druxey

If only I had had high school teachers like you.... Your students don't know how lucky they are!

Darn, Remco. Every time I think you can't improve your work any further, you take things up yet another level!

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 99 – The Rudder 1
Posted 10/2/11
 
 
It has been a while since the last update. We took some vacation time, but the work has also been time consuming for what appears to be small progress. In the last part the framing and planking of the lower counter was completed in preparation for installation of the rudder. The plan is to install this and its operating mechanism concurrently with the installation of the upper deck beams. I had not done the drafting needed for all this, so some time was taken for that.
 
The first picture shows the main timbers of the rudder cut out and their joints machined.
 

 
The joints were cut on the milling machine, straightforward work except that the joints need to be placed to avoid having some pieces too thin, especially around the cut outs for the pintles. Three pieces were used for the main section and are shown above. The two to the left are parallel to the aft edge and the one to the right will be tapered on its fore edge. There is also a thin strip on the aft face and a bottom piece.
 
The next picture shows the rudder after its forward face was bearded back to clear its rotation and after tapering.
 

 
Before bearding the rudder was sanded down to its maximum breadth on the thickness sander. The bearding of the front face was then done. Both the post and the rudder have bearded edges, cut about 6 inches or so back on the side faces to allow the rudder rotation. With this done the rudder could be tapered. This was done by sanding, initially on a belt sander and then as shown in the above picture on flat panel covered with 120 to 220 grit paper.
 
The next picture shows the top pintle being fitted.
 

 
There are six of these of increasing length going down. There were originally made of “mixt metal”, a bronze type of alloy. I used copper as I have done for all the copper bearing fittings. This picture also shows the transition from the bearded section to the squared off top. The hances on the aft face will be shaped later.
 
The next pictures show the way the pintles fittings were fabricated. The first shows a rough piece set up for silver soldering the pintle to the bracket.
 

 
The square U-shaped section shown in the picture was cut from a sheet on the circular saw using a thin slotting cutter blade. It was then bent to fit tightly around the rudder and cut roughly to length. A slot to fit the pintle itself was then filed in the end and a copper rod of the correct size fit into the slot. In this picture the rod is forced down into the refractory surface to hold it in place. The bracket is held in place with the piece of steel barstock. A small amount of solder/flux paste has been applied at the joint and all that is needed now is the torch.
 
In the next picture the bracket is being filed to shape.
 

 
As each piece was finished it was fit to the rudder and the rudder fit into the gudgeons, one at a time, so that when all six were made they would fit accurately into their mating fittings and allow smooth rotation of the rudder. They were then marked for drilling the bolt holes.
 
The next picture shows all the pintle brackets made and temporarily fit to the rudder.
 

 
After drilling with a number 74 drill, they were be-burred, filed smooth and polished.
 
The next picture shows a fit up of the rudder to the post with all the brackets.
 

 
These still need minor adjustment and it is obvious in this picture that they are not yet aligned. When this is done they will all be perpendicular to the forward face of the rudder. As these were being fit the opening of the helm port was adjusted to give full range of rudder movement. In this picture the stern post is showing the effects of my dirty hands from the metalworking. This will of course be cleaned up.
 
There is additional metalwork to be made and installed, the spectacle plate, one or two reinforcing straps and a number of straps around the top. There are also the two tiller holes to be cut. Those are the next chores on the agenda. When all these pieces are made and fitted, the rudder will be polished up and all these fittings chemically darkened and bolted on.
 
 
Ed

Beam set 13 has carlings for the after hatch and hanging knees.  After making several hanging knees and never quite getting the angles correct, I finally stumbled onto an incredibly simple solution.  Instead of making a template of the ceiling and then drawing in the top of the beam, I fold a piece of paper along the top of the beam and mark out the shape of the ceiling while making sure the paper does not move off the beam.  By reversing the fold, I then check the other side to determine if they are (hopefully) symmetric.  The knee in the picture below only needed minor touch-up and tapering aft to fit the narrowing of the hull.  Of course, now that I have the hang of things, I am finished with the hanging knees on the lower deck.
 
