Yambo

Beautiful build Matija!
 
I have a question . . .   What paint did you use for below the waterline please, and where did you get it? Here in Turkey I have ongoing problems sourcing things like paint of the right colours. Sometimes I find them in the UK or Germany but they won't send them here and sometimes I see in Turkey what will may be OK but their payment methods are 19th century    and I have to find a friend with a particular type of credit card. It's an on-going nuisance.
 
I think I have solved my earlier problems with wood as I have found suppliers in Istanbul and Germany so things are improving, but slowly.
 
Thanks.

I use scalpel handles and scalpel blades within long time.

...

Hi,
 
The model is complete. 
 
Thanks, Michael, Matija, Nils, Mark, Omega and Mike for dropping in and offering comments and advice. Surely, all your encouragement would help me in future.
 
I only follow all your builds and observe - truly, this has helped me a lot.
 
The final pics are attached :
 

 
The lantern is placed...
 

 
Anchor and gun ..
 

 
The gun swivels around ...
 

 
bucket...
 

 
with the supplies, oars, etc.
 

 
another view..
 

 
A small box.  I enjoyed doing it. The latch and hinges were of second thought. 
 

 
Another trial .. a compass.. not to the mark. 
 

 

 
all supplies placed...
 

 

 
top view.
 

 

 
Last pic of the boat.
 
Let me thank you all for your comments.
 
Regards,
Rao
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 110 – Cabin Deck
 
Anything to avoid metal sheathing.  Actually, not much can proceed on the main deck until the framing of the poop and forecastle has at least begun, so this week I have been working on the cabin deck facilities.  The poop beams cannot be installed until all of that work is finished.  In the first picture the poop deck beams have been made, cut to length and pinned in place.
 

 
The cabin deck partitions have to be cut out around these beams so having them pinned in place is a prerequisite for the partition work. 
 
The next picture shows the first steps on the partitions.
 

 
The breast beam has been glued in with pillars on either side of what will be the "grand entrance" to the cabin deck level. The central section of this beam will later be cut out so people don't have to crawl into the cabin deck.  The beginning of the paneled partition shown is the forward bulkhead of the captain's day cabin with his bookcase cabinet pre-installed – but paneled doors not yet carved.
 
We do not know what all these facilities looked like on Young America, so this is all creative design on my part – but typical of the period and the class.  Some of these ships were very elegant in décor, because the few passengers carried were probably quite wealthy.  I am using black walnut to simulate old mahogany for all the paneling and furnishings.  Otherwise it is all going to be fairly Spartan.
 
The first semi-indulgence in elegance is the double, curved entrance staircase from the main deck.  The starting block is shown in the next picture.
 

 
The panels to the right are representative of the final paneling finish.  The next picture shows the perimeter walls of the cabin areas at the sides. 
 

 
The central "salon area" was open with tables and places to sit.  Modeling of this will be limited to preserve the view into the lower regions.
 
In the next picture the bannister of the staircase is being sanded to size after the treads, the balusters and the lower part of the rail were fitted. 
 

 
There will be a cap rail to cover the mortise holes for the balusters. 
 
The next picture shows the paneling of the fore and aft partitions in progress.
 

 
The panels are built up using thin strips on an underlying thin sheet of walnut. The port panels are incomplete in this picture. 
 
 In the next picture the capping rail on the staircase has been fitted but not yet trimmed, the paneling of the starboard wall completed and door hardware installed.
 

 
The captain's cabin was traditionally on the starboard side, close to the exit to the main deck.  In this arrangement his day cabin doorway is right outside the stairs.  The last picture shows the inside of the captain's cabins from above.
 

 
The day cabin in the center of the photo has a table, built-in bench and the book cabinet.  It is quite small.  A doorway to the left leads to his sleeping quarters.  Only his dresser is in place as yet.  In addition to the captain's palatial space, there are six other cabins for passengers and the mate.  All are quite small.  There will also be two small cubicles aft – a toilet and a storage space.
 
