druxey

Hi Michael -
 
Yes, another good idea.  I will play with them all the next time around. 
 
Moving ahead, I have been thinking about the methods and materials that I will have to use when it comes time to mount and rig the cannon.    Once the bulwarks are in place on the hull the tumblehome is going to make rigging the cannon difficult.    Then there are the deck and hull plank details that have to be worked out. . . . etc. . . etc.   I decided that making a mock-up of a gun station would help me work out some of the kinks.
 
The first issue was how to cut the gunports through the bulwarks and create the rebate for the lid.   I wanted them all to be the same size and square.  The method that worked for me was to create a square tube of 1/32” wood glued at the corners.   Here you can see it slid through a hole cut in the bulwark.  With a small piece of bulwark like this, I could cut it on the band saw before attaching it to the base plate.  On the model I will have to pierce each gunport and use a coping saw to cut the square hole.
 

 
Here it is from the side.  You can see that it runs parallel to the deck, so the lintel and sill will be level.  With it in this position I marked out the line where the box and the outer bulwark face met.  The box was removed and cut along the line.
 

 
The cut face was sanded, and the box reinstalled in the hole, but slid in just short of the outer face of the hole.
 

 
In the closeup you can see the even and smooth rebate formed this way.  The back side was marked, the box removed and cut down, then reinstalled and glued. 
 

 
When the glue was dry the back side was sanded smooth with the inside of the bulwark.  The rough edges and gaps will be covered by the bulwark planking.  All the gunports  should be identical if I slice similar sections from the same tube.   
 

 
Construction went very quickly.  Too quickly.  I forgot to stop and take photos.  Here is the completed gun station.  It represents one of the midships cannon in the waist with the high bulwark and the gangway overhanging the gun. 
 

 
If you look at the bulwark, you will see that it has been raised about 1/8" from the first few photos.  It reminds me not to take measurements from the plans without checking them against the rest of the details that have to fit.  This would have been a disaster if it happened on the actual bulwark piece. 
 
The deck layout is taken from the plans, with the raised binding strake used by the French set just outside of the grating.   While doing this I discovered that the gratings that I made earlier will have to be modified.   The French did not use the high coamings which the English did, and which I built.  The QAR would have had gratings set into the deck, but crowned even more than the deck camber/round up.  I took an extra piece of grating and sanded it down at the sides and across the back until it fit the curved profile. 
 
The deck is laid in holly, with birch bung covers.  I know that there are good arguments to be made for making them pronounced, and just as many for making them invisible.  I chose to take a middle course and try to make them visible, but not distracting. 
 

 
Here is the cannon rigged with its breeching rope turned into rings in the bulwark.  The rope was laid up from DMC cotton line to a diameter of 0.6” (scale 6 inch rope).  It was stained and sealed with Minwax.  There is still some fuzz, but I am working on a few solutions. 
 

 
The gun tackle are hooked to eyebolts.  The blocks are 4mm singles from Warner Woods West (6” in scale).  The hooks are tied into their strops and the block closest to the bulwark has the running line tied into its becket.  The line is J.B. Coates “Dual Duty Plus” that measures out to 0.015” This is a little thin, but I prefer the look to that of a thicker line. 
 
I could not find acceptable photoetched hooks on the market, so I made them from 0.020” iron wire.   The sequence below shows how I use my orthodontic pliers to bend the wire around to meet itself, then the eye that was formed is bent back to center on the shaft.   To make an eyebolt it is clipped off at this stage.  To make a hook I continue the bend to stage 3.  Moving the pliers out just a bit the wire is bent back toward the eye, then clipped off, opening the hook. 
 

 
The smallest hook I can make this way is just under 5 mm (7” in scale).  This is a bit large, but acceptably small, and the 50 that I needed were done pretty quickly. 
 

