Aussie048

Well after work today i scratch built a stairway from some cypress of some discription it has a nice fine grain.. They are built at 75degrees and seem about right, number of treads are matched with that in the picture.. about 6.
 
Next i will be scratch building some barrels to go in hull and trim out interior before planking, regards Ollie

Thanks Theo, John, John, Nils and Edwin.
 
 
Picky, picky .....
 
Quarterdeck Ladderway
 
The last ladderway to be made and fitted is the one for the quarterdeck. This would need to have been removed any time the lower capstan would have been in use.
 
I made it in similar fashion to all the previous ones :
 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Geoff
 
You are generaly right, my friend. Approaching 55+ we need as much physical activities as we can do. And office work is not in that direction. So, outside homeworks fit well. I like to work in a yard ... sometimes ... Honestly, considering I am living in a house near 30 years, today, if you put me to live in a flat, it is the same as put me in a cage. In my post was a little joke about spices (again - spice!) of marriage life - Me and Admiral have different sense WHEN something has to be done. That is only problem, if it is problem at all. Marriage diplomacy. Work "hard" befor dinner = leave me on my own after dinner. 
 
Bindy
 
I ordered from Hothead to project some bridge for you

Who said that only ship models have to be warnished?

Here is example of warnished backyard

Listening ELP sympho rock during shapeing



and after polishing second layer

...

After a long day in the shipyard it was time to sit back and have a glass of bourbon. Sorry for the sacrilege, but I like my bourbon cold so I put it on ice. I managed to get all of my bulkheads in place and glued in permanently. I also got the spacers in place just below the gundeck. This really helped with ironing out a very very slight bend in my keel. The one picture shows a nice straight keel. The bearding line was marked and the keel was sanded in the appropriate area. Next up will be the actual keel, the basswood blocks up front and some more studying to figure out which way to shape the filler blocks for the stern. Thanks to all for looking in.

Popeye, the slots for the bulkheads were actually way too loose so I glued down a little bit of extra thin walnut strip (leftover second planking from my Bluenose 2) to make up for the play in them. I had to sand this down slightly to get them to fit snugly (but not too tight). The pictures I've included today is my first bulkhead in place with some right angle aluminum to hold it perfectly there. I've also measured and cut some blocks to help evenly space the distance between bulkheads. I'll be gluing bulkheads all day. Thanks to all for looking in.

I have been working at it, but haven't really had an pictures opportunities until now. For those familiar with the MS Connie kit, you'll notice that the bulkheads have been modified. I cut the spar deck support from these bulkheads. Since I shaved off a 1/16" from the center keel piece I had to match that to the bulkheads, so using the belt sander I smoothed the remaining stub from the center spar deck support and shaved the bulkheads by 1/16". Again, the 1/16" is to make up for the gundeck planking. I shot a picture of the pieces put together, but there is no glue yet. I have to mark the bulkheads with where the gundeck is going to be and sand off the remaining stubs from the inner bulwark sides. You may have also noticed that I haven't gotten to the last bulkhead, R. I will be working on that as well so I can show off a complete room back there. 

Danny,
 
Check your digital verniers - the official diameter of a five cent coin is 19.41 mm!  
 
John

Well, it's been a week since I posted last, so here's an update. I'm a little more than half way through with the first layer of planking. I hope it will be the only layer. I'm planning on painting the hull, so a little filler here and there should be fine. I haven't sanded anything down yet, so it looks pretty rough. I'm really enjoying tapering down the planks with a small plane. I've found that I can hang a pair of planks in the evening after work. That's about it. It's slow going but it's relaxing--and I guess that's the whole point.
 
I like how the planking came together around the sternpost. There's some filler on it, but I notched the planks on either side to fit around the post. The port side notch cracked while I was handling it, but it went back in nicely with glue and filler. The gap in the planking underneath the counter is for a pair of stealers. I'll need one more pair of them back there before I'm finished. Also, the wide basswood plank below the lowest walnut plank is coming out. It bends down at the bow, so I'll replace it with a plank like the others below it. Thanks for reading!
 
Steve

Welcome again to Steve's Glacial Progress Boat Works. I decided to add the transom stanchions and plank the outside of the transom before moving to the hull planking.
 
There was a question about how to handle the area below the outside-bottom edge of the transom. I beveled it with a file so that it would lie on the same plane as the filler pieces that sit forward of the edge. This way, planking should travel across the filler pieces and attach to the bottom edge of the transom smoothly. I tried to add some pics showing the bevel.
 
Also, I learned from reading other logs on this site that the transom should be planked BEFORE planking the outsides of the bulwarks. Good thing to know. Oh well...next ship. I suppose it doesn't matter much on this one since there will be a piece of trim hiding the joint. I'm going to add treenails to the upper sides and transom when the hull is all planked up. The filler on the stanchions should be dry by now. Off to sand and paint. Thanks for reading!
 
