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druxey

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Everything posted by druxey

  1. druxey
    And, when all else fails, read the instructions!
  2. druxey
    They will be bent in using moisture and controlled heat, Maury. Stay tuned!
  3. druxey
    Work on the plug is finally complete. Small blocks have been glued as shown for attaching the temporary extensions of the frames. In an earlier stage of developing this technique, I grooved for every frame (top of photo). This proved to be very labor intensive and, when the model was removed from the plug, resulted in quite a number of frames detaching. I was able to reattach them, but it involved extra work. The current plug will, I hope, work better. Next will be to prepare about 5' 0" (actual) of framing stock. It will be a few days before I post again. Thanks for following this!
  4. druxey
    'No idea' indeed! False and misleading advertising if ever there was. Lovely work.
  5. druxey
    Next was marking out and cutting the grooves for the frames I decided to put in every fourth frame. To assist marking out, I used a piece of thread wedged into two small cuts at the top of the plug. The grooves were sawn and then finished with a narrow pillar file. A piece of stock for the frames was used as a depth gauge.
  6. druxey
    I would be cautious about using CA glue - there's almost no time to adjust things. Much more 'wiggle room' with white or yellow glue.
  7. druxey
    You are correct in your observation, Bruce. Tumblehome will be there, but if I put it in now I'll not be able to get the model off the plug without damage. There's lots of thinking ahead required with this kind of build! Speaking of thinking ahead, I have to plan the integrity of the shell. If the boat were clinker built, there would be sufficient gluing area to hold things together. In this case, carvel built, the joints between the planks are so small the chances of failure are almost guaranteed. To minimize this possibility, I shall be grooving the plug for several frames so that the planks will also be attached to them as well as each other and the spine assembly.
  8. druxey
    The lining out of the planking has now been refined. Even the thickness of a thin pencil line makes a difference at 1:48! Pencil erases well over gesso. There was much erasure. I use 4H leads in order to get the thinnest lines possible. The beauty - or lack of it - in the final model will depend on precise marking out. The next step in the process will be to mark out the frames on the plug.
  9. druxey
    The gesso is acrylic, not the traditional one. It sands very well, Eberhard. I will still wax the plug before building over it.
  10. druxey
    Thank you, Joe. Next was to refine the planking layout. At this scale the width of a pencil line makes a difference! As you can see, it's almost these now. Lining out is a science and an art. If one only scientifically divides the space for the planking, it does not always look fair to the eye. I had to then use a bit of art - and maybe a touch of alchemy - to make the lines run fair to the eye from stem to stern. There will still be some minor adjustments before transferring the mark-out to the second side.
  11. druxey
    And have other unintended consequences!
  12. druxey
    I agree that a book can suck countless hours into space. One does it for love, not money! (Unless you write fiction on the level of an A. J. Rowling.)
  13. druxey
    Thanks for dropping in and having an interest in this project! The next step was to fit the backbone and plug so the slots at bow and stern were widened to accommodate them. The run of the planking was next sketched on. Looking at the photos from Venice, it appears that there are ten strakes below the sheer rail. As you can see, the run aft looks quite good already, but the fore body needs correction. The planking will be delineated far more accurately as corrections are made. This comes next. The deliberate gap at the forefoot is that the hull form is so fine here that, if the plug were in the way, the planks will not run smoothly into the stem rabbet.
  14. druxey
    If you are trying to sand a straight edge, instead of rubbing sandpaper against the wood, rub the wood against the sandpaper. However, first rubber cement the sandpaper to a level flat surface; then you will get a perfectly straight edge.
  15. druxey
    Resaw into thinner slabs and sticker them as soon as possible. That will minimize splitting. Leave wood in log form, it will always split radially.
  16. druxey
    Next was to complete the spine of the cutter. Cutting the rabbet along the top of the keel was easiest for most of its length by attaching the keel (rubber cement again!) to a board and using a shaped scraper as shown. The stem and stern posts were scarphed on, the joints being accentuated with a little pencil. The aft scarph was unusually short, as shown on the surveyed plans.
  17. druxey
    Neatly done, Maury!
  18. druxey
    So, after many layers of gesso and sanding a good surface was achieved on the plug. While gesso coats were drying, I began construction of the backbone of the cutter. The stem and stern posts were cut out of wood a scale 2" and 3" respectively. The stern post was tapered to 2" at the heel. The rabbets were marked out carefully and cut. The drawings of this cutter showed both inner and outer rabbet lines. This established the changing bevels. The outer line was cut with a new scalpel blade and the bevel cut using a miniature chisel. Thinking ahead, the holes for the ringbolts were drilled using a #72 bit held in a pin chuck. Next will be the keel.
  19. druxey
    Over the planking for sure, Mark. The batten idea will certainly help align the pieces nice and smoothly. I found that my best molding strategy was to start with blanks that did not account for bevel on the back. The lengths were rubber cemented on a wood backing board. The molding scraper was then run along repeatedly and lightly until it bottomed out on the backing. That ensured a consistent depth of cut. After removing the molding from the board and cleaned of rubber cement, the bevel was put in. This was done with a very sharp chisel to establish the angle, then rubbed on a sanding board to refine the bevel.
  20. druxey
    Hope this is a quick fix for you, Mark.
  21. druxey
    Welcome! And I'll add; read and understand the instructions first!
  22. druxey
    Smart move to begin with something simple. As you'll find out, even that has challenges!
  23. druxey
    The gesso provides a white surface which you can use pencil on. The lines show up clearly and you can easily erase if you need to. Stay tuned to see this.
  24. druxey
    Very nice and neatly done, Clare. The sail material looks very convincing.
  25. druxey
    Thanks, but not yet, Chuck! It's gesso and sand and repeat time now.

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