vaddoc

Dear all
 
Many thanks for visiting, for your likes and comments.
 
I ve done a lot of work on Tally Ho - shed buckets of digital sweat. The deeper I dig into the boat, the bigger respect I have for Leo and his crew for pulling this off - the complexity of building something like this does not really come out fully from his videos.
 
So where to start...
 
First a correction regarding the missing beam at the bow: Leo explains that there was actually a notch at the beam self that was however filled in - so the builders decided not to install this beam, probably to allow more space at the bow for activities.
 
I also fixed a ripple in the hull midships that is visible at the previous photos - one of the frames was wrong.
 
Now, no matter how much I tried I could not make the stem and sternpost as narrow as Leo's without deviating a lot from the plans and table of offsets. However, for the sternpost this is a problem. If I make it too wide, the frames will ride very high and the sternpost knee will be huge. If I make it as narrow as Leos, there is a tiny area at the stern were planking will be unsupported. So either I make the sternpost wide and trim almost all of it away which will be a huge job or add a very small filler piece - the second solution is much better and even a lot of this will be trimmed.
 

With this sorted I arranged the bow and stern timbers.
I followed Leo closely in his arrangement, almost all frames will be notched into the keel. All keel pockets will be milled before the keel goes in - I hope I will be able to pull this off as the keel will be monumentally huge. And it will have a 1 degree slope - somehow must be made.


I then made the transom timbers and the transom itself - this took some head scratching. Note the aft most half beams - these will be fun to make...

Then I made all the beams and carlings, including the one that is offset from the midline at the bow. There is a bit more work that needs to be done but they are mostly ready.
I also made all the stanshions, I followed Leos arrangement pretty close but not quite - I arranged them to lie next to beams to help with placement during the build.
I now need to make the beam self and figure out how far from the underside of deck it should be placed.

This was a massive piece of work but I think now we should be ok to move on to the next stage.
 
So now each frame needs to be extended and the deck slope marked - this will be where they will be trimmed in the end. All the frames need to be arranged on wood sheet patterns 1000 x 100 mm to figure out how much wood I ll need - times 2 as each frame is a double one.
The deck beams will also need to be arranged in the same way. Same with bow and stern timbers. Same with hull that will be built up in several layers.
The covering boards, bulwarks and deck planking will need to be calculated and of course the hull planking, the Transom as well.
 
Adding wastage and considering the actual length of 1.2 m, this will be a massive quantity of wood, in multiple thicknesses.
 
I will be using pear and cherry for the keel and frames, perhaps maple for the hull planking - or pear. I would like to use Alaskan yellow cedar for the deck but I do not think I can get this in the UK - perhaps Castelo then if I can get it in 1000mm strips/sheets. Perhaps mahogany for the deck structures. I do not think there is a modelling alternative for teak - I ll use cherry maybe.
 
Considering how thick the timber will be, I thought a new toy is needed. 

It works great - highly recommended but no doubt I will also need the very expensive Proxon thicknesser - if I can get the Admiral to authorise the investment.
 
Many thanks for visiting and
 
Merry Christmas!
 
Vaddoc

Dear all
 
Time to revive this log!
@KeithAug Lol, no, no long vacation, just very limited time and almost all of it taken up by Tally Ho!
 
Ok, so I did a bit of work on Hercules.
 
I managed to finish the timber guard at the stern which was a bit tricky, I am not used to work at such small scales. I then installed the lower timber guard

Then I started work on the first level of the superstructure, lots of things going on there. I made the doors and drilled (very carefully!) the holes for the portholes- it was at that time I realised there is a staircase. After a bit of  trial and error I managed to come up with something that painted black will look ok ish I think.





 
For the portholes I just bought cheap brass plumbing thingies that come in all dimensions. I experimented with Micro Kristal Clear for the glazing - excellent results.



 
I then made the cap rails, I used mahogany which is the wrong wood for the job but did not have anything else in 1.5 mm thickness and I am not ready to put in the massive wood order for Tally Ho. Everything will be painted black though so should be OK. I also made the stern structures and roller - All need to be painted and screws replaced with wood nails.
I then made the quarter bitts - still need a bit more work though
 



Really now it is time to paint the hull and make and paint the rudder so I know where exactly the steering mechanism at the stern needs to be placed. It is too cold though in the garage to spray primers and I do not really have permission from the Admiral for indoor modelling activities - or actually the time.
 
Still Hercules seems to be on the right track steaming along side Tally Ho.
 
Many thanks for visiting 
 
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Many thanks for visiting, for your likes and comments.
 
I ve done a lot of work on Tally Ho - shed buckets of digital sweat. The deeper I dig into the boat, the bigger respect I have for Leo and his crew for pulling this off - the complexity of building something like this does not really come out fully from his videos.
 
So where to start...
 
First a correction regarding the missing beam at the bow: Leo explains that there was actually a notch at the beam self that was however filled in - so the builders decided not to install this beam, probably to allow more space at the bow for activities.
 
I also fixed a ripple in the hull midships that is visible at the previous photos - one of the frames was wrong.
 
Now, no matter how much I tried I could not make the stem and sternpost as narrow as Leo's without deviating a lot from the plans and table of offsets. However, for the sternpost this is a problem. If I make it too wide, the frames will ride very high and the sternpost knee will be huge. If I make it as narrow as Leos, there is a tiny area at the stern were planking will be unsupported. So either I make the sternpost wide and trim almost all of it away which will be a huge job or add a very small filler piece - the second solution is much better and even a lot of this will be trimmed.
 

With this sorted I arranged the bow and stern timbers.
I followed Leo closely in his arrangement, almost all frames will be notched into the keel. All keel pockets will be milled before the keel goes in - I hope I will be able to pull this off as the keel will be monumentally huge. And it will have a 1 degree slope - somehow must be made.


I then made the transom timbers and the transom itself - this took some head scratching. Note the aft most half beams - these will be fun to make...

Then I made all the beams and carlings, including the one that is offset from the midline at the bow. There is a bit more work that needs to be done but they are mostly ready.
I also made all the stanshions, I followed Leos arrangement pretty close but not quite - I arranged them to lie next to beams to help with placement during the build.
I now need to make the beam self and figure out how far from the underside of deck it should be placed.

This was a massive piece of work but I think now we should be ok to move on to the next stage.
 