 
The outer bulwark planking was cut from birch veneer with the edges colored with indelible marker.  I experimented with contact cement as the adhesive.  I painted a thinned layer on the bulwark substrate and let it dry.  The planks were painted  but installed when the glue was still a bit tacky.  This gave me quick adhesion but just a little ‘wiggle room’ before it set.   The bad news was that the contact cement dissolved the indelible ink and threatened to spread it to the surface of the planking.  I will change to a water based marker in the future. 
 
Treenails were drilled and installed, then the planking was stained.  I used Golden Oak, but did not thin it enough and I think the color is too dark.  Neither the treenails nor the moldings show up to good effect. 
 
The gunport lid was made up as usual from several layers of wood glued with crossed grain.  The hinges are blackened brass strip pegged with iron wire.  The strips were left long beyond the back edge of the lid and were ground down to square cross section.  These pins were inserted and glued into holes drilled into the plank just above the lintel of the gunport.  Hinge barrels were made from short sections of blackened brass rod.
 
Small eyebolts were made and fitted to the outer corners and a bridled lifting rope tied.  The lead is through a hole in the bulwark above the gunport and belays to a cleat above the gun.
 

 
Of course, Pirate Pete had to show up to inspect the work.  He seems to fit well into the scene. 
 



 
 
He even looks the right size for the gangway, although he can use a rope railing on the caprail.
 

 
Overall, I would say that the two days spent on the gun station were well worth it for the time that will be saved over the long run, and the problems that will be avoided.
 
Be well
 
Dan
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 43 – Bilge Ceiling, Iron Strapping
 
Historical Clipper Note: A number of different structures were installed inside clipper ship hulls to increase strength and help defeat hogging, the most serious structural threat to wooden ships apart from rot.  Hogging is the tendency of hulls to droop at the ends.  It resulted from the reduced buoyancy at the ends of ships as the flotation area of the hull got smaller.  It was further aggravated by localized stresses as waves passed under the hull.  This was a particular problem in clipper hulls that were very long and had very fine lines fore and aft.
 
In addition to large keelsons, weight reductions at the ends, moving foremasts aft and some features discussed in earlier posts, additional structural members inside the hull were also used.  These varied from builder to builder.  These included massive additional keelsons in the area of the floor heads, various forms of heavy ceiling timbers, long diagonal wood “pointers” and ironwork.  From what we know of William Webb’s designs, he seemed to favor thick “bilge ceilings” – bands of heavy planking from below the lower futtock heads up to the lower deck clamps - rather than bilge keelsons or pointers.
 
An 8” to 7” thick bilge ceiling and iron strapping were the most likely combination used in Young America and that will be the configuration I will use on the model
 
After some deliberation – discussed in earlier posts – I finally decided to install the strapping on the inside of the frames.  Although this is not known to be the original configuration, it is most likely based on some references and Webb’ practice on other ships.
 
The strapping was installed on the frames under the ceiling planking.  Because installing the strapping requires some hammering on the frames to rivet the straps in place, I wanted to get a couple of ceiling strakes in place to make the frame structure stronger before beginning the strapping.
 
The first picture shows the first strake of the bilge ceiling being installed.  These are 8” x 8” members bolted through the frames from a few feet above the floor  heads decreasing in thickness to 7” up to the lower deck clamp
 

 
The strake being installed is at the heads of the lower futtocks.  This strake and the others in the band, follow the curve of these futtock head joints.  Fore and aft they converge under the lower deck clamp to form a sort of truss to resist bending of the hull.  This was definitely the configuration when bilge keelsons were used and it is likely the bilge ceilings followed this practice.  Once this line is set by the first strake the others above and below it will be installed.
 
The next picture shows a closer view of the bolting and one of the joint scarphs.
 

 
Copper wire bolts have been epoxied through the frames.  The dark area is isopropanol used to wash off the epoxy – not yet dry.  Epoxy will help assure that the wire will act as true through bolts.  In practice these were iron, so they will be blackened before final finishing.  The second bolt at each frame pair will be modeled using black monofilament.
 