Hanging Knee Template
 

 
Hanging Knee Aft of Beam 13
 

 
 
Before I permanently installed beam set 13, finish was applied to the underside of the deck structure and the pillars.  The lower well was glued in place and, for extra security, a pin was placed through beam 11 into the midline pillar on the fore side of the well.
Beam Set 13
 

 

 
 
Beam set 14 has only two rows of ledges.  The top of the slop room bulkhead on the aft platform needed to be slotted slightly for the deck beam.  The pillar passes through a cutout in the fish room trap door and rests on the keelson, like the other pillars. 
 
This is as far as the build has progressed.  Vacation next week so there will not be any progress for a few weeks.
 
Beam Set 14
 

 

 

 

The four aft pump tubes are shown in their future homes.  Greg, I got lucky.  The ends of the tubes fit perfectly into the chambers.  Thanks for the suggestion, Danny. 
 

 

 
The brake pump tubes are placed in the recesses excavated from the cross-chock of frame 3.
 

The main mast partner is made the same way as the fore mast partner.  There are carlings under the partner which mortise into the underside of beams 11 and 12.  In addition to the hole for the mast, two octagonal holes are cut on the aft side of the partner for the pump tubes.  There is no hanging knee in this beam set.
 

 
There are six pump tubes of equal diameter.  These were made in similar fashion to making a mast, without the final rounding off of the edges.  I first cut a square blank.  Next I drew in the required taper and used a chisel to cut the taper.  Finally, I put the pump tube in a mast spar jig and turned it into an eight sided tube.  Final finishing was done with sandpaper.  The photo shows the sequence of forming the pump tubes.
 

 

 
I used the photo etch sheet from Admiralty Models to fabricate the pump intake chamber.  The spacers are made from brass rod which has been filed down at the ends to form the pins which are protruding from the chamber.  The whole assembly was silver soldered and blackened.  Here is one of those points where you ask “how much should I install which will never be seen?”  I decided to only install the starboard chamber and save the other chamber for (possibly) a cross-section build.  Once the lower well is in place and the mast partner installed, it is almost impossible to see the pump chamber.
 

 

 

 

 

Thank you David and Grant.
 
Lovely work on the Cisterns Remco . Grant, that's the same excuse I'm using .
 
Pump Brakes
 
Hi all,
 
Work begins on the Pump Brakes (or Cranks). I've drilled all the holes for the brakes to accept the shafts - I drilled them all in two longer pieces which will be cut to length after I've done a bit of filing to get their correct shape. It's a lot easier to do them this way - saves a lot of setting up, first in the Mill for the drilling, and then in the vise to file them.
 
 

 

 
 
I've also cut all the various lengths of Axletrees (shafts) - these are all a little overlength, they will be filed back after silver soldering the two pieces together. The single square piece is for the sprocket centre - this has a 1mm hole drilled through it's 8mm length for the shaft. It's a little too thick - I'll get it to the right size after I've soldered it to the shaft. It has a wall thickness of 0.3mm across the flats at the moment, which will be reduced to 0.1mm - a very difficult task to drill if I'd reduced the outside dimensions first   .
 
  Danny

Thats a great picture Greg, to bad Annapolis is not on my route to the office. It's a bit heavy on the details added on the cross piece and bitt's for my liking. So I wasn't planning to do a mold and just make a test on a piece of scrap to see if it could be done. The result is shown here, I did it on the good piece anyway when I found out it worked out 
 
 



 
I think more subtile than the Annapolis model and better matching the rest of my KF.
 
Remco

Mark mentioned in his Bellona post that he had had some difficulties aligning the strips of gratings during assembly using the traditional technique. I've attached a few photos of a simple jig I made to keep the grating ledges in alignment while gluing up the gratings.
 
The jig consists of a square of wood with slotted recesses for the ledges.  On two sides stops were added.
 

 
The gratings ledges are placed in the slots.
 

