druxey

We hoist a glass to you on the laying of your keel, Ed! And eagerly await your progress reports....

It is high time to report on some progress. The work progressed slowly, interrupted by various business travels and also a short hospital-stay.
 

Head of the main sail from starboard
 
The main sail was fitted out with the halliard and the throat-halliard and then attached. The imagined szenario is that the sails are set for drying. The shore of Volendam is exposed to the East, so that the sails are slightly filled by a light easterly breeze. The cold easterly breeze, that comes across from Germany and the Baltic was a winterstorm a couple of days ago and forced the botter to seek shelter in Volendam. The easterly wind brought with it the frost that is responsible for the Marker botter to be locked in the ice. The main boom has been topped a bit to provide better clearance in the workspace underneath.
 

Head of the main sail from port
 
In the meantime various ropes of different size were made from fly-tying thread. Then I also noticed that I forgot to make that special block with a half-cleat that forms the lower part of the main sheet tackle. This block was carved in the classical way from a strip of Pertinax and fitted out with an ‚iron’ band etc.
 

Running rigging at the mast
 

Running rigging at the mast
 
The running rigging was attached by fake eye-splices. On the prototype, all blocks are attached to eye-bolts by hooks, which are secured by musings. The pictures do not show this detail yet. Owing to this way of rigging, all tackles could be prepared in advance and just hooked into their respective eye-bolts. The throat-halliard is made up from a short length of chain with an S-hook at its end. The S-hook is attached to the eye in the bolt-rope. The throat-halliard is hauled taught with a tackle that hooks into an eye-bolt in the mast. The S-hook was made from a short length of wire that was flattenend and provided with a hole in the middle for a chain-link.
 

Stern with boom-sheet
 

Stern with boom-sheet
 
The halliards etc. were belayed prototype-fashion on half-cleats, which is rather difficult to do at this small scale in comparison to the same process on normal cleats. The rest was coiled up and stored at suitable places. I am not sure how this was done really on the prototype, as the half-cleat do not allow to suspend the coils in the usual way. The rope made from fly-tying yarn is relatively stiff. However, with a drop of flat varnish it can be persuaded to form more or less orderly coils. Hanging coils have to be loaded while the varnish dries in order to attain a natural shape.
 

Shaping of the coils while the varnish dries
 
In order to facilitate the work on the rigging the model was fixed on a small cast-iron stand. This stand can be turned and pushed around on the work-table at one’s convenience, yet is stable and safe.
 

Model on the work-stand
 
To be continued ...
 
wefalck

Before I am off to the Polar Circle for a few days here a small update.
 
The mainsail was sewn onto to the port side of the gaff. Correct, sewn ! On those Dutch craft the lace-line runs through a grommet of the head of the sail, then straight through a hole drilled into the gaff with a pear-shaped cross-section, runs along the starbord-side, returns throught the next hole and grommet, continues along the port side of the sail to the grommet, etc.
 

Port side of the mainsail
 
Into the grommets of the fore-leech of the sail the various lacings were spliced. With these the sail eventually will be tied to the mast. Often chafing of the lacing was reduced by a number of parrels. However, I neither could find small enough beads (0.6 mm diameter with a hole drilled through), nor did I manage to produce them myself. The parrels are optional anyway.
 

Starbord side of the mainsail
 
I also started to put in the reef points. These reef through a grommet and are secured by a knot on both sides.
 
As one can see, the paintwork e.g. on the gaff needs a bit of touching up after all the handling ...
 
wefalck

I assume the transom issue was simply not taking the bevel on the top edge into account? She's looking good so far!

I agree with your refit Michael. The lines of the narrower cockpit flow beautifully into the cabin structure.

The last two pictures show the knees installed.
 
 

 

Thanks Greg. Not much, maybe 1/64”. I always over bend them hoping to
compensate for the spring back.
 
Thanks grant. It’s always fun for me to mix in different woods.
 
I’ve milled all the holly needed for the decking and have started laying them.
Again I am using black paper to simulate the caulking. Hopefully later tonight
I well get to the area around the hatch completed.
 

 

I agree with Mark's posting. This holds for British 18th century grating dimensions. I also read somewhere that the hole size had to be less than the size of a shoe heel.

That is when I realized that the used Krick-deadeyes were drilled too unevenly for my taste ... As I did not want to discard my painfully soldered parts and get better deadeyes, I startet closing the holes with toothpicks and filed them even. 
 

