druxey

Dear E&T,
 
The draughts you mention are exactly the ones I was thinking of. Unfortunately, I know no more than you on that subject. Perhaps another reader might be knowledgeable about the point you raise.
 
Your research and drafting is very impressive. Looking forward to further installments!

Hello,
assembly of iron knees and
 
A  Hold
    5 Shot- locker
    6 Pump well
 
B Orlop-Deck
   9 scuttle providing acces to the shot-locker
 
 
Karl
 
 
 
 
T e i l  32

Thank you,
Alexandru

A proper update at last.  I got some good progress today, which was very satisfying.  The main halliards are now rigged together with quite a few other bits and pieces, and I have been able to make a start on the lower square yard.  It won't be too long now before she's finished.
 
Here a few photos showing as she is at the moment - she's starting to look like the lady she is.
 



 
And in this one you can just see the square yard horse - the lower square yard isn't attached to the mast, but rather travels on a vertical horse up the fore side of the mast via a thimble on the after side of the yard.  Then horse is the black line you can see running vertically between the yard and the mast.
 

 
John

Many ships from about 1810 on had diagonal deck planking. There are a number of deck plans c.1810-15 in the NMM collection showing this form of construction. I suspect Seppings may have played a role in this (then) innovation. 

HMS TERROR, 1845, UPPER DECK PLAN (AS FITTED)
 
The last technical plan required for HMS Terror is the upper deck, which I have finally completed.
 

Please note: This plan has been updated - please consult my later posts.
                                                                                           
The original 1836 and 1839 deck plans for HMS Terror show the outlines of the ship with planking installed. Therefore, on my plans, I have included the outline of the frames as well as the planking to better facilitate construction. Like the original plans, the position of the solid chock channels accounts for tumblehome. Because the 1839 plans depict HMS Erebus, my plans are based on the 1836 upper deck plans for HMS Terror, but the deck furniture is the same type and style as depicted on the 1839 sheets (see previous posts for rationale). Similar to the profile plans, the position of the deck furniture is based on the 1836 sheets.
 
The most substantial modifications to the plans are at the stern - to accommodate the new position of the rudder and the well for the screw propeller. As a result, the central structure on the stern containing the cistern, color boxes, and water closet was removed from these plans (presumably these were moved to the position of one of the chicken coops). These modifications are also depicted in a contemporary image of the Erebus drawn by Owen Stanley, which shows two large structures on either side of the vessel at the stern.
 
The deck planking on the vessels was unusual and was not depicted in any contemporary plans. Rice (Ross 1847), the shipwright responsible for the refitting, described them in detail:
 

 
A contemporary model of HMS Erebus displays that the upper layer of deck planking angled outwards and forwards from the central planks towards the bulwarks. This style was also used for the upper deck of HMS Investigator, which searched for the Franklin vessels on two voyages between 1848-1853. Investigator’s upper deck plan shows that the planking was placed on an angle about 45 degrees from the centerline. On my plans, the width of the central planks is based on the 1839 midships cross section, but the width of outer planks is not described in any contemporary sources and required more research. Fortunately, an archaeologist at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, has recently identified a piece of 3 inch thick “fir” deck planking that she demonstrates is very likely to be from one of the vessels (if so it is the only piece of the ships known to currently exist). The plank is exactly 7 inches wide; therefore this is the dimension I use on my plans. 
 
References:
Ross, Sir James Clark
1847    A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions, During the Years 1839-1843: Volume I. John Murray, London.
 
As always, please see my blog for better images.

Here is short video guide how to make it like this

 
 
(click CC to turn on subtitles)

Very neat indeed, Chris! Enjoy rattling down.....

Jaxboat: I've used Fiebing's dye - both brown and black - for some years now, with no apparent fading. Of course, the models are never exposed to direct sunlight.

Jaxboat: I've used Fiebing's dye - both brown and black - for some years now, with no apparent fading. Of course, the models are never exposed to direct sunlight.

Greg & Druxey, Thanks for the guidance.  I used my measuring stick to get the approximate length of the beam arms but I won't glue them yet.  Upper deck ceilings now treenailed and installed and ready for testing the fit of the beams.
Maury

At 1:48 scale, from counter timbers to the knee of the head she's a very sweet 22". Just for laughs, I've attached a rejected Swan bow for comparison. It makes our little sloop of war look huge doesn't it? So far only box has been used but holly wales are next with Fiebings leather dye to blacken.

The deck clamp was built up from two layers of pine strips, much the same as the hull's battens.  The sub deck would be 3/16" luan plywood with strips glued down on top for the visible decking, so the deck clamp was set down so the finished deck would be flush with the sheer.
 
 
The subdeck was cut from the ply and fitted

 
Then the positions of the hatches and deck furniture marked on it to determine where the deck beams would be needed.

 
At this point I only had two sources for the ship's spar deck layout; Chapelle's drawing of Constellation from The History of the American Sailing Navy, and model plans of the ship from A.J.Fisher which the people restoring the actual ship told me they were using.  The Fisher drawings are of the ship in 1941 and very crude.  Chapelle's drawing says they are from the original drawings, but the 1854 drawing of the spar deck was missing from the National Archives.  The major differences being the main hatch in 1941 was shaped like a capital I and the galley hatch had a house on it - neither of which are on Chapelle's drawing.  I opted to go with Chapelle.  Later, I found more information that vindicated my decision.