 
The battens are now glued in place. I use dilute white glue as they are a press fit.
 

 
The assembled gratings are removed. The round up has yet to be added.
 

 
 

The first carving above the cupolas is a lady in a robe with a shield at her feet.
 
The carving in the rough....
 

 
Further progress on the robed lady....
 

 
The shield area nearing completion.....
 

 
Tools used to carve the lady included the dental drill and several ball end burs, small chisels and carving tools, a #10 xacto blade and a green Scotch-brite pad.
 

 
More to folow....................

Thanks Guys. Here's another update and this time we head back fwd on the forward store rooms. It does look a little confusing, but have added a layout of her store rooms. If any of you have any question's but take a look in Peter Goodwin book the sailing man of war, page 113 fig 4/2. A couple of items in his drawing and Montagu are diferent. Item-A is really the scuttle going down to the main magazine. He call's it the cartridge scuttle which was really on the port side across from the scuttle going down to the main magazine and access to this was in the passage way to the light room. Enjoy the photo's

After sanding and sanding I finally got rid of all the pencil marks.  Some filler pieces cut, other high spots sanded down.  Final result seems that some sections of the frames seem very thin.  Finish sanding with 220 grit, then 320.  Keelson sanded to 12" x 12", and top corners sanded to a 45 degree angle.  The center at every other frame was marked, tapped with an awl and drilled wtih 0.002 drill (#75?) for the bolts.  The bolts are actually 0.0018" black monofilament line (thanks to EdT). 
Limber strakes sanded to 4" and boards cut to 12".  The rabbet had to be cut...blade on my Proxxon saw set to just about 1" (@ sacle) and then the piece run thru.  Good result.  The other top corner sanded to a 45 degree angle (how do you type the little 0 forthe degree symbol?).  Spacers cut to 11" and the limber strakes sanded to 320 and glued in place.  The dark marks under the ends of the keeson and strakes are shadows from a very slight overhang that needs to be sanded down.  The entire model has taken a very rigid setting...not nearly as flimsey as it was before the lastest additions.
Maury

Thank you Mark,
 
Metal fitting installed completes the hold level. The model began 1 year ago, 6 months for the framing, 6 months for the hold.

LED Lighting
 
I received an e-mail from our electricity company, Hydro-Quebec, they pay $10 for each LED bulbs that we buy. Also, lighting on the working desk was not satisfying enough. I paid a visit at Home Depot of my area, this is where I saw the best choice with LED bulbs. Yesterday I bought the best bulbs they had a beam light by Phillips 19.5 watts, dimmable, a fixture and a dimmable switch with a remote. After installation verification with the Luxmeter gave surprising results Test are done at 4 feet except for 3 which are done at 1 foot. Beam width and strength, in a way are not comparable at different distance, but here are the results.
 
LED bulb is more expensive than an ordinary bulb but the performances are more than ordinary. In comparison with the best light Amsco I have, which is halogen (the light is white not yellow as a standard halogen), 2 Phillips LED can produce 13500/19800: 68% of the lighting level.
 
In conclusion, LED is coming with results we could not hope to reach few years ago. Actually, I would say without hesitation that Led lighting is the best way to see what you do.

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 98 – The Lower Counter
Posted 9/13/11
 
I doubt this part will generate as much interest as part 97 on the lid stops, but who knows.  Before getting to the lower counter framing and planking I finished up a couple of loose ends on the lower deck.  The first picture shows one of the iron standard knees in the area of the officers cabins, before bolting. 
 

 
The knee is copper blackened with liver of sulfur solution.  It rests on a “shole” on top of the decking, which is curved on its underside to fit the waterway.  The large timber to the right is a top rider and the notch to the left is a roughed opening for a ventilation scuttle.  These were covered earlier. 
 
The next picture shows the first steps in framing the lower counter and also the starboard straps on the lower ends of the counter timbers – also installed at this time.
 

