Aussie048

Hi Sjors
 
Just for you my friend .
 
Denis.

Hi everyone,
 
Big event today. I started on the stern before Christmas, and today I finally glued everything except the upper and lower counter moldings and the two vertical counter timbers above the gun port cills. The moldings need profiles shaped before gluing, and the remaining counter timbers need a little more fitting. It is all looking shipshape!
 
Very, very slow progress on this. Good thing I am not doing this for money....
 
Best wishes,
 
Mark
 
 

Hi everyone,
 
So I finally figured out--I think--the intersection of the helm port transom and the stern post. After reviewing the photos of the original Bellona model very carefully, the helm port transom clearly intersects the stern post a little aft of center, with a bit of stern post both fore and aft of the helm port transom. So what kind of joint would suit this?
 
I considered a bridle joint intersecting the stern post. But I abandoned this idea, because this would weaken the post at the top by splitting it in two for the helm port transom to pass through. And I began to think that the continuity of the transom all the way across the stern for structural integrity was not necessary anyway. If the transom is split to save the integrity of the post, the two pieces of the transom still bridge on either side between two strong and stable anchoring points, the outer counter timber and the stern post. Furthermore, the upper deck transom (not shown yet in model or drawing) is only a little way above and aft of the helm port transom, and it bridges entirely across the stern giving all the transverse structural integrity needed here.
 
So accepting a split helm port transom, the joint to the stern post is either a dovetail or a mortise and tenon. Maybe I decided on the latter because I did not see how easily I would cut a dovetail in the top or the stern post at this late date. But I prefer to think I decided on the mortise and tenon because it would leave the stern post most structurally integral, and would provide no joint on top of the post for admitting water. This is my story and I am sticking with it....
 
The drawing shows the intersection without the lower chock for clarity, while the model shows the chocks in place, hiding the lower piece of the helm port transom on either side of the stern post.
 
Best wishes,
 
Mark
 
 

Hello Everyone...Well, today's the day that I can say ...The standing rigging has been completed.  I'll probably take a few days off to regain my psychie before I begin the next and I believe, the hardest phase of all, the running rigging.  I have been meaning to say for some etime that one can read the caption of a photo by placing one's mouse over the picture.  I guess I'm too lazy to write additional captions so please, if you are interested, place your mouse on the photo for the caption.  Here are the final pictures that bring my standing rigging to completion.
 
I wish everyone a very happy evening
 
Jerry

Ok, first major mistake!  I was looking forward to placing the half frames on the stern area and I kept coming back to the area just posterior to the last full frame.  Something didn't add up.  After going back to the plans and going over some photos in the practicum I finally noticed what I had done.  Apparently when build up the stern post I had switched the 'deadwood' (term used in the practicum) around.  Having switched this "around" I had inadvertently left a gap between the deadwood and the rest of the keel.  You can see this in my previous photos as well as here.
 

 
So I used some 91% isopropyl alcohol to soak into the glue joints and was able to debond them.
 

 
Unfortunately I did break a very small piece of the sternpost off.
 

 
It was then a simple matter of letting them dry, sanding and fitting the pieces back together.  
 

 
Welp, you live and learn.  I think it looks pretty good for a redo.  It makes more sense as well.

Actually the poly is more for the sides of the frames as once they are installed there is a really small area to work with (only 1/2 cm or so between the frames) if I was to do that later.  Also now when I am sanding/fairing the inside and outside of the hull I can see exactly where I have sanded as the poly does sand off nicely.  It can be reapplied after fairing and is no problem blending into areas which were previously poly'd.
 
I did just a few passes with the sanding stick on the second frame here and i think you can see in the picture where the poly was sanded off versus the area where it was still present.
 

 
Oh My!  The close up pictures really shows up the gaps and scratches....

So taking a break for the rest of the night but I will be reading ahead to see about the cant frames.
 

First couple of frames placed!  Starting to look like a ship!
 

 
I should be able to get the rest up tonight.  Then start the work on the cant frames which are going to be a bit harder I think.

First completed Cannon done! Just need to make 3 more just like it and then the mounts for em.
 
Its also VIDEO time again!! Who's got the popcorn???
 

 

 

 
 
AL
 
 

Today I made mini pulleys. 
I really enjoyed making them

Working on the lower yards now, starting with the foremast. Lots of little details to work through here, especially with the attachment of so many blocks. Attaching this to the mast will be interesting with all the other rigging in there....
 
~john
 

Happy Sunday!  The topsail yards are completed on both masts. I get to go back to the basement and work on the lathe one last time for this project and build the lower spars. It was fun making the spars parallel and level. Here are two shots from today's work, one with flash and one without. I still have to trim some knots and twist the spars to their proper orientation.
 
