vaddoc

Now this is very interesting. @Waldemar very elegant way of developing the plank overlap and frame notches.
The biggest problem is indeed finding the run of the planks. I fiddled with it recently but could not make it work. Of course, CAD programs can unroll a curved surface so the shape of all spilled planks can be created. @tabycz your planks look fantastic. How do you draft the run of the planks on CAD?
 

Now this is very interesting. @Waldemar very elegant way of developing the plank overlap and frame notches.
The biggest problem is indeed finding the run of the planks. I fiddled with it recently but could not make it work. Of course, CAD programs can unroll a curved surface so the shape of all spilled planks can be created. @tabycz your planks look fantastic. How do you draft the run of the planks on CAD?
 

Now this is very interesting. @Waldemar very elegant way of developing the plank overlap and frame notches.
The biggest problem is indeed finding the run of the planks. I fiddled with it recently but could not make it work. Of course, CAD programs can unroll a curved surface so the shape of all spilled planks can be created. @tabycz your planks look fantastic. How do you draft the run of the planks on CAD?
 

I think we're using quite similar methods, tailored to our respective CAD packages. As mentioned, I also corrected the two ends manually. I didn't find this too time-consuming in F360, I think it was mostly a case of projecting the guide rails onto a flat sketch, then correcting the two ends, plotting their positions on the end profiles, then remaking the guide rails to incorporate the ends.
 
This is what I did at the ends, compared to the centre profiles: I used exactly the same overlapping approach as for the centres, but without the clinker offset. I didn't shape the frames to the strakes, the strakes just sit on the frames. I don't know if this is how it is in real life? At this scale (1:100) you wouldnt be able to see the notching anyway.
 


 
 
 
 
 
 

Tabycz, are you interested in talking geeky methodology? I know this can be very boring for some 🙂. I've just finished modelling a clinker built boat in F360 and had to jump through hoops to loft the planks, would be interesting to compare notes as I doubt my way was the best. Waldemar, that's the lifeboat you helped me with, couple of quick snaps below, whole moulding was perfect. I'm in the middle of painting them so the seats are not yet glued in but (IMO) these little boats look gorgeous once they're all painted up. I'll do a proper log entry when it's finished but I've posted photos of the gig and jolly boat on my cutty sark log.

Here's my method for clinker strakes. Actually, I have used its simpler variant, as my surfaces were much flatter and more or less vertical. It means that in step 4 I have made even dividing in vertical direction, and not along the frame profile. Consequently, in step 5 my cutting surfaces were horizontal, and not perpendicular to the surfaces to be cut.
 
step 1: two frame surfaces, inner and outer
step 2: frames created, outer surface left for the next steps
step 3: outer surface offset by roughly the plank thickness
step 4: dividing plan for both surfaces (must follow the run of the strakes set beforehand)
step 5: creating cutting surfaces
step 6: both surfaces split
step 7: lofting the inner surfaces of the strakes
step 8: inner surfaces of the strakes offset as solids
step 9: (Boolean) cutting edges of the strakes (optionally)
step 10: (Boolean) cutting of the frames
 
 

 
 

Wood data base suggests it would be the perfect substitute for boxwood so it must be great for modelling, suitable for pretty much all uses.
Lancewood | The Wood Database (Hardwood) (wood-database.com)
 

Thank you Keith. In pouring over all of the contemporary photos of these boats, I found that the outside decks were really quite busy, with plenty of tripping hazards. Especially the fore deck and fantail. I would venture to say that more than one sailor ended up in the water due to not paying attention to all of the ropes laying about. I've been on many museum ships and noticed that things were always stored away and tidy. Not having served in the Navy, I'm not sure if this is the way things were all the time on active ships, especially during wartime. Given the nature of the military, I would assume so. But, due to the limited number of photographs of the City Class Ironclads, they all seem to have a certain bit of clutter on the exposed decks so it's hard to tell if they kept the same standards at the time. 
 
