Elia

Thanks, Kees.  We are usually our own worst critics.
 
Now that the sheer strake is installed, it is time to attack the fixed blocks.  There are two fixed blocks that pierce the hull.  One of them has two sheaves and the other only one.  They are pretty straight-forward in construction.  First the block's shell is cut and dry-fit.  Next the slots for the sheaves are marked out, drilled and then finished with needle files.  The hole for the pin is drilled and the block is put back into the hull.  It is much easier to drill the slots for the sheaves prior to shaping the sides.  The inner and outer faces are sanded to conform to the shape of the tumblehome.  I made the sheaves from ebony that I drilled out and shaped with chisels and sandpaper.  Finally, they were sawn to thickness and installed.  In the pictures there is too much contrast between the woods to actually see the sheave withing the slot.  The blocks were removed, the sheaves and pin inserted and glued with CA, and the assembly was glued in place in the hull.
 
    
 
The first photo shows the blocks glued and sanded in place.  In the second photo the wood has been wiped down with a damp cloth to highlight the treenails.  The slots on the inboard face need a little more cleaning up.
 

 

 

 
The final appearance.  I still have to insert some of the gun port liners but overall I think it looks pretty good.
 

 

 
 

The sheer strake was installed next.  This is 3" thick and is let down to the top of the gun port where the width of the upper planking would have been less than 5".   There is a hook scarf amidships.  I have cut down some of the timbers to just above the sheer strake.  By leaving them a little long at this point I am preventing damage to the top edge of the sheer strake. 
 

 
I ran into two problems:  one correctable and the other not.  Although it is hard to tell from the pictures, my Dremel has developed a wobble in the shaft and consequently the holes are slightly oversized.  I solved this by dipping the treenails in dilute glue before installing.  Usually I install them with pressure fit and rely on the finish to seal them into place.  It appears a new Dremel in on my horizon.  You can see my general approach for treenailing in the following picture.  I draw a light pencil line to indicate the center of the frame.  Next, I pencil in the locations of the treenails.  I use a carbide stylus to prick the wood so the drill bit does not wander.  And finally I drill the hole.  I start at the bottom and work up to the top.  The sawdust drops down so by starting at the bottom I do not have to clean off the hull after each hole has been drilled.  I sanded the aft area so show how the treenails disappear until finish (or water) is applied.
 

 
Now for the relatively uncorrectable problem.   As I mentioned before, I had to correct the sill heights to get a smooth run.  This was accomplished by lowering the central gunports and raising the aft gun port and bridal port.  I have already stripped the planking twice and began to be concerned about the integrity of the frame glue joints with the repeated application of isopropanol.   Therefore, I decided not to strip the planking again even though the appearance is not perfect.  You can see my shim on the lower port opening and the height that had to be removed at the top.   I am not pleased with it but weirdly feel better for showing the problem to whomever reads this log.  I guess that means I need a life!  The wood was wet down to show off the treenails.
 

At long last the installation of the upper planking is progressing.  After installing most of the planking up to the level of the top of the gun ports I discovered that the height of the lower sill was 2 scale inches too high.  However, I also determined that the height of the bridal port and the last gun port were correct.  To make everything perfect would have required removing all of the spirketing and the string in the waist.  Well, that wasn't going to happen so I did the next best thing.  I raised the sills of the bridal and aft gun ports one inch and lowered everything else one inch.  There was minimal damage to the appearance inside the hull with this approach.  In the first picture it looks like the aft port is too low.  This is an optical illusion caused by the narrowing distance between the main wale and the bottom of the gun port as one moves aft.  I removed the gun port liner after the outer planks were installed to get a better edge.  The pictures show some of them reinstalled.  I have tapered the thickness of the planking to 2 1/2".  The sheer plank will be 3".  I still have to finish sand the planks, reinstall the rest of the gun and sweep port liners and finish the opening for the sweep ports inside the hull.  The scrapes in the main wale paint will be addressed when all of the hull planking is completed.
 