~john

I've been working on the yards now, starting with the topsail foremast yard. The mini lathe was a real help in getting the shape quickly and evenly. Once the cleats were glued on and the blocks seized onto the tips, rigging the yard was a real challenge! A couple of hours later, the results are in. I am pretty happy about it overall. Now.... three more to go!    
 
~john

Thanks for the kind words all. I am happy to report that I am enjoying this a lot, although I am far from a woodworker ;-) 
 
Here is the Sultana as of March 27th. I have taken a little break to work on the booms and spars to complete the wooden pieces. The rigging is the major drama now. I am enjoying it a lot. It's like a meditation, really - so much focus. I am loving my magnifying headset. I am looking constantly for tools, and making some, that allow me to get into the mass of rigging lines without damage. I admit, I would be lost without the various available tutorials on the Sultana. It is an art to understand the model plans.... so with the combination of tutorials and the reading of old ship rigging books, I am making good headway. The devil is in the details, as they say. Every little thread counts. 
 
~john
 

 
 

I started a couple of months ago on the Sultana as my first wood ship model build and have been lurking about these forums for quite some time. I must admit, there is a HUGE wealth of knowledge here, and for that I am most thankful to you all. Thank you!  I probably would have hung up my tools for another year without this place. 
 
My background: I love to work with my hands, but I am not a woodworker historically. I have build lots of airplane models, starting from plastic kits decades ago, to balsa, to remote control and such. I got really good at that, and still have many hanging around the house.  I also got into HO and N scale railroad modeling with two large layouts in the basement. Thinking that now was the time to take on the dream of building some wooden ships, I researched a bit and decided to take the plunge. I must admit, there have been some stumbles along the way. 
 
Errors along the way: how does one really do a good job of curve-fitting a solid wood hull? I need to see this one in action to really "get it". I almost think that planking would be easier. 😉  I messed up the stern a bit and have found the joys of using wood filler as a patch solution. It has saved me at least twice. 
 
Current status: I am rigging. I really like this part.... so ... here are some images of along the way... the last are the most recent.  I promise to be better about logging my work as it is in progress. I should have joined the group earlier! 
 
~johnb
 
 

work with the hull completely finished

Another small, but tedious, step forward. The next batch of guns have been made up, mounted and rigged. I also added some more deck ringbolts. As with the prior gun batches, these were done with the kit barrels, modified Lumberyard carriage kits and blocks and rigging line from Chuck. I have one last batch of 8 guns left to do, but these will wait for a while.
 
Next up will be work on the pumps and the bitts for the main mast, as well as the remaining framing for the quarterdeck. I'm also working on the sizing of the various rigging lines, so that I can add the lines that need to be belayed before their attachment points become inaccessible because of the deck framing.
 
Bob

I started the deck planking today, at least for the main deck anyway. It's meant to be planked all the way to the stern but I worked out that a lot of that wouldn't be visible so I marked out the area that would be seen and planked that only.
 
I finally found a wood/marker combination that doesn't bleed, so I tried a different method of caulking, using a marker instead. Seems to have turned out quite well.
 
The deck is meant to be planked in single lengths but this would mean simulating the joints between planks which if I did as normal with a pencil wouldn't match the longditudal caulking, so I decided to cut the planks into 7cm lengths, done intentionally so I would end up with a 1cm stagger ever 4th plank. Don't ask me why I just think it looks better, slightly less uniform. (I build for asthetics, not accuracy...within reason).
 
Progress so far:
 

I've finished attaching all of the frames to the keel and fairing them as needed. She has quite a pointy bow so quite a lot had to come off there. Not so much at the stern, more just to ensure the planks have 100% frame to lay against.
 
I marked out the locations of the frames on the false deck and pre-drilled a series of holes for pins. I fitted the deck in place and partially pinned, allowing still a gap for me to apply PVA into, then I pushed the pins fully in. Not my original intention but I was using some nice flat topped pins that I knew would sit flush with the deck and not foul the decking later.
 
This also allowed me to correct a very slight twist from the last but one frame at the stern, however I was able to persuade it go go into line and the pins helped keep it there as the glue dried. Now everything is perfectly square.
 

Me again!
 
I bought this as a gap filler as I knew I would end up waiting for partworks to arrive and so on.
This was also the first model I ever looked at when thinking about taking the plunge into wooden ship modelling years ago. Another good reason for this one is I've nver built a ship with sails, and this is quite simplified so will be a good way to get some experience.
 
If this one turns out ok I might think about building the Nina and the Pinta to go with her.
 
I've not done a great deal yet, just working my way down the keel to about half way so far. I've been bevelling the frames as I go, I personally find it just makes things easier, even more so as I can do the bulk of the removal before fixing the frame in place using a Mouse sander. Yes sort of cheating I know but it works.
 
