Aussie048

Admiral's bureau. The most difficult thing was to glue these tiny knobs on the drawers. To do this properly, I used a microscopic amount of water glue to the paper.

To be continued...
   

I put a sturdy stop on my plank cutter at  a slightly larger dimension need for the 120 wood pieces need for the gunport covers. I will then glue two of them together with PVA and when dry, precision sand them all to the same dimension. That's the easy [part. Hinges are next.

I made a proof of concept gunport door. The concept seems to work just fine. I used regular PVA glue to join the two wooden pieces and then CA glue to attach the hinges. I drilled two 1mm holes in a piece of Sapele hull material and them made a small horizontal slit with a pointy razor knife to align with the flat hinge. It pinned the door to the hull very tightly. When it will be glued it will be very robust. Now I have to figure out an assembly line of jigs so the wood is all the same size and the hinges are cut in equal halves and the hinges get glued onto the wood in the exact same spot over and over all lined up. I have no idea how to do all that, but I'm thinking real hard. Any ideas?

Hamilton, BE, ZyXuz and Ferit - thanks for the kind words and encouragement. It helps to keep me on track.Thanks for the likes as well.
 
BE - I notice from your Pegasus log that you have been to deepest, darkest Herefordshire. If you cross the Malvern Hills from there you end up in the land where I was bred, born and brung up. My kids hate the place because "nothing happens there"!
 
Well I have had a very nice long weekend in Edinburgh with my wife. I thoroughly recommend a visit - a lovely city with friendly residents. 
 
The National Museum of Scotland is in the centre which has amongst its exhibits a collection of boat and ship models. Most are not contemporary with the period that they represent but they are interesting none the less. I have taken some photos although the quality of them is not good. The models are in cases made with relatively small panes of glass and some  have mirrors behind. When I have sorted them I will put them in to a separate log. In the meantime here is one of them that took my fancy. 
 
It is a 20th century model of the clipper schooner Bonnie Lass of 1868.
 

 
If you want to see descriptions and official photos of the collection go to http://nms.scran.ac.uk/ and put in to the search field (top right on the page) key words "model ship" to get the ship collection or "model boat" to get the boat collection.
 
So - on with the old wreck.
 
I finished planking the hoods with some closure planks. Then it was time for some crank handles. I cut some short lengths of 1mm diameter brass tube, which has a 0.4mm internal bore (this stuff is great for making working hinges). Fitted through the holes in the hoods in this way looks a bit like roddings. The cranks fore and aft of the pump bodies were made from 0.4mm diameter N/S wire. This plugs in to the brass tubing nicely. The sides of the cranks were made from 1mm wide strip of N/S which I drilled with 0.5mm holes every 4mm along its length then cut the individual parts from this. Using a 0.5mm hole for the 0.4mm wire allows a small gap for solder to enter to make a better joint.
 
I tried these out on the jig to check the fit. The cranks are yet to be blackened. I will also slice up some very small lengths of the tubing to attach the cranks to the bitt uprights for more support. 
 
I think I should have used slightly thicker material for the ends of the cranks.
 

 
I then tried a dry assembly in the actual waist area to make sure all was well. It is getting very tight in there which will make rigging a bit tricky. Also having one of the pumps open may not be a good idea in this small space. I will have to give this some more thought.
 
You may notice all the cranks hang downwards - this is because they are not as yet fixed so gravity is taking over. 
 

 
There are a lot of items in the waist which have not been permanently fixed in place yet. These are waiting on the canon rigging to be completed. Perhaps I should get stuck in to that now - I have put it off long enough.   

With some more progress made on the hull up to the point where top and bottom have met at both the bow and stern, I decided to work on the stern itself.
 
I fitted the stern post and trimmed back the keel and after a few other modifications to shape/size everything fitted nicely. I planked the stern itself aside from two small area's at the very top where the upper planking hasn't been done yet.
 
I planked the curved transom, or part of it, so I could get the hawse and tiller holes cut to shape.
 

