a strong visual interest and a realistic (if not perfectly accurate) appearance. Moreover, the method uses cheap material that's easy to work with, and requires no special skills other than some patience and care when handling glued paper. It's easy to test on random scraps first before trying a full sail, and it's easy to customize. For example, you could skip the panels and just use a full sheet of paper, or skip the boltropes, and still use the rest of the approach to have a nice sail that holds it shape and can even be shaped to hold a curve. I hope others find some or all of this interesting and useful as a different way to produce interesting sails for nautical models. Thanks for reading.

Part II: Adding boltropes
 
My understanding is that boltropes are hard to get right in scale. The ropes themselves are pretty small at most common model scales, and the stitches that hold them on would be essentially invisible, certainly at this project's 1:64 scale. However, leaving them off removes clear visual interest and makes it difficult to attach lines to the sails properly. One approach in the paper-sail method would be to bury a fine line within the folded-over edging; this is the method I used on my longboat. Glue one side of the edging down, then spread glue on the rest, stretch a thin line along the seam, and fold the edging over. You now have a boltrope that's hidden from sight, but strengthens the sail and can be carefully looped at each corner to provide the proper attachment point (and it's easy to form cringles anywhere just by tugging it out slightly from the stitching). However, for my current project, I wanted to include the visual interest of stitched boltropes even if they were out of scale. I know my model isn't perfectly accurate, and I'd rather it be a visually interesting representation of a real ship. So here's how I added them.

First, I punched holes for the stitching all the way around the sail, having measured and marked straight lines of evenly-spaced points. Then I laid out my boltrope and stitched it into place with a running stitch (I used basic white sewing thread). This can be done two ways: either with a needle (as shown above) or with a deadeye/block threader like this one from Model Expo (which I love) [edit as of 2022: these are no longer sold by Model Expo but here's an example of an equivalent product from Joann Fabrics]. The former is a lot faster, but the needle's eye tends to make wider holes. The threader takes long, but leaves smaller holes that aren't as visible. The sail in this demonstration used a needle throughout, as I wanted to try it. Another benefit of pastel coloring occurs here: a bit of pastel rubs off on all the lines, inherently coloring them to match the sail.
 

I stitched the boltrope on loosely all the way around, making extra stitches at each corner to create a proper loop. There will be two loose ends of the boltrope meeting at the first/final corner; we'll deal with that soon. Just leave a few inches extra when you start. Once the loose stitching is done, I used a fine tweezer to work along the stitch, pulling out all the slack. The boltrope sits naturally on one side of the sail; technically this is accurate, but rather out of scale. The true-scale boltrope would look like it was right along the sail's edge even if slightly to one side. However, once you get all the stitching really tight, you can actually use your fingers to massage the boltrope up almost to the edge of the sail, where it looks about as right as you can get. Once each corner's loop and stitching is tight and as I want it, I applied a small drop of CA glue to the stitching binding the loop in place, ensuring that it's not going anywhere.

Now for the final corner. When the boltrope is stretched tight in all directions, cut it short at both ends and weave each end back into the stitching, overlapping itself a little. Then you can nip it off carefully near the corner, allowing for one final loop, and pull the stitching tight to hold it in place. Another small application of CA glue holds this in place.
 

This is actually a very sloppy final corner; the worse one I've done so far. I cut the upward-running rope too short, so that my joint falls down the side of the sail. I meant it to fit right in under the loop, where the extra stitching hides it. Still, it's barely noticeable from more than a few inches away.
 
This approach gives you out-of-scale, but functional and very interesting, boltropes. Personally I think they look really nice in the context of the model overall (see any of the overview photos). They demonstrate to any viewer how this part of the ship would work, and they give the sail extra texture. Again, I like that this approach demonstrates the reality of the sail rather than perfectly simulating it. Your approach, and priorities, may vary.
 
In the next post, I'll attach reef points and show the completed sail.