 
I appreciate the kind words. I was hoping to make the build log as interesting as possible. The American Civil War is a dark time in American history, four years of brother against brother fighting. Growing up in south Louisiana (Baton Rouge) I was surrounded by plenty of reminders of this dark time. As a kid I was somewhat jaded to the fact that the South should have won and was resentful of the North for having done so. However, as I got older (and grew a brain) and studied more on the history of what transpired during that time, I realized that the Union was fighting to keep this country together. History has shown over time that countries that fight for separation from themselves, doesn't always work out like planned. Thankfully the US was able to stay together. No telling what things could have been like if the end result was different.
 
 
Thank you so much Johann. I still have a bit to go. I spent a few hours the other day creating a punch list of things that need to be finished. As it stands right now I have at least a couple of months worth of work to do. Lots of small details and touchup work. Also, with the weather finally starting to cool off here, more outside projects are taking priority which takes away from the build time. I am trying my hardest to get it done by December, but I'm not going to rush it. Either way, I will have small celebration on December 12 to commemorate the anniversary.
 
-Brian

Just caught up with your log Brian, what a fantastic model! But your log is by itself so very interesting. A moment in history that many of us across the pond were not aware of.

Wood data base suggests it would be the perfect substitute for boxwood so it must be great for modelling, suitable for pretty much all uses.
Lancewood | The Wood Database (Hardwood) (wood-database.com)
 

I am lucky enough to have Timberline a few miles away. They have lancewood, lime, English lime and Castello on the shelf plus plenty of others. 
I didn't have the opportunity to discuss their sources in detail but know from the past that they only deal in 'legit' wood. 
Back to lancewood, thanks Vaddoc, I find the wood database to be compulsive reading 👍. It mentioned good turning properties but in this hobby we all know there is always more to the story. 
Thanks 
Bruce 
 
 

Wood data base suggests it would be the perfect substitute for boxwood so it must be great for modelling, suitable for pretty much all uses.
Lancewood | The Wood Database (Hardwood) (wood-database.com)
 

Just caught up with your log Brian, what a fantastic model! But your log is by itself so very interesting. A moment in history that many of us across the pond were not aware of.

Just caught up with your log Brian, what a fantastic model! But your log is by itself so very interesting. A moment in history that many of us across the pond were not aware of.

Just caught up with your log Brian, what a fantastic model! But your log is by itself so very interesting. A moment in history that many of us across the pond were not aware of.

Just caught up with your log Brian, what a fantastic model! But your log is by itself so very interesting. A moment in history that many of us across the pond were not aware of.

Thank you all for your kind words and likes. The continued support is what helps keep me going.
 
I think I have resolved my anchor buoy conundrum. There just isn't a lot of information on the Brown Water Navy in regards to the ships anchors that I was able to find. I finally resorted to researching the Blue Water Navy and the many models that were built of ships from the mid-19th century. There were many different methods used to secure the anchor buoy to the anchor, and I found many pictures of them (they were not posted here due to copyright rules) so I just picked the one that I though looked best. This is the solution that I came up with.
 
The rig that had the buoy rope secured around the arm and the shank had the most appeal to me so I ran with it. Securing the rope to the shank.

 
Anchor, buoy, and rope coil completed.

 
Assembly installed on the foredeck.

 
Hopefully I got this right. If not, at least it's easy to access and fix.
 
-Brian

Greetings to all or should I say "Gratings!"? Yes, today we will be scratch-making gratings!
 
Honestly, it is far easier (and less bloody) to get them from Chuck. But I had an itchiness to try and either way, I don't think there are gratings at 1:10 scale.
 
Now, I did make gradings for the Deben but there I cut corners. They came out alright but were not done properly. I ve been scratching my head for the last 2-3 days and tried a few things that did not work. Sadly, a search on MSW was not too helpful.
 
The problem is the scale. If the size of the squares equals that of the table saw blade, things are easy. But in 1:10 scale, my squares are 5 mm and the tine Proxon blade 1 mm thick.
 
So here it goes:
 
I have the small Proxon table saw, it is very underpowered but actually quite accurate and easy to use. I first added a sheet on top of the table saw so that I could clamp something to act as a fence. Then, I  cut several 5 mm strips from a pear sheet, I think it is 3 mm thick.

Then, I glued the strips on another piece of pear sheet.

Then, I drilled, inserted treenails dipped in PVA glue, allowed a few minutes to dry (in the meantime worked on a second piece), then lightly sanded and cut a strip across.






