vaddoc

Update
 
all stb. planks are on now except for the bulwarks. On the port side there are still two planks to be placed in the keel area. The planks are scraped and sanded. A few touch ups with filler in the aft area are neccessary. Aft the prop is preliminary mounted. I had to cut out the stem, because I had forgotten to insert the prop-rod into the shaft. Will close the gap later on. There are only very few touch-ups required. Before the bulwarks are done I have to do and plank  the deck.
 
Nils

waiting for doing the rudder assemly
 

I`m pleased with the planking, ten planks on the sides so far, all worked out like it should be. The forecastle sides must still be planked. There are two little outcuts in the keel-lne where the stand`s spindles will go through Later on
 

The one-layer planking is smooth and true shape with the frames. The hull is strong and sturdy and very light, no warping to be seen
 

Update
 
made a little dummy trial for the ladders and the back safety harness-ring in H0 scale
 
Nils
 

a 6mm wide brass ladder combined with 12 mm backrings (solder) will do ....

this enables sufficiant safe climb up
 
 

Update
 
further progress in planking and lighttower in raw build.
I`m just thinking how to build the vertical climbing support ladders with their back safety harnesses, its probably going to be a trick soldering job
 
Nils

aft rounding with vertical planking prior to trimming

both sides with each 7 planks

a soldering job

 

 

metal combined with wooden supports, the conical part after trimming to the cylindrical housing
 

the railing is a "leftover" of my Ergenstrasse build

Update
 
slow but steady, all stringers are on, I received the prop, and the "glassing" of the light-tower is fitted in to the top cover. One side of the hull has been sanded flush with the frame-contours.
 
Nils

the upper stern rounding will be vertically planked

 

 

 

the 4-blade brass propeller

the glassing per plexiglass tube fitted in to the top cover
 

all stringers on today
 

Update
 
have just received the wooden liners for the stringers and for planking. Also the plexiglass tube material for the light area on the mid mast has arrived. The the top cover for the light tower I made from brass sheet.
 
Nils

The planks are 1,5 x 8 and 1,5 x 10 mm, The stringers are 2 x3 mm

this will later on be the light on the lighttower, the cover I cut from brass sheet

beginning with the portside stringers. all frame top-sides have been glued to the lugs of the base board. before planking the frame edges will be carefully sanded flush with the hull outer contour
 
 

Update
 
All frames cut out and (dry-fit) mounted with keel bow and stern parts. Nothing is glued together yet.
The stringer liners and the pine-planks can be ordered now. For planking I intend to do it with 1,5x8 and 1,5x10 mm planks. The stringers will be 2x3mm
 
Nils
frames kept down to the base board with clamps. Note the reinforcement squarebar 13x13mm, this gives a strong hold

all 16 frames set up
 

first update
 
I got started with the standplate (without staining yet) and the pedestals.
Probably the base mounting plate for fixing the framing is next. Allthough there is no hull yet, There are fist evaluations for the later metal plating.
As usual for my builds I intend to fix a "backbone" 13 mm beechwood square-liner, (also counterhold for the press-in-nuts for the pedestal spindels) just above the keel, to provide a strong and sturdy setup, as well as stringers appr. 5 per side lengthwise
The later has proven to ease the planking afterwards, and to keep the hull in shape, because there will be only one planking layer
 
Nils

this is basic for lofting the 16 frames

starting with the base plate

raw baseplate and pedestals done. Fastening with spindles and press in counter-nuts within the hull

made a dummy plating arrangement in order to see if the single plates 15 x 50mm will be OK. Rivets in 2 row lines
I think it looks OK with the stagered arrangement. The horizontal line 1,2,3 are put on first with gaps inbetween and then lines 3 and 4 are added by overlapping at the gap. The lines 3 and 4 act like a belt
I know that some fellow model builders will comment the "too large" and dominant rivet heads, but these will be at least 50% covered by metal contact agent, the primer- and the final paint coating
 

Very interesting subject Nils - clearly you have found a corner of your house without a glass case in it!

Today I would like to introduce my new chosen-out project :
It will be the well known lightship Elbe 1 ( named Bürgermeister Oswald), the "red Lady", since then being appointed as an German lightship and on duty in the German Bay, mouth Elbe river, Northsea. After serving for 50 years it was directly replaced 1989 by an unmaned lightvessel-robot on the former position of Elbe 1.
 