 

 

The planks of the main wale have been drilled for the bolts at the butts and the treenails have been installed.  The bolts are 0.75" in diameter and the treenails are 1.25" in diameter.  Although not quite to scale, I used a 77 bit for the bolts and a 75 for the treenails.  I usually dry-fit the treenails, relying on the finish to hold them in place.  However, I wanted some structural strength with these treenails so I drilled them deeper into the frames and dipped them in dilute glue to secure them.  I realize no one will see them, but it only took a few hours and the added security is worth it.  I wet the wale in the second photo to make the treenails stand out.  
 

 

 
Next came applying a black finish to the wale.  I tried several approaches before making my final decision. I found an unopened bottle of Floquil hull black.  This looked good but when I applied the Watco's finish it rubbed right off.  Next I tried archival marker.  Looked good but the length of time it took to apply tried my patience.  Feiberg's leather dye also looked good and allowed the joint lines to be slightly more apparent but it bleeds into the wood and I was afraid of getting it onto the stem (even with masking).  My winning choice was artist acrylic paint.  This comes in a tube and can be diluted to the desired consistency.  It applies nicely and there was no concern about ruining the stem.  I was a little sloppy in getting paint on the frames when painting the edges of the wale but this will be covered with planking and so will not show.  The photos show the first coat applied.   I am up to 3 coats and will probably go with 3 more.  In between coats I am sanding with 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper (used dry).  Each subsequent coat is more dilute than the initial one.  I have left the aft edge a little long for final shaping later.  The bolts will be installed after the painting is completed.
 

 

The three runs of planking that make up the main wale have been installed.  As you can see, most of the joinery disappears after sanding.  In the first picture I wet the wood to make the plank edges stand out.  The next step will be to mark out and install the treenails.  The slight rise at the fore end of the wale when looking head-on is not apparent when looking at the ship, so I am going to leave this be.  I would cause far more damage if I tried to remove the wale in order to drop it 0.5 mm.
 

 

 

 

 

The main wale is composed of three strakes.  The upper most is a straight board.  The lower two interlock with anchor stock planking.  The ends are all butt joints.  Several of the planks have either severe bends or twists in them.  My basic technique for plank bending if the bend is mild is to soak the wood and then clamp it into place, allowing it to dry.  I will then final fit and glue into place.  The bends at the bow are anything but mild.  For these planks I soak them for a few hours and then use my ancient Aericopola plank bender to bend them.  I over-bend them and then allow them to finish drying off the model.  Then I final fit them and glue them into place.  One trick I have learned is to leave extra length (1/2") on the bent end (the bow in this case).  The plank bender will not work well at the end of the plank and the final result is usually a broken end.  By leaving the extra length, the extreme end of the plank can be left straight, avoiding breakage.  I use a 16 oz soda bottle because it is tall enough to soak a long length of wood and it does not waste too much water.  Floating the wood in a pan of water results in one side staying much drier than the other.  The plank shown is 0.95" thick and was bent in about five minutes.  In the second photo the plank is offered to the hull without forcing.
 

 

 
The first row of the wale has been installed.  The lower tape is left for reference.
 

 

 
The middle row of the wale planking has been installed.  Since I plan on painting the wale I decided not to highlight the plank edge with paper or chamfering.  You can see the saw-toothed appearance of the anchor stock planking in the second photo.
 

 

 
For the lower row of planking I first fit the top of the plant to the middle plank.  After I was happy with the fit I marked the lower edge with a compass and cut the plank down to the line.
 

 

 
 

It has been a while since I have posted anything new...but I have an excuse.  I was performing nautical research in the Tetons and Yellowstone.  For you non-US folks, these are two national parks adjacent to each other in the Rocky Mountains.  First I had to research the types of water craft used on Jackson Lake.  This photo was taken from our campsite.
 

 
We had rain and so drove up to Yellowstone.  We had never seen Old Faithful and decided to act like tourists.
 

 
There is a lovely grand hotel called the Yellowstone Inn that overlooks the geyser.  It was built by the railroad in the '20's to promote travel in the West (which had to occur via rail since there were few passable roads).  Walking back to the car I looked up under the eaves and saw...compass timbers!
 

