Bob Cleek

Most definitely!  Most any articulated bench vise will do the trick. Stanley makes one many have praised. You can add a shop made pair of longer jaws to spread the pressure on the keel over however long a distance you wish or add "fingers" to grasp from inside the hull to work on the hull upside down. This vise is pictured below laying on its side. The bottom clamp is for attaching to the lip of the bench. The vise is mounted on a captive ball joint which allows the jaws to be positioned in any angle desired. Shop around online for this one. Prices run around $50 to $65, depending upon free shipping or not and all the rest of the online marketing gimmicks. 
 

 
https://www.amazon.com/STANLEY-83-069M-MaxSteelTM-Multi-Angle-Base/dp/B079NBYRDK/ref=psdc_3021459011_t1_B000UOJF66
 
If you ever get a chance to score a Zyliss Vise (AKA the "Swiss Army Vise," It was actually designed for field use by the Swiss army.) it probably offers more versatility for modeling and many other uses than anything else. They come up on eBay regularly, but I don't believe they are manufactured anymore. (As always, beware of cheap imitations. If you buy on eBay, make sure you get the optional attachments, particularly the "turntable" that permits using it in any angle as a carver's vise. The original is a much better quality tool than the Asian knock-offs marketed as the "Z-vise," etc. but the later Asian made ones' parts are interchangeable with the originals.) A decent one probably won't set you back any more than a Keel Klamper and will afford a myriad of applications in a much sturdier vise.) See: http://www.homeshow.co.nz/accessories.html , and  https://advanced-machinