vaddoc

Yes, this would have been a better alternative but I always end up overbuilding things. But I may have gone too far with this! What is not visible is the epoxy I added inside afterwards to glue the plywood walls with the frame...

A wee more update as I did a bit more work on the boat - I must admit I am having too much fun! I previously admitted that I shamelessly read the building instructions from Occre of their Hercules kit to get some ideas. There are a few things that I felt could be done better, in this post I ll show my solutions to the problems. So I left the hull on the side for now and started work on the superstructure. Again, my CAD drafts were not entirely correct but at least the templates for the superstructure inner bulkheads were spot on. However, the plywood started warping so I screwed the bottom to a very thick piece of plywood and used screws and epoxy to make it rock solid. Now, Occre uses lots of thin vertical pieces to cover the forward part of the superstructure, blended together afterwards with filler and sanding but I just bend a piece of 1 mm plywood. Another area were Occre used multiple thin strips is the two aft corners but I just made two pillars with stacked pieces of plywood - the small gap will be very easily filled with filler. Hercules has a very distinct propeller shaft tube thingy, this is a feature that a model must have. The solution from Occre is not very elegant, just bending a piece of wood over a tube. My solution was different. It was actually easy to draft this in CAD and looking at the drawing, it seemed doable to sand a half dowel to sit on the hull. Indeed, it worked well and was surprisingly easy and quick. The screws will of course be replaced with wood nails, maybe even use a bot of epoxy, then filler and sanding - I think it will look fine. Best wishes Vaddoc

Many thanks to all that hit the like button. @Jim Lad Thanks John, really it is a very elegant hull! @Bedford I had a bit of a hardware issue so suspense to be prolonged for a few days - I suspect the boat will appeal to you as well! @wefalck I did think about this and I have half decided to leave this out, for two reasons: One is that I do not like the plating which is random with a large curved belt along the length of the hull, such elegant lines deserve better. Second is that I ve been fighting cracks between the planks, I ve already filled and sanded three times but the planks keep moving. Not sure why as the pear I am using is very old and dry, perhaps I have not used enough frames. In any case, the plank lines will show no matter what I do so maybe best to leave it as a wooden hull instead of simulating a riveted steel hull. Ok, some more photos: The hull is now filled, sanded to 320 grit, sealed and sanded lightly to 400 grit - then sealed again and re-sanded to 400 grit. I actually intended to use a blade to scrape the hull but I forgot to do it, it would have been faster. Still, the hull is now very smooth. I ve left the little feet to the hull as they ll help to mark the water line. Happily, the stern also came out alright There are several opening to be cut out to the bulwarks as well as some more work to be done before painting This is pretty much as far as I ve gone studying the plans and the boat. I need to figure out the stern layout and tiller mechanism, finish the bulwarks and start work on the superstructure (started already, again some happy accidents in my CAD drawings) In the mean time I cleaned and tidied up the shipyard, thought I d share some photos Sanding station with the new toy, Proxxon MF 70 - not sure what I can do with it but I had some credit with Axminster so chose this. Cutting/drilling station Work bench Take care all Vaddoc

These seem to melt at 900 C, whereas silver solder paste is between 600 - 700 C. To my experience, to reach such high temp a larger heat source is needed risking melting the actual piece. I actually had this happen a couple of times.

Honestly Phil, your CAD drawings are pretty amazing. Regarding caulking, I ve used in the past Elmers colour changing filler mixed with black acrylic paint. Sanding it all off leaves gray caulking lines. A quick wipe with Tung oil (I suspect any other finish as well or Rennaisance wax which is invisible) makes the lines black again. Vaddoc

