rlb

@glbarlow Thanks a lot - there have certainly been a lot of challenges to overcome, not certain that I've quite "mastered" any yet though :-).
 
I've been continuing work on the lower deck framing and while not perfect I'm happy with how the cross section is shaping up. I struggled for a little bit trying to determine how to score the mortises (joints?) for the ledges and carlings until I recalled my mantra for this build - go re-read TTFM book 1 and of course there was a nice tip for how to easily make pseudo joints which I attempted to follow. The picture thats follow show how I set the angle for the score on beam and then the finished cut.
 
 

I did my best to get the matching score aligned, but they are slightly off - though it isn't very noticeable until you really start staring at the deck and I think it will be even less noticeable when the upper deck is added (though I will have to be more exact there).


I have to add the center hanging knees and lodging knees before finishing out the deck framing, but here is where I currently stand.

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Experiments with Silkspan continue. 
 
After applying another couple of coats to the example in the previous post, I decided to try the "thin" Silkspan; the above post used the "medium" variety.   There is a big difference in thickness.  After wetting and taping a piece to my frame (and letting it dry), this time I applied acrylic matte medium to both sides of the Silkspan, hoping that this would fill in the fibers, so that I wouldn't need as many coats of black paint to make it opaque--

 
This seemed to work, and after three (I think) coats of black, I had a nice smooth, opaque surface-

 
While coats of paint were drying, I glued eight thin pieces of wood into a block, to shape into the end caps for the hammocks--

 
I decided that I would follow the angle of the bulwarks, inner and outer, with the hammock cranes and the end pieces--

 
However, my shaping had reduced the "block" too much.  It was too definitely too short, and too narrow for comfort, so I glued another set together-

 
These should work--

 
I separated them, and because some had slight marks from prying them apart I sorted and numbered them to put the "bad" sides inward where they would be covered by the hammock cloth and not seen.  I drilled holes in the bottom for pins--

 
I marked and drilled the holes for the six lines in the end caps.  Here also are two sheets of painted "thin" Silkspan, which I will use--

 
I'll now experiment with how to shape and place the hammock cloth within the cranes, and epoxy the cranes and end pieces to the ship.   I'll probably need another sheet of Silkspan also.
 
All for now,
Ron 

I continued work on the hammock cranes, and also punched out a number of thimbles.  I'm happy to report that my success rate improved greatly, and I only lost one!!  These are now ready to blacken--

 
After blackening--

 
The thimbles are in groups of ten, plus four.  Fifty-four in all.  Hopefully enough, though I may need a few that are bigger.  I don't know.
 
On to the Silkspan.  After putting a second diluted coat on the piece, it was just as transparent as before when backlit--not so much when viewed normally.  So I painted a coat on undiluted--

 
It was pretty opaque, but there were now brushmarks that would be out of scale.  It was also uneven coverage. Most of it was smooth (though with some brushmarks), but some areas still showed the fibrous texture of the Silkspan.  All in all not a satisfactory result.   I also wasn't sure it had enough sheen to look like oiled or tarred cloth.   So I tried painting the back side with Tung Oil finish to see how that looked--

 
It really accentuated the texture.  Not at all to scale.  What was worse, the Tung Oil seeped through the thin areas on the "front" side, making that side kind of a mess--

 
Off the frame this is the back side--

 
And this the front--

 
When doubled over, similarly to how it will be seen on the model, the sheen of the painted (front) side may be okay.  Maybe less than actual oiled cloth (I'm not even sure!), but as is typical with scale models, gloss looks better if it's toned down--

 
So I will try another piece.   I'll build up the layers with diluted paint, until the fiber is filled in evenly without brush marks.  I'm also using a much larger brush.  I don't feel like I'm "scrubbing" into the material nearly as much.  After the second coat it was much more opaque than the first attempt, even though I don't think the paint was any thicker.  This is coat number three.  I'll need at least one more--

 
All for now,
Ron
 
 

Dave, I think I want a light color for the hammock crane line, so actual rope seems to be my best option.  But I appreciate the suggestion.  And we do tend to be pack-rats.  "Never know when I might need this!" 
 