 

 

 
So much for the nautical research.  The rest of the time was spent hiking and enjoying a phenomenal wildflower display.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A belated thank you Remco.  And thank you everyone for the likes.
 
A little progress has been made.  In order to fit the counter planks the ship had to be "launched" from its building board. This marks the first time I have removed it from its home since fairing the exterior of the hull over a year ago.  No champagne was wasted in the launching but I did toast it with a little homebrewed IPA.  I have also done a little more fairing of the lower transoms and cut off the aft ends of the ribbands.
 

 

 

 
The lower counter was covered with five rows of planks.  These are cut to shape rather than attempting to edge-bend them. The planking started next to the stern post and progressed outwards.  The exact shape of the cut-out on the outermost plank will await fabrication of the rudder.
 

 
There are a few points in every build where decisions need to be made which will impact everything else going forward.  I am at one of those points.  I have decided to attack at least some of the hull planking next.  The decisions to make are: how much to plank, what materials to use and what finish to apply.  I will be leaving the starboard side with ribbands and hairpins.  The port side will be completely planked.  The main wales will be castillo that will be colored black.  I made test pieces using india ink, archival marker, ebony stain (oil and water based) and paint.  Ink is very messy but dyes the wood well.  I found the archival marker too time consuming but it does a good job of dying the wood.  Regular marker will bleed with oil based finishes.  The castillo is to dense to take up stain readily.  I have opted to paint the wale black with Poly S model railroad color Engine Black.  I used this same approach with Hannah.  I am still uncertain about the rest of the planking.  It boils down to aesthetics...  Two colors vs. several.  I am leaning towards only two colors but I'm a girl so I have the right to change my mind at any time.
 
I measured the top and bottom of the wale from the plans and marked the points on the hull.  I then ran a row of pin striping tape above and below these points and faired them to a smooth run of planking.  
 

David, I made a template of the space between the inner counter timbers to give a general outline for the piece of wood to cut.  Next, I sized the piece to fill the entire space between the timbers, cutting the opening for the stern timber.   I made sure the wood was thick enough to accommodate the inner and outer curvatures.  The opening for the rudder was drawn on the piece as were the cuts for intersection with the chock.  After cutting away everything aft of this point I was able to make the hole for the rudder and install the side pieces. The chock was formed by careful fitting and refitting and refitting.

Next on the agenda is the helm port.  I worked on this while the stern was being rebuilt  so the corrections will not be evident until the next posting.  
 
The helm port is a opening in the counter to allow the rudder to pass into the ship.  It needs to be large enough to accommodate the rotation of the rudder.  It is comprised of three pieces, two side pieces and a chock and in construction is very similar to the bowsprit chock.  (Loosely translated as a right royal pain in the stern.)  At first glance you would say "two straight pieces and a chock, what's so hard about that?"  The straight edges' lateral pieces are cut an an angle to match the taper of the sternpost and the cant of the inner counter timbers.  Once that is set, the chock was started. The chock not only has the same side angles as the lateral pieces, but must also lock into their top edge.  After I was happy with the fit, I traced the curvature of the inner counter timbers onto the over-sized pieces and sanded in the top and bottom curvature off the model with a Dremel.  The opening in the helm port is perpendicular to the water line.  The aft end of the chock was left rough at this point and will be finished when the knuckles of the counter are shaped.
 

 

 

 

 

I sometimes view my work in a mirror. Things can pop out at you that way. Glad you've corrected what could be a huge headache down the road!

Druxey, I think we are all at least a little OCD if we participate in this hobby.  I went back and remeasured everything again.  It appears the last time I corrected the elevation the pieces shifted when I clamped them.  So I unglued everything, remade the aft starboard deck clamps and rebuilt it yesterday.  To prevent the same problem from happening again I glued the quarter deck transom in place and then added the deck clamp after the transom was secured.  No pictures yet, but I am much happier with the results.  I appreciate you and everyone who alerts me to problems.  As you know, when one looks at something for a long time you stop seeing the problems until they are pointed out.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 91 – Main Deck Framing 2
 
The first picture shows the most time consuming step in framing the deck – fitting the hanging knees under the beams.  I have been doing a lot of this lately.
 

