CaptainSteve

Great work, Tom !! Truly brilliant !! You're fast becoming a living practicum (complete with pictures).

Looking forward to watching as you complete this beautiful work !!

Bill, With regards your boats - and certainly NOT trying to blow my own trumpet in any way - but I recently finished building the four for my own Connie build. If you are interested, then please feel free to check them out here. At the least, they may give you some tips on what NOT to do.

Yep. I've watched Doris' video. I think I'll give it a shot ... a bit further down the track.

... as well as rope coils, barrels etc etc. Thank heavens for details !!!

Great work on your William R Bligh, Keith ... although he does look a little on the grumpy side. (I guess that's what made him such a great leader) I'd really like to have something similar sitting at the back of my Launch. What material is he made from ??

Planking continues, but I found that I've made a bit of a whoopsie ... It seems that, in my haste to "distress" the planks, I failed to check that one half of them needed to be flipped over. In short, I will need to lightly sand back the scoring marks on 4 planks and distress the reverse sides of these before I can complete the planking stage. What a goof !!! No great loss ... just some extra work to do to correct a mistake which a little forethought would have prevented. Thus, as a result of my mistake, I will most definitely be going ahead with the idea of painting the interior side of the planking (and frames) in blue-grey (as Meredith did) to hide my stuff-up !! Not a real issue, as I quite liked this look anyway.

That's my story, DG, and I'm stickin' by it !! In truth, I was trying to do something a little different, tried it out on the test plank and liked it.

Thanks Bindy, Originally, I wasn't too concerned with weathering of the planks for my Launch. However, a bit of background reading has shown that an earlier post where I said that I thought Bligh would have insisted on regular maintenance may not have been entirely true. This is from Mutiny and Romance in the South Seas: A Companion to the Bounty Adventure by Sven Wahlroos: "During the events of the mutiny on the Bounty, three boats were launched: first the jolly boat which was found to be rotten through with worms and would certainly have sunk, then the cutter which also leaked and simply would not hold the large number of loyalists who preferred to go with Bligh, and finally the launch. . . . When Bligh had been forced into the launch together with eighteen loyalists, the freeboard remaining was less than the length of a man’s hand." Thus, it seems likely to me that the Launch was probably not in the best condition when Bligh and the loyalists were cast adrift. Further, riding low in the water almost up to the Sheer - it is known from Bligh's log that they had to constantly bail water - the planks would have taken even more damage throughout the course of their journey to Timor. I don't want to do this model so that it appears that the Launch was a complete wreck ... just merely to show that the journey was harsh, in the least !!

At least we can tell it's MR Hercules ... and not Miss !!

So THAT'S how it's done !!! Thanks again, Danny. Will add that one to the memory banks for later on.

I haven't glued mine together yet, but I did do a test fit before putting it back in the box. The reference lines on your bulkheads should all line up with the reference line running along the length of your keel pieces. In other words, down a little bit like the others are suggesting. Assuming you haven't glued these in just yet, then try filing out the grooves where they fit together. They may be too tight to allow your bulkheads to fit correctly - mine certainly were at first. The bulkheads should fit snugly, but not be so tight that you need to force them into place. This could give you a warped keel - something you'd definitely wanna avoid !! If you have already glued, then get yourself some isopropyl to break the glue. Mine comes as a spray. So just spray it along both sides of each bulkhead piece, then leave it to sit for a couple of minutes. Then remove your bulkheads, clean them up (to remove excess glue and isopropyl) and work on the grooves a little until they are nice and snug.

Planking has commenced and is underway ... slowly. There was a momentary lapse of sanity earlier on when I thought that MS had short-changed me by two planks. After turning my build-table upside down in a frantic search, I realized that I had put the shutter planks back in the box ... and at the very bottom. I don't know why I do things like this to myself !! A quick progress pic before re-joining the Rat Race tomorrow ... Plank 9 (just above the Sheer) on both sides has only been dryfitted for the moment to allow it to take shape. It's kinda hard to tell from this pic, but there is a thin line of staining on the Sheer just below the purple stripe. The colour of this is too golden - even though I used the same stain mix. It should match the "weathered" wood of the other planks. Will need to do something about this before fixing Plank 9 into place. If I can do two planks each day after work, then this stage should be mostly done by next weekend ...

Test fit 'em first before breaking out the glue gun, or ARC welder - whichever method you are planning on using. Make sure the second half of your bulkheads are facing towards the stern (ie: the bevelled side). Check the reference lines to ensure everything lines up. But, hey, you probably already knew this !!

Most saddened to hear of your news, Keith !!