Steve

All right, I'm done with the scuppers: tall, short, long, square, trapezoidal, oval, straight, tilted, amorphous blobs, I'm done with them. They are what they are. Now it's finally time for the garboard. I'm heading out to the saw to cut a couple of basswood planks. Thanks for keeping me company during the long, tedious scupper cutting process.

Last night saw further results on the upper conning tower modifications for the ECM equipment rooms and external ducts, etc. The following photos, while rough in nature, show the additions:





Tonight I will assemble the modified stbd steam whistle platform & horn (using the Pontos PE parts). This platform will be shortened and lowered as modified in 1967-68. Also, I hope to get the FC rangefinder base modified with the SATcom antenna addition (scratchbuilt) and all PE parts. I have found that working topside down is more logical so you have less chance to forget to add something that should have been put in place first. This also applies to adding back various pipes & conduits that were modified from the kit supplied conning tower. Once again, the mast and FC base are only sitting in place temporarily at this point. The white angled plastic part in the center of the 011 Level Platform is the antenna base for the 35' whip antenna (to be added later).

You don't realize how much time it takes to make all the alterations to the kit parts in addition to creating other parts from scratch until you start working on this stuff. My next set of photos should look a lot more "presentable" once railings, paint, and so forth are applied.
 
Hank

The lower hull has been sanded and treenails drilled and filled with plastic wood.  So I am definitely not painting the hull.  Also, since I did a bad job on the rudder, I made a replacement out of spare wood from one of the pieces that contained the frames.  The new rudder is visible in the first photo.

Arrr ... 'twas a most distressing time had by CaptainSteve this past week. The planks which hadst previously been distressed incorrectly were flipped, scratched, penciled, re-stained and re-sanded.
"Take that, ye scurvy wooden mongrels !!" didst our hero vindictively declare, as he subjected them, yet again, to another round of water-boarding.  
 
Thusly, planking didst continue, 'though verily there was much back-tracking, ungluing and regluing as early edge-spiling was found to be most undesirous. But he didst geteth there in the end.
"Spiled they be, each and every plank. Then sanded within an inch of their very lives. Smooth as a baby's bum, this boat be. Why !! If Bligh hadst but sailed in her instead, he twouldst have attained Timor in nought but a day and a half !!", CaptainSteve didst boast.
 


 
As if these woes were not enough, further distress came our hero's way with the distressing of the planks which hadst already been affixed, being those of the garboard and adjoining planks.
 



 
"These are muchly of lighter colouration than before," CaptainSteve didst declareth. "But I liketh them. They are most satisfactory and they shall suffice."
 
But a thought did plagueth him. "The waterline in white which many others who have gone afore have added," he didst thinketh aloud, "Verily, 'twouldst hideth much of the planking distress. Mayhaps, I shalt do away with it altogether. Further introspection on this matter shall be required. " 
 
At this point our hero didst turn his attention once more to the Sheer planks.
"They dost lacketh something !!", he decided. "I know !! I shall addeth a stripe of Docker White to the Docker Purple that existeth already."

 
Most happy with this, our hero did turneth his attention to completing the planking. But, further distress was awaiting him.
"Looketh here," he didst cry to the assembled horde. "'Tis a sight most ungainly !!"
 
 

 
"Alas and alack !! Thievery hath occurred !! Verily, I will be requiring a STEALER on the starboard side !!
 
FOOTNOTES: Whilst, verily, the keel doth appear above to be unsquare, most assuredly tis true indeed !! 
                    Sheer tabs have been checked. They are positioned most correctly.
                    As can be seen, the Sheer planks doth indeed sit upon the tabs. 
                    Verily, the Sheer planks doth align true with the top of the transom on both sides.

I finally finished with the quarter galleries and am ready to begin the second planking.
My quarter galleries are not so nice as expected, but it's not their final appearance and some adjustments will be possible later.
For the second planking, I shall also make planks of 12,5 cm. I think it's a good idea and also much easier to put in place.
Thank you  to all friendly "like's" and messages.
 
To Nils, Mobbsie and Christian,
thank you for your kind words, I try (slowly) to do my best...
To Glawen,
I hope to see you soon with an Aggie or another build.
Trappist is always helpful, but much better outsine when the weather is nice. And that's OK when you make too much dust!
To Jason,
cutting and aligning the gunports was really a long and fastidious work, but I tried to do my best using more than often the calliper square. I tried to have them right with an accuracy of 0,1 to 0,2mm, I think it will pay back in the future.
About the weather, we had here a couple of fine days. But I think it's over now. About snow, I have the impression you kept all in North America this yearand left nothing for us. I already permuted the winter tyres to the summer one's.
To Klaas,
I follow also with very much interest your buildlog full of good ideas (such as your galley floor).
Your Aggie is coming out very nicely. I started mine more than 3 years ago, and I think that you will soon pass me over...
Who is the fastest? Mobbsie or you, or , may be, Sjors? I am surely not!
 