So now each frame needs to be extended and the deck slope marked - this will be where they will be trimmed in the end. All the frames need to be arranged on wood sheet patterns 1000 x 100 mm to figure out how much wood I ll need - times 2 as each frame is a double one.
The deck beams will also need to be arranged in the same way. Same with bow and stern timbers. Same with hull that will be built up in several layers.
The covering boards, bulwarks and deck planking will need to be calculated and of course the hull planking, the Transom as well.
 
Adding wastage and considering the actual length of 1.2 m, this will be a massive quantity of wood, in multiple thicknesses.
 
I will be using pear and cherry for the keel and frames, perhaps maple for the hull planking - or pear. I would like to use Alaskan yellow cedar for the deck but I do not think I can get this in the UK - perhaps Castelo then if I can get it in 1000mm strips/sheets. Perhaps mahogany for the deck structures. I do not think there is a modelling alternative for teak - I ll use cherry maybe.
 
Considering how thick the timber will be, I thought a new toy is needed. 

It works great - highly recommended but no doubt I will also need the very expensive Proxon thicknesser - if I can get the Admiral to authorise the investment.
 
Many thanks for visiting and
 
Merry Christmas!
 
Vaddoc

Dear all
 
Time to revive this log!
@KeithAug Lol, no, no long vacation, just very limited time and almost all of it taken up by Tally Ho!
 
Ok, so I did a bit of work on Hercules.
 
I managed to finish the timber guard at the stern which was a bit tricky, I am not used to work at such small scales. I then installed the lower timber guard

Then I started work on the first level of the superstructure, lots of things going on there. I made the doors and drilled (very carefully!) the holes for the portholes- it was at that time I realised there is a staircase. After a bit of  trial and error I managed to come up with something that painted black will look ok ish I think.





 
For the portholes I just bought cheap brass plumbing thingies that come in all dimensions. I experimented with Micro Kristal Clear for the glazing - excellent results.



 
I then made the cap rails, I used mahogany which is the wrong wood for the job but did not have anything else in 1.5 mm thickness and I am not ready to put in the massive wood order for Tally Ho. Everything will be painted black though so should be OK. I also made the stern structures and roller - All need to be painted and screws replaced with wood nails.
I then made the quarter bitts - still need a bit more work though
 



Really now it is time to paint the hull and make and paint the rudder so I know where exactly the steering mechanism at the stern needs to be placed. It is too cold though in the garage to spray primers and I do not really have permission from the Admiral for indoor modelling activities - or actually the time.
 
Still Hercules seems to be on the right track steaming along side Tally Ho.
 
Many thanks for visiting 
 
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Many thanks for visiting, for your likes and comments.
 
I ve done a lot of work on Tally Ho - shed buckets of digital sweat. The deeper I dig into the boat, the bigger respect I have for Leo and his crew for pulling this off - the complexity of building something like this does not really come out fully from his videos.
 
So where to start...
 
First a correction regarding the missing beam at the bow: Leo explains that there was actually a notch at the beam self that was however filled in - so the builders decided not to install this beam, probably to allow more space at the bow for activities.
 
I also fixed a ripple in the hull midships that is visible at the previous photos - one of the frames was wrong.
 
Now, no matter how much I tried I could not make the stem and sternpost as narrow as Leo's without deviating a lot from the plans and table of offsets. However, for the sternpost this is a problem. If I make it too wide, the frames will ride very high and the sternpost knee will be huge. If I make it as narrow as Leos, there is a tiny area at the stern were planking will be unsupported. So either I make the sternpost wide and trim almost all of it away which will be a huge job or add a very small filler piece - the second solution is much better and even a lot of this will be trimmed.
 

With this sorted I arranged the bow and stern timbers.
I followed Leo closely in his arrangement, almost all frames will be notched into the keel. All keel pockets will be milled before the keel goes in - I hope I will be able to pull this off as the keel will be monumentally huge. And it will have a 1 degree slope - somehow must be made.


I then made the transom timbers and the transom itself - this took some head scratching. Note the aft most half beams - these will be fun to make...

Then I made all the beams and carlings, including the one that is offset from the midline at the bow. There is a bit more work that needs to be done but they are mostly ready.
I also made all the stanshions, I followed Leos arrangement pretty close but not quite - I arranged them to lie next to beams to help with placement during the build.
I now need to make the beam self and figure out how far from the underside of deck it should be placed.

This was a massive piece of work but I think now we should be ok to move on to the next stage.
 
So now each frame needs to be extended and the deck slope marked - this will be where they will be trimmed in the end. All the frames need to be arranged on wood sheet patterns 1000 x 100 mm to figure out how much wood I ll need - times 2 as each frame is a double one.
The deck beams will also need to be arranged in the same way. Same with bow and stern timbers. Same with hull that will be built up in several layers.
The covering boards, bulwarks and deck planking will need to be calculated and of course the hull planking, the Transom as well.
 
Adding wastage and considering the actual length of 1.2 m, this will be a massive quantity of wood, in multiple thicknesses.
 
I will be using pear and cherry for the keel and frames, perhaps maple for the hull planking - or pear. I would like to use Alaskan yellow cedar for the deck but I do not think I can get this in the UK - perhaps Castelo then if I can get it in 1000mm strips/sheets. Perhaps mahogany for the deck structures. I do not think there is a modelling alternative for teak - I ll use cherry maybe.
 
Considering how thick the timber will be, I thought a new toy is needed. 

It works great - highly recommended but no doubt I will also need the very expensive Proxon thicknesser - if I can get the Admiral to authorise the investment.
 
Many thanks for visiting and
 
Merry Christmas!
 
Vaddoc

Dear all
 
Time to revive this log!
@KeithAug Lol, no, no long vacation, just very limited time and almost all of it taken up by Tally Ho!
 
Ok, so I did a bit of work on Hercules.
 
I managed to finish the timber guard at the stern which was a bit tricky, I am not used to work at such small scales. I then installed the lower timber guard

Then I started work on the first level of the superstructure, lots of things going on there. I made the doors and drilled (very carefully!) the holes for the portholes- it was at that time I realised there is a staircase. After a bit of  trial and error I managed to come up with something that painted black will look ok ish I think.





 
For the portholes I just bought cheap brass plumbing thingies that come in all dimensions. I experimented with Micro Kristal Clear for the glazing - excellent results.