Progress update. I'm quite happy with the way the 2nd planking is going so far, happy enough to provide some really close up photo's...
 

I have quite a few changes to the original model, including re-planking the sides, adding the anti ramming plates and ballistas. I ran out of dowel for the oars, only had enough to make a third of them!
 
 

 

 

I thought it would look kind of nice to bend a piece of wood and attach it to the inside face of the hook. I had a little left of the boxwood I made the wales from. My guitar side bender wouldn't take this tight of a curve, so I used a soldering iron. It took me a little while to get the scorch marks off. I think I'd like to add 3 bolt heads--one to each side of the curved piece and one in the middle. Any thoughts on how to do this?
 
Thanks so much for reading!
 
 
Steve

The plans show a breasthook of sorts joining the two bow railcap pieces at the stem. So, I cut out a space for the breasthook and made a piece from the same walnut to fit the space, but with the grain running side to side. Next, I found a circle on a template that matched the inside radius nicely. I sanded this radius unto the back of the breasthook on the spindle sander. I had to cut a slanted notch down the front of the breasthook so it would accept the stem.Thanks for looking!
 
Steve

In the area where I stay, there are no expositions are model ship only.
The kind of exposition we have are for what I would call Mixed hobby!

Earlier than my steering wheel endeavor I had fabricated the cat heads and installed the chainplates. All of the deck furniture remains only temporarily placed for context.
 


 


 
Funny thing about the deadeyes - they don't want to stand upright, as in the photos. They lay over, free on their pivot pins...
 
And last, but not least, thank you to all those who've 'liked' my updates!
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

Saturday, November 2, 2013
 
Probably I will not publish new progresses in next fortnight, so I add now a bit of new images, shot this time with the traditional photo camera instead of the smartphone.
 
There are small changes from the last published: I reinforced all over the gunwale which now looks very strong (one of my fixations ..) and I covered with planks the small area of the deck just over the well-known element 46b I added later.
 
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High Resolution Images:
01 http://i58.servimg.com/u/f58/12/86/14/83/p1090617.jpg
02 http://i58.servimg.com/u/f58/12/86/14/83/p1090618.jpg
03 http://i58.servimg.com/u/f58/12/86/14/83/p1090624.jpg
04 http://i58.servimg.com/u/f58/12/86/14/83/p1090620.jpg
05 http://i58.servimg.com/u/f58/12/86/14/83/p1090621.jpg
06 http://i58.servimg.com/u/f58/12/86/14/83/p1090622.jpg
07 http://i58.servimg.com/u/f58/12/86/14/83/p1090625.jpg

Hello again Shipmates!
 
Wow been a building on my little bitty boat every night for at least 4 hours.  So far about 80 hours. Getting closer though!. Since we had our last GAM (Whaling Term for a meeting of two whalers at sea,) I have made and installed the boom rest on the Spenser Mast and stepped the Mast. Doublings and top mast are made and installed. My Anchor Handing gear is also rigged but not tightened yet.
 
I have made and catted the little boats own anchors.  Railings are installed. About 10 cleats still need to be made not counting those on the boom.
 
Gosh I also have made some coils for the rigging and gear thus installed.  I have installed temp belaying pins. I am working on the scraper idea to make the pins. A hacksaw blade with a profile cut into it and held against a rotating bit of stock.  So far cherry wood  flies into a billion slivers. Bass wood turns into a fuzz ball. Next I will see what brass does.
 
The use of surgical sutures works pretty good. It also has the advantage in this small scale of being realistically rope laid.
 
I want to add an anchor buoy but I cannot find a ref. to tell me what color they might be. If anyone has the 411 please help me out. I want to put a buoy on my Hoy.
 
 
In other news.  It was on this date in 1986 that the submarine I was on USS RAY SSN 653 and two other submarines surfaced together at the North Pole. First time ever in history.  

Galley stove , continued....
 