I actually forgot to take pictures but the strips produced look like this

After I made very many, I managed to cut my finger, thankfully not deep at all.
 
Then, I started to assemble the gratings. I had to trim every single square with a sharp chisel, by afternoon the dining room was full of tiny wood chippings but the gratings came out quite acceptable I think. They still miss a few tree nails and need sanding, gluing and trimming but I am happy. Apologies for the terrible photo, I ll take a better one for the next post.

Of course they are far from perfect, the tree nails are in the wrong positions, the squares are not perfect or symmetrical, the grain runs parallel in all pieces instead of crossing 90 degrees (not an issue with pear) but I can live with these.
 
So I have 3 pieces, one will go on the small deck at the bow, one to the floor aft and the third one I have not figured out yet where I ll use it.
 
Best wishes
Vaddoc

Greetings to all or should I say "Gratings!"? Yes, today we will be scratch-making gratings!
 
Honestly, it is far easier (and less bloody) to get them from Chuck. But I had an itchiness to try and either way, I don't think there are gratings at 1:10 scale.
 
Now, I did make gradings for the Deben but there I cut corners. They came out alright but were not done properly. I ve been scratching my head for the last 2-3 days and tried a few things that did not work. Sadly, a search on MSW was not too helpful.
 
The problem is the scale. If the size of the squares equals that of the table saw blade, things are easy. But in 1:10 scale, my squares are 5 mm and the tine Proxon blade 1 mm thick.
 
So here it goes:
 
I have the small Proxon table saw, it is very underpowered but actually quite accurate and easy to use. I first added a sheet on top of the table saw so that I could clamp something to act as a fence. Then, I  cut several 5 mm strips from a pear sheet, I think it is 3 mm thick.

Then, I glued the strips on another piece of pear sheet.

Then, I drilled, inserted treenails dipped in PVA glue, allowed a few minutes to dry (in the meantime worked on a second piece), then lightly sanded and cut a strip across.






I actually forgot to take pictures but the strips produced look like this

After I made very many, I managed to cut my finger, thankfully not deep at all.
 
Then, I started to assemble the gratings. I had to trim every single square with a sharp chisel, by afternoon the dining room was full of tiny wood chippings but the gratings came out quite acceptable I think. They still miss a few tree nails and need sanding, gluing and trimming but I am happy. Apologies for the terrible photo, I ll take a better one for the next post.

Of course they are far from perfect, the tree nails are in the wrong positions, the squares are not perfect or symmetrical, the grain runs parallel in all pieces instead of crossing 90 degrees (not an issue with pear) but I can live with these.
 
So I have 3 pieces, one will go on the small deck at the bow, one to the floor aft and the third one I have not figured out yet where I ll use it.
 
Best wishes
Vaddoc

Greetings to all or should I say "Gratings!"? Yes, today we will be scratch-making gratings!
 
Honestly, it is far easier (and less bloody) to get them from Chuck. But I had an itchiness to try and either way, I don't think there are gratings at 1:10 scale.
 
Now, I did make gradings for the Deben but there I cut corners. They came out alright but were not done properly. I ve been scratching my head for the last 2-3 days and tried a few things that did not work. Sadly, a search on MSW was not too helpful.
 
The problem is the scale. If the size of the squares equals that of the table saw blade, things are easy. But in 1:10 scale, my squares are 5 mm and the tine Proxon blade 1 mm thick.
 
So here it goes:
 
I have the small Proxon table saw, it is very underpowered but actually quite accurate and easy to use. I first added a sheet on top of the table saw so that I could clamp something to act as a fence. Then, I  cut several 5 mm strips from a pear sheet, I think it is 3 mm thick.

Then, I glued the strips on another piece of pear sheet.

Then, I drilled, inserted treenails dipped in PVA glue, allowed a few minutes to dry (in the meantime worked on a second piece), then lightly sanded and cut a strip across.






I actually forgot to take pictures but the strips produced look like this

After I made very many, I managed to cut my finger, thankfully not deep at all.
 