Following on from his Battles against the Frames, our hero didst take pause awhile to consider the issues of colouration. “Enough dallying about,” the Horde cried. “Get on with it !!” “Arrr … “, CaptainSteve was heard to reply. “One canst procrastinate but for so long.” (Actually, by definition, one canst procrastinate for as long as one bloody well wants - indeed, the longer the better). But, as he doth intend to get this thing done and move on with his USS Constitution build, then it didst finally becometh necessary to drawest the line somewhere. And so, with the weekend upon him ‘twas time to move onwards. For, as has been foretold, There Shall Be Planking … Thusly, the planks making up Belt C, as well as the first of Belt B, were subjected to “water-boarding” last eventide in order to convince them to bend to CaptainSteve’s will. The same fate was meted out also unto the Sheer planks. As the bottom section of the Launch (to the waterline) willst be made white, then there be no need for worryin’ with any graining on the lower planks which doeth makest Belt C. It shouldst be realised that the waterline will no doubt extend upwards to the second plank in Belt B, but this problem shalt be dealt with at a later stage. Whereupon their punishment was served, the two Sheer planks were dry-fitted upon the rack then hued in purple. Indeed, ‘tis a tint which hath been labelled – sorry, Keith – Docker Purple. For the future Master of this craft, CaptainAndrew, wouldst be a fan of the Fremantle Football Club. “A nice trim they shalt make !!” proclaimethed CaptainSteve. A different fate was dealt unto the planks making up the remainder of Belt B, as well as those which shalt maketh Belt A. For their crimes, water-boarding wilt also be in their future. But firstly, they didst meet with the knife … and the pencil … and the steel-wool grinding-wheel thingy of our hero’s Dremel tool. Most verily, this was a laborious endeavour which tooketh many, many hours. Once done, and after applying a concoction of his own making (Old Baltic 5 parts to Golden Teak 3 parts), they looketh like this: As of this very moment in time, the planks Garboard hath been dry-fitted. On the morrow, the Sheer shalt be affixed … FOOTNOTE: CaptainSteve wishes it to be known throughout the land that he hast ceased worrying as to whether he doth possesseth enough of the woods from the cherry tree to maketh the cant and ‘tween frames. “For in this matter, I wilt be considering following in the footsteps of the One known as Meredith. Indeedeth, and verily, this day I didst purchase a hue of Blue-Grey and doth intendeth to useth it for the interior planking and framing. ‘Twill be the better to allow the various fittings, fixings, fruits and equipment to stand-eth out,” he didst declar-eth.

Matti, I keep thinking your Wasa looks even better than the original. But, then again, the original did sit at the bottom of the Baltic Sea for some 300 years+.

Alde, I found the same thing with my test-plank. The stained sides remain glued together every bit as fast as the unstained sides !!! So the test was a complete success !!

I saw your post this morning before work, Alde. And so I took the test-plank from above, broke it in three and have glued (i) the stained sides together, and (ii) the unstained sides. Will give it until tomorrow morning and get back to you regarding the results.

Patrick, I've gotta agree with you regards the sturdiness of the MS kit keel pieces. But not having access to toys like yours, I reinforced my keel by cutting a groove on each side and then inserting a spare piece of planking (salvaged from a previous kit) along the length. I'm yet to make any real progress on my Constitution yet, but when I'm ready to, then I'll be armed with a lot more information gleaned from your research as well as all the other Connie builders here on MSW.

I'm not a fan of ammonia either, Dave (got enough chemicals in my life as it is without needing any more). In the end, my frames were bent by paying careful consideration to Keith's advice regarding the grain of the wood. After soaking for some 2-3 days, they really do bend easier one way than the other. I would've ended up with a much smaller bone-yard had I done this earlier on. I'm hoping to get lucky later on, as I think I will be able to use the left-over pieces to not only do the cant and 'tween frames, but also have enough to do the support pieces for the quarter deck.

Thanks for dropping in Meredith. Yours was another of the Bounty Launch builds which I read through avidly. A most beautiful work, indeed. Sorry for not crediting you properly !!

Patrick, Your scholarly research into this matter is impressive and makes for fascinating reading. I really cannot answer your questions for you. However, my suggestion would be to approach one of the best resources I can think of. That would be MSW member Popeye2Sea, who serves as a tour guide on board the USS Constitution to this very day. He proved to be a wealth of information when I asked some questions regarding Connie during her 1812 period. Hope this helps.

I've been procrastinating severely over the last few days as I ponder the problem of precisely what wood stain I would like to apply to my Launch's planks. I intend to have the staining done BEFORE actually beginning the planking stage of this build. A trip to my local Bunnings store this evening saw me stock up on a few different tints to play with. Unfortunately, they did not have the White Japan stain with which I had hoped to tone down the tan-hued Old Baltic. Nor could I locate the Minimax Weathered Oak. Essentially, these are the ones I came home with: From left-to-right, these are: Old Baltic, Golden Teak and Oak. I played around with a few variations, none of which I was completely satisfied with. Now, I'm aware that I had previously discarded the idea of weathering/graining my planks. This was primarily because I wasn't sure I could achieve this with any degree of satisfaction. Then I came up with an idea. I broke off another piece from the plank template to use as a test. This I "scratched up" with some random lengthwise cuts using my razor knife. Using a HB lead pencil, the test plank was coloured in. Then a pencil eraser was used to remove most of the pencil, leaving just the cuts filled with lead. A concoction of 4 parts Old Baltic and 1 part Golden Teak (4:1) was then mixed up and applied to my test plank. Here's the result: What do you think ?? A little extra of the Golden Teak, perhaps (5:2, 8:3) ?? I do still want to add tree-nailing to this build, so they must be able to show up against my planks.

Keith, Thanks (once again) for addressing a topic which undoubtedly will become very pertinent for myself within a few months. I went a-googling for pics which I'd hope would answer your question and came up close to empty-handed. The best I could find was by our very own Chuck Passaro. Even this doesn't really answer the question you asked. But here it is, anyway: The only other somewhat appropriate pic I could find was this next one ... which really is a much more modern type of sailboat: Other than these, the best I can suggest would be taking a stroll down by Port Phillip Bay to see if you can spot something you like. Although, I suspect that 18th Century boats might be rather thin on the ground (or water, in this case). For my own build, I was thinking of semi-furled sails - almost as though they were in the process of being raised (or lowered). PS: I agree with Bindy ... your sewing machine really could do with a couple of Hello Kitty stickers.