 
 
 
 

painted, cooking side
 

spit roast side
 

brass parts fitted
 

 
 

 

stove heaved into ist place
 

view through portside gunport
 

Oh, oh, there is not going to be much place for the cook....
 
 
 
Build log part 32 to follow...
 
Nils

Build log part 30
 
 
next will be the galley stove I did yesterday, but I still Need to fit the spit roast with its Elevation devices
 
 
 
 

this is the stove raw material, 20mm square bar
 

cutting into shape, and an Adapter for the chimney pipe
 

cutting out the fireing and baking space
 

drip pan for the spit roast side, Support logs and baseplate
 

further Fitting out....
 

 

 

riveting the corners
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
to be continued....
 
Nils

Thanks. It took bit longer to get back to actually building Rattlesnake. But anyway, in past three or so weeks I've completed rigging cannons, which also made hull complete except figurehead, and built anchors. I have photos of anchors only.
 
First treenails for two anchor stocks by cutting beech wedges from 0.8 mm strip:

 
Anchors stock halves were cut from walnut, glued, holes drilled for treenails and treenails tapped in:

 
"Iron" bands for stocks were cut from watercolour paper dyed with india ink. The strips were soaked in thinned white glue (watercolour paper doesn't get fuzzy when wet) and held in place with locking tweezers:

 
Anchor rings were cut from brass wire wound around x-acto blade handle:

 
And finally tung oil (which made treenails almost invisible), anchor assembly and puddening:

 
The pictures show only one anchor, but there are two identical ones as in plans. I think in reality there would be more, and more varied in size, but I'm building this one quite much "out-of-the-plans".
 
Next: will calculate how much I need to order wood for masts and spars. I think I'll also order rigging line ready-made instead of building a ropewalk; calculating how much line I'll need will be a challenge.

Hello,
 
Fresh start is sometimes a good thing, the new forum looks much nicer and already while attaching "new" pictures it's evident that usability is improved.
 
Anyway, I'll try to recapture my log so far with five pictures of reaching the main stages, which I consider to be checking what's inside of timbering set (the fun part), completing framing, planking, deck support structures, carvings and current situation.
 
I must warn that there's slow phase in my build at the moment -- plastic models (not ships!) are taking more time than wooden ones, and I intend to build road bike wheel set before summer as well -- but I know myself and I'll return to this build eventually.  I'm mainly posting this first post already now mainly to say I'm OK with the full reset.
 
(My La Belle (1684) build is on hold, and I'll resume its log once I actually continue working on it.)
 
Pasi

Wow i didn't realize it had been that long since the last time i posted.
I had to prioritize several other projects @ home & work, .. but now “I have again a bit of spare time left” ..
So I immediately continued with the ST build and here’s the progress so far.
 
I had to think a bit about what to do with the next part of the build: “the stern”, as you can see the provided stern is also made of cast metal .
 

 
I have the intentions to build it from scratch, but I’m not sure how to do it ..
As I have some ideas in my head, I decided just to start with trying-out a few techniques to see if I can make it from wood and just go along with it.
 
I decided to start with the columns (as this seemed to be the easiest part)
Down below an quick visual go-through on how i made them..
 

 

 

 

 

 
Next on the list: windows
The provided windows are nice, but doesn’t seem to fit that perfect and are not made of wood.
 

 
So I came up with the following:
I Leveled several sheets of thin veneer (0.6mm) in between 2Pcs. of thicker wood
 

 
Cutting app. 0.3 mm grooves with equal distance in them with a small router.
 

 
Cutting them on the table-saw in thin strips.
 

 
And “combining” the strips into one “big window”
 

 
And here's the very first "try-out" assembly and result of my efforts so far 
 

And here are the pictures I promised. I am finding that a club build is a great way to learn and make progress. When you know your fellow builders will be dropping by you make an extra effort to spend a bit more time with the project.
 
These shots were done in Macro. OMG I will be showing all my warts!
 
2 comments. You will see that I made some custom spacers to place between bulkheads as the glue dried. And I found the notches in the false keel to be a bit too tight. So I cut a small strip of sand paper and folded it over a hull plank to carefully sand the notch.