Progress so far:
 

In this final series of shots, I wanted to show some views of the Launch on the skid beams. I fitted a couple of eye-bolts to the keelson of the boat and attached the lifting gear, to show the boat in the process of being readied for launching.  I haven't yet tied off the tackle falls, in case I change my mind about this, or some of you have better ideas for this aspect.
 

 

 

 

 
This last shot shows quite clearly the Fore course sheet and the Main course tack passing through their respective hull sheave blocks.
 

 
And that's your lot for now.  Hopefully it won't be too long before I start posting progress on the remaining boats.

This series of photos shows some close-ups of the rigging.  I wanted to try to capture some of the "busy-ness" of it all, especially under the tops and around the forecastle.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this, and the next two posts, I'll show some overall progress shots.  I decided that to celebrate the occasion of completing the rigging, it was time to try and take some decent photos.  So I bought some sheets of light blue cardboard from the local art supply shop (having read somewhere here that light blue provides the best background for ship photos), and made up a temporary photo booth.  Of course before I could do that, I had to completely clear off and clean the shipyard table too (an added bonus)!
 
I experimented a bit with camera settings, so the quality varies a bit, but here goes;
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi all,
 
Thanks again for all the kind words and also for all the "likes".  It's been a while since I've updated the log, partly because I haven't been home much, and partly because progress shots of rigging gets pretty monotonous after a while.  Anyway, the big news is, that having had the Easter weekend plus a few extra days of purely "me time", the rigging is at last complete!
 
Doin' the Happy Dance!      
 
But of course it wasn't all plain sailing to get there.  As we know, there have been a few modifications to the kit instructions, plans and parts required along the way.  So this post will show a couple of these, and then I've got a ton of photos of the completed rigging that I'll post in separate posts shortly.  That should keep you know who happy for at least a week!
 
First up, the Spiders.  These are metal straps that hold the block for the aft end of the Main course sheets.  The kit supplied parts were made of a soft and brittle metal that basically crumbled as soon as I tried to insert a block in the looped end.  No real drama here. After some earlier experience in making deadeye straps, the process was basically the same.  Form the shape with some brass wire, silver solder, blacken and there you go.  Here's a pic showing my two home made versions on the left versus what remains of one of the kit ones (the other was in several pieces): 
 

 
Next up, the Clue/Sheet/Tack block arrangement for both Main and Fore courses.  A relatively simple arrangement, though I decided to add shoulders to the Clue blocks.  You can see these in the photo.  The more observant of you will note that the shoulders are at the wrong end of the block! Doh!   No problem, I fixed this before final fitting.
 

 
As I was studying the plans and reading the equivalent section in Longridge, I realised that the kit had taken a major shortcut, that had I realised, I could have fixed easily during the hull construction stage.  Fixing it at three-quarters of the way through the rigging stage proved a little more challenging.  I am referring to the through-hull sheave blocks for the Main course tack and the Fore course sheet.  The kit directions would have you simply drill a hole in the ships side and poke a line through.  Not good enough! says I.  Making up the sheave blocks was fairly simple - I made these up in a gang, using some scrap timber and some brass rod for the sheaves themselves:
 

 
So how do you insert these into a completed hull, with lots of rigging already in place?  Well, you just start hacking away don't you? What could possibly go wrong? 
 
To be honest, I thought long and hard before I started this round of surgery.  Even after I made up the sheave blocks, I almost chickened out.  But then I remembered the stern re-build and how well that turned out.  So on I went.  First step was drilling a series of holes around the outline of where the sheave block would fit:
 

 
Then it was time to hack into it with a small key-hole type saw in the Exacto:
 

 
About now, you're probably thinking "he's nuts!" - yep, so was I........
 
But a little further work with a file, and it's not looking so bad:
 

 
Then it's fit the sheave blocks into their new home:
 

 

 
A touch of filler around the outside, and a lick of paint and it's done! 
 

 

 
The lead for the Main course Sheet through the Quaterdeck bulwark is supposed to be through a lead lined hole, but the kit again just indicates the hole...  This was a simple fix by cutting a piece of brass tube and blackening, then inserting in the hole.  No photos of this in progress, but you might be able to pick it out in the following posts.
 
The next three posts will show in order: some overall shots of progress to date, some close ups of the rigging, and some close ups of the launch in place on the skid beams.
 
I'm well satisfied with my "long" weekend's work.  I still have to make up eleventy gazillion rope coils (and yes, that's the right number - I counted them  ), make up some anchors, fit the quarter davits, and make some more boats.  I've decided that I'll make a Pinnace to join the Launch on the skid beams, and two Sea Cutters to hang from the quarter davits.  I think that boat making will be the next task - it will be nice to be making sawdust again instead of macrame!
 
 

In between projects I'm trying to trim the transom. Constructo just glues on simple single strips, so I've decided to try to emulate the stern trim on the Constitution as she sits in Boston harbor. My trouble is fat, shaky fingers trying to make fancy trim.