 
I then made the cap rails, I used mahogany which is the wrong wood for the job but did not have anything else in 1.5 mm thickness and I am not ready to put in the massive wood order for Tally Ho. Everything will be painted black though so should be OK. I also made the stern structures and roller - All need to be painted and screws replaced with wood nails.
I then made the quarter bitts - still need a bit more work though
 



Really now it is time to paint the hull and make and paint the rudder so I know where exactly the steering mechanism at the stern needs to be placed. It is too cold though in the garage to spray primers and I do not really have permission from the Admiral for indoor modelling activities - or actually the time.
 
Still Hercules seems to be on the right track steaming along side Tally Ho.
 
Many thanks for visiting 
 
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
Many thanks for visiting, for your likes and comments.
 
I ve done a lot of work on Tally Ho - shed buckets of digital sweat. The deeper I dig into the boat, the bigger respect I have for Leo and his crew for pulling this off - the complexity of building something like this does not really come out fully from his videos.
 
So where to start...
 
First a correction regarding the missing beam at the bow: Leo explains that there was actually a notch at the beam self that was however filled in - so the builders decided not to install this beam, probably to allow more space at the bow for activities.
 
I also fixed a ripple in the hull midships that is visible at the previous photos - one of the frames was wrong.
 
Now, no matter how much I tried I could not make the stem and sternpost as narrow as Leo's without deviating a lot from the plans and table of offsets. However, for the sternpost this is a problem. If I make it too wide, the frames will ride very high and the sternpost knee will be huge. If I make it as narrow as Leos, there is a tiny area at the stern were planking will be unsupported. So either I make the sternpost wide and trim almost all of it away which will be a huge job or add a very small filler piece - the second solution is much better and even a lot of this will be trimmed.
 

With this sorted I arranged the bow and stern timbers.
I followed Leo closely in his arrangement, almost all frames will be notched into the keel. All keel pockets will be milled before the keel goes in - I hope I will be able to pull this off as the keel will be monumentally huge. And it will have a 1 degree slope - somehow must be made.


I then made the transom timbers and the transom itself - this took some head scratching. Note the aft most half beams - these will be fun to make...

Then I made all the beams and carlings, including the one that is offset from the midline at the bow. There is a bit more work that needs to be done but they are mostly ready.
I also made all the stanshions, I followed Leos arrangement pretty close but not quite - I arranged them to lie next to beams to help with placement during the build.
I now need to make the beam self and figure out how far from the underside of deck it should be placed.

This was a massive piece of work but I think now we should be ok to move on to the next stage.
 
So now each frame needs to be extended and the deck slope marked - this will be where they will be trimmed in the end. All the frames need to be arranged on wood sheet patterns 1000 x 100 mm to figure out how much wood I ll need - times 2 as each frame is a double one.
The deck beams will also need to be arranged in the same way. Same with bow and stern timbers. Same with hull that will be built up in several layers.
The covering boards, bulwarks and deck planking will need to be calculated and of course the hull planking, the Transom as well.
 
Adding wastage and considering the actual length of 1.2 m, this will be a massive quantity of wood, in multiple thicknesses.
 
I will be using pear and cherry for the keel and frames, perhaps maple for the hull planking - or pear. I would like to use Alaskan yellow cedar for the deck but I do not think I can get this in the UK - perhaps Castelo then if I can get it in 1000mm strips/sheets. Perhaps mahogany for the deck structures. I do not think there is a modelling alternative for teak - I ll use cherry maybe.
 
Considering how thick the timber will be, I thought a new toy is needed. 

It works great - highly recommended but no doubt I will also need the very expensive Proxon thicknesser - if I can get the Admiral to authorise the investment.
 
Many thanks for visiting and
 
Merry Christmas!
 
Vaddoc

Dear all
 
Many thanks for visiting, for your likes and comments.
 
I ve done a lot of work on Tally Ho - shed buckets of digital sweat. The deeper I dig into the boat, the bigger respect I have for Leo and his crew for pulling this off - the complexity of building something like this does not really come out fully from his videos.
 
So where to start...
 
First a correction regarding the missing beam at the bow: Leo explains that there was actually a notch at the beam self that was however filled in - so the builders decided not to install this beam, probably to allow more space at the bow for activities.
 
I also fixed a ripple in the hull midships that is visible at the previous photos - one of the frames was wrong.
 
Now, no matter how much I tried I could not make the stem and sternpost as narrow as Leo's without deviating a lot from the plans and table of offsets. However, for the sternpost this is a problem. If I make it too wide, the frames will ride very high and the sternpost knee will be huge. If I make it as narrow as Leos, there is a tiny area at the stern were planking will be unsupported. So either I make the sternpost wide and trim almost all of it away which will be a huge job or add a very small filler piece - the second solution is much better and even a lot of this will be trimmed.
 

With this sorted I arranged the bow and stern timbers.
I followed Leo closely in his arrangement, almost all frames will be notched into the keel. All keel pockets will be milled before the keel goes in - I hope I will be able to pull this off as the keel will be monumentally huge. And it will have a 1 degree slope - somehow must be made.


I then made the transom timbers and the transom itself - this took some head scratching. Note the aft most half beams - these will be fun to make...

Then I made all the beams and carlings, including the one that is offset from the midline at the bow. There is a bit more work that needs to be done but they are mostly ready.
I also made all the stanshions, I followed Leos arrangement pretty close but not quite - I arranged them to lie next to beams to help with placement during the build.
I now need to make the beam self and figure out how far from the underside of deck it should be placed.

This was a massive piece of work but I think now we should be ok to move on to the next stage.
 
So now each frame needs to be extended and the deck slope marked - this will be where they will be trimmed in the end. All the frames need to be arranged on wood sheet patterns 1000 x 100 mm to figure out how much wood I ll need - times 2 as each frame is a double one.
The deck beams will also need to be arranged in the same way. Same with bow and stern timbers. Same with hull that will be built up in several layers.
The covering boards, bulwarks and deck planking will need to be calculated and of course the hull planking, the Transom as well.
 
Adding wastage and considering the actual length of 1.2 m, this will be a massive quantity of wood, in multiple thicknesses.
 
I will be using pear and cherry for the keel and frames, perhaps maple for the hull planking - or pear. I would like to use Alaskan yellow cedar for the deck but I do not think I can get this in the UK - perhaps Castelo then if I can get it in 1000mm strips/sheets. Perhaps mahogany for the deck structures. I do not think there is a modelling alternative for teak - I ll use cherry maybe.
 