 
Just then I realized that because of the size and curved surface the planned drilling templates did not work :-(
At least I know by now why they those bastards are drilled the way that they are ...
 
OK, good old solid handwork, putting each part into the vise and mark the central line for the two middle holes ...
 

 
... and with patience, a template and a good eye drill the preliminary holes with 0,5 mm, set the third hole with a fresh eye ...
 

 
... and finish the drilling with 0,8 mm.
 

 
I usually drill small holes by hand with the drill fixed on a round material as it gives far more control as any machine! .
 
Now came the tricky part of straightening everything up, worked best upon a cutterblade, even the smallest loops :-)
 

 

 
And finally I had a complete set of deadeyes and preventer plates for the main-mast channel on my adhesive tape. :-)
 

 
Hourray
 
 
... and finally came the montage :-)
 
First à la nature ...
 

 
... then with a little bit of colour ...
 

 

 

 
... and it looks like it was all simple! ;-)
 
 
 
Liebe Grüße, Daniel

Mark, Harvey, John, Popeye, and Matt,  thanks for your kind words.
 
Yes Matt the translucence did surprise me a little because the apple wood was quite dense. I measured the thickness and it was scraped down to .005" which in scale is still way to thick. if it were blown up to full size it would be 2.5 inches thick.
 
 
I cut the curve out with a pair of regular scissors and then the curl by pulling between my index finger and thumbnail. the hardest part was getting the glue on. I used a dental pic and put the glue in the tip of it, I could have used a pin as well I suppose.
 
Once the glue was good and set I used a tiny sanding stick with 600 grit and gently stroked back and forth lengthwise to get them down to the right size above the deck I also used it to shape the transom once it was glued on.
 

 
Michael

Erecting cant frames
 

 

 

While I've had proportional dividers in my kit for years, I confess that I've very rarely used them. I use a drawn proportional radiating scale on paper. Much cheaper! Just find the spot along the converging outer lines that equals the space you want to divide up - in regular or irregular fashion - and mark off the divisions on a strip of paper at right angles to the radiating lines. The marks are then transferred to wherever you want them. (The example shown is for dividing a square into an octagon.)

Just came across your impressive log, Stelios. It's always refreshing to see something more unusual as a subject.

I think you are on track with your keel/false keel joints, except you might wish to shift the joints of the false keel aft. The first section likely to touch would be aft, so that might be shorter. As the false keel joints do not contribute to the structural integrity of the ship, it's not critical to stagger them exactly half-way between the keel joints. I'd keep any keel taper to the cant frame areas as well. Good stuff, Joss
 
P.S. Some of us like history: those that don't will skip it anyway!

Hello again. 
 
I trust that everyone has recovered from Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and all that tryptophan in the turkey.  Not to mention all the family that may have descended on you as they did to us.  I have a greater appreciation than ever for the wit and wisdom of Winston Churchill. . .
 
I did manage to get in some work on the hull.  The lower portion of the first hull was fully shaped using templates as usual.  The aft portion of the gun deck was built up with tapered stacks of basswood to match the rise of the sheer line, then sanded down to make a smooth curved surface at the centerline.  A camber (round-up) of the deck of 1/8" from the centerline to the bulwark edge was plotted from the plans.  I marked and sanded this into the gun deck surface.  When I was happy with the underwater shape and the deck curves, the hull was given its first coat of sandable primer.  Rough areas, uneven curves, and other problem spots were dealt with and re-primed.
 
Although the hull will probably be tweaked some more, I started working out the bulwarks and hull sides above the gun deck.  Here you can see that the main bulwarks have been cut from 1/4" basswood to the shape taken from the NMM draught.  From the transom and taffrail to a point just aft of the forecastle the ship's sides were a consistently flat shape.  There will be some curves sanded into them later, and they will be bent to match the perimeter of the deck, but for the internal support, the basswood pieces are more than adequate.
 

 
At this point they are still flat and straight.  They sit with a tumblehome of 13 degrees using the blocks and clamps to get and idea of what they will look like and how they will fit.
 
Here I am cutting the rabbet that the bulwarks will sit in.  Since I do not have a router, I cut the horizontal channel using the Dremel grinding disc.  I have the large circular saw blade, but the thought of freehanding the cut with the agressive teeth was a little too scary.  It took a good deal longer, but if I had slipped I figured that all I would get would be a sanding injury, not an opened vein.
 
Once the horizontal channel was ground, I used a wood chisel to make the vertical cuts that removed wood and established the rabbet.  It was cleaned up with sanding blocks, then the inside face was angled to match the tumblehome.
 