Several years ago my attention was drawn to this lightship, and to keep in mind for building a model of it someday. At that time I had purchased a special edition of the rare  1994 MODELWERFT magazine, related exclusingly to the Elbe 1 Lightship an kept it since then somewhere in my hobby office. A few days ago I remembered it and went looking for that magazine, and it seemed to be lost. After a days search I finaly found it sticking somewhere between my maritime books on a shelf.
 
This publication was issued by author Helmut Thomas, a very talented and skilled senior modelist. The incredable model he had created of the Elbe 1, the fine pics and detailed build log description shown therein was very inspiring for me and it was my "benchmark" if I ever were to build it myself, knowing that I would be pleased to get at least somewhere near to that benchmark.
The 80 page publication was comprising also 2 outfold double pages of a buildplan including lines and frameplan. I let these build plan pages magnified to scale 1:87 in my local copy-shop, and started to study all about the ship, and if I could possibly build it, ot try to do so.
In comparation to Helmut`s model that would have been too large (length 114 cm)  I decided to downscale it to an overall length of 66 cm. An apprropriate glas-case for that size would also be whithin my capability afterwards.
 
I remembered that once Billing Boats had brought out a model in scale 1:50 of this model, but it was the predecessor of this lightship with several differences, Unfortunately today there was neigther an unbuilt Billing-Kit perhaps even with fine fittings-detail-kit (lightmasts, etc, ) to be found anymore, so a scratch build would be the solution.
 
So this is what came out : .........
 
Nils 
 
The beginning

The rare "Modellwerft special" magazine of 1994 / 1

Model of Helmut Thomas

a postcard

side view overall

frameplan
 
 
 

So the paint has settled further and it actually looks pretty good! Especially the red and Turquoise are really nice. Some photos bellow in natural light. The hull of course is rough despite so many cycles of filling and sanding. Never use Beech!




But look what the postman dropped, all the way from the colonies across the pond!

Till next time
Vaddoc

So the paint has settled further and it actually looks pretty good! Especially the red and Turquoise are really nice. Some photos bellow in natural light. The hull of course is rough despite so many cycles of filling and sanding. Never use Beech!




But look what the postman dropped, all the way from the colonies across the pond!

Till next time
Vaddoc

So the paint has settled further and it actually looks pretty good! Especially the red and Turquoise are really nice. Some photos bellow in natural light. The hull of course is rough despite so many cycles of filling and sanding. Never use Beech!




But look what the postman dropped, all the way from the colonies across the pond!

Till next time
Vaddoc

Dear Friends
 
Another quick update to share some photos!
Mark, it is Valejo matt acrylic paint, it is just that the photo was taken immediately after the coat went on so still wet.
 
@64Pacific Thanks Scott, welcome!
 
@KeithAug Keith, I do not think Humbrol enamels will be arround for long so if you use enamels, stock up. I bought some of the enamel varnish.
 
So I carried on with painting. The white paint has exceptionally poor coverage. I must have put on 15 coats, not with the greatest of care I must admit. But it came out alright - modern paints are so forgiving. I am not sure what the shiny areas are but it does not matter, these should disappear after varnishing.
 
I then masked again and added the red waterline. The red color has much better coverage


I could have sanded the paint but I decided not to bother. Also, I should have first painted the red zone, mask and then paint over. I did not really pay much attention but in the end it came out fine, I just had to mask and remask again and again.
 
Then, I added the turquoise - very nice color, excellent coverage. I was more careful this time and came out much better.

 



There is a masking line that shows, I masked without thinking. I could have sanded it off but did not bother, it actually looks ok.
I will now give it a couple more days for the paint to cure and then I will protect the paint with enamel Humbrol varnish. I am dissapointed with the water based ones - Poor adhesion and not as hard.
 
So next I started work on the rudder. In the plans it is only 1.5 inch thick - that is 4 mm in the model. So I made a card template and cut three pieces to laminate

Waiting for epoxy to cure - then the rudder will be painted in same colors.
 
Take care all
Vaddoc

Dear Friends
 
Another quick update to share some photos!
Mark, it is Valejo matt acrylic paint, it is just that the photo was taken immediately after the coat went on so still wet.
 