 
After fitting the knee its bolts are installed at the workbench, it is sanded smooth and then glued in place.  Later it will be further secured with two functional copper wire bolts – one down through the beam and another through the frames.
 
The next picture shows a few more beams installed with their carlings.
 

 
The next picture shows the aftermost beam on the main deck – at frame 36. 
 

 
There will be a few steps down to the cabin deck and a few steps up to the poop at this location.  A transverse bulkhead will be installed from the main deck to the poop deck.  The cabin deck will also be closed off from the hold with internal partitions.
 
The next picture shows some other work being done as the beams are installed.  Chocks with circular holes have been installed just aft of the fore hatch.  The anchor chain tubes will fit into these holes and extend from the main deck into the chain storage area in the hold.
 

 
The next picture shows more main deck beams fitted and some additional details installed.
 

 
The two bored chocks at the main deck have now been installed – also the topsail sheet bits.
 
Finally in the next picture - aft of the main hatch - framed, bored openings for the two bilge pump suction pipes have been made and installed.  These pipes will extend down to the outer planking in the limber channel just aft of the main mast step.
 

 
The plank strakes outside of these openings are for the pillars under the main deck.
 
 
Ed

Still hard at work on the LEE, however I wanted to share a build with you of a Russian 3rd Gen Nuclear Attack Submarine.
 
This is a High Quality resin Kit from Ships-n-Such from Russia.  For those who do not know most of my adult life was spent chasing or being chased by Russian subs. I love'em!!!
 
Before you close this topic as "Resin kit? Really? I've built the battle of Trafalgar out of one log," I might suggest you give a resin sub a whirl.  There is more detail on a submarine than you think.  Remember in a modern sub, anything on the hull could make noise, so we must come up with ways to make cleats rote into the hull, capstans lower to deck level, chocks are removable. Heck the who darn thing is coated in rubber!
 
So here you see the Ships-n-Such 1/350 scale Russian Project 971 (NATO Code Name AKULA.)  A little bit of confusion here. In the Russian Navy the Akula is called the PIKE Class.  In the Russian navy the huge SSBN TYPHOON as it is known to NATO is called the AKULA. Ok take some time with that.
 
First thing you notice on these late 2nd, 3rd and 4th gen Russian boast is the long stern. This is called the Hogner Stern.  So don't cut it off!.
 
Take some time and look over the hull a few times, note the many little boxes and lines that cover the hull. Unlike American submarines and their single hull design, Russian subs are double hulled. (Typhoon has 4 hulls.)  It is because of this double hull design that many access points must be built to allow repair and maintenance work between the hulls.
 
So you have looked at all the neat little do-dads, keep them in mind because you might have to remake them!  Resin kits are made with a pressure pot or the spin method. These methods remove air and allow resin to completely fill the rubber molds. Molds for the Akula are two piece units. The halves are fit together and resin poured in and pressurized or spun.  This can sometimes cause resin to run from one side of the mold to the next creating a lip of unwanted material. This is also caused when heat from the curing resin breaks down the mold.
 
No big deal, but be careful!!  The obvious way to remove this mold line is sanding...right?  Well yes, but you need to plan and use the ultimate in patience or you could really spoil the look of your hull.
 
Remember a modern sub hull is round. If you sand the side flat, you no longer have a round submarine with is what you wanted in the first place.
 
I take some model putty and place under or over the lip at the parting line. This is NOT to fill in the lip.  If you did that you would have a great parting line but an out of shape hull.  The putty is used to let me know when I have sanded the right amount as have still maintained my hull shape.  I tell myself,  "Green-Gone-Good."  It is a slow process, but the results will give you a mean looking underwater killer.
 
Next installment we will get some parts on and make a few extra details and make some decals.  Stay tuned!!        

Ed, I am just catching up with your build log. You continue to offer an invaluable manual for model ship construction with every post!
 
Mark

Elia thank you for nice comment 

All masts are now tapered. The parts for mast caps were very poor quality and holes for masts were far too big for tight fit. I made my own from 2mm plywood. Every part is specific to the location they go. Nothing is not glued yet.
 