 
Back in Brooklyn I returned to the masts.  Here are the two topmast blanks.  As shown on the plans, the mast shaft is offset towards the aft edge of the square heel.  In the photo you can see that I used the Preac to cut down the forward face of the square blank. 
 

 
At the heel you can see it more clearly.
 

 
The port and starboard faces of the stick were cut down half the amount that the forward face was, which squared up the stick again.  Now I could mark it out, cut the tenon with the table saw, then plane it octagonal as was done with the lower mast.
 

 
The square stick was shaped to a cylinder.  Then the upper and lower edges of the wider section that holds up the trestletrees was cut on the table saw.  I whittled the wood down till it matched the cut channels.  Then the balance of the wood was removed with sanding drums, sanding sticks and sandpaper.
 


 
At the heel you can see the construction sequence clearly.  The three sides are reduced with the table saw, then shaped with the sanding drum to fair the offset round shaft to the square heel.
 

 
Once the heel is shaped, a fid hole is drilled through and squared up with a needle file.  Two mock sheaves are drilled and shaped on an angle that ultimately lines up with eyebolts on the cap.  These are for the leads of the lifting ropes.  The completely shaped topmasts were give a coat of finish and set aside.
 

 
The mast caps were shaped from the plans from pear.  They have the Continental humped form, with holes and grooves along the edges of the cap for the lifting ropes.  They were made from a forward and aft piece, with a notched seam held together with iron straps.  Straps also crossed the bottom, fore and aft faces of the cap.  Here is the blank with the hole for the topmast drilled.  The other has been shaped and the seam between the forward and aft pieces scribed as before.  The piece was finished and the straps glued on.
 

 
The straps were drilled for 0.020" iron wire pins.  These were inserted and cut off long before being glued.  Once the glue dried they were cut almost flat, then peened smooth.
 

 
Four eyebolts were drilled and mounted on the underside of the cap through the supporting straps and the caps were complete.
 

 
The topmast trestletrees were cut and shaped to match the plans.  The crosstrees were shaped from wider pieces of wood so they could splay out, then half-lapped into the trestletrees.  Holes for the shroud lines were drilled before they were tapered per the plans, then finished.
 

 
The topmast cap was cut and shaped much like the lower caps, but these were one piece units with iron straps that could be opened when the topgallant mast was taken down.  This is useful, because the truck at the masthead won't fit through the opening without opening the strap.
 

 
So here are all the components of both main masts.  The second topmast, the upper one in the photo, had a knot in it that took up the stain badly.  I will minimize it with a darker finish, but in the fullness of time it will be replaced and used as one of the spare spars that will fit along the open waist in the finished ship.
 

 
Here they are all set up.  From the deck the mast reaches some 31 inches to the truck.  This is going to be one mother of a fully rigged model.
 

 
There will probably be a longer break until my next post.  I will be building the foremasts, which are almost identical to the main masts, so no new techniques will be used.  I will be back when they are done.
 
Happy Holidays to all.
 
Dan
 
 
 

Hi all - thanks for looking in.
 
Another week, another report.  The hulls are not going as well as could be hoped, so here is another deour.
 
To go with the tops that were built last time, I am now making the masts.  I took a plank of rock maple and cut it down to the dimensions of the masts and spars that I measured from the Budriot plans.  They are cut as square sticks sized to the largest width of the ultimate mast or spar, then cut to length.  As long as I was cutting, I cut duplicates for the two models.  Here are most of them, from the 5/8” x 19” of the main mast, down to the 3/16” x  6” of the main stunsail boom.
 

 
These were all cut on a Hegner Mk 4 multi-tool.   It is a mid-sized tool that fits between the Preac and a full sized table saw, and is perfect for the size of the QAR models.  It has a table saw, router, disc sander, and a Jacobs chuck that can power a flexible shaft grinding tool or an add-on lathe unit.  I picked it up used and it came without an instruction manual, but I am figuring it out as I go.
 

 
After all of the pieces were cut, I turned first to the main mast.  It is a fairly simple tapered cylinder.  I planned to use the lathe on the Hegner, but it will only take 12” work pieces, not the 19” of the mast.  Without access to a larger one I went back to basics to carve the mast.
 
The first step was to cut the tenon for the mast cap while the blank was still square.  The blade height and rip fence were adjusted on the table saw and the tenon was quickly cut out on all four faces.  Then the blank was made octagonal.  This was done in the usual way by marking out the 2-3-2 divisions down the length of the blank with a dividers.  With a sharp block plane the corners were taken down to the lines, resulting in the eight sided stick on the right.
 