@64Pacific Thanks Scott, welcome!
 
@KeithAug Keith, I do not think Humbrol enamels will be arround for long so if you use enamels, stock up. I bought some of the enamel varnish.
 
So I carried on with painting. The white paint has exceptionally poor coverage. I must have put on 15 coats, not with the greatest of care I must admit. But it came out alright - modern paints are so forgiving. I am not sure what the shiny areas are but it does not matter, these should disappear after varnishing.
 
I then masked again and added the red waterline. The red color has much better coverage


I could have sanded the paint but I decided not to bother. Also, I should have first painted the red zone, mask and then paint over. I did not really pay much attention but in the end it came out fine, I just had to mask and remask again and again.
 
Then, I added the turquoise - very nice color, excellent coverage. I was more careful this time and came out much better.

 



There is a masking line that shows, I masked without thinking. I could have sanded it off but did not bother, it actually looks ok.
I will now give it a couple more days for the paint to cure and then I will protect the paint with enamel Humbrol varnish. I am dissapointed with the water based ones - Poor adhesion and not as hard.
 
So next I started work on the rudder. In the plans it is only 1.5 inch thick - that is 4 mm in the model. So I made a card template and cut three pieces to laminate

Waiting for epoxy to cure - then the rudder will be painted in same colors.
 
Take care all
Vaddoc

Dear all
 
Thank you for your good words and encouragement. I apologise for taking so long to reply, I simply have had no free time at all.
 
At this time I 'd like to clear a misunderstanding: The Admiral does not have a strong opinion whether the hull should be painted or not. But if it does get painted, she has dictated the colours. So our options are still open! 
 
Back to the boat: I replaced all the screws with wooden nails dipped in PVA. It was a good time for this repetitive task, as I was able to work in the house and did not matter how tired I was. I forgot to take pictures though.
 
Then, I filled all the gaps with filler. The larger gaps were also filled from the inside. This time I used Osmo filler, beech colour. I had not used it before. It is ok, it sands fine but it dries incredibly fast. So the hull looked something like this:


I only found time to go back to the boat today. So, I started sanding the hull. I used 120 grit initially but then went to 80 grit. After the bulk of the filler was removed, I used carpet knife blades to scrape the excess wood. It went largely ok. Some edges need a bit more attention and lots more sanding with finer grits is needed but it is getting there. 
 







The bow needs definitely more work. The gaps do not look too bad and the colour of the filler I suspect will change after the sealer is applied. I may experiment with Tung oil although I seem to remember that Beech does not like oils much. 
As sanding progresses, a few more gaps will appear that will need filling. Also, before I started sanding I noticed a screw hole I had forgotten to nail. I need to locate it again and put a nail in.
 
Regards
Vaddoc

Dear all
 
Planking is finished! I also trimmed the planks at the transom and shaped the stem.









 
John and Bob and to all that hit the like button, many thanks!
Keith, whole heartedly recommended. 
 
Thanks Michael, following your post I did quite a bit of internet search. I think it really would be very nice to have a model of the Universal 4 in the engine bay. I am not sure though I can pull this off! We ll see!
 
No idea, thanks for the good wards and indeed, you are spot on right. More in the post bellow
 
My dear Patrick! So nice to have you back!
 
Now, I am generally happy with my planking planning. If I was to do it again, I may have used a second stealer or have used an extra plank at the curve of the hull. But overall it is a feasible planking. None of the planks had an impossible curve and the planks blanks were no bigger than 20-25 cm wide, though the sheer plank I think was 70 cm long!
 
My frames were very wrong. Especially the two aft frames were completely wrong and even mispositioned. I had to sim one side and chisel away on the opposite, essentially fairing as I went along. Now you might ask if I had done any fairing before planking, the answer is none whatsoever. I relied on the CAD drawings, on which I did not spend much time and then used plywood which was bending when cutting the patterns. Still, the wood showed me the correct shape and thankfully, my transom placement proved very accurate.
 
My first planks were poorly made. As I was getting into rhythm, the planks improved considerably. I tried to remake the first 2 planks but it was very difficult-I gave up.
 