Then, I started to assemble the gratings. I had to trim every single square with a sharp chisel, by afternoon the dining room was full of tiny wood chippings but the gratings came out quite acceptable I think. They still miss a few tree nails and need sanding, gluing and trimming but I am happy. Apologies for the terrible photo, I ll take a better one for the next post.

Of course they are far from perfect, the tree nails are in the wrong positions, the squares are not perfect or symmetrical, the grain runs parallel in all pieces instead of crossing 90 degrees (not an issue with pear) but I can live with these.
 
So I have 3 pieces, one will go on the small deck at the bow, one to the floor aft and the third one I have not figured out yet where I ll use it.
 
Best wishes
Vaddoc

Greetings to all or should I say "Gratings!"? Yes, today we will be scratch-making gratings!
 
Honestly, it is far easier (and less bloody) to get them from Chuck. But I had an itchiness to try and either way, I don't think there are gratings at 1:10 scale.
 
Now, I did make gradings for the Deben but there I cut corners. They came out alright but were not done properly. I ve been scratching my head for the last 2-3 days and tried a few things that did not work. Sadly, a search on MSW was not too helpful.
 
The problem is the scale. If the size of the squares equals that of the table saw blade, things are easy. But in 1:10 scale, my squares are 5 mm and the tine Proxon blade 1 mm thick.
 
So here it goes:
 
I have the small Proxon table saw, it is very underpowered but actually quite accurate and easy to use. I first added a sheet on top of the table saw so that I could clamp something to act as a fence. Then, I  cut several 5 mm strips from a pear sheet, I think it is 3 mm thick.

Then, I glued the strips on another piece of pear sheet.

Then, I drilled, inserted treenails dipped in PVA glue, allowed a few minutes to dry (in the meantime worked on a second piece), then lightly sanded and cut a strip across.






I actually forgot to take pictures but the strips produced look like this

After I made very many, I managed to cut my finger, thankfully not deep at all.
 
Then, I started to assemble the gratings. I had to trim every single square with a sharp chisel, by afternoon the dining room was full of tiny wood chippings but the gratings came out quite acceptable I think. They still miss a few tree nails and need sanding, gluing and trimming but I am happy. Apologies for the terrible photo, I ll take a better one for the next post.

Of course they are far from perfect, the tree nails are in the wrong positions, the squares are not perfect or symmetrical, the grain runs parallel in all pieces instead of crossing 90 degrees (not an issue with pear) but I can live with these.
 
So I have 3 pieces, one will go on the small deck at the bow, one to the floor aft and the third one I have not figured out yet where I ll use it.
 
Best wishes
Vaddoc

Greetings to all or should I say "Gratings!"? Yes, today we will be scratch-making gratings!
 
Honestly, it is far easier (and less bloody) to get them from Chuck. But I had an itchiness to try and either way, I don't think there are gratings at 1:10 scale.
 
Now, I did make gradings for the Deben but there I cut corners. They came out alright but were not done properly. I ve been scratching my head for the last 2-3 days and tried a few things that did not work. Sadly, a search on MSW was not too helpful.
 
The problem is the scale. If the size of the squares equals that of the table saw blade, things are easy. But in 1:10 scale, my squares are 5 mm and the tine Proxon blade 1 mm thick.
 
So here it goes:
 
I have the small Proxon table saw, it is very underpowered but actually quite accurate and easy to use. I first added a sheet on top of the table saw so that I could clamp something to act as a fence. Then, I  cut several 5 mm strips from a pear sheet, I think it is 3 mm thick.

Then, I glued the strips on another piece of pear sheet.

Then, I drilled, inserted treenails dipped in PVA glue, allowed a few minutes to dry (in the meantime worked on a second piece), then lightly sanded and cut a strip across.






I actually forgot to take pictures but the strips produced look like this

After I made very many, I managed to cut my finger, thankfully not deep at all.
 
Then, I started to assemble the gratings. I had to trim every single square with a sharp chisel, by afternoon the dining room was full of tiny wood chippings but the gratings came out quite acceptable I think. They still miss a few tree nails and need sanding, gluing and trimming but I am happy. Apologies for the terrible photo, I ll take a better one for the next post.

Of course they are far from perfect, the tree nails are in the wrong positions, the squares are not perfect or symmetrical, the grain runs parallel in all pieces instead of crossing 90 degrees (not an issue with pear) but I can live with these.
 