Dear all Thank you all for your comments and likes! I ve been working on the boat, walking a thin line between the Admiral's wrath and getting a few things actually done, so time for another update. Rob Ross used to say that there are no mistakes, only happy accidents. There sure have been many happy accidents so far with this boat! Usually my CAD drafts are pretty accurate but as I move on, I am scratching my head as 1+1 does not always make 2, I cannot figure out what I was actually drafting. But so far I managed to more or less fix things. So planking is finished! You will see that the sheer strake, or rather half of it, is missing. The reason is that Hercules has a tall bulwark and it would be difficult to securely fix it in place so I thought it made sense to merge the sheer strake with the bulwark. Now Hercules is 150 feet long and made of steel so the planks are completely unrealistic but they do make a nice hull! The card templates (there were even more than these) show how much work actually planking involves with spilling and everything - still I had only 2 half planks that I had to re do as they came out very wrong. One of the many happy accidents is in the following photos. I did not really want to buy new wood so I had just enough pear for the planking. I managed to snap the very last length I had left, with just a half plank left to do! I managed to fix this by making it in two parts, narrow escape! Then lots of Osmo filler and lots of sanding. Of course I did not read the instructions that state to thin the filler with 15% water and I struggled wasting a lot of the expensive filler. Prior to that, all the hundreds of screws were replaced by tree nails. Much more filling and sanding will be needed but a big chunk of the hull preparation has been done. Then I made the bulwarks but only after I managed to snap the little stem extension not once but twice. I had a sheet of maple and three sheets of mahogany left so I used maple - what a nice wood it is! It will all be primed and painted black. But something felt wrong. I went back to my CAD drafts and the plans and indeed, the bulwark/planks were a couple of centimeters short. The happy accidents are piling up! Now, Hercules has this little feature at the stern where there is a small flat vertical segment, this has to be made by laminating thin strips which gives the opportunity to correct the mistake above. So I used some thin beech strips I had. I dislike beech due to its huge movement in service but it is so nice to bend, just with water it can be tied in a knot. I just used PVA to laminate the strips, if I had used epoxy it would have been very messy. Then rough cut to shape and screwed in place. I know it looks rough, I had trouble with the stern drafting in CAD and did not really spend time on it, I hope I ll fix it with a bit of filler, bit of sanding, paint on top. I am enjoying this boat, it is very different from anything I have built so fat. On another note, the postman dropped a cardboard tube with some plans which are currently being processed. There will be a new log starting, this time for a far more complex boat that will take a long time to build, a boat that from the first time I saw it I new I just have to make! Take care all Vaddoc

How about phosphorus-copper paste solder https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163407180441 This is what I use, gives a light brass colour and paste is easier to use than bits of solder Vaddoc

Thanks Mark and Jim and all that hit the like button. A bit too early for an update but It's exciting seeing the shape of the hull slowly emerging. Boats are such beautiful things! Vaddoc

There is a paint section/thread with good info, have a look. Paint will bleed under ordinary masking tape or electrician tape, you need frog/Tamiya or similar. This tape must be carefully stored so edges do not get destroyed. For wood there is no adhesion issues but a primer will give a uniform colour on the surface. It is important to seal the wood though - many use Shellac and methylated spirits, I use decoart Americana water based sealer. Test on scrap wood, not the model! Vaddoc

This was very interesting Phill (and very well done!). I also had never heard of sacrificial sheathing before. Somehow though, I kind of think that, even though the expertise existed to properly spill and bend planks, it would be unlikely to spend time and effort in a military vessel, especially for a sacrificial layer that would not contribute to hull strength or water tightness. I think they just screwed the timber in, any way it seemed more time and material efficient, not far of what you ve done. Vaddoc

Time for a wee update! I did lots of work but have little to show, planking is a slow, labour intensive process. I need to cut the plank patterns for each side separately as the port and starboard planks are very close but not identical. I try to fit the edges reasonably close but I am not too fussed, with a bit of sanding and filler it will be fine. Also, I really should have hollowed the planks where they meet the frames at the turn of the bilge but it will be fine. The plank scarfing is a bit wonky but this will also be ok with some sanding. I realised that to progress further I had to mark all the remaining planks. One of the aft frames looked (and still looks) a bit wrong so I cut some of it off and overall I am not sure how the stern will end up, so some head scratching there is needed. Also, the sheer plank will continue as gunwales so this also needs some more thought. I am not sure I have enough pear to finish the planking, I ve managed so far not to waste any wood but today I made two wrong planks - this is a lot of waste! 5 planks are in and the run of all the remaining planks marked. Of course the width of the planks is all way off scale but Hercules had a metal hull and I just want to plank the hull - there is no reason though not to do it nicely! I think the planks so far run reasonably fair. The sheer also looks ok. Please do excuse the huge mess in the yard! Now, I may have a £200 gift card to spend and some money to add to it - I may get a milling machine! (Proxxon MF-70?) Best wishes to all Vaddoc

I don't think you should worry about the paint filling the gaps Phil, if anything it should make these stand out more.

@OldeManToadMy impression and experience: PVA glue is white, dries clear and has some forgiving opening time before it sets. Aliphatic glue is yellow wood glue, does not dry clear and sets very quickly - very little opening time if any. I use both but mainly the white PVA. Wood glues can be waterproof or not. @Dr PR This really looks interesting Phil. Is Duco cement gap filling to any degree or does it need good surface contact like PVA?

Thank you Mark. Well, I ve used epoxy for these joins, they are rock solid now!

Welcome GumDrop!