Dowmer, yes, Silkspan seems to be an option here, and you will see my attempt at it.
 
As I work on the hammock cranes, soldering the pins on and finishing them, I am also sidetracking into another project: making a bunch of metal thimbles for the rigging.  When I get to blackening the hammock cranes, I want to be efficient, and the thimbles are something else that needs to be blackened, that I will need soon; so I will show my progress on making those now.
 
Basically, I need to cut pieces of brass tubing, and flare them out.  Easier said than done.  They are tiny.  To cut the pieces, I first tried using a my Zona saw with the 1mm OD wire held in a groove of scrap wood.  Nope.  Then I tried the rotary tool with a cut-off wheel.  Nope.  The biggest problems were holding the wire firmly enough to get a clean cut, and not losing the tiny cut-off piece. 
 
I settled on a method where I drilled a 1mm hole through a piece of scrap wood, and pushed the tube through--
 
The tube was then pushed back flush with the edge, and sawed through--

 
Then, a pin (which just happened to be the perfect diameter) was inserted into the end of the tube--

 
And the tube with the cut piece pushed through--

 
The pin held the cut off piece securely--

 
That piece after being sawn is too long, but it was made that way because I was afraid of snapping off the bit of wood on the edge, if I had made it thinner.  So the next step was to drill another hole in some scrap wood of the right thickness (this part is described in David Antscherl's TFFM)--


 
And the piece then filed--

 
This worked sometimes, but what began to happen more often (as the hole got a little loose, or my filing not square), is that the piece ended up with skewed ends, as on this one--

 
The next step was setting the thimble on a hard surface, and punching it with a modified nail set punch--




 
This took some practice to get a good result.   The end of the tube on the punch would flare, but not the bottom.  Then I would turn it over, and the flared end would just flare more.  After a few failures, I seemed to have better success if I barely started the flare, and then turned it over before punching again.   I had a success rate of about 1 in 5.  Partly because of the problem mentioned earlier about the skewed ends.  If they were skewed, no dice, it would just skew more when punched.   Here is a successful one, and another attached to a hook--

 
So decided to skip the filing step.  Maybe it would have worked just fine if the pieces were closer to the right length to begin with.  In the end I just pulled back a little (by eye) on the tube, rather than having it flush--

 
This gave me square ends, and the right length (more or less).  I cut 20 or 30 of these this way, but haven't started punching them into thimbles yet.  Hopefully I'll do better than 1 in 5.
 
 
Now for some exploration into the Silkspan hammock covers.  This is my first experience with this material.
 
I made a frame out of old unused paint stirring sticks, and cut a piece of medium weight Silkspan--

 
This was then wet, and taped to the frame to dry--

 
Painter's tape is probably not the best choice, because it doesn't stick well when wet, but it seemed to work well enough.  I then used some acrylic paint, diluted just a bit with water, and painted it on--

 
After drying partway it looked opaque enough, but when I held it up to the light, it seemed pretty transparent--

 
I'm going to give it another coat, and see how it looks.
 
So, a number of things going on:  fine tuning the hammock cranes (which consists of rounding the cut off ends and general straightening), making thimbles, and experimenting with the Silkspan for the hammock covering--
 
 
All for now,
Ron
 

Another brief update:
 
I tried making some rope small enough, but with the thread I had on hand, it wasn't quite thin enough.   After thinking I might have to try enlarging the holes, I found (I think it came from Bluejacket) a spool of rope in my small stock that fit!   I will dye it just a shade darker--
   
You can't quite make out that the line is through the hole, so--

 
I also tested soldering the pins.  Since they won't be seen, I can overlap the brass, instead of butting it.   This is a much easier joint to solder.   I clearly missed centering the pin on this one (I maintain it moved while soldering!), but again, it won't show, and I'll drill each hole in the cap rail "custom" to match.  (Or maybe I won't use this one!)  I think I have now satisfied myself that these will work. 
 