I've developed a method for making paneled sails from paper that works nicely to simulate the three-dimensional texture of a sail. It seems to offer a lot of visual interest, more so than a flat sail, and the procedure is pretty manageable. I like paper sails for several reasons: they hold their shape better than cloth sails (including a natural bellied curve), they have a nice texture (especially when colored by pastels), and there's no need for complicated or careful sewing. In this topic I'll walk through the method I worked out so far, starting with making the panels themselves. I haven't seen much else about paper sails on MSW, so hopefully this is of interest to some folks.
 
I first tried paper sails on my 18th century longboat build and was quite happy with the result. In that case, I just used a flat sheet of paper and drew on the seams and stitches. It worked, but was too flat. For my current build of a US Revenue Cutter, I decided to try making sails the prototypical way, assembling them from long panels of material joined at the edges. I first asked for guidance in another sail-making thread, which produced a lot of good ideas and guidance. This guide to sail-making from the Historic Naval Ships Association was a particularly useful suggestion, as it's chock full of detailed diagrams for the arrangement of panels and the overall design of sails for different craft. Following these guides, I made a few sails and was very pleased, so I finally put in the time to document each step of the process for the foresail of my revenue cutter. Here's what these sails look like on that model:
 

 
Cutting & Assembling Panels

I used bond paper, which is heavier and more textured than regular printer paper. This is commonly used for printing theses; my supply came from leftovers of Mrs. Cathead's graduate thesis. Beware of watermarks in bond paper; you don't want your sail advertising a paper company when you shine a light on it! As shown above, I mark a sheet of bond paper in scale 2' strips, then cut the strips on a small paper-cutter. Using a dedicated fine brush, I run a narrow strip of basic wood glue along the edge of each strip, then lay it out on the edge of a neighbor strip. A glue stick might work too, but I've been fine using this method. Repeating this process produces a nice 3D-textured shape from which you can cut the final sail pattern. Make sure you pay attention to the direction in which you lay out the strips; I did one of my sails backward (so that the seams ran counter to the other sails) and had to start over because it looked funny. Above, you can already see how the overlapped panels create more visual interest than a plain, smooth sail.

Next, I cut and attach any corner reinforcement panels. Then I cut thinner strips for the edging of the sails, and fold them in half. Then I brush glue along the inner surface of each one, and carefully fold it in place along the sail's edges. There are several ways to do this: you can brush 1/2 of the strip, glue it on, then brush on the other 1/2 and fold it over; or you can brush the whole inner surface at once. Although the former approach sounds better in theory, I've found that the moisture in the glue causes the paper to buckle, so that if you do the 1/2 approach, the strip bends out of true and is really hard to align on the sail's edge. If you glue the whole thing, it stays straight and is easier to handle. Incidentally, the same buckling-when-wet property works to your advantage in the sail overall; as the moisture dries between the panels, the sail inevitably takes on a bit of a curve, which nearly perfectly mimics the gently belly of a sail with wind in it. I also cut any reef-point strips and attach these.

Once the sail is fully assembled, I color it with artist's pastels. You can use your finger or a cotton swab to gently rub on color; the paper takes up the color wonderfully, and it really brings out the texture of the bond paper. The 3D nature of the assembly helps, too, as the pastel powder naturally collects a bit along seams and highlights the structural elements of the sail. You can use a mix of colors to get just the appearance you want. One important warning: don't rub too hard, and hold the sail flat. A downside of paper vs. cloth is that paper creases; if you rub too hard or otherwise force the paper to bend or kink, you'll never get that feature out again. Some folks may want to use some kind of fixative on the color, but I've never bothered; the bond paper holds pastel really well on its own. Just be careful about handling the sail with fingers coated in pastel; you don't want to leave a dark fingerprint smudge somewhere.
 
That's the first stage. You could stop here for a basic version, but I went ahead and added boltropes and reef points, which I'll cover in the next few posts.
 
 
 

Happy day!  The hull is planked.  Still have to clean it up and finish the stern but the final strakes are in.
 