 
 
First the sides of the ports were framed.  The helm port opening between the upper deck transom and the seat transom was filled in with blocking shaped to the counter timbers and the helm opening.  Below the upper deck transom the port is also blocked out to bed the counter planking around the helm port at this level.  The tiller will pass beneath the upper deck transom and upper deck beams and above the head of the sternpost.  The tiller and its apparatus will need to be installed with the deck beams so this work had to be done at this time.
 
The next picture shows this framing from the outside.
 

 
And the next picture shows it from aft.  It is still pretty rough.
 

 
 
The filling pieces around the helm port are somewhat speculative, but it is likely that chocks perhaps like these were used.  The planks needed to be bedded right up to the opening.  This picture also shows the framing of the lower deck ports that penetrate the lower counter.
 
The next picture shows the first of the lower counter planking being installed.  This will be done on the starboard side only, in keeping with the model’s format, which exposes the framing on the port side.
 

 
The next picture shows this planking well along – essentially finished.
 

 
 
The planking lines on the lower counter are not parallel because the round up and round aft of the wing transom is roughly half that of the touch of the lower counter.  So, the counter is broader at the center by 4 or 5 inches, requiring the planks to be slightly tapered at the outer ends.  The uppermost plank has its top edge right on the touch of the lower counter and it is modelled the full breadth.  A decorative molding will seat against this and be the base for the planking of the upper counter above it.
 
The next picture shows another view..
 

 
Before doing this planking the shapes of the counter timbers, particularly the pointed touch points were checked carefully against the drawings.  Once the exact touch points were marked, the counter shapes were given a final adjustment with a file and the planking was then brought right up to the lower counter touch line.  The upper counter has the same round up and aft as the lower, so that band will have parallel strakes.  The round up of the tafrail is more pronounced than the upper counter. That will come later, but all the points were checked at this stage. 
 
The last picture is another view.
 

 
The darker area is moisture from washing off the excess glue.  When the glue has set, the pins will be removed, the excess cut off this near side and the planks bolted and treenailed. 
 
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 97 – Port Stops
Posted 9/10/11
 
The treenailing and bolting of the seven strakes of planking above the black strake was completed this week.  The next three pictures show that stage of completion.
 
 

 
The purpose of doing this outside planking was to be able to install the port stops – the window frames, if you will, on the sides and bottom of the port framing.  These will be discussed below.  In the above picture the hawse holes are only roughed in. They still need to be sized and lined.
 
 

 
 
This picture shows some typical bolting and treenailing.  The lowest yellow strake is loaded – with both treenails and bolts for the lodging knees of the upper deck, which still have to be installed on the inside.
 
The next picture is a close up of this area.
 

 
I mentioned before that the treenails are about 1 ¼ inch.  There are also 1 3/8 and 1 ¼ inch bolts.  The pin holes above the top strake are left from the temporary ribbands that were removed earlier.  They are at the level of the sheer strake and sheer rail.
 
In the next picture the horizontal port stops have been installed.
 

 
 
These lay flat on the sill and their outside edges are at the inside face of the planking.  Their insides were oversized and get cut off flush with the inside of the frames.  The next picture shows the inside being finished off flush after the side stops were installed.
 

 
I knew when I put the riders in that I was creating a future headache for myself, but they really needed to go in before the upper deck beams and knees, even though it would mean slipping planking behind them.  It also presented a problem in facing off the stops.  The first step was to pare these back using  a chisel and a curve-bladed scorp – not shown.  This was followed by filing flush using the bent-handled file, as shown above.  This all went surprisingly quickly.  We’ll see how the internal plankng goes.  The notches in the upper deck clamps are the openings for the lower deck ventilation scuttles.
 
The next picture shows some stops after facing the insides.
 

 
These stops are 2 inches thick and are placed on the bottom sill and the two sides.  They serve to stop the closure of the port lids and probably were fitted with oakum or some kind of gasketing to keep the water out.  The ones for the sweep ports are 1 inch thick.
 
The next picture shows the inside after the stops were faced off.
 