Considering how thick the timber will be, I thought a new toy is needed. 

It works great - highly recommended but no doubt I will also need the very expensive Proxon thicknesser - if I can get the Admiral to authorise the investment.
 
Many thanks for visiting and
 
Merry Christmas!
 
Vaddoc

What a beautiful model Brian! Indeed an inspiring journey, Cairo was also a great source of ideas. Very well done, your logs are a joy to read.
 
Vaddoc

What a beautiful model Brian! Indeed an inspiring journey, Cairo was also a great source of ideas. Very well done, your logs are a joy to read.
 
Vaddoc

Dear all
 
Since my last post lots of things happened, basically I had to scrap everything - again!
 
@AntonyUK Thanks Antony, I am silently following your log, she is coming along fine - lightning fast progress as well! 
 
Ok, so here is what happened.
 
I was happy with things but then I started work on the sternpost and this is when I realised that my hull was wrong.
The sternpost is a solid piece of timber with a set thickness. The inner skin of the hull needs to meet it in a certain way so that the frames, which follow the inner skin, can be bolted onto the sternpost. The way my hull was lofted was too wide at the top so that it did not meet the sternpost, but also too narrow near the bottom so that the frames would need to be positioned too high to be bolted on to the sternpost.
 
So, it was clear that I had to reloft the boat but first roughly arrange the sternpost.
 
So, back to Leos videos. Using this (and others) image, where all lines are shown, I was able to recreate his sternpost.
 

Then I relofted the boat. This time I did 4 cycles, for modelling purposes I do not think I needed to do any more. I also decided to keep the 1 degree slope of the keel.



And with the rabet and transom

Compared to Leo's hull, it looks pretty close - of course the shape will be a bit different but not by much

How about the sternpost? It actually is fine.
 
The next photo shows the hull somewhere in the early stages of lofting. The shape of the sternpost can be seen, the lower line is where the outer skin meets the hull, the upper one where the inner skin meets it. Obviously it looks wrong

This is how it looks on the finished hull - much nicer, lots of timber for the frames to notch, I can also change the shape of the sternpost a bit.

But a boat has two ends - what about the bow? This also has a set dimension along its length. The hull is lofted to the face of the stem but the planks will end at the rabet which is vertical along the side of the stem, but its projection to the side of the hull is not. It's ok though because this difference is very small.
 
I started work on the stem assembly, again following Leo's arrangement


But I could not make it work, the rabet would not transition smoothly from the stem to the keel. I struggled for a few days until I realised that my rabet was all wrong. When I fixed it, it all came together.
 
If you are lofting this boat, the rabet must pass through the point where the underside of stem meets the upper surface of the keel.
 
Still, my stem arrangement is not correct - it is not thick enough. In station No1 there is a frame and from there aft a frame every foot. My stem is not thick enough for the frames to be bolted on.


This is easily corrected.
 
One last issue was at the stern, I had the impression that in the plans there is one additional frame. The next photo shows why this is not the case - there is simply no space for it.
 

I am aware these are very boring posts but please bare with me - this is not an easy boat. There will be lots of saw dust in the future!
More work is needed for the frames, bulwarks, beams, deck planks etc, this is also to be able to figure out what wood I need to order - it will be a lot!
 
Till next time, take care all
 
Vaddoc

Dear all
 
I think I did it!
 
But first my deepest thank you to all that visited, hit the like button or replied - much appreciated!
 
How right you all are:
 
Now David, I had forgotten all about the diagonals! Silly as my first efforts to loft the boat were actually using the diagonals, which is what Leo did. Thanks! Diagonals coming up bellow.
 
I did exactly this Mark! Still, this led to a stem just short of 9 inches wide, whereas Leo ended up with a 7 inch stem. No matter how much I tried I could not match this without drastically altering the shape of the sheer or having a stem clearly wrong and too far off the plans.
 
Absolutely. After the hull was pretty much shaped, I realised that what appeared as large unfairness in the CAD lines was in reality just a difference of 3-4 mm, and this in the full size boat.
 
I most certainly will Greg and I also plan to visit Tally Ho (if possible) when Leo gets back home. All in good time!
 
 
Ok, so now let me share the progress made - I must admit I am pretty happy, unless some eagled eyed people find a huge error somewhere!
 
So blending all data sources I found a happy medium for the sheer, the stem, the sternpost, transom, face of stem and keel. I accepted that frame no 2 will be a bit S-shaped (not much). I then went through three lofting cycles. Suddenly, all fell into place! All lines were fair and the frames and waterlines were either touching or just a few mm apart:


These are the sets of frames after each cycle - the white frames are the traced ones from Mr Strange's drawings.

But is the hull really fair? Enter diagonals!

It is actually ok!
The unfairness at the stern is because I used the last frame to create the lines - without it the top three diagonals become completely fair. I will actually not be using this last frame so all good. The bottom diagonal is a bit wonky but the distance to fairness in that aft point in reality is just 2 mm in the full scale boat - meaningless.
At the bow, again the adjustments to make the diagonals fair are tiny.
In any case, I thought I d give it a try. So I faired the diagonals...

......produced the new contact points with the frames and transferred these points over to the finished hull to redraw these frames...

....and then I gave up. It was meaningless, the difference was just a few mm. In the actual boat it would not make a difference, even Leo accepted 1/8 inch tolerance. In 1/12 scale, this tolerance becomes less than 0.5mm.
 
The next photo shows my frames compared the the traced ones - they are pretty close.

So lets see the hull! 

Now, this looks pretty fair. More bellow



Adding the rest of rabet at the stern

And a couple of photos of the complete hull.


I think it is adequate to start the project and the wood will correct any imperfections.
This was the first of I am sure many milestones in this very long journey. We are still far from making any wood dust.
 
Take care all
 
Vaddoc

Dear all
 
I was too fast congratulating myself! Not only I have no progress to show in this short update but actually I ve gone backwards. Still, my understanding of this hull has grown.
 
Now, this is going again to be a bit technical which means quite boring!
 
When I went to do the second round of fairing, I noticed that the frame No2 had acquired an S shape. I am sensitive to No 2 frames - consistently in my boats they creates issues. Looking deeper, I did not like it. So I scrapped everything and started again, this time using the table of offsets. But I again run into problems as things did not add up.
 