This was also an experiment using the Swiss Pear for the planking.  Compared with basswood, which I find too soft, the Swiss pear was delightful to work with.  It is very smooth grained and it holds a edge really well.  I'm fond of the appearance of the wood. It might not be most sensible for planking that will be covered - as it will in this build - but I enjoyed working with it.
 
Planking this hull is reasonably simple.  I tried two different approaches to tapering planks near the bow and eventually at the stern as well.  First was to use the taper gauge on my Byrnes saw.  That worked pretty well until I got nearer to completion of the planking and I had more "exotic" shapes to deal with (I still have a few kinks to work out on my planking skill set!)  The second was to use the Veritas mini-plane.  I didn't use it so much on earlier planking projects using basswood, but on the Swiss Pear it worked like a champ for me.

 
 
Here's the last strake.

 
 
And now the hull is planked.

Moving on with the planking.  Now working from keel up as well as deck level down.  I hope to meet in the middle!
 

Steve,
 
I thought I'd share with you my latest "success"  Remember the garboard strake I was complaining about?  It turns out that if I just turned it over it worked the way I wanted!   

 

Hi Steve,
 
Here was my 1st try at a garboard strake.  Its ok a the stern - adds some width.  At the bow it would of course be twisted and bent a bit to lie well against the bulkheads.  Its obviously too pointy right now but if I leave it like that then it almost surely requires a stealer at the bow to finish smoothly

There is no problem with the bow planks becoming too narrow as I have lots of bow space for the remaining 12 or 13  planks.
 
Is your suggestion of the 2nd pin the one that is on the flat part of the keel - 3rd bulkhead?  or that one on the curved part of the bow?

Thanks Joel - sorry for the long interval before responding.
 
I've moved on with planking and am carefully ignoring the problem of how to tie the planked hull to the transom.  I'm not very skilled at visualizing in 3D what the end result will be (bad pun).

 
Still a long way to go on the planking.  I cut some more pear strips yesterday - enough to finish the hull. 

I experimented with cutting wider strips (twice a s wide) to use for the garboard strake and the one above it.  However I don't know how to shape it for this hull.  When you look at planking references like Jim Roberts's it gives an (exaggerated) typical shape for the garboard strake - It doesn't make sense to me on this model.  Also I'm unsure how far forward toward the bow the garboard strake should go.  
 
Since there was no suggestion in the kit instructions for forming a rabbet I started without one.  Early on though I decided to attache strip along the bulkhead former - as it appears to be done on the Syren kit.  That has helped a bit.

 
 
 

I've started the the hull planking.  The printed instructions for the build offer an easy way out:

 
However I'll try to improve my planking skills and plank as iff it is only going to be single-planked.  
 

 
I'm keen to find out how well the swiss pear handles so I will use it for this hull.  Wish me luck!
 

The balsa support rails were a fine idea.  I was able to handle the model without the constant worry of snapping more extensions.  I'll use this trick again!
 
Despite the warnings about the plywood bulwark pieces and the problems they caused on other builds, I decided to try them out for myself. I installed the 1st strake - deck level - which defines the bottom of the bulwark.  

Clamping the starboard bulwark and carefully (but not quite carefully enough dear reader) I marked the plywood for trimming.
 

 
The goof was at the bow where I trimmed way too much.
 
The cute a small wedge to cover most of the gap.  It will be covered later with planking.  However getting the plywood firmly glued at the bow did require several attempts.  I decided to install (temporarily) a balsa filler block at the bow.  I shaped it to provide support for the glueing of the plywood to the hull.

 
I proceeded more carefully with the port side. (nothing like trying to avoid the same mistake twice  - you can always make new mistakes  )
 

 
Then on to the transom.  Another challenge finding how to clamp the transom for long enough to have the glue set. 
 
Finally ended up with some tape that holds it well enough.
Took out all the balsa supports.
So here's the results to date:
 

 
 
One small problem that came with the kit I think is a small overlap between the last gun port and oar port and the bulkhead extensions.  I don't think it will present any real difficulties.
 