 
The next major task in here, after installing the remaining few standards, will be to install the upper deck beams followed by the waterways and spirketing, which will go right up to the top of the lower sills.  With that done the scuppers can be drilled out and lined.
 
The next picture just shows a few of each type of port finished off.
 

 
The boxwood has been sanded pretty well at this stage – up to 400 grit.  No other finish will be applied to this until all the rails and other external fittings are installed – the steps, the scuppers, the fenders, chesstrees, etc.  – way down the road.
 
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 96 – Outside Planking 3
 
While the remaining planking was getting installed, I started installing bolts.  My process here is to install all the bolts first, then go back and do the treenails.  In some cases the bolts will be placed so that some treenails are not needed.  The picture below shows an area with the bolting installed.
 

 
All the closeups have lens distortion.  Believe me that line of frames at the top is not curved up.  In this picture there are a few different bolts.  The double row at the bottom of the boxwood planking is for the lodging knees of the upper deck.  The two rows of four large bolts each slanting up to the right are for the internal riders.  On either side of each gun port there are three bolts, which on the inside will be eyebolts, a large bolt for the breeching, a smaller one on further out on either side for the training tackle and a smaller one above the breeching bolts for trussing the gun up.  In addition there is one bolt at the butt of each plank, except for the short planks between the ports.
 
In the next picture the highest strake above the ports is being fit up.
 

 
The two strakes aft of the quarter gallery door have yet to be installed.  After this plank is installed the opening will be filed up to the top sill.
 
In the next picture one of the last bow pieces is being shaped to a curve using the shaft of a small soldering iron to heat the concave side.
 

 
For this thin boxwood planking this is much faster than steaming, which is the approach I have been using on the thicker structural pieces or where some edge bending is needed.  This piece will fit above the bridle port and port number one.
 
The next picture shows it in place.
 

 
This is the last strake for now.  It fits right up under the knighthead and is flush with its forward face.  It was nice that this strake just fit.  There is still some finishing work to be done to clean up the stem and the ends of some of the planks.  The hawse holes were roughed out before these planks were installed, drilled with a smaller drill then filed open parallel to the keel with a slight downward slant..  they are not finished, but I wanted to get a hole through the planking.
 
In the next picture the drilling for the treenails is in progress.
 

 
More distortion. The pattern here is alternating between two nails and one nail in each frame along the plank with the pattern offset for adjoining strakes.  The bolting prevents the pattern from being completely uniform, but I suspect that was pretty much the result on the prototype.
 
The next picture shows the planking for this phase all installed, except for treenailing and some bolting.
 

 
The next picture is just another view.
 

 
These last wo pictures are pretty representative of the true colors of the different woods.
 
After finishing the treenails – or maybe sooner – I will be returning to the inside work.
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 95 – Outside Planking 2
Posted 9/1/11
 
Planking on the starboard side of the hull continued this week.  The first picture shows pieces between the ports clamped during gluing.  Planks are 3 ½” thick at this level.
 

 
The planking in the waist area is now getting close enough to the topside to allow normal screw clamps to be used.  The planks are being glued in with darkened glue and before being ripped off a wide strip one side of that strip was given a coat of light brown acrylic paint to help highlight the joints.
 
The next picture shows progress up to a few days ago.
 

 
In the next picture the excess ends of the planks are being removed with a #0 Barrette file.  This does not cut on its edges.
 

 
The next picture is a close up of the current state.  The planks have been leveled off and given a preliminary sanding.  Final sanding and polishing will await the treenailing.
 

 
The black bolts in the strake above the black strake are mostly bolts for the lodging knees of the upper deck, which runs at the same height as this strake in the midship area, dropping down below it as the ends are approached and the curve of the sheer becomes higher than the curve of the upper deck.  The two larger bolts in the center of the picture go into and through the internal riders.  The lighter fasteners are .019 inch bamboo treenails.
 
The chamfered corners of the top planking pieces in this picture will seat areas of increased width in the next plank up, as was done on some of the planks below the ports.  In general, this was done wherever the cut out plank width would have left less than half the original width.
 