 
After the corners were marked up as sight guides, they were taken down and rounded with a coarse disc in a hand-held random orbit sander.  I didn't find it difficult to do this, since it only had to be accurate enough for a first approximation.  I paused frequently to mark up any high spots that I felt when I spun the blank between my fingers.  Then they were sanded down and the process was repeated till it felt round.
 

 
Once the round blank was achieved I went to the plans and determined that the diameter just under the cap was 7/16”.  This was marked onto the top of the mast using a circle guide.  Using a coarse sanding drum in the Dremel I took the mast down to that size in a sharp taper right at the top.  I would pull the drum towards me, grinding off a thin slice from the mast, then rotate the blank a little and repeat.  One corner of the top tenon was marked so I would not forget to make a complete circle before checking my progress.
 

 
From there I moved down the length of the blank: grinding a strip with the dremel and turning the blank a little bit, grinding and turning, grinding and turning.  In essence, I became a very slow lathe.  After doing this for a while I would smooth out any humps and hollows that developed by sanding the blank on a sheet of sandpaper which has been glued to a piece of plexiglass laid flat of the workbench. 
 

 
This process would have taken much longer if the mast had a straight taper from base to cap.  However, the plans had these two little beehive drawings which had to be the tapering diagrams.  They were only designated ‘a’ and ‘b’, but after comparing them to the plans I determined that the one on the left fits the three lower masts, while the one on the right fits only the bowsprit.
 

 
This tapering process continued for what seemed like a very long time until I could slide the mast up through the top with the masthead extending above the top as indicated on the plans.
 

 
Now the pieces to support the crosstrees and top were made.  Unlike English practice, there are no hounds, cheeks or bibs.  Instead, the French at the time used only a front fish that fit to the mast and slid up between the crosstrees.  A two-part bolster was fitted to each side and treenailed to the mast and to the front fish.  Here are the plans.
 

 
The fish was made out of pear and treenailed to the mast with walnut dowels for contrast.  The fish is also held in place by a pair of wooldings that lie in broad grooves carved into the face of the piece.
 

 
The bolsters are also pear and treenailed with walnut.  The only technical point here is that it was made in one piece, not two.  The staggered separation line was drawn on in pencil, then the back of a #11 blade was used to scribe the lines, which tattoos the pencil marks into the wood.
 

 
The mast is reinforced by alternating iron mast bands and wooldings.  The bands are made from 1/16” wide brass strips which are wrapped around the mast and sized to fit, then chemically blackened.  They are attached temporarily with glue before holes are drilled for metal pins.  Each end of the strip where they meet gets one, and a third is placed on the opposite side of the mast.    The pins are annealed iron wire which is inserted, glued, and clipped short before being peened smooth.  You can see one on the band near the bottom end of the front fish and another just below the light reflection on the other band.
 
Working in a large scale like 1/36 will allow me to build some details much as they are made in full sized practice.  The wooldings are a case in point.  A cherry strip was cut, soaked and bent around the mast before being glued in place.  3” rope (1” diameter) is wrapped 13 turns around the mast, packed tightly against the wood strip, and cinched tight.  A second cherry strip is added to the other side of the wrapping.  A painting of dilute PVA glue secures everything.  Once the glue is dry, everything was given a coat of the finish and rubbed down.
 

 
The top was fit back on the masthead to see that everything fit properly.  The inset shows how the front fish comes up to the level of the top of the crosstrees and takes the place of the spacer that, in English practice, separates the masthead from the heel of the topmast.   There is a third mast band that should be around the masthead just above the top, but the platform would not fit around it so it was removed until the top is permanently attached to the mast. [sharp eyes will also notice that the crowsfoot holes are towards the back of the mast.  This will be turned around before the top is attached].
 

 
So here are two of the shipyard workers just skylarking on the main top.  One seems to see a friend on the ground.
 

 
It’s a good thing that Dread Pirate Peter hasn’t spotted them.  He has some pointed questions to ask about the location of crowsfoot holes.  And why the bands and wooldings stop halfway down the mast.
 

 
Auf wiedersehen . . .
 
Dan
    

So, how do our thread railings look on the model?  Judge for yourself:

 
Adding the railings consists of measuring off the right length of railing to add, adding any extra stanchions that might be needed due to cutting to length, and gluing the railings to the model.  I use PVA for straight sections and CA where necessary to tack down any sharp curves.  I brush the PVA onto the deck where the railing goes, not to the railing itself - these springy railings are a great way to spread unwanted glue on your model.
 