 
 
Slightly more troubling problem, and one I haven't resolved yet, is getting the bow bulwarks properly installed. It looks like too wide a gap.  I wish there were more info on the plans so I could get the bow correct on some build (I've been stymied on all my builds so far! - can't figure it out yet!)
 

 
 
K

 
 

Finally some more progress - I've created and installed the sampson posts and the windlass.  Both are glued on deck.  I would like to run black thread down from the pump handles to the windlass to simulate the wire, but it's fairly tricky work.  Maybe I can blacken some brass wire for the same effect and glue in place.
 
 

Part 17 – Installing the Deck Beams
 
The next step is to install the deck beams.  The stern appears to be too high, and this was confirmed by test fitting the rearmost deck beams.  Before proceeding with the deck beam installation, the stern was removed and refitted.
 
Two deck beams were temporarily clamped in place, and two deck planks were attached using wire ties.  Two bottom planks were also wire tied to the frames.  These planks were used to ensure that the stern timbers were set at the correct height and angle, and then the stern was glued back in place.
 
                        
 
                        
 
The view of the deck beam layout from the HAER drawings was printed at the correct scale, and was used as a guide for the installation of the deck beams.
 
                        
 
As a preliminary check, all deck beams were laid in the appropriate locations.  It became clear that some of the frames would need to be trimmed back to the height of the clamp, since some of the deck beams would be in the same location as the frames.
 
                        
 
Some of the beam locations are critical, since they determine the location and rake of some components.  The first of these is Beam 2, which supports the Sampson Post.  The Sampson Post, made of oak, is 5” thick, and tapers from a 5” width at the keelson to 1’-2” at deck height.  Above the deck it is consistently 1’-2” in width.
 
                        
 
Deck Beams are glued to the clamp, but are also strengthened by functional bolts made of 1/32” brass rods that tie the beam to the clamp.  Deck Beam installation consists of
1.    Locating the beam along the clamp
2.    Centering the beam by aligning the centerline drawn on the beam with the centerline thread
3.    Locating and drilling the holes for the brass rod through the beam and into the clamp.
4.    Glueing the beam to the clamp with PVA glue
5.    Glueing the functional bolts using medium-viscosity CA glue
6.    Trimming (fairing) the beam ends
The initial deck beam (Beam #2) is being glued in place.
 
                        
 
It was then bolted and faired, as in the following photo of a later beam being faired.
 
                       
 
The Sampson Post was then tacked in place.  It was not permanently installed at this time since there was still an open question on the Sampson Post – which will be discussed in a later post.
 
                        
 
                        
 
                        
 
When Beam #2 was completed, Beam #1 was installed approximately halfway between #2 and the stem.
 
                        
 
The next critical beam was the forward-most of the beams adjacent to the mast (Beams #4 and #5), so Beam #3 was installed at the nearest frame.  The following photo shows the first three beams permanently installed, with Beams #4 and #5 held in place temporarily be brass rods.
 
                        
 
A stub mast was used to verify the placement of beams #4 and #5
 
                        
 
The stub was left as an octagonal since the full mast will remain octagonal when it goes through the deck to the keelson.  Details on the construction of the mast will be provided when the full mast is described in a later post.
 
The next post will address the construction of the beams for the forward hatch, the Centerboard Trunk, and revisions to the Sampson Post.
 
Thanks Everyone!
 

Part 16 – Deck Beams
 
The ceiling in the hold is now completed.  The bottom strake of the side planking required a lot of measuring and trial fitting, due to the sheer of the hold, as can be seen in the following photos.
 
                        
 
                        
 
Kathryn’s deck clamps are made of pine (Castello on the model), but there is a reinforcing clamp added in Kathryn’s forward area.  This reinforcing clamp is made of oak (Madrone on the model).  Appropriate lengths of stock were soaked in boiling water and then clamped in position to dry.
 
                        
 
After these oak clamps had dried they were cut to final length, simulated bolts were added, and the clamps were then glued in place.
 