 


 
Pierre

Finally back after a long absence.
The quarter galleries appeared to be more complicated than expected.
An extreme accuracy is absolutely necessary if you want to avoid an extensive use of filler. That's my case.
After a first attempt I decided to remove all parts and to restart completely.
Angles and parallelism are extremely important and a mistake ca definitively spoil your model.
I finally discovered that pinning was much more efficient for the temporary fixing than rubber bands.
Here is the present status of my quarter galleries.

 
And now a view of my Aggie as she is today.
 

 
You will notice that I temporarly fixed the lower pattern (34) and the finishing casting.
These parts will be removed before starting the second planking. They are just there to see how it looks, and they still need some further adjustment. But forming the patterns necessitated the use of my Dremel machine, it means a lot of dust, and I was obliged (by the Admiral, of course) to wait for better weather to do it outside..
Best greetings to all of you,
Pierre.

Thank you for all comments.
Here is a picture of the varnish I am using. It's normally used on paintings, but I found the finish was very good . Not so glossy as it appears on the first photography of the upper gundeck (may be an effect of the flash).
 

 
Another (little) tip.
As I completed the first planking, I removed the front part of the building board.
I can so maintain the ship square. It can be useful later.

 
I am now finishing the last corrections to the hull before starting the sanding.
I have here a little question.
How do you protect the markings of the two gun decks? I am affraid they will disappear during the sanding operation.
Bye,
Pierre

First planking nearly completed,

When I was not at home, I started other "small" activities, like the boats,

Here is the launch,

and, here all four boats.

I started also to make the guns. Here is a rig I made for the construction of the carriages.

This is the present status of my ship. First planking almost completed.
It still need some local corrections and then.... sanding.

 

More pictures.
Continuing the first planking.

And again,

Starting the rabbet plank,

 
 
 

Hello,
I am glad to be back on the new forum after a long silence.
I am a very very slow builder. I started my Aggie in 2010...
Here are somme pictures of some previous steps and the present situation.

I am making a first test to see if I can properly use the new features of the site. It seems it works.

You see here the way I installed (temporarly) the pedestals.
Here, some planking on the main gun deck, in case they should be visible from above.

First half of the upper gundeck in position.

Planking of the upper gundeck completed.

The same varnished.
I stop now. This is a first test. More pictures are coming later.
I just finished the first plankig of the hull.

been wondering about how to simulate the window frames as there are no etched frames included in the kit .Very hard to get wood strips fine enough so thought on thread  .Did up a couple of samples and want HONEST opinons on what you think ? the one on the left is 0.25 and i think too fine .the right is 0.5 which seems better its also covered with a strip of light polythene (the bag the sheet of acitat came in )..look forward to any opinions??????

just a few pics to update progress Went ahead and planked the lower deck with 0.5 Maple useing the pencil method for caulking , has been scraped but not varnished yet which i hope will bring up the lines a bit more  .I also planked the the insides of the hull although it wont all be seen a lot of it will be .Next pic shows a simple jig i made to cut the planking , also used it to sand the edges by putting 6 in on their edge and then for the caulking . Now another snag , compered to the cc builds i think we have a deck less which at least means less cannons to rig but as the last pic shows the hole in front of the grates where i believe ther should be a ladder bown to a lower deck is completely blocked . Of course there is no mention of this in the plans so as i see it i have 3 options .1 try to find matching gratings and cover the hole   . 2  make hatch doors to cover the holes or     3 my prefered choice is cut out the obstructions and fit ladders which is how it should be ??          Might be best to do this before i finish the hull planking as i still have some access ?

Hi all,i have finally decided to start a build log and hope my limited computer skills wont let me down but doing is the best way to learn.Victory will be my 3rd build and although i havent finished my CC Cruiser im at the rigging and will use it for a change now and again (excuse to leave it and start Victory) .My 1st kit was a Billings BLUENOSE 11 about 3 years ago to see if a 35 year break from building 100s of plastic kits had killed my modeling desire.They say you go back to your childhood ,and thats certainly the case with me ,i now have a fair bit of spare time and intend to spend most of it modeling .I found MSW a great help in my previous 2 builds and looking over the billings instructions i will certainly need a lot of help on this one as well .So i thought id start this log in good time before i get into difficulties.
 
Part of the reason for buying the billings victory (apart from cost) is that i want to experiment with different woods and use a natural finish where possible without paint .Tried it to a limited extent on my cruiser and learned enough to want to take it a stage further and im hoping there are enough like minded experts on this site to keep me right and point me in the right direction, im open to all suggestions / opinions / suggestions /critisms.Illnow try to put on a few pictures and hope it works, i hope to here from you all.
 
photos of new workplace and progress so far and neglected Cruiser
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wanted to add here how much I like this vise. I'm sure having this third hand will make a huge difference in the ease of assembly and final outcome of this model...  and the next...
I made up some extended jaws to take the place of the metal ones.
Now let's get this fairing done and start planking.