Here's the finished forecastle railings:


 
The forward flagstaff is a short length of wire.
 
Anywhere there are angled bends in the railings, I prefer to cut the railing at the joint and glue down two separate panels.  Unlike photo-etched metal or card, thread does not like to make nice, crisp bends.

Next we'll add the searchlight (parts 45a-g).

 
First, I'll show you how to replace the paper lens (45e) with an optional clear lens (key word: optional).  Start by rolling 45 into a tube.  Next, dab one end of the open tube into some white PVA, so that a film of glue covers the entire opening.  Set that aside to dry.  In the meantime, cut out the back of the lamp housing (45b). We'll use the resulting hole in the parts sheet as a guide for cutting out a small circle of reflective material for the inside of the housing.  I used the foil-lined seal from a vitamin pill bottle - the foil is backed by paper, making it easy to glue the reflective liner to the back (interior) side of 45b.  Make sure the liner is cut slightly smaller than 45b, because 45b will sit on the tube, but the liner must fit inside the tube.  Here's the lamp housing with the optional clear lens, the foil-lined seal, and 45b with the foil liner cut to fit.

 
I didn't add louvers.  If you want those, you're on your own.
 
And here's the finished lamp housing.  I know -- exciting shot, isn't it?

 
The searchlight mount (45a, c, f, and g) is a straightforward assembly, although once again it has some pretty small parts.  Just work patiently and make sure you hold the parts over your work place.  Up to this point I have dropped a couple of the smallest parts on the floor, and during the ensuing searches I found dirt particles on the floor that were larger than the parts.

 
Attach the lamp housing to the mount (the sides of the brackets, 45c, should reach slightly past the small box, 45e, and up onto the sides of the lamp housing), and then glue the mount to the top of the bridge.

 
Let there be light!
 

Dear all,
 
The small mizzen sail proved to be relatively easy to fit. (unless if today was one of those days with inspiration...)
In the first picture one can see the process and in the second the who thing fitted on the boat. The ropes were not secured yet,as I need to have "breathing" space on the deck.
 
One of the side projects that I need to tackle, are the belaying pins. The challenge will be to make them small enough to be close to the ship's scale.
The other challenge that will be dealt with at the end, is the rope coiling; to hang  coiled rope  so to add a touch o realism.
 


 
cheers
Stelios

This is an updated picture showing the sail secured to its final position.

 
Next step:
to setup the small mizzen sail:

 
The picture below shows the very first steps.

 
cheers
Stelios

Dear all,
 
The time has come to start rigging and fitting the sails. The process of trying to understand the plans it is a real fun (read:pain in the neck).
 
Anyway, this is how I ended with the main sail (it is called sakoleva). The threads are not secured yet, I need to adjust it a bit higher, in order for the mast to hang on the air, currently touching the deck.
 

 
The picture below shows how the plan depicts the position of the sail.Hopefully, I will manage to fit it it and adjust to its correct position.
Stelios
 

Dear all,
 
Until the rat-lines are finished, I occupy my mind with the next steps, in relation how to fit the sails.
Being ignorant about sails, I try to decipher the plans and figure out how to proceed.
What I recall from Dry Docks (before the MSW era) is that normally you start from inside going out, when it comes to sail rigging, and this is what I'm going to do, at least, I'll try.
 
So, this afternoon, just for fun, I made the stirrups out of 0.6 mm brass wire. I managed to solder the rings, without melting the wire... the finishing with the needle file was a challenge, as together with the wire I was trimming my finger tips...
 
Anyway, the next step is to blacken them and attach them.
In the past, when I built my first kit -a Bounty- I had settled with black thread hardened with CA glue. I think brass wire will look better...
 
Stelios
 

Dear all,
 
the below are the most recent pictures, showing the sheer poles installed and the installation of the battened rat-lines still in process.
I'm looking forward this weekend to continue!
Stelios

 

So forecastle and quarter deck doors has been done.
Wooden parts covered using bees wax mixture...
Metal parts preserved using microcrystalline wax...
 

 

 
And quick look from the poop side...
 

 
Cheers,
Matt

If you glue the oversized sandpaper to the stick first (I use rubber cement), then cut the sandpaper to the edges of the stick, you will have 'safe' sides that won't mark the adjacent wood as you sand the chamfer.