The next picture shows the copper bolts coming through the frames outside.
 

 
These will be clipped off and sanded flush as part of the external fairing process.  It can be seen that the bolts come through the lower futtocks just below the heads.  I am considering leaving a few view ports on the exposed framing side of the hull.  The bottom of these open areas would be at the floor heads, so the bolted inside members should provide plenty of strength around the openings. The tops of these openings will probably be at the middle deck clamps.
 
With a stretch of ceiling in place I was anxious to try out some iron strapping. The first picture shows the installation of a test area.
 

 
I decided I wanted no part of recessing all these into the frames.  For the most part they will be covered with inboard planking and will only be visible between frames on the outside, through the view ports if installed, and down through unplanked deck areas.
 
The next picture shows a closer view of the straps and their fasteners.
 

 
I used .005” copper for the straps, cutting them to size with a paper cutter, and then stretching to straighten them.  I considered using .010” strips but these would require recesses.  The thinner material should not affect the planking glue joints.  Planks will also be bolted so should be quite secure.  The difference in thickness is virtually undetectable visually.  The actual thickness would probably be somewhere between the two sizes.
 
The straps are held in place by copper rivets - 22 gauge copper wire – some through and some partially through as “blunts”.  Like the real bolts, the heads are peened over to secure the strips.  I initially tried to get all of the intersections on frames for bolting, hence some uneven spacing in this first area.  I will not describe all the steps in detail – or the journey up the learning curve to get acceptable-looking straps.
 
These must of course be blackened before being planked over – to avoid glue spots that would interfere with the etching.
 
The next picture from outside the hull shows some strapping blackened using liver of sulfur solution.  This will be the predominant viewpoint for this feature.
 

 
This picture shows some inevitable crossing of straps between frames.  I doubt that I will try to rivet these intersections as was done in practice, except where they fall over a frame.  A few strapping rivet heads can be seen on the outside of the frames.
 
The strapping will be installed over the full length of the hull up to the upper deck clamps.  The next picture shows some correctly sized clamp material – for the lower and upper decks - temporarily held in place,
 

 
This shows the convergence of the ceiling and the lower deck clamp mentioned above.  The 7 to 8” bilge ceiling would fill the area below the lower deck plank and continue for a few more strakes below those installed in this picture.
 
The straps will be cut off above the upper deck clamp.  The strapping is fully extended forward in this picture.  The middle deck clamp will fall midway between the two shown.
 
I now foresee a considerable amount of strapping work, punctuated with some bilge ceiling and perhaps deck clamp installation.  Should be interesting.
 
 Ed

Hello all again,
 
Here is another update mainly on the tiler installation. I was quite surprised how well it actually works! Pulling the two strings will actually make the rudder turn and wit only minimal resistance.
 
Alexandru

...

Druxey, as usual you are right, though asphalt aging effect is also interesting. May be some day I will find a replacement. I will have a look at this place:
 
http://www.kamapigment.com/store/index.asp?lang=0&catpage=2401
 
For now, another turn of the wheel.

build log part 5
 
 
 

a good base for Fixing the poopdeck on
 

same for the midship high deck, on the "keel-spine" the counternut for one standbolt can be seen
 

bow bulwark planking also done vertical
 

the Forward main deck reaches well under the upper forecastle deck
 

Fitting vent tubes preliminary, to see if the frontside of poop bulkhead notches are adequate
 

here again the hull lines clearly to be seen
 

the decks are from 1,5 mm 4 layer aero plywood
 

handscetch for scaled heights of belaying pin racks and bulwarks
 

planking of poopdeck, with 1 x 3 mm Pitchpine (to be cleaned and sanded over later on)
 

length several lots of cut pre-bundled and clamped deckplanks pencil-charcoaled at their thin- and face edges only
 
 
 
 
Build log part 6 to follow....
 