 
Down in the hull, straight beams were installed to carry the equipment decks where the radio equipment and sail controls would be mounted.  I also decided to step the masts on these decks.  The deck beams were laid out to form mast partners and hatch framing.  Each beam was cambered and notched to hook under the deck clamp.  The subdeck would be epoxied on and sandwhich the beams and the deck clamp all together.
 
 
Temporary mast steps were put in to get the mast partners properly aligned, and the subdeck was sawn into 2 inch wide strips so it could conform to both the beams camber and the boat's sheer.
 

While I considered what to do about the plug, I found some very nice white cedar while getting something else at the lumber yard, so I began making the lower masts.
Since I had no plans for Constellation's spars specifically, I used several sources for the details, including Spars and Rigging From Nautical Routine, 1849 and Biddlecomb's Art of Rigging, but the best source I found for this 1850's warship was Luce's Textbook of Seamanship which has some very detailed drawings of the rigging of this period.
 
After drawing the spars full-scale, I cut the cedar to the rough dimensions on a table saw:
 
 
I then marked out the details and the taper:
 
 
Shaved the taper, then marked the spar to make it 8-sided:
 
 
The masts were banded with the same brown paper tape the plug was made from, the hounds and the front fish were made and attached:
 
 
The cross-trees and trestle-trees for the lower tops were made along with a rough set of mast caps:
 
 
The topmasts were made from the same cedar and in the same manner as the lower masts.  Some temporary mast steps were placed inside the plug, a stand made from 3/8" plywood to hold the model up, and some paint went on the lower masts.

 
By this time I was convinced that glassing the plug and making it the model's hull was the best course to take...
 
Next: Prepping to glass

Looking better and better with every bit of progress. 

more

Speedwell's framing has finally been completed. Note the various shifts and casts of the toptimbers as they frame the ports. There are many more of these on this vessel than on a Swan class ship and they can be challenging at times. My plan is to plank her from the ports up and rig her.

BassicBill, sorry about the slow response, my internet has been out since yesterday.  I just went and snapped a couple of pictures of the old girl, she got knocked around pretty good on my cross country move and I have repaired her yet.  shame on me.  but here a couple of pics.

Tomas----
I owned one once, but had to close. The wretched customers spilled glue on everything, often attaching themselves to the glassware permanently. They never had any money, always yammering about "saving for the Agamemnon", whatever THAT meant. Then,one night, I hired the Rolling Stones to play, and the customers walked out because the band refused to play "chanteys and hornpipes". They also had an unnerving tendency for self-mutilation, with one bizzare woman taking an xacto to her own hand....horrible. The last straw: Every time I served a nice tall mug of hot Irish coffee, the bastards would stick planking in it.
I don't need that kind of grief....
john

Indeed, if one is looking for authenticity, a fully planked model should also be painted. Why don't we all do that ? Well, I guess for most of us it's just a matter of aesthetics: some find natural wood or stained wood looks better, others don't want their beautiful job of a planking to be hidden under a coat of paint, some are afraid to spoil the model with a poor painting job... For instance I did not paint the hull of my fisrt model beacause the contrast between the different woods pleased me (and the model was not based on any particular boat anyway) but I will paint the second one trying to respect the colour scheme of its period and country both for authenticity and for aestetic reasons (I don't like the look of walnut).
As for museum models, I think that many models were made as shipyard prototypes (like the Admiralty models with partially planked hulls and no masts) so they were left unpainted. Then maybe modelers thought that this was perfection and where inclined not to paint their models (a bit as we constructed buildings with white columns, taking inspiration from Greek and Roman temples, not knowing that they were painted at the time).
Just my two cents' but I think the main answer is "aesthetics".

ccoyle, absolutely fantastic.

Now that we have more instructions and plans, I'm back to work on the section.  The sanding jig is a great idea.  The beams and arms all  have the same round-up shape top and bottom.  Cutting the tenons on the beam arms before they are cut to rough shape is easy on the table saw.  I assume we will cut the matching mortices on the beams the same way on the saw.  That way, they are all the same depth.  Careful marking will be very important when the time comes.  The second pic. shows the beams and arms at this stage.  Next comes marking the height of the ceiling planks, then trial placement.  Setting the beams in place is easy once you get the spacing jig cut right.  Next is drilling the ceilings for tree nails.
Maury

And finally, a few dabs of touch-up paint here and there, and a careful separation of the model from its working base (sliding mono-filament line between the two does the trick neatly), and V108 is done, done, done!



 
I hope you have enjoyed reading this tutorial as much as I have enjoyed creating it.  I really, really hope that at least a few of you will be emboldened by this little treatise to step out and try a card model of your own.  Let's see what you can do!

Mark has the best advice. Stop and think. Which way am I going? Kits or scratch built? Now make two lists. One, 'things I want'. Two 'Things I need.' That will clarify your thinking before you spend like, well, a drunken sailor.