The crew space on these ships was a large cabin on the main deck – to be constructed much later.
 
Metal sheathing has begun, but has been held up waiting for some .002" brass.
 
Ed

más

Thank you Kees, I think I put everything according to the draft.
 
Here are more photos of today's work:
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Regards, Matija.

Haven't you got a cylinder head to make Michael?  
 
I love watching you solve your problems and like others greatly admire your talents. But take your time, we'll still be watching.  

Haven't you got a cylinder head to make Michael?  
 
I love watching you solve your problems and like others greatly admire your talents. But take your time, we'll still be watching.  

Haven't you got a cylinder head to make Michael?  
 
I love watching you solve your problems and like others greatly admire your talents. But take your time, we'll still be watching.  

Haven't you got a cylinder head to make Michael?  
 
I love watching you solve your problems and like others greatly admire your talents. But take your time, we'll still be watching.  

Haven't you got a cylinder head to make Michael?  
 
I love watching you solve your problems and like others greatly admire your talents. But take your time, we'll still be watching.  

That's pretty much the same as the one I've got on my list - the Scheppach HG580 - for sanding inside curves. 
 
I'm toying with the idea of making a thickness sander as well, copying somebody's design - it's here:
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/8927-home-built-thickness-sander/

Just a note to say this project isn't dead.  Life just got in the way.
 
I am putting the sails and rigging on and its a slow process.
 
I also tried to use the rigging to hold the booms and gaffs in places.  This turned out badly when my hooks straightened out, imagine chaos.
 
I now drill a small hole and put a pin in the mask and in the clapper on the boom.  I used a brass pin to take the stress of tight sails and ropes and it is working much better.
 
I made some baggy wrinkles which look okay from a distance.
 
Photos in a few days.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 109 – Pin rails/Hawse holes/paint
 
Since the last post, the four long pin rails were made and installed.  The first picture shows one being pinned in position.
 

 
These fit up under the main rail and are glued and bolted to the toptimbers.  Paint was filed off these first.  The rails are cherry.  Most of the main deck natural wood structures will be of this species - slightly darker than pear.  The pin hole drilling was aided by the right angle drill in the picture.  The wood blocks help keep the rail up until the pins are in.  In the next picture the rail is ready for glue.
 

 
Before the hull could be painted, scuppers and hawse holes needed to be fitted.  In the next picture the hole for the smaller of the two hawse openings is being drilled out.
 

 
These openings are parallel to the keel on the lines from the chain tube openings on the main deck.  They slant down to emerge at the correct position on the outside.  Small pilot holes were drilled then enlarged to fit metal tubes.  The tubes are shown in the next picture.
  

 
After fitting, they were epoxied in, sanded off flush and rounded off.  They will eventually get painted red.
 
All of this was in preparation for painting the hull below the planksheer.  This consumed most of the time since the last post – reminding me why I prefer not to paint models.  My father used to say painting covers a multitude of sins – until it dries.  He was right as usual.  This is especially true with gloss finishes.  The next picture shows the finished starboard side.
 

 
The paint is fluid artist’s acrylic, thinned and applied in several coats over acrylic sanding sealer, then rubbed out when dry between coats.   Why gloss?  I may be wrong, but I do not think flatting agents for paints were invented until the 20th century.  I am sure in 1853 the paints were linseed oil and lampblack – or white lead for the white. Definitely gloss but probably not this smooth.   In any event, the hulls of these clippers were usually finished as smooth as practical given their size.
 
The last picture shows the view from the stern.
 

 
The planked area below the black on this side will be metal sheathed – once I get comfortable with the paint finish.  The planking on the port side extends only a few strakes below the channels – no sheathing required.
 