These are the issues I have encountered so far with these plans:
 
1. The sheer is difficult to define
 
The start and finish of the sheer, which are at the face of the stem and at the back face of the transom, are not given in the table of offsets. These can be measured from the lines drawing but it does not work very well. 
Furthermore, the sheer in the lines drawing is far from fair and the half breadths and depths in the table of offsets also do not produce a fair sheer and do not work at all well with all the other information given in the various sheets of the plans.
It took a lot of head scratching but finally, combining all sources, I managed to produce a sheer that I feel is half descend.
 
2. The shape and position of the stem is difficult to define.
 
This information is given in three places. In the table of offsets, in a separate sheet in the plans where distances are give from the baseline and the forward end of the sheer (the latter is NOT given though in the table of offsets!), and also can be defined by the plan drawings. These three sources provide three different stems! The difference is not huge but still significant. Again, by blending everything I think I have a reasonable stem
 
4. The width of the face of the stem after tapering from the rabet is a bit of a quizz
 
Now, this face progressively widens from the top of the stem finally reaching the full width of the keel. These widths are given at various heights but still fairing of the lateral edge of the face is needed so that this transition is smooth.


I finally managed to do this, which of course changed some of the dimensions given in the table of offsets, but, whereas Leo starts this face at 1.25" wide, in the lines drawings it is much wider, almost 2" or more. (This information is not written anywhere else). In 1:12 scale this face will be 2.5 mm so maybe a bit too narrow. In my CAD drawings I ve followed Leo and did it 1.25" but may need to revisit this to make it wider - this will unfortunately mean that I will need to redo the sheer. We will see.
 
5. The sternpost and transom dimensions are not given
 
I traced the lines drawings to get this. The width of the sternpost is not given either but luckily Leo mentions it is 4" wide - which looks about right.
 
6. There seems to be a problem with the body plan
 
Now, this is important.
The plans contain a table of offsets and also the lines in profile view and body view. Now, these do match, with the exception of the bottom end of the frames. (All of the frames)
 
In the following photo, the waterline is the blue line.
Note what is happening with frames 1 and 2.
 
The top ends of the frames indeed meet the sheer where they should in the profile plan.
The green lines show where the frames should finish according to the table of offsets. These heights are correct in the profile plan but not in the body plan. The frames seem to reach the keel quite a bit higher. This is the case for all frames. (Apologies, for frame No4 both lines are green but the upper one should be red)

I really tried to figure this out but cannot find an explanation. Interestingly, Leo in his own lofting seem to have positioned the bottom end of frame No 2 in the position given in the table of offsets - about 3/4 of the way down between the 2 waterlines
 

Frame No 2 in his plans appear to be ever so slightly S shaped - which is what I think it should be.
 
Now, I ve been fighting this a few weeks now and am a bit broken, I need to recover a bit before I continue.
 
If any of the wise elders can provide any advice on the discrepancy between the body and profile plans, I really would be grateful!
 
Take care all
Vaddoc
 

Dear all
 
A wee  bit of an update as I found a bit of time here and there to work on the boat. No sawdust yet (and will not be for a long time!) but a lot of digital ink spilled over my monitors.
 
@KennyH78 Kenny, if you decide to build Tally Ho, let me know and I will send you the CAD file - if I manage to loft the boat that is. Still, lofting the boat is fun but also would give you a much better understanding of the hull lines and how she should be built.
 
So lets discuss Tally Ho's plans.  There is no doubt that there are issues with the plans in the archives of the Albert Strange Association. 
 
Tally Ho is a bit different to all the other boats I have lofted. The curvature of the hull does not stop at the rabet but continues at the stem, sternpost and all the way to the bottom of the keel.
 
I think I remember Leo in one of his videos mentioning that there were missing data from the plans, specifically the offsets for the stem and sternpost. This is indeed one of the issues I am facing. Furthermore, the paper has been distorted over the years, there seems to be a bit of damage but also, my copy of the plans has not been scanned very well so there are some gaps with the lines and the text. Also, CAD is very unforgiving and I am picking up all sorts of issues with the plans - Leo must have seen this but to a lesser degree, as he did not use CAD for his lofting.
 
Ok, so lets get a bit more technical - This may be boring but may also help some people with their lofting (and lofting of Tally Ho in particular).
 
For me, the first step in lofting a boat is to find the edges of the hull surface. These are the sheer at the top, the rabet/bottom of keel at the bottom, the sternpost/transom aft and the stem with its rabet at the front. Most but not all of this info is in the table of offsets but again there are issues.
 
The table of offsets does not seem to correspond to the dimensions as measured using the plan lines. I initially created the sheer using the numbers from the table, however the position of the stem and transom, which define the start and finish of the sheer, must be taken from the lines - also the width of the stem. Combining all these does not really work. Using just the lines again does not work - the boat comes out short by half foot and generally things do not work well, the lines are not fair and there are issues with the keel.
 
So I decided to ignore the table of offsets - I only used the half breadths for the bottom of the keel.
 
I traced all the frames (except frame 13 which is missing) and positioned them in their stations (2 feet apart) using the same reference point to make sure they were aligned. I added some diagonals of my own - Leo was right, this boat is much easier to loft using diagonals. I then added the sheer, keel, sternpost/Transom and stem. Again it did not work!
 
So I went back to watching the You Tube videos and the solution was there. You see, Leo had the same plans as I do but he also had the boat!
 
He mentions that the sternpost face is 4 inches wide - excellent. But he also showed this drawing:
 

This shows that the stem is 7 inches wide (although he chose 8 inches to give more support the the hood ends of the planks. The lines show the stem less thick at 6 inches. Mine was 10.6 inches so clearly wrong. The face of the stem is only 1.25 inches and the rabet 6.75" from the stem face.
 
This was very useful. I also measured the distances of the stem from station 6 at all waterlines, to get its shape

I used all these to draw a new stem with a new shape at a new position. I then created a new sheer from the top of the frames I had traced. Combining all worked beautifully!
 
The boat is now 47.5' long and the stem just over 7" wide!
 
The drawing bellow is the same as Leos. The yellow line is the contact surface of the planks with the stem. The arrow shows the half thickness of the stem. The blue line is the sheer.

So now with all boundaries defined, it was time to start lofting. Some work was done to get the half breadths at the bottom of the keel correct.
 
I traced all the diagonals, waterlines and buttocks. They were of course all over the place:

Fairing this line produces a much more satisfying curve.