While I continue the production of the hammock cranes, I am considering how to replicate the oiled cloth (which I guess it is) as shown on Glenn's model that covers the hammocks stowed within these cranes. 
 
All for now,
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Hi, and thanks, 64Pacifico, and thanks for the like
 
 

Experiments with Silkspan continue. 
 
After applying another couple of coats to the example in the previous post, I decided to try the "thin" Silkspan; the above post used the "medium" variety.   There is a big difference in thickness.  After wetting and taping a piece to my frame (and letting it dry), this time I applied acrylic matte medium to both sides of the Silkspan, hoping that this would fill in the fibers, so that I wouldn't need as many coats of black paint to make it opaque--

 
This seemed to work, and after three (I think) coats of black, I had a nice smooth, opaque surface-

 
While coats of paint were drying, I glued eight thin pieces of wood into a block, to shape into the end caps for the hammocks--

 
I decided that I would follow the angle of the bulwarks, inner and outer, with the hammock cranes and the end pieces--

 
However, my shaping had reduced the "block" too much.  It was too definitely too short, and too narrow for comfort, so I glued another set together-

 
These should work--

 
I separated them, and because some had slight marks from prying them apart I sorted and numbered them to put the "bad" sides inward where they would be covered by the hammock cloth and not seen.  I drilled holes in the bottom for pins--

 
I marked and drilled the holes for the six lines in the end caps.  Here also are two sheets of painted "thin" Silkspan, which I will use--

 
I'll now experiment with how to shape and place the hammock cloth within the cranes, and epoxy the cranes and end pieces to the ship.   I'll probably need another sheet of Silkspan also.
 
All for now,
Ron 

Experiments with Silkspan continue. 
 
After applying another couple of coats to the example in the previous post, I decided to try the "thin" Silkspan; the above post used the "medium" variety.   There is a big difference in thickness.  After wetting and taping a piece to my frame (and letting it dry), this time I applied acrylic matte medium to both sides of the Silkspan, hoping that this would fill in the fibers, so that I wouldn't need as many coats of black paint to make it opaque--

 
This seemed to work, and after three (I think) coats of black, I had a nice smooth, opaque surface-

 
While coats of paint were drying, I glued eight thin pieces of wood into a block, to shape into the end caps for the hammocks--

 
I decided that I would follow the angle of the bulwarks, inner and outer, with the hammock cranes and the end pieces--

 
However, my shaping had reduced the "block" too much.  It was too definitely too short, and too narrow for comfort, so I glued another set together-

 
These should work--

 
I separated them, and because some had slight marks from prying them apart I sorted and numbered them to put the "bad" sides inward where they would be covered by the hammock cloth and not seen.  I drilled holes in the bottom for pins--

 
I marked and drilled the holes for the six lines in the end caps.  Here also are two sheets of painted "thin" Silkspan, which I will use--

 
I'll now experiment with how to shape and place the hammock cloth within the cranes, and epoxy the cranes and end pieces to the ship.   I'll probably need another sheet of Silkspan also.
 
All for now,
Ron 

Experiments with Silkspan continue. 
 
After applying another couple of coats to the example in the previous post, I decided to try the "thin" Silkspan; the above post used the "medium" variety.   There is a big difference in thickness.  After wetting and taping a piece to my frame (and letting it dry), this time I applied acrylic matte medium to both sides of the Silkspan, hoping that this would fill in the fibers, so that I wouldn't need as many coats of black paint to make it opaque--

 
This seemed to work, and after three (I think) coats of black, I had a nice smooth, opaque surface-

 
While coats of paint were drying, I glued eight thin pieces of wood into a block, to shape into the end caps for the hammocks--

 
I decided that I would follow the angle of the bulwarks, inner and outer, with the hammock cranes and the end pieces--

 
However, my shaping had reduced the "block" too much.  It was too definitely too short, and too narrow for comfort, so I glued another set together-

 
These should work--

 
I separated them, and because some had slight marks from prying them apart I sorted and numbered them to put the "bad" sides inward where they would be covered by the hammock cloth and not seen.  I drilled holes in the bottom for pins--

 
I marked and drilled the holes for the six lines in the end caps.  Here also are two sheets of painted "thin" Silkspan, which I will use--

 
I'll now experiment with how to shape and place the hammock cloth within the cranes, and epoxy the cranes and end pieces to the ship.   I'll probably need another sheet of Silkspan also.
 