 
Ed

Yambo this is very interesting, I had not previously appreciated the degree of freedom one has when building from plans. But to deviate from the plans certainly takes a lot of skill and experience. I guess you built the model before the actual boat to better understand the building process, I had read that this is a good idea but only now I appreciate this. If I was building the full scale boat I would have gone bankrupt by now!
I was very lucky to find these photos Bob, they really are very helpful and show the beauty of boatbuilding. 
 
I finished the No7 frame and also finished all the planks. The curved segments were sanded with the disc sander within seconds but the concave ones were tricky. The improvised router table worked well.
 
 

 
Following Yambo's advise I decided on the layout of the interior. Knees, a small deck with hatches, almost identical but not quite to the boat in the internet photos. The floor, benches and deck are half ready.
 

 

 

 
I also was not happy with my transom. It made it solid instead of framed plywood but I like the original design better so I redid it and it looks good! I will cut the excess plywood ofter planking. In the last picture the Transom is secured to the jig.
 

 

 

 
 
Has anyone tried the beeswax approach for finishing?

Finally, all sails are on the model. Now it looks more like a real Bluenose  .
 
All the running rigging is also complete. Belaying pins are made from bamboo toothpicks to add a bit Of realism (kit instructions
suggest only tying lines directly on holes). Some belaying points from instructions were little odd, so I change them to look more
realistic.
 
I now have to add rope coils, lash the Deadeyes to the standing rigging ,tie the ratlines,... Still a bit Of building yet

The box was then built to enclose the sanding drum from melamine and particle board. I made this with about 5mm wider than the length on the drum, the sides are 150mm square. 10mm holes were drilled through both sides to fit the shaft.Then I widened the outside holes to 18mm wide to a depth of 8mm so the bearings were held in place without any movement. I made the holes so they would need a light tap with a hammer to get them in place, and there is asolutley no wobble in the shaft. A square washer was fixed over the bearing both to keep it in place and to keep dust out. There is less than 0.5mm gap around the shaft.
 

 

 
At this stage I then had a height to work with so I could make the stand for the drill to fit in place. The two vee shaped uprights had been cut to fit the drill into were fixed in place so the drill chuck fits perfectly over the shaft. The smaller piece at the back of the drill is screwed in place to stop the drill slipping backwards, but can be removed to get the drill out if needed.
 

 
Melamine was used as the table as it is flat and slides easily. The size was as wide as I could get in and as long as the base board. From memory it is 450mm long. Two hinges fix this in place to the front of the base. A length of timer is fixed under the back with a nut epoxied in place and an eye bolt is used to set the height. 1 full turn on the bolt gives 1mm of adjustment. I do sometimes use a couple of lock nuts to keep it all in place when I am sanding a lot of timber to the same thickness so nothing moves.
 

 
Now the drill is in plase and there is a flat area to work from the drum is trued to round. I fixed a fairly coarse length of sandpaper to a flat board and turned on the sander. The table was raised while the sandpaper kept mooving side to side made short work of any lumps and bumps. The photo shows the drum with sandpaper already on it, but this is just to show how it was done. As you can probably tell a lot of these photos have been taken recently.
 

 
The drum then had a groove cut along the length to fit the aluminium strip that holds the sandpaper in place. When this is pushed into the slot it pulls the sandpaper tight. Three screws hold it in place and this is recessed about 2mm below the surface of the drum.
 

 
 
 
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 103 – Planking and Wales continued
 
The work proceeds apace.  Post-holiday lull and the winter weather helps.  Work on the lower hull requires either some gymnastics or some other support for the model.  The first picture shows the simple setup that allows the model to be tilted as needed – a very un-shipyard-like look.
 

 
The wale on this side is about one-half planked in this picture.  The next picture shows the wale planks converging at the lowest perimeter strake at the stern.
 

 
The brass rod is the diameter of the gudgeon eyes and is being used to mark the center of the helm port by laying it on the sternpost.  In the next picture a hole for the port has been roughed out.
 