The waist rail, a molded decorative rail will eventually be installed along the center of these ports – approximately at the height of the plank just above the sweep port in the picture.
 
The next picture is a close up from above the side at the waist.
 

 
The last two planks up in this area, not installed yet, will be thicker and joined at their ends with hook scarph joints.  They will Take the external planking up to the level of the strings and tops of the frames in the waist area.
 
The last picture shows the whole hull in its present state.
 

 
Cheers,
 
Ed

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797
Part 94 – Outside Planking 1
Posted 8/26/11
 
The first picture shows the model at the stage we left off in Part 93.  The wale is finished and I was contemplating starting the exterior planking on this side above the rail. 
 

 
I would like to get the planking finished up to above the ports so the port lid stops can be done before doing the upper deck spirketing.  The spriketting goes over the stops.
 
The first step was the most difficult.  In the next picture I am about to cut into the last of two beautiful pieces of European Boxwood, buxus sempervirens , that I bought in the 1970’s.  Cutting this was painful.
 

 
These pieces were virtually perfect with no imperfections or discoloration.  If anyone knows where I can get more like this one, let me know.  I wanted to use this for the yellow of the external planking, but also for other exposed rails, details, etc.  I used the first one of these on Victory and for other things, tools, etc.
 
The next picture shows the first strake above the black strake partly installed.  The dark yellow is still wet from washing off the glue.
 

 
This is where I miss using ebony for the wale.  The finishing of this strake is almost impossible to do without marring the black finish on the top corner of the black strake.
 
The next picture shows the full hull at this stage.
 

 
This is one of those rare moments when everything was cleaned up and uncluttered.
 
The picture below shows the planking rising up around the lower deck ports.
 

 
In this picture the bolting has begun.  There are several large, 1 3/8” bolts in slanting rows for the internal riders.  There are also smaller, 1” bolts at the end of each plank.  The plan is to do the bolts first, then fill in the rest with the treenails.
 
Below is another picture taken at this stage.
 

 
There is still some leveling of these top strakes to be done.  These pictures help me find things that I don’t see as readily with my eyes – like that slightly  protruding plank just aft of the right hand port in this picture.  This picture also shows the planking cut out at the bottom of one of the sweepports.
 
The next picture shows some more bolting and some of the first treenailing.
 

 
There are three bolts through the side on each side of each gun port.  The pairs closest to the opening are large bolts for the breeching eyebolts and the next two, one through each of the next frames are for the training tackle eyebolts.  These will not go all the way through on the model.  The treenails in this picture are added to supplement the bolts, so the pattern is a bit random.
 
The last picture shows some treenails installed further forward. 
 

 
These have not been filed down as yet.  Holes are drilled for the lowest strake but no nails yet.  The treenails .019” about 1 1/8”.
 
All these close up pictures show some distortion that makes their centers bulge a bit.
 
Work has been slow for the past couple weeks, but I’m hoping to up the pace a bit in the next two weeks.
 
 
Cheers,
 
Ed

Thank you for clarifying Druxey.
Mark, I filed the hole in the mast partner at a slight angle, but as the mast partner is quite thin it's hardly noticeable.
Greg, I didn't plan to, but now your asking..... I made a slightly different pattern than suggested in TFFM.
 

 

 
Remco

If only I had had high school teachers like you.... Your students don't know how lucky they are!

The lower masts and mast tops

The pinnace was build from a NMM plan 

Building the cutter using the Admiralty models plug

Thanks every one. Seems I have been a little distracted with other things, such as life in general and figure I needed to add another up date. This time its with the bulkheads in the hold. There was a total of only four in Montagu hold starting with the bulkhead that separated the magazine. Going aft one runs in to the bulkhead that enclosed the front part of the spirt room, followed by the fish room and finally the bread room. Wish I had installed some barrels in the hold along with some pig iron and gravel that they would of used to steady the ship. One item that one should be able to make out is the pillars underneath each of the orlop beams. Do hope you enjoy the photos.
Gary