 

A long overdue update....... I was too busy making decals and flags
 
I planked the port side from the Sheer strake up, this is all the planking I will do on this side except some minor parts I need for the rigging. Next up tree nailing the lot.... 
 

 

 

 
Also made new brass knobs on the clamps, as it turned out the wooden ones didn't hold up after I reenforced the bars with nuts.
 

 
Remco

once upon an idea...........there was a concept to build three boats,  all with a holiday theme.   they were part of an experiment,  to replicate hulls,  using kit parts panels.   in my opinion,  it was a success....the M&M fun ship being a completed build,  the trawler 'Syborn' well on it's way towards being the second ship to be completed.  the 'Syborn' is unique to me, because it was an added experiment in making the hull longer by adding in copies of key ribs, stretching the hull.  these two were created using the hull from the Billing's Mary Ann.......or even the Cux 87.
 
when I assembled the hull for the Boulogne Etaples,  I saw possibilities yet again.....and the three hulls were created from the parts panels from this kit.   I originally had three themes for the subject of Christmas,  but as time went on,  one of the themes fell through.  I was left with a hull without a theme
 
in building these boats.......I at least want them to be somewhat logical {although the M&M boat was more of an 'admiral's whim' }.   when I was making these hulls.......I had thoughts about the Andrea Gail.  I looked her up in the Billings catalog.....the bones were there...it could be done.   I kept her on the back burner.....I have projects started already...enough to keep me busy for a while.   maybe later.
 
months past...............
 
it was during my two month hiatus,  that the idea surfaced again.  I had downloaded the instructions for the R/C version of the A.G. and thought I would look at them.  I also found that there was also a static kit out there as well....smaller scale,  but just as detailed.  I thought about the Gundalow,  and how a simple article I read,  stopped me in my tracks.  perhaps that is the same problem here......can't say for sure......but you know it's pretty chronic,  if the admiral starts to take notice
 
if you've been following the Holiday Harbor build,  you've seen the modifications that needed to be done,  to create the basic hull.   I found an interesting article:
 
Perfect Storm, The - THE ANDREA GAIL
 
seeing the movie about the Andrea Gail during the time frame made me want to attempt this,   all the more.   I wish i had saved a copy of the search records.......they never found Capt. Tyne or his crew.
 
....and so......to where I am now.   the hull and the pilot house has been created.   the hull needs to have the external rails done,  and soon the paint.  I'm using the Billing's plans as sort of a practicum,  so......if you see something that may not be exactly correct,  it's just me keeping the copyright monster at bay {but it will be in the ballpark though}.  here is the hull and where I am now
 

 
I only had a chance to sand down the roof line of the pilot house so far....more needs to be done.
 

 
the ice maker looked too deep to me.......I took about 1/4 of an inch from it,  so that it would sit under the cut - a - way on the starboard side.
 

 

 
lastly.......here is the boat that they used in the movie......you can see on the bow where they had changed the name.
 

thank you Nils.........now I'll give something to really laugh about {go ahead.......I did }
 
 
another sub assembly I decided to play with,  are the ladders  {we all know how much I love to play with ladders}.   first off though........it's not in it's proper place,  but I though I show you this photo of the assembly I just made.........I just like how it looks 
 

 
with some 1/16 square stock,  I made the ladder that will go up the side to this part.......it leads to an upper platform.  I sanded it and took the squareness away,  but I'm not really happy with the rungs.   their not as clean as I would like them to be.
 

 

 

 
I then thought to make one like I did on the Nordkap,  using staples.   first starting with two equal length pieces of 1/16 square stock.......marking them in 5 mm segments.
 

 
then drilling the holes and cementing in the staples
 

 
when all was said and done.......it looked like this
 

 
I like it.........but wasn't happy with the fact that some of the staples weren't all the same height.......as if the holes in the Formica {all around there} wasn't a dead give - a - way to what was to happen next.
 