All for now,
Ron 

Experiments with Silkspan continue. 
 
After applying another couple of coats to the example in the previous post, I decided to try the "thin" Silkspan; the above post used the "medium" variety.   There is a big difference in thickness.  After wetting and taping a piece to my frame (and letting it dry), this time I applied acrylic matte medium to both sides of the Silkspan, hoping that this would fill in the fibers, so that I wouldn't need as many coats of black paint to make it opaque--

 
This seemed to work, and after three (I think) coats of black, I had a nice smooth, opaque surface-

 
While coats of paint were drying, I glued eight thin pieces of wood into a block, to shape into the end caps for the hammocks--

 
I decided that I would follow the angle of the bulwarks, inner and outer, with the hammock cranes and the end pieces--

 
However, my shaping had reduced the "block" too much.  It was too definitely too short, and too narrow for comfort, so I glued another set together-

 
These should work--

 
I separated them, and because some had slight marks from prying them apart I sorted and numbered them to put the "bad" sides inward where they would be covered by the hammock cloth and not seen.  I drilled holes in the bottom for pins--

 
I marked and drilled the holes for the six lines in the end caps.  Here also are two sheets of painted "thin" Silkspan, which I will use--

 
I'll now experiment with how to shape and place the hammock cloth within the cranes, and epoxy the cranes and end pieces to the ship.   I'll probably need another sheet of Silkspan also.
 
All for now,
Ron 

Working progress

Experiments with Silkspan continue. 
 
After applying another couple of coats to the example in the previous post, I decided to try the "thin" Silkspan; the above post used the "medium" variety.   There is a big difference in thickness.  After wetting and taping a piece to my frame (and letting it dry), this time I applied acrylic matte medium to both sides of the Silkspan, hoping that this would fill in the fibers, so that I wouldn't need as many coats of black paint to make it opaque--

 
This seemed to work, and after three (I think) coats of black, I had a nice smooth, opaque surface-

 
While coats of paint were drying, I glued eight thin pieces of wood into a block, to shape into the end caps for the hammocks--

 
I decided that I would follow the angle of the bulwarks, inner and outer, with the hammock cranes and the end pieces--

 
However, my shaping had reduced the "block" too much.  It was too definitely too short, and too narrow for comfort, so I glued another set together-

 
These should work--

 
I separated them, and because some had slight marks from prying them apart I sorted and numbered them to put the "bad" sides inward where they would be covered by the hammock cloth and not seen.  I drilled holes in the bottom for pins--

 
I marked and drilled the holes for the six lines in the end caps.  Here also are two sheets of painted "thin" Silkspan, which I will use--

 
I'll now experiment with how to shape and place the hammock cloth within the cranes, and epoxy the cranes and end pieces to the ship.   I'll probably need another sheet of Silkspan also.
 
All for now,
Ron 

I completed #5 (glue the boxing joint), and I'm not sure how this happened, but it was not glued precisely correctly.  The upper end of the stem was not quite far enough forward.  I'm mystified by this, as it was good when I glued and clamped it.   Wishing not to start off on the wrong foot, I made the decision to re-glue it.  For the first time (and not the last, be assured), the isopropyl alcohol comes out--
 

 
 
With the tinted glue, this is not a pretty sight--
 

 
 
In cleaning up the residue, I kind of massacred the joint.  This is a shame, as it will be visible.  After re-gluing, the boxing joint doesn't look bad, but the first attempt looked almost perfect, though it was unfortunately "off" somehow.  The re-glued stem positioning looks good though, and this is probably more important than the boxing joint LOOKING perfect; but it better not somehow change again overnight!!
 