 
The rudder head was round and was encased at the port in a sleeve – wood or iron – to prevent ingress of water.  The diameter of the rudder shaft was 16” – matching the sternpost.  With the sleeve the opening will take up much of the area as yet unplanked.  I decided to fill the area with a single chock as shown in the next picture.
 

 
A circular opening for the sleeve and rudder head will be cut through this later.  In the next picture the hole has been centered.
 

 
Additional wale strakes are being added in this picture.  In the next picture the final piece on the port side has been boiled and is being fitted to dry.
 

 
The planks on this side are being stepped back at each frame to allow the stern area to be completed without adding more strakes on this unplanked side.  Hence these last two pieces are very short – the lowest will be half the length shown.
 
The next picture shows the final wale strake in place at the stern on the starboard side.
 

 
This side will be planked down below the waterline so there are more strakes to be fitted at the stern.  These will diminish down to the thickness of the common lower planking.
 
I don’t want to use this forum to pitch the forthcoming book, but I feel that a few words are in order, since several people have asked about it. 
 
Bob Friedman of Seawatchbooks and I were both quite enthused about a book on American clipper ship modeling.  We both felt this was a neglected area.  However, I had some concerns about another “full framing” methodology book that would be a rehash of previous material.  I was also concerned about writing a book about a large, fairly advanced structural model that would probably appeal mainly to a small slice of experienced modelers.
 
 It took some time for me to resolve these issues and decide to write the book – two books hopefully – the first on modeling the hull and the second on masting and rigging. 
 
Like the Naiad books – and unlike this build log – the books will be very heavy on methods – I like the word processes.  As work on YA progressed, the processes used were both different enough and in some ways unique and this allayed some of my concerns about redundancy. 
 
However, I still wanted to reach a broader range of modelers – specifically potential or less-experienced scratchbuilders looking for a foothold and some help on methods.  To this end the book will also include methods, drawings, text and pictures for construction of a smaller, simpler POB version of the model.  The processes developed for this model are designed to provide a basis for advancement to fully-framed modeling using the upright, shipyard-like, methods that many of us favor.  The planned volume on rigging – if we get that far – will apply to both versions. Simpler tools, fewer fancy devices and readily available materials will also be used for the POB model.
 
To support this important content, a second, 1:96 POB model is being constructed.  Until making the book decision, I have been careful to exclude this from posted pictures but that precaution is now no longer necessary so I will show one picture of the current work area with both models in progress.
 

 
Although having two models in the shop has exponentially increased the clutter, the biggest problems are keeping the two scales straight and using the right drawings – and getting all  the work done on schedule.
  
Ed

It does, but it's always good to remember to let the cutting tool do the work and not apply too much pressure - whether it be cut off discs, saws or sandpaper.

Hello again
 
My studies and the beginning of the planning of “Stavanger“ go back to the year 2012. Again and again the work has been interrupteed by various reasons. But she was never out of my mind.
 
In June 2014, i stumbled on NRG'S MODEL SHIP WORLD. Originally because of the sensational images of 'Le Fleuron' by rekon54. Browseing the NRG-page i found the pilot by Michael Mott what inspired me and what newly motivated my work on “Stavanger“ – now i was ready to start with the build.
 
Mike
 
Below:
- start of the build
- wooden part of the keel
- stem
- stern
- raw frames
 
 

It does, but it's always good to remember to let the cutting tool do the work and not apply too much pressure - whether it be cut off discs, saws or sandpaper.

Jud this is what surprised me the most as well, I am following the same practice as many of the model engines that have been built by the model engine builders and the most important thing is to make sure that the cylinder liner is well polished when using the O rings which is opposite to using cast iron rings. There are a number of tutorials for making cast iron rings down to 3/8th diameter but it takes a bit of practice and some really good cast iron bar stock to be able to make them successfully.  
 
JKLee and Omega
Yes it is a different area of modelwork but basically one only needs to focus on the task at hand and break it down into incremental chunks small chunks I admit. The way I see it is that each time we change materials or scales we encounter new challenges and have to consider using different tools for some tasks.
 