After all the lines had been drawn and faired, new frames were produced - using only the diagonals.


All new frames drawn and faired. I noticed that there was very little deviation from the original contact points with the diagonals. The last frame aft is a different colour because it did not really cooperate. This needs more work.


This is just the first cycle of lofting but I tried to make a surface and I was half surprised how well it worked. I knew the lines where not that far off but I did not expect this:


The hull is already reasonable and the areas where usually I have issues, at the bow and stern, look mostly ok.
 
The boat needs at least one more lofting cycle but it looks promising. 
 
Take care all
 
Vaddoc

Ok, so lets do a quick follow up post with the first thoughts on this.
 
To start with, the plans do not seem to be as comprehensive. There are the lines and some drafts of the keel and a table of offsets but something feels not quite right. Then again, Leo managed to loft the boat so everything should be there.
 
I checked the plans and the lines are not really straight, or vertical. This is common however, paper distorts over time and CAD is really very unforgiving to plans drafted 115 years ago. These lines will be ok to start but serious lofting will be needed. Still, this seems a much easier boat to loft than Hercules
 
I imported the plans to Rhino and scaled them to the actual boat size. I need to dive more into these but it seems that the distances as measured from the lines plan are not the same as in the table of offsets.
 
I am not sure where the stem/start of sheer should be or where the Transom sits.
 
To make things worse, the plans I received do not seem to have been scanned very well. Most of the text in the table of offsets was missing but I managed to recreate it by watching Leo's videos - he had the same plans and they can be seen in a video, so I was able to read almost all of the missing text.
 
A part of the lines plan has not been scanned well and another small area at the bow is missing - apparently permanently damaged as it is missing from Leo's plans as well
 
However, the same lines are easily found on the internet, clearly copied before the damage occurs so I scaled this to size and used it to fill the gaps - kind off.
 

So I blended all together and came up with a sheer plan view

Then added the profile view and created the sheer from these

Adding the other half, shows a bit of the boat shape

Now this is just a study of the plans as I am not really sure where the sheer begins and ends, but it's a start.
 
Until next time
 
Vaddoc

Final venturi work.
 

 
For all the worrying I did about making the venturis, I think they came out pretty nice! They seem to be very sturdy.
 

 
The vents and horn on the face of the deckhouse complete (I think) all the details on the sides of the deck houses. But I still need to make the name boards.

Venturis
 

 
The Cape had venturis around the edges of the bulwarks on the open bridge. The supports are shown in the photo (left) while the venturis were being repaired. On the right you can see the venturi at the top outboard edge of the bridge bulwarks. The ship's name board is mounted on the venturi.
 
What is a ship's venturi? It is a channel for air flow between two converging surfaces (marked in red). Air blowing against the sides of the ship's superstructure flows outward and upward along the deckhouse sides. It enters the bottom of the venturi at relatively slow speed (short and wide green arrow), and is compressed as the channel narrows.
 
If you remember Boyle's Law (you did take physics, didn't you?) the initial pressure and volume equal the final pressure and volume
 
P1V1 = P2V2
 
As the air flows through the venturi the volume decreases by about half, therefore the pressure doubles. This causes the air to flow faster to escape the top of the venturi. It comes out as a jet of air deflected upward around the sides of the bulwarks (long and narrow green arrow).
 
Now you may be asking yourself "Who cares?" Well, that up flowing air collides with the wind coming from ahead and deflects it upward and over the bulwark. This actually does work, and has a significant effect. I have stood watch on the Cape's open bridge in a downpour. Standing back a few feet from the bulwark I was pelted by raindrops. But standing close up to the bulwark the jet from the venturi deflected oncoming wind and rain up over my head! Behind this invisible windshield the air was fairly calm. These things made standing watch on the open bridge a bit more pleasant.
 
I have put off adding the venturis to the model for two reasons. First, they are on the outside of the wide bridge structure and subject to damage from handling while all the other work was being done. And second, I really had no idea how I was going to make them!
 
The blueprint above shows that there is a "choke" piece attached to the bridge bulwark that forms the inner surface of the venturi channel. It was made from an assortment of wooden and metal pieces, but I decided to simplify it for the model. I shaped a strip of wood with a triangular cross section for this inner part. I tried to cut a concave surface into the face of it. First I made a scraper with the cross section pattern and tried to use it to remove wood. That was a failure - the basswood strip didn't cooperate with the scraper.
 
Then I found a small bottle with a 1 inch diameter (25.4 mm) and wrapped it with sandpaper. This did work better than the scraper but the results weren't very consistent over the length of the strip. And after I was finished the curvature was so slight it really isn't noticeable! But the shape of the strip was good enough since it will be hidden inside the venturi anyway!
 
To make the spacers that support the outer surface of the venturi (to be made of 0.005 inch/0.13 mm brass sheet) I cut some strips (left side of the photo) of 0.010 inch (0.25 mm) brass to a width slightly larger than the vertical dimension of the parts (0.271 inch/6.9 mm). These were sliced into short pieces 0.33 inch (8.4 mm) long, longer than the 0.259 inch (6.6 mm) length of the supports.
 
Fifteen of these pieces were clamped together and soldered to make a single solid piece to work with. A paper template was glued to the side of the work piece and the block was filed to the correct shape. Then the spacers were sawed off the end of the soldered block. The remainder of the block can be seen on the left side of the photo - the multiple layers are readily visible.
 
The block of spacers was reheated to melt the solder and free the individual parts.
 
The wooden choke strip was cut into sections to fit between the individual spacers. These wooden pieces were glued to the bulwarks with Titebond Original cement. As each section was placed a brass spacer was glued to the end with Locktite Super Glue Gel. This allowed enough time to position the spacer correctly, and produced a very strong attachment.
 
I have been dreading this assembly because it just looked like it would be so easy to break off one part while placing another. But it has been very sturdy and I have had no problems so far.
 

 
I still have a bit of sanding, filing and filling on the wooden choke pieces to prepare for sealing and painting.
 
And notice that I did repaint the life rings in proper Cape fashion!
 
 

Keith,
 
The explosions behind you aren't your concern. You want to watch for things in front of you that might blow you out of the water!
 
Here are some more details. This time it is the life rings.
 