 
Nils

Build log part 4
 
 
 

3/4 planking done
 

waterline with preliminary pencil marking
 

vertical planking of spherical round upper Stern portion
 

waiting for the glue to dry off
 

this is a great Moment, the ship has been lifted off the baseplate for the first time, Hull sanded over, all Looks OK. Prop and shaft claddings as well as ruddershaft fitted
 

meantime the stand with its three brass Posts has been made and fitted
 

Planks just before the decklines left open for enabling Access underneath to the decks when they get mounted
 
 

 

all bukhead heights brout to appropriate deck levels
 

The decks are in preperation already...
 
 
 
Build log part 5 to follow
 
 
Nils

Build log part 6
 
 
 

here is a terribly bad and wrong glued together wreck of the 1951 version (Heller 1:150) Pamir Hull, built by unknown...., but I saved it from the bin. It Looks like it ran on to the rocks of Cape Hoorn, but never the less I was only after taking cross check with the own 1:96 hull dimensions. I even sold that hulk at Ebay afterwards to someone else and for the same reason.
By the way, the assebly instruction Manual of the Heller kit, for whoever is able to get an exemplar, bears amoungst other valuable information, beautiful Explosion typ drawings of all individual parts, a great help !
 

leaving open the last Planks came very Handy for clamping down the decks
 
 

started to begin with several cardboard templates for the belaying pin racks Arrangement.
It was my decision to put all the rig (static ad running ropes,lines, chords, stays, Tacklings, bracing tackle, etc...) in full functional way to the rig. I asume there is not a Feature not modeled in to this ship
 

here just a Little Trial model
 

important to fix the Counters on the bottom deck side, same Little model
 

in accordance with the handscetch a made before
 

some of the many pin racks, semiround brass edge on the rope wear side, wooden semiround on the other
 

These also take up the shrouds- and backstay fastening bolts as well as the many individual pins
 

all eyelets have sufficiant Counter Points beneath the decks
 

eyelets within the mastgarden racks
 
 
 
Build log part 7 to follow...
 
 
Nils

Sorry Jay. Got a little busy but here is a couple of photo's showing them along with the scuppers and manger. Still some work going on in this area so forgive the mess. Hope it helps down the road. Gary

Hi.
Pewter provides high detail and is cast a a much lower temperture.
Pewter is OK to use RTV silicon moulding.
 
Regards Antony.

The vent would probably angle away from the bulkhead and have air space above, to clear the deck head. The lanterns look terrific.

There's illustrations of bucklers in The Fully Framed Model, Volume II.

Beautiful, Ed. I dislike steel wool also. Have you tried to acquire bronze wool? Works the same way as steel wool, but without the disadvantages of ferrous particles. Harder to find than it used to be, though.

build log part 3
 
 
 

am satisfied with the result so far
 

making thoughts about prop outcut and rudder blade Arrangement, corresponding to one of the various changes after 1951
For manouvering in Harbor Areas, in South American ond other bay Locations, shallow Waters, and in lack of wind, a 1000 PSi Motor had been built in, as well as a 2,5 m dia 2-blade Propeller. The other Major changes after 1951 I shall Point out later on
 

the coming planking will be so much easier if the stringers can be used as Counterparts to fasten the clamps. These stringers also give enormous strength to the planking itsself
 

all well under way now
 

here Comes the first plank (pine as Long as the hull 2 x 10 mm)for single layer planking.
I cut These Planks myself out of fine structure boards from the crafters. This hull shall also be plated later, so the 2mm thick planking provides sufficient thickness for smoothing down the outer surface well enough for the plating
 

thats partiall enough for the starboard side, pull up the port side planking now....
 

same Status from bow view
 

both sides planking is heading for the keel
 

Little propshaft mounted and 2-blade Propeller fixed (M3 thread)
 

this is one of the three foreseen standbolts, because this weakens the keel there have been wooden reinforcement claddings fixed to it from both sides within the hull
 
 
 
Build log part 4 to follow....
 