I regret using a knife to cut the planks instead of sanding them into shape. This caused poor fitting with one another. Also, I regret I did not bevel the first 4 planks where there is the hollow at the stern. These gaps bother me a lot and will get worse with sanding, I hope filler will do the job. Planking the contralateral side created problems due to the wrong frames and some of the planks could have had a more elegant run. I really should have used the disc sander instead of a knife
 
However, I started this boat with the intention of cutting some corners to speed things up and cut costs. I still think it will work!
 
Next, to replace the 850 screws with wood nails and fill and sand the hull. Will I paint it? It depends. If it looks half decent, I ll leave it. If it looks awful, paint will hide all sins!
 
I suspect I ll end up painting it. The Admiral wants red or green bottom with Ivory upper.
 
Regards
Vaddoc

Oh dear Keith! I must admit I feel a bit guilty. I did not take this boat seriously in the beginning, hence the horrible plywood frames and the general casualness in the planning, fairing and overall arrangement. Indeed, I initially intended to paint the boat. But I do agree with you, if after the filler goes in, the wood sanded and sealed, it looks any good, I ll leave it unpainted.
 
Michael, I think you have a point. Bluenose, J class boats and many other (I think mostly American) boats have similar shapes, with horn timbers and the widest part of the hull very close to the stern. I tried to find on the net photos with raw planking but could not find any. 
 
So I ve done  a few more planks, things are moving on much faster for a number of reasons. The planks are easier to spill, I am getting better at it and there is no need to steam the planks, they take the curve well. Beech is a very nice wood for planking! 
 
My frame fairing is abysmal though! A couple of frames aft in particular are very wrong. Not sure what happened but I correct them as I go.
 
So far, the initial plank planning is working. The planks just bellow the turn of the bilge are the ones that I think will need the most spilling and are quite curved. However, they are not impossible and in real life should be feasible to produce.
 
Some photos for your daily dose of planking:
 
The planks are now 65 cm long-6.5 meters in real boat. This is one of the most curved planks.

However, this plank will only need 25 cm wide stock.

This is the state of the boat now. This plank needs a bit more work before it can be installed.




 
This is plank No 13, just 15 planks more left.

Bruce thank you for your kind words, it is certainly worth it.
 
After countless attempts, the starboard plank is done but I am a broken man!
 
I ve never had such difficulty producing a plank. It is however a very complex shape and due to the twist along its axis both at the bow and stern, even tiny changes in the shape or even the width of the plank, bring on massive changes to the fit. 
Some photos to show the end result-both planks were difficult but the starboard one almost defeated me. The planks can be edge bent a little so the gaps will close further.







That was more than enough for today. Tomorrow I ll steam the planks and install them again with screws. The reason is that while this plank finishes vertical at the sternpost, the next one will finish horizontal an the transom so at the stern, the two planks will meet at 90 degree angle. Maybe some adjustments will be needed but I will not know until I start work on the next plank.
 
Regards
Vaddoc

Now, this is impressive. Its one thing to design a hull on CAD, but these complex shapes like brake handle and gear selector or the gearbox, this is on another level! 
Hope all go well with your health.
 
Vaddoc
 

Why Thank You Vad, I've been into engineering drawing for a long time, mostly paper & ink, occasionally vellum... Mechanical drawing mostly aircraft & machinery but some surveying and spatial representations, (read technical illustration) A couple of years ago I decided to learn how to do it on computer, I'm no expert and it has taken a while to get the hang of it but I'm getting there... It definitely getting faster, but that is practice...
 
I know enough to know that line drawing hulls for ships is a very technical genre of drawing has it's own issues separate from pure mechanical drawing... That is why Marine engineering is it's own separate science and art... It does flow over into pure mechanical drawing and design from time to time but only after the purely marine design elements are mostly done... It's every bit a technically demanding a field as aircraft design... Doth are derivatives of mechanical design, specializations if you will of the basic core skill... I've done some fuselage work in the aircraft industry and know that some of that experience will translate to ship hull drawing...
But I'm not there yet... (hope to get there eventually, sooner rather than later) There are some ships I want to build before the end and since there are no models or easily available plans, I'll have to do it by reverse engineering off pictures... Which is what I'm doing here... Honing the skills required...
 
I know enough and have been advised that Rhino is the software to use for ship hull modeling and the little I've played with it has shown me the way, so hence the title of this pathway into modeling, getting back into and keeping my head in the game...
 