The life rings were 24 inch diameter, and that comes out to half an inch (12.7 mm) at 1:48 scale. I looked through all the materials I have on hand and I could cut them from some 3/8 inch thick boxwood, or from some basswood sheets. But cutting from wood created the distinct possibility that it would break along the grain during the shaping process. It would be easier to cut them from a half inch dowel, but I didn't have any in stock.  The only thing that diameter was some clear acrylic (Plexiglas) tubing. However, the walls weren't thick enough. But I did have some white styrene tubing that was a tight press fit into the acrylic and had an inside diameter a bit smaller (0.25 inch/6.35 mm) than the inside diameter of the life rings. Acrylic and styrene are easy to work, so I decided to use that combination.
 

 
I sawed slices off the end of the concentric tubes and then filed/sanded them into the right thickness (0.073 inch/1.85 mm). I fit these rings over a 1/4 inch brass tube chucked into a drill and used files to round the outer edges. Then a combination of tools were used to round the inside edges and bring the opening up to the desired 0.275 inch/7 mm diameter. After they were painted orange I wrapped some carpet thread to make the ropes. Then three "J" hooks were made for each to attach them to the deck house sides.
 

 
The white cylinders beside the rings are light floats. When they are positioned with the flat base upward the lights are disabled. In the water the flat base is heavier (batteries) than the top so it floats with the conical light on top and the light is turned on. The light makes it easier to find the life ring in the dark.
 

 
I have added the pilot house doors and some other details. On the real ship the life rings were painted with "USS" in the top quadrant, "CAPE" on the bottom. "MSI" marked vertically on the left side and "TWO" vertically on the right. These letters would be only 0.010 to 0.015 inch (0.25 to 0.38 mm) high at 1:48 scale so I decided to not try to make them.
 
Here is a close up of the port bridge wing with the pilot house door, pelorus, life ring and ladder to the O2 level installed. This completes the open bridge and pilot house side details.
 
I guess the next work will be the venturis along the top of the bridge bulwarks and the port and starboard side lights. I still haven't decided how to make the venturis.
 
I might work on some other details on the aft end of the O1 level, including the funnel. I also need to add the life rails around the O2 level and on the after end of the O1 level. And there are the windows and awnings on the front of the bridge bulwarks. All of these will be very delicate and will be saved for the last work on the deck houses.
 
Here are a couple  more photos of the open bridge and pilot house.
 
 

I was looking at the photo in post #389 and realized that I had cut the opening in the outer shell more of a "V" shape, and it should have been a wider "U" shape. I modified both units a bit, but still perhaps not wide enough at the bottom of the cut.
 
I also realized I had forgotten to add the cable from the gyro repeater down into the base.
 
The repeater was glued into the shell with super glue, so I just had to soak it in acetone to separate the parts. Looks like I got the repeater in the right hand part a bit misaligned when I glued it into place. I don't know if I will fix it. After it is in place on the model it won't be as noticeable as in this close up photo. (Note: I did fix it so the parts are aligned correctly.)
 

John,
 
I did screw up the first one. I soldered the upper parts on rotated 90 degrees from what they should be! Instead of facing forward it faced inboard!! It was a long day.
 
Not much more to report. I am working on parts for the peloruses. But I had to post some pictures for Keith showing how two-legged chairs work!
 

 

This is a kit of parts for two bridge wing chairs like you can see in the photo in post #389. I have one more photo that shows a chair from the front. From these I photoguestimated the dimensions. The bases were cut from 0.030 inch (0.76 mm) brass sheet. The arm rests and back pieces are 0.032 x 0.032 inch (0.8 x 0.8 mm) square brass rod. The seat support pieces are 0.032 x 0.032 inch brass "L". The square rod and "L" were made by Special Shapes Company (stock numbers S-1 and A-1). Unfortunately the company is no longer in business making these small parts and I have found no other company that makes parts this small. I bought these pieces about 15 years ago when a local hardware store closed.
 
Here are the finished chair frames.
 

 
The assembly was pretty tricky. It took about five hours to solder together the eleven brass pieces for the first chair. Working with such small pieces can be difficult - several parts popped out of tweezers and were never seen again. Just finding a collection of repositionable clamps to hold the parts in place while soldering is an adventure in itself. Getting enough heat sinks in place to prevent the heat from the current solder joint from flowing the short distance to another joint and unsoldering it is a challenge! Some of these joints were soldered up to five times to get everything in the correct positions.
 
This is just good practice for the real challenges that will come when I start on all that complex minesweeping equipment on the stern. One thing I learned is that I need a lot more small heat sinks!
 
The seats will mount to the bridge bulwarks with the triangular supports under the seat. They will be painted grey and wooden cushions and arm rests will be added.

Here is a photo of the open bridge on the Cape. This was the normal conning station for driving the ship at sea.
 
At the center is a gyro compass repeater and a voice tube to the helmsman in the pilot house. The windows on the bulwark and canvas awning overhead helped keep out the weather, but it could still be cold and wet in heavy seas.
 
I have been working on the details on the bulwark.
 
 
 
 
One of the details is the helmet stowage at the bottom right of the picture. The MSI blueprint set included drawings of these things. The helmet is a standard M1 steel helmet. I carved it out of boxwood. As I was doing this I was thinking it would be a lot easier to just find some cheap 1:48 or 1:50 plastic toy soldiers and chop off the head of one of them.
 

 
The straps were actually made of woven cloth or canvas  - I used 0.008 inch (0.2 mm) brass strips about 1/32 inch (0.8 mm) wide.
 

 
If you look closely you will see that I didn't achieve perfect representation of what is shown in the photo. The voice tube moved to the left slightly as the glue hardened and I couldn't wrap the cable from the gyro repeater behind it as shown in the photo. And after I had glued the sound powered phone station in place I noticed that it should be a bit more to the right so a separate phone connection box could fit between it and the bulwark stiffener.
 

 
This completes the inner bulwark detail. Now I need to work on the extensions of the bulwarks along the sides of the O1 level, and complete the details on the front of the deck house.

Thanks again for the comments and likes.
 
More bridge bulwark work.
 
As I was studying photos and blueprints of the Cape and Cove I noticed something that looked peculiar. The trim at the bottom of the bridge bulwark sides is the same width as the trim along the top sides of the deckhouses (red lines). This trim extends across the front of the deckhouse, but it is wider near the center than on the outboard wings. OK, I guessed this was just the designers whim.
 