Remco the short answer is no, that said I think that the basic issue with drilling small holes is one of sequences.
 
1)  When drilling into wood with very small drills 1/32 and down to the small #'s 60-80 the wood is not a consistent homogenous material, it is organic and full of subtly different hardness's and textures and this is I believe the main reason for breaking the bits when using a drill press or milling machine, the other issue is the speed of rotation of the bit, the smaller the bit the higher the speed the machine needs to run, this is counter intuitive to the way we use them by hand in pin vices which is technically a snails pace by comparison. I think the difference is that when using a hand held pin vise we use much less pressure and can "feel" the drill cutting, remember our fingertips are one of the most sensitive parts of our bodies with the possibly the most nerve endings. 
 
2) When drilling metal the key is to ensure that the start is exactly centered, and I mean exactly, this can only be accomplished by using a centre drill to spot the centre first my centre drill for the small drills cost me $27 for a tiny 1/8 shank centre drill this means the for every hole I have to do a number of things first decide on where the hole is going to be, this entails laying out the position on the material and fixing the material solidly to the drill press or mill, I tend to use the numbers and not a centre punched divot, by that I mean indexing from two or more sides depending on the shape, the centre drill takes the place of the punched divot.
 
3) The way I index is to use an  edge finder or centre finder to set the datum on at least two edges then I can simply set the dials on the table to 0 and them index them to the two coordinates x and y that is the centre of the hole, I do this regardless of the size of the piece I am drilling, it is a habit. The quill of the mill also has a dial so that I can set the tip of the drill to 0 at the surface that way I know how deep my hole will be if I am not going all the way through. if I am going all the way through I sometime use some wast material as a support so that the drill does not catch and snag on exit one of the biggest causes of broken drills in the smaller sizes, the other is the drill bending because the start was off centre from the centre axis of the rotation of the drill as it gets deeper the bending forces increase often snapping the drill.
 
4) The next important thing regarding wood or metal is ensuring that the drill flutes do not get clogged with the material what you are removing out of the hole, it has to go somewhere so raising the drill out of the hole frequently allows it to escape (this is usually centrifugal force that throws it off the drill) sometime the material is "gummy" some brass and some aluminum can be this way and so a lubricant (Varsol or Paraffin works well) is needed to keep the bit slippery, a cutting oil for steel. Obviously one doesn't need the lubricant on wood but it can clog the bit even more quickly than metal, so small "pecks" (frequent raising of the drill to clear the wood off the drill) a small fine stiff brush can be very helpful to clear this debris out of the flutes.
 
The last thing to remember is the depth to diameter ration of the hole deep holes are more difficult to drill for all the above reasons
Finally use the best quality drills you can afford and I always use a centre drill to spot the hole, this means that if I am drilling a number of holes I can drill all the centre spots first (following all the numbers on the index map drawing) then go back and follow all the numbers again with the drill this is the fastest way when I an drilling multiple holes to the same depth. Or I can change the drill from the centre drill to the hole size drill with each cut, it depends on what I am drilling and for what purpose I choose which way to go.
 
I hope this answers your question.
 
All of what I just said applies to using a drill press mainly, and also ensuring that the work is rigid (clamped in some way is also very important) when working freehand or using a hand held drilling devise drill or Dremel type tool similar conditions apply but they are not quite the same, and I take my hat off to all the steady hands out there, drilling treenail holes. I cringe when I read of using a # 70+ drill bit by hand.
 
 
Omega actually this really applies to your Ingomar yacht model 
 
 
Michael

Tuesday 23 December 2014
 
I snuck through the side office door and set her on the table then had a co-worker call him to the room... all a surprise!
 
Delivered in one piece... that is a weight off my mind.
 
With his permission I've posted the image of his first sight of Charlie below
I hope to receive a photo of the father-in-law's expression at Christmas.
 
 
Alan

Hello friends,