As far as my health, right now it's stable, the last scans said I am clear of tumors, the nature of the cancer doesn't allow for a remission diagnosis or proclamation, and I will be receiving treatment for it the rest of my life... (currently in my third cycle of Chemo) But then with the grace of the man above, I'll get done what I need to get done... And there is no sense in worrying about it, when it's my time it's my time which isn't today... Thank you for the kind words and thoughts, they help a lot....
 
EG

Now, this is impressive. Its one thing to design a hull on CAD, but these complex shapes like brake handle and gear selector or the gearbox, this is on another level! 
Hope all go well with your health.
 
Vaddoc
 

You are very right Wefalck, enamels have a much better self leveling potential as they take a long time to dry. But this is counterbalanced by the hair and dust particles they attract. Still, modern acrylics with a bit of retarder can have fantastic self leveling when applied by brush but they need speed, extra care and the margin for error is small. Their coverage is appalling - I am already at coat number 9 and still needs more.
 
Because of the above, I was determined to use enamels on this boat. I rushed to buy some of the Humbrol enamels before they are pulled out of the market - apparently one of the ingredients is now banned in Europe. I decided on the colors. And then I used acrylics! 
 
I must admit I am not giving this boat my full attention due to work and life commitments so I expect a bit sloppier results - We ll see how it turns out!

Hello Ekis,
The project is currently dormant. I rigged the mast and spars, but waited to put the sails on it because then the model would be almost impossible to transport by car. My intention was to first take the model to the model discussion of my modeling club. That happened in November last year.

In the meantime I have started a new project: a kind of triptych of the sloop that we used to row during our nautical training in the navy in the seventies. I want to build a rowing version and two sailing versions of it. The rowing version is now ready, I am now making the sails of the first sailing version. Unfortunately I didn't get around to writing about it on this forum.

But now to answer your question: Yes, I intend to finish the clipper. And the story on the forum will take its course. It just might take a while.

I have finally caught up on taxes, financial dealings for the nonprofit I am Treasurer for, my own savings accounts, and preparing a lecture - it has been a hectic couple of weeks - and can now get back to important things! I have a little bit of progress to report on the ship model.
 
I left off with the preparation of a sail, the main spar gaff topsail. The next step was adding the boltropes. These are on the port side of fore-and-aft sails where the linings were placed (on square sails the bolt ropes are on the aft side of the sail).
 
I made a few changes to my work area.
 

 
I stapled a sheet of parchment paper to the cardboard work surface (the other side serves as a cutting board). I also have a piece of parchment paper to place over the glued areas for heating them with an iron. The parchment paper seems to work better than the waxed paper.
 
The little Mini Iron II (Clover No. 9100) is a quilting iron for seams. I saw it mentioned in another post on the Forum as a plank bending tool. But it is also perfect for ironing the tablings, linings and bolt ropes after they have been glued. It is less cumbersome than a large iron and the  small tip gets into tight spaces. But I also used it to iron the entire sail after everything was finished. And now I have a plank bender too!
 
It is basically a 40 Watt/120 Volt soldering iron with specialized ironing tips. It has three heat levels, low (200F/105C), medium (390F/200C) and high(580F/295C). They recommend the low setting for silk.
 
I also mixed up some diluted white glue 50:50 with water. I like the white glue because it dries without a trace and you can loosen it if you need to with water or the diluted glue. The small clamps are essential to prevent the sail from moving while you are attaching the ropes!
 
This sail has a larger boltrope across the head (1/2 diameter of the main topmast stay) and smaller ropes on the leech, foot and luff (1/4 the diameter of the topmast stay). I used 0.012" (0.30 mm) rope on the head and 0.008" (0.20 mm) on the other sides.
 
Note that the rope is glued to the port side of the sail (opposite the tablings) and not to the edge of the sail. This is the way the books say to do it and it gives a larger surface area for the glue to attach to. I do not plan to lace the bolt ropes to the sail edges as is done with real sails, because the lacing material would be microscopic.
 
At the corners I created a small loop "cringle."
 
This method requires a bit of patience. Of course the rope has a mind of its own and wants to be anywhere but exactly along the sail edge. So you have to do a little bit at a time and wait for the glue to dry before continuing. The little iron does speed things up a bit. There were a few places where I had to go back and reposition the rope so it was nice that the white glue can be softened after it dried.
 