So I have 3 pieces, one will go on the small deck at the bow, one to the floor aft and the third one I have not figured out yet where I ll use it.
 
Best wishes
Vaddoc

Greetings to all or should I say "Gratings!"? Yes, today we will be scratch-making gratings!
 
Honestly, it is far easier (and less bloody) to get them from Chuck. But I had an itchiness to try and either way, I don't think there are gratings at 1:10 scale.
 
Now, I did make gradings for the Deben but there I cut corners. They came out alright but were not done properly. I ve been scratching my head for the last 2-3 days and tried a few things that did not work. Sadly, a search on MSW was not too helpful.
 
The problem is the scale. If the size of the squares equals that of the table saw blade, things are easy. But in 1:10 scale, my squares are 5 mm and the tine Proxon blade 1 mm thick.
 
So here it goes:
 
I have the small Proxon table saw, it is very underpowered but actually quite accurate and easy to use. I first added a sheet on top of the table saw so that I could clamp something to act as a fence. Then, I  cut several 5 mm strips from a pear sheet, I think it is 3 mm thick.

Then, I glued the strips on another piece of pear sheet.

Then, I drilled, inserted treenails dipped in PVA glue, allowed a few minutes to dry (in the meantime worked on a second piece), then lightly sanded and cut a strip across.






I actually forgot to take pictures but the strips produced look like this

After I made very many, I managed to cut my finger, thankfully not deep at all.
 
Then, I started to assemble the gratings. I had to trim every single square with a sharp chisel, by afternoon the dining room was full of tiny wood chippings but the gratings came out quite acceptable I think. They still miss a few tree nails and need sanding, gluing and trimming but I am happy. Apologies for the terrible photo, I ll take a better one for the next post.

Of course they are far from perfect, the tree nails are in the wrong positions, the squares are not perfect or symmetrical, the grain runs parallel in all pieces instead of crossing 90 degrees (not an issue with pear) but I can live with these.
 
So I have 3 pieces, one will go on the small deck at the bow, one to the floor aft and the third one I have not figured out yet where I ll use it.
 
Best wishes
Vaddoc

Well, it's official: I am Covid positive! I am actually quite well apart from some odd symptoms and fatigue and there is a good aspect to it: I ll be able to work on the boat for the next few days.
 
So today some more progress.
I first made a rough template for a deck to sit bellow the breast hook. I d like this deck to have grating but I do not have a mill so I must figure an easy way to do it with the tools I have.



Next, I started cutting the floor timbers and sanding them to height (16mm so that the floor to top of thwarts will be 45 cm in full scale). Unexpectedly tricky, I made two and wasted some expensive pear wood.

These are 16 mm high or 16 cm in the real boat. Kind of look a bit high and going a bit wide and high up the sides. I could lower to 11 cm but then as discussed above, the thwarts will sit 50 cm above the floors - a bit too much.
I ll cut a few more timbers and see how they look. 
 
Regards
Vaddoc

Dear all
 
It's been almost two month since my last post. I have been working on the boat when life permitted - which was not too often.
But even so, there has been progress.
To start with, all the screws have been replaced with tree nails. Unscrew the screw, re-drill the hole by hand, dip the tree nail in glue and insert in the whole, wipe the excess glue and trim the nail - then repeat many hundreds of times. 
 
Then, I started filling the large gaps between the planks with filler, both from the outside and the inside. It is a shame really, these gaps are due to the shrinkage of the wood. When I cut the planks they were tight against each other. However, beech really has a tremendous movement in service and huge changes in dimension with changes in moisture. I will not be using beech again!
 
So here is how the hull looked like after the filler liberally applied. Not an elegant sight!




Then I started sanding inside. The little Proxon pen sander was very helpful.

Then I started sanding the outer hull. This is how one side looks, this is with 80 grit. Beech is very hard wood. There is a dimple in one of the planks at the bow. I think I ll paint this hull so it will be filled.


Now, just to show how much the beech moves, this is the hull of the Launch. There are cracks everywhere! I think I will not repair it, I ll just leave it as is.



Till next time
 
Vaddoc