On the home straight to finish the hull component.
 
This entry covers the remaining steps.
 
Photo 52
 

 
Steps 113 - 125
 
113, 114 & 115 - 1st Battery stairs
116, 117 & 118 - Lower deck stairs
119, 120 & 121 - Bales
122, 123, 124 & 125 - Barrels and Stones were installed  at a later stage and shown in a following photo
 
Photo 53
 

 
The photo in the instructions show the gun port covers in an open position but do not show anything holding them open. I am presuming that they want them glued open.
 
Photo 54
 

 
Instead, I drilled each port and added a small rope which is attached through a hole in the hull.
 
Photo 55
 

 
Steps 126 - 133
 
126, 127 & 128 - Large guns
126, 128 & 129 - 2nd and 3rd guns,
130, 131, 132 & 133 - Small guns
 
Photo 56
 

 
Steps 122 - 125
 
122 , 123 & 125 - Barrels
124 - Stones
 
Photo 57
 

 
Steps 134 - 138
 
134, 135 & 136 - Base
137 - Nameplate
138 - Ropes
 
 
And now we come to the completed Hull.
 
Photos 58 to 62
 
Aft view

 
Forward view

 
Port view

 
Starboard view

 
Top view

 
As you will be aware from previous comments, the build so far has been an interesting one. I have learnt a lot of lessons and appreciated your feedback.
 
I think I will do some serious reading and checking on the internet before I start the masts and rigging.
 
I hope you have enjoyed the build so far.
 
Daryl
 

Back again. I am now getting into all the "fancy bits". I think it is looking good and I am still enjoying the build.
 
This entry covers steps 99 to 112.
 
Photo 47
 

 
99, 100 & 101 - Gun ports, frames and covers
 
Photo 48
 

 
102 - Side pin racks
H - Belaying pins
 
Photo 49
 

 
Deck Pulleys before installation
 
Photo 50
 

 
B - Eyebolts
C - Slings
E - 4mm Pulleys
 
Photo 51
 

 
F - 5mm Clump block
G - 4mm Clump block
103 - Clump block slings
104 - Chain plates
105, 106 & 107 - Loft
108 & 109 - Mainmast rail & columns
110 - Ammunition
111 & 112 - Waist stairs
 
 
 
 

Everything is running nice and smooth at present. This entry covers steps 84 - 98.
 
Photo 41
 

 
84 - Interior Bulwark lining and
85 & 86 - Pin racks
 
Photo 42
 

 
87 - 1st battery rubbing strakes and
88 - Exterior lining
 
Photo 43
 

 
89 - 2nd and 3rd battery rubbing strakes
 
Photo 44
 

 
90 - Exterior lining of batteries with rough cut out of gun ports
 
Photo 45
 

 
91 - Gunwales,
92 - Waist beam,
93 - Channels,
94 - Channels brackets,
95 & 96 - Small and Large ladder bases and
97 & 98 - Small and Large rungs
 
 
Photo 46
 

 
 
Whole exterior surface sanded and varnished.

I glued the deadeye strop to the channel. Glued the plate to the hull after scratching off paint for better a hold. Drilled holes for nailing. Finished touching up with paint.
 

I started the day by laying out and cutting out a new Port side Cockpit / Cabin Coaming for Keel # 5 . I then put the Coamings In rubbing alcohol . I then sanded Keel # 3 and got it ready for the second coat of primer. 2 hours later the Coamings were plyable and bent easily , I then sized and installed them on Keel # 5 . I then sprayed primer on Keel # 3, wich I now know I should have waited  ( it's still to cold outside ) and made a mess out of it . I then sanded the Cockpit / Cabin Coamings ( I will do this again using  1/16" thick material ), I like the look .  Here are the results

Another view of the bow davits.
 
I'm going to start the mass production of the lower gunport covers. I've never done that before, so any tips and tricks you all may have will definitely help.