But I also realized this trim served the purpose of covering the edges of the 3/4 inch (19 mm) bridge deck, just as it covers the edges of the decks on the deckhouses. For the model this is very convenient, because it does the same thing - cover the edges of the 1/16 inch (1.6 mm) plywood I used for the decks. The edges of the decks rest on the deckhouse sides, and it would be difficult to seal and finish the plywood edges as smooth as the deckhouse sides. So the trim hides the model's deck edges, just as it did on the real ships.
 
 
But why use wider trim at the front? The blueprints say to be sure the trim on the front of the deckhouse covers the edges of the bridge deck. This is where the designer's desire to make a pretty ship - with the bulwark top and bottom following the sheer and camber of the main deck - ran into problems because the bridge deck was horizontal with no camber or sheer. And that was an even greater problem on the model with the thick plywood deck!
 
The green lines in the photo show the outlines of the bridge deck. The red lines show the trim. The trim starts out below the deck edges on the outboard wings and curves up over the deck edge at the center. The normal trim width used on the sides was not tall enough to cover the deck edge at the center because of the camber. So they just made the trim wider across the front.
 

 
I have painted most of the bulwarks inside and out However I have left a strip at the outside top bare for now. The bridge venturis will mount there (you can see them in the photo of the ship above). They are a bit complicated and will be a project in themselves.
 
A cap rail will fit on top of the bulwarks, and that complicated set of windows and awning supports will fit onto that. That will be delicate work and I will probably save that for the last work on the deckhouses.
 
I have given up on using real mahogany for the cap rail for the bridge and bow bulwarks. I will use boxwood or basswood and paint them with the same "mahogany" paint I used for the bridge windows.

Progress:
 
I have replaced the card templates with actual bulwarks. Mostly.
 
The real ship has 3/4 inch (19 mm) plywood deckhouse and bulwark walls. I am using 1/64 inch (0.4 mm) plywood, and that happens to be the exact scale thickness at 1:48! I thought it might be a bit flimsy but it is actually pretty sturdy.
 
The sill at the bottom is 1/8 x 1/32 inch (3.2 x 0.8 mm) and the "clamp" at the top is 1/16 x 1/32 inch (1.6 x 0.8 mm). The vertical stiffeners are 1/32 inch basswood tapered from 1/8 at the bottom to 1/32 inch at the top.
 
 A mahogany cap rail fits across the top over the clamp. I have a sheet of 1/16 inch (1.6 mm) thick mahogany and I am thinking about how I can shave off a 1/32 inch (0.8 mm) thick piece from the edge to make the 1/16 x 1/32 inch cap rail.
 

 
After I attached the front bulwarks to the man deckhouse I measured the distance from the main deck up to the top of the O1 level bulwark. To my surprise the top edge of the bulwarks agreed with the blueprints to within my ability to measure the distance - only a few thousandths of an inch (~0.025 mm) difference, if any! That certainly is the most accurate part of the entire main deckhouse!!
 
The thin plywood is from Bud Nosen Models. I have had this sheet for decades but the company is still in business if you need some thin plywood.
 

The bulwarks have a 1/16 x 1/32 inch stringer along the bottom inside edge where the deck overhangs the deckhouse side. This is supported by pieces attached to the deck beams.
 
I decided to construct all of this detail before the bulwark sides were attached. This way I could have good access to paint all of the pieces white. On US Navy ships all overhanging parts were painted white, including the overhead in interior spaces.
 
None of this will be visible after the bulwark sides are attached but I will have the satisfaction of knowing that I followed the blueprints to provide adequate support for the bulwarks.
 
 
 
Tomorrow I will add the side panels on the bulwarks and start adding the details (voice tubes, washdown nozzles, and other bits and pieces) to the open bridge.

Roel,
 
US Navy ships are a lot like the early Ford Model T cars. Henry Ford said you could have any color you wanted as long as it is black. With Navy ships you get grey, grey or grey. They are not nearly as colorful as your Chaconia!
 
I have started on the bridge bulwarks. This will not be easy!
 

 
I mentioned in an earlier post that there were no right angles in the main deckhouse. The sides aren't parallel, some of the decks follow the hull's sheer and have camber. The bridge bulwarks sit on that deckhouse and inherit all if it's oddball angles. But a new set of angles are added for the bulwarks.
 
Notice in the photo of the ship the O1 level bulwarks are angled with respect to the top of the pilot house. The bridge deck is parallel to the water (and the pilot house top) and has no camber or sheer. However the blueprints say the top and bottom of the bridge bulwarks must be parallel to both the sheer and the camber of the main deck. This is very obvious in the photo. This means the distance from the bridge deck to the top of the bulwarks is not constant, but varies from point to point!
 
 
I have modeled the bulwarks in 3D CAD and then printed them in 2D. But these ideal pieces don't fit exactly on the model. My construction of the actual deckhouse had to be repeated several times and the result isn't as precise as the CAD model.
 
Here you can see I am making templates for the sections of the bulwark out of card stock. The green line shows the angle and elevation of the bridge deck. The red lines are parallel to the main deck sheer - looks like I bumped the side piece while setting up for the photos. But you can see how the top and bottom of the bulwark side piece are parallel to the main deck sheer.
 
The aft bottom of the side pieces is at the height of the after part of the O1 level deck (a step below the bridge deck) which has both sheer and camber. Then the pieces angle upward, following the line of the after part of the O1 deck, with the bottom edges converging at the bottom center of the front piece - at least they are supposed to!
 
What is really confounding is that the blueprints do not give any dimensions of the bulwarks except for the height of the front piece above the bridge deck at the centerline, 53.7 inches (1.36 m). Measurements on the drawings indicate the forward and aft ends of the side piece are about 57.5 inches (1.46 m) high. How were the boatyard people supposed to build this thing? Basically all the blueprints tell us is "Here's the general idea fellows, have fun building it." But they did, and now I am trying to use card templates held together with painter's tape to figure out how to fit all of these pieces together.
 

 
I think this is the third iteration of the card pieces. I get a better fit with each pass - sort of successive approximation. The front center piece is the only part with right angles - it is a true rectangle. The two front side pieces rest on the bridge deck, but are cut to fit down the deckhouse side where the deck overhangs the house sides. These are the really tricky parts. A few more iterations and I should get it right.
 

 
Here you can also see the mast step on the O1 level. The mast fits into the square pocket at the bottom. The surrounding angled sides are to guide the foot of the mast into place when I am trying to place it blindly through the hole in the O2 level deck.