Nils

Build log part 2
 
 
 

working out and drawing the individual Frames in order to suit this build
 

each Frame gets its own 1:1 drawing on paper
 

rough cut out of the paper and fix on 4 or 5 mm thick plywood
 

an obligatory base plate is set up to Keep all in alignment and to get (and keep) the keelline straight during the further build
 

cut out Frames in preliminary set up, to see if all Frames are straking well
cross check, yes it Looks like Pamirs lines of the early hull
 

the model is being built keelside up, the Frames complete cut out, and the notches for the stringers done
 

all looks well so far
 

due to the fix on the baseplate all frames bear Surplus height, to bring (only interim, will be cut to suit later on)to the same level
 

like a strong man Needs a strong Backbone, I have arranged for a "spine" 20 x 20 mm square beam to reinforce the hull for taking on the induced tensile stresses of all the stay and shrouds spanning, working on the hull later on. I never regretted to do this...
 
 

well under way now, the stringers as well as the ships lines clearly to be seen now
 
 
 
Build log part 3 to follow...
 
Nils

Well, that is a nice change for you as well as the kit market!

Hi guys,
 
have managet to get a free time at this weekend, here the result. Last two beams of Captains cabin are in place now, and I'm beginning to build the bulkhead. Here the stantions test fitted.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Alex

Hello,
 
capstan prepared for installation on the gun deck.
 
Karl
 
 
 
 
 
T e i l  42

Nice strategy for the carlings, Toni.
 
Might I suggest a cross-spall or two across the outer counter timbers to reinforce them for now? That way, you might avoid snapping them off, which - as you've discovered - is so easy to do.

Be careful of plan distortion as you go! (This subject has been the topic of many other threads on this site.)

No can do John , but I can tell you it was a nice little project I can recommend to every one. Those shallow drawers are just great. Next to this I use Ikea's little boxes to store other tools and supply's unfortunately they don't sell this type any more, a real shame. I'm still looking for a better way to organize my sanding paper, keeping them in a big stack is not working...
 

 
So back to making bulkheads, I use wooden peg's under the stanchions to temporary fit and adjust until I'm getting a fit I like. 
 

 

 

 
The cook's working space was not very big. Behind the riding bitt's there is another bulkhead drawn on my plan I thin I'll make a nice cupboard for the cook to store his pot's, pan's and other tools.
 
 
 

My general approach for fabricating and installing the beam sets has been one complete set at a time.  This worked well where there was no curvature of the hull but I had difficulty with the run of the outer carlings at the fore end of the upper deck and decided to change my approach as I neared the stern. I set out all of the beams and tack glued them in place.  I then drew fair lines for the outer carlings.  The deck beams were removed as I worked on them, only mortising the outer carlings.  The carlings were then tack glued without gluing the beam.  This continued until the last two beams.  The transom knee abuts the for end of the transom and extends along the hull just past beam 20.  It is set down on to the deck clamp and "bolted" to the frames and transom.  The last two beams are mortised into the transom knee.
 
The pictures show the run of the lateral carlings.  No finish shaping or sanding has been done yet.  I broke off the port counter timbers (again!) and just stuck it back on so that area looks out of whack.  I will probably have to remake it when it comes time to make the counter.
 

 

 

If you are considering using needle nose pliers, get really high-grade ones. I struggled for years with an inferior pair. Now I use a beautiful but expensive pair made in Sweden by Teborg. Sweet!

Hi everbody, i will share photos of my new model , chaloupe armee. I m waiting your comments.

Fenders
 
The Fenders assist in loading the ship, especially from a boat. Barrels could be more easily loaded as the fenders make a smooth run over the rails below :
 

 

 
Unlike the Chesstrees I fitted earlier, the fenders don't play any part of the rigging so I'm only fitting them to the Port side.
 
  Danny