 
After the glue set up I seized the cringles with small stuff and white glue. This should place all the strain on the bolt ropes. As you can see in the photos there are a few small spots that can be reworked to get the rope exactly along the sail edge.
 
After the glue dried the small stuff was trimmed.
 

 
 
The ends of the larger rope across head of the sail were turned into a loop for a cringle and a short bit of rope was glued down along the top of the leech and luff. Small stuff was tied around the cringle for seizing. Here I did sew some small stuff through the sail material and around both ropes.
 
The head of the sail will be laced to the spar. For this I will sew the lacing through the sail material just inside the bolt rope.
 
Here is the finished (I hope) sail. Eight more to go (if I install the fore course).
 
 
 
 

 

Here is my first attempt to make a sail. First I arranged the sail templates on the two usable sheets of sail material.
 

 
 
Then I cut off one of the ragged sides of the second sheet where the template for the main gaff topsail fit.
 

 
 

 
Here is the sail piece and template after trimming the sail from the sheet.
 
My first mistake was failing to draw on the cloth lines before cutting the material from the sheet. It probably would have been easier to draw the sail outline and cloth lines on the sail material sheet before cutting the sail from the sheet. This is what Tom Lauria suggests.
 
I just aligned the template edges with the sail edges and drew tic marks where the lines should terminate. Then I penciled in the lines with a mechanical drawing pencil, using #2 lead. A drawback to this method is that the tic marks are visible on the sail after the lines were drawn.
 
I also discovered that even though the sail material is very thin and easy to wrinkle I could erase the lines I screwed up and draw them again. There were a couple of opportunities for that experiment!
 
The dry sail material is pretty tough and I have seen no tendency to tear.
 
One slight variation from Laura's procedure was cutting the tabling strips from along the edge of the hole where the sail piece had been cut out. He just cut a bunch of narrow strips from an unused part of the sail material sheet.
 

Here is the work area for gluing the tablings and linings to the sail. The plastic tray held white glue (school glue, Elmer's glue, etc.) and water. I used a fairly narrow paint brush. Tweezers were necessary for handling the thin tabling strips and the lining pieces. I also had a thin probe to help lift stray ends and realign them.
 
One thing I did different from Lauria's tutorial was to cover the work area (a sheet of cardboard) with waxed paper that was clipped to the corners of the cardboard. I was worried that the glue would stick the sail to the cardboard. The waxed paper worked well to prevent this.
 
 
 

 
Here is the "finished" sail ready to add the bolt ropes. The material is slightly translucent, and against the dark background you can see the linings at the corners (on the back or port side of the sail). The thin tabling strips are visible along the sail edges on the starboard side of the sail. After it has dried overnight I will iron the sail again to take out wrinkles. (It ironed out perfectly smooth the next morning!)
 
One thing about this process that isn't clear from Lauria's video is whether the white glue was diluted before using. He used a wet brush dipped into the glue, so in that respect the glue was diluted. This was a good thing because it delayed the drying of the glue to allow things to be moved into position. But the strength of the glue was unpredictable, depending upon how wet the brush was and whether the glue was becoming diluted from the water on the brush as it was dipped into the glue. Sometimes the glue was thicker than at other times. I am concerned that in some places the glue was too watery and the pieces may not remain glued together. I may try just using diluted glue (1:1 with water).
 
I did have a few problems. First off I got glue on my finger tips and then they stuck to things I didn't want to pull on. I kept a paper towel close by to wipe my fingers on.
 
The long tabling strips were a bit unwieldy and tended to go out of line or settle with raised sections. It was easy to correct this using the metal point or just the tweezers to fit in under the wayward portions and pull them straight.
 
I did use a piece of waxed paper on top of the glued sections as I heated them with the iron. I guess I was using too much glue because I had the same problem Lauria demonstrated in his video. The tabling strips often stuck to the piece of waxed paper as I lifted it. With practice I learned how to lift the paper from the appropriate direction to avoid this problem.
 
But another problem I saw arose from the extra glue on the lower sheet of waxed paper after I painted a line of glue along the edges of the sail. This glue tended to glue the sail to the waxed paper after I had heated the area with the iron. So after each tabling I wiped the waxed paper sheet with the paper towel to remove glue. All part of the learning curve!