                        
 
                        
 
There is a lot of interior construction to be done, and the location of much of the interior components is dependent on the location of deck beams, so the next effort is to shape the deck beams.
 
Initially, every deck beam would be made to full length, regardless of whether it is a full length deck beam spanning the breadth of the hull, or it is a half beam located outside of a hatch.  This would allow the half beams to have the correct camber.
 
There was no information in the HAER documentation about Kathryn’s deck camber.  Research showed a general rule of thumb of ¼ inch for each 1 foot of beam.  This results in a camber of 4.2 inches, which was used for the deck beams.
 
The HAER drawing that shows the configuration of the deck beams was printed to scale as an aid in locating the deck beams.  Each beam would be made individually, so the basic drawing of the profile of the deck beam was duplicated an appropriate number of times.
 
The following photo shows the HAER drawing (upper right) and the beams drawing (lower right).
 
                        
 
The beams drawing was initially printed to paper stock, but I found that when glue was applied the process of laying the drawing on a piece of wood could occasionally deform the drawing and result in a bad beam.  So I printed these drawings on light card stock and this proved very satisfactory.
 
                        
 
The manufacture of the beams was fairly simple.  After cutting out a single beam from the drawing drawing, school glue was applied to the back of the drawing.
 
                        
 
You’ll notice that the glue has a purple hue.  I recently bought a set of glue sticks, and bought this type by accident.  What I discovered is that the color actually helps to see that the glue is applied over the entire surface.  When the glue dries it is completely transparent.  (I later discovered that when the glue is washed off, the moisture causes the glue color to re-appear – this is a real help in making sure all of the glue is removed in the cleaning).
 
The drawing was then glued to a billet of the appropriate thickness.
 
                        
 
The bottom of the beam was cut on the scroll saw almost to the line.
 
                        
 
And the spindle sander was used to bring the cut to the line.
 
                        
 
By forming the bottom edge of the beam before working on the top edge, there was plenty of stock to hold during this shaping.
 
The top edge of the beam was then cut on the scroll saw.
 
                        
 
The top edge was then sanded to the line on the disk sander.
 
                        
 
Using the centerline of the drawing as a reference, the centerline was drawn on the top edge of the beam using a small square.
 
                        
 
This was a fairly straight-forward process, and I was able to manufacture the required 24 beams in an afternoon.  You'll notice that there are 4 beams in Kathryn's center that are darker in color.  All of the deck beams are pine (Castello on the model) except the four beams that are located under the dredging winder.  Those beams are oak (Madrone on the model) - so there's a difference in color.
 
                        
 
I’ll probably make a few more beams as backups.  These beams won’t be installed until the appropriate time – when an interior component depending on the placement of a beam is being installed.
 
Thanks everyone!

Part 14 – Deck Clamp
 
Ok, so 2 updates in the same day - this will bring us to the current state of the build.
 
Kathryn’s deck clamp runs the entire length of the ship, and is made from pine.  A reinforcing piece made of oak is installed over the forward part of the clamp.  The main clamp was cut into two pieces, joined at frame 12.  This will allow the reinforcing piece to sit over the joint when it’s installed later in the build.
 
Before installing the clamp, it was necessary to install the forward-most frame, which is let into the stem knee rather than the keelson.
 
                        
 
                        
 
This frame will provide additional support to the planks in the bow area.
 
The deck clamp can provide some needed structural support to the stern assembly if it is attached to the outermost stern timbers.  A notch was cut into the end of the deck clamp to match the shape of those stern timbers, and the clamp was then glued to the stern timber as part of the installation.
 
                        
 
Since the deck clamp will keep the frames aligned until the ceiling and outer planks are installed, it was necessary to glue and clamp the deck clamp to every one of the hull’s frames.   This made for a very tight setup.
 
                        
 
The finished deck clamps have provided good overall strength to the frames and the stern pieces, and the final shape of the hull can now be seen.
 
                        
 
                        
 
As can be seen in these last two photos, some of the ceiling planks have been started.  This will be the topic for the next post.
 
Thanks everyone!