Here is the newly glued stem, and the blanks for the bollard timbers cut out.  The paper pattern is on the underside of the bollard timbers, but the picture was better showing the wood side--
 

 
 
Ron
 
 

I have chosen my poison.  It is a mixture of the TFFM, Naiad, and Euryalus poisons; we'll see if it does me in.
 
The order of immediate business will be thus:
 
1) Taper the keel fore and aft
2) Glue the upper apron on the stem
3) Trim and angle the top of the stem
4) Taper the stem
5) Glue the boxing joint, attaching the stem (minus the lower apron)
6) Make the bollard timbers
7) Using the bollard timbers, verify and cut the bearding line in the lower apron
😎 Glue the lower apron on  [sorry "8" then ")" gives me "😎" and I can't seem to get rid of it]
9) Make and glue the sternpost, inner sternpost, and deadwood
10) Make and glue the rising wood
11) Cut the keel and stem rabbet 
 
The Knee of the Head can be assembled at any time, but it will not be permanently attached until after the hawse timber work is done.
 
At this time I have done #1 (keel tapering), #2 (upper apron glued), and #3 (stem end angle).
 
I am most of the way through #4 (tapering the stem)
 

 

 
 
On the paper pattern of the Lower Apron, about an inch away from the end, I have marked the end of the bearding line with a pencil (it didn't print on my pattern).  Forward of that line, the Lower Apron will match the width of the stem, and aft it will be wider, and shaped to make the bearding line "step". 
 

 

 

 
 
I still have a bit of sanding to get the taper to the right thickness around the middle of the stem.  To help judge the taper, I held the stem over the end view of it on the plans.  Panic.  On the drawing the upper end of the stem is wider (by about 1.5 inches) than my stem.   How did I get this wrong?!!!!   I went back and checked the Euryalus text, and the Naiad text and Naiad drawings (since up to now, sided dimensions have been identical).   The Euryalus text calls for the stem to be 20" at the upper end, which is what I have.   So there seems to be a discrepancy here.    Naiad also calls for 20".   I think I am okay then, and this will just make the bollard timbers each .75 inches wider at the top, to compensate (at least as they are shown on the drawings, which show the stem head at about 21.5 inches).   They'll actually be closer in width to the rest of the hawse timbers in that case.  Panic relieved, unless someone points out an error in my analysis of this.
 
I've also cut out some future work, though I'm not quite ready for these yet--according to my poison plan.
 

 
 
Ron
 
 

Thanks Ben, and all, for comments and likes!
 
Here is the stem, sitting in place--
 

 
 
The three stem pieces are glued, but not the boxing joint.
 
I've been shaping the two apron pieces.  Here is the lower apron sitting in place--
 

 
 
And the upper apron added--
 

 
 
The stem and apron pieces are held together here just by finger pressure--
 

 
 
I'm reading between TFFM, the Naiad book, and of course, the Euryalus book, for fabrication techniques and instructions, and importantly, the order to proceed.  They all are a little different from each other in that respect (that, or my reading comprehension is very poor).  I.E. when to glue certain joints, when to taper the keel and stem, when to cut the keel and stem rabbets, etc.   I'm delaying gluing any of the stem for now, and planning whether this is also the best time to cut and shape the bow pieces.  
 
Ron 
 

I came downstairs this morning, and the sunlight was peeping through a curtained window--
 

 
 
I had placed the Scale Captain there last night!
 
Ron

I have spent a lot of time on the boxing joint.  It is dry fit here.  The stem is now centered side-to-side, and reaches the forward point as it should--
 
 
 
 
A close-up shows that there is some final tidying up of the upper curve to do, as it reaches the aft end of the joint--
 

 
 
Here it is after that final shaping has been done--
 

 

 
 
There are still many pieces to be shaped and fit before the boxing joint can be glued.  The next piece will be the tricky lower apron, and here it is roughly cut out, and and held in place against the stem and keel to test its initial fit--
 

 
 
I  have also marked and drilled the holes for the keel scarf bolts, and lightly marked the rabbet line--
 

 
 
Ron