 
I had to keep in mind that I was using CA...........usually when I do some bone headed move like this,  I use white glue.......much easier to pry off the table.  the admiral saw me doing this earlier.......thought it was the coolest thing in the world.........she doesn't know about the outcome yet.  she liked the wooden ladder and thought I was nutz for thinking it wasn't good enough.  I think with a little tweaking on my method   I think it would work .  these are staples that fit in the mini staplers.   of all the best laid plans..........this one was too good....NOT....to show you :D

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 90 – Main Deck Framing 1
 
Again, many thanks for all the nice comments and "likes."
 
In the first picture, the breast hook between the middle and main decks has been installed and the main deck hook is being fitted.  The main deck is the weather deck aft to the break at the beginning of the poop.  The forward section is covered by the forecastle.
 

 
I made the deck hook in two pieces to save on wood and was not too particular about the way the pieces are joined since this will all be covered by decking and the forecastle.  The side planking treenails in the picture have not been sanded off yet.
 
The first major task on the main deck framing was to make the beams.  The full set is shown in the next picture.
 

 
I have described the method for cutting out these rounded up beams in previous posts.  It is very fast and very accurate.  The set shown were made in less than two hours starting with a 2” thick block of Castelo.  The process, including tools and fixtures, was fully described in Naiad, Vol II.
 
In the next picture the beams have been cut to size, fitted and pinned in place.
 

 
Most of these beams are 15” wide except for those at the mast partners (17”) and those nears the ends (12”).  All are 12” deep.  On the original ship they were hard pine – as were all the beams and much else.  Frames were white oak and most of the knees and hooks white or live oak.
 
The next step was to mark the centerline on each beam.  The next picture shows the last and easiest step in the process that begins with a string line between pins on the stem and sternpost.
 

 
Although this process was done for every deck so far, I was a bit tense about the string line falling equidistant between the outside of the frames at each point.  It is getting a bit late in the day to fix any problems with this.  Misalignments would be very visible on this deck and could create a nightmare when the masts are installed.  The mast partners on the main deck must be plumb with the mast steps on the keel and also come through the center of the deck.  Fortunately, the centerline was well centered with only very minor remediation, so I am now in a more relaxed state.  After a substantial amount of checking, the pencil line drawn above was converted into a permanent scribed line on each beam. 
 
In the next picture the locations of all the carling and header scores are being marked out while the beams are still pinned in place. 
 

 
The distances were marked out from the centerline with dividers.  In the picture a piece of carling stock is being used to mark both sides of the scores.
 
In the next picture the setting of beams has begun at the bow.
 

 
The first very short beam will be secured only with lodging knees.  The hanging knees with their simulated bolts have been installed on the second beam.  The third beam has been glued and pinned to the clamps.
 
In the last picture the third beam - with its hanging knees and pillar - has been installed. 
 

 
The next beam has been glued to the clamps and frames.  All of the scores in the beams are cut at the bench by hand before the beams are set – from the marks made previously.  Carlings are installed progressively after the knees and pillar on each beam.
 
A period of repetitive work will follow.  Most of the time doing this is spent making the hanging knees and fitting them under the beams.  Fortunately, some preparation work in this framing for main deck facilities will break some of the routine.  So, three down, thirty-one to go.
 
Ed

Ed; you wrote:
 
"I made the deck hook in two pieces to save on wood and was not too particular about the way the pieces are joined since this will all be covered by decking and the forecastle."
 
Your 'not too particular' is other folks' excellence! 

Thank you bigcreekdad, Doug James and hamilton.
 
I just received Proxxon wood lathe. It is worth every cent  . It is so much easier and controlled to bevel masts, than hand drill which I used
for Bowsprit. 

Finished bridges for boom ropes on deck and learned how to seize a line  . Quite a challenge in 1:100 scale  .
I will leave ship boats "project" for later and moving to masts, starting with Bowsprit. 

A little update to my slow going project. All deck items are painted and attached on model. Becouse deck is already varnished I used 5min epoxy glue + all parts are secured with pins. It was quite a chalenge to achieve correct position of holes on deck.
Next stage are two on deck boats in 1:100 scale. I will  scratch build them, but need to figure out how

All deck "furniture" completed waiting for painting. For first time I tried wallnut stain, but it came too dark and need to redo the process.
I will also add some scratch build deck items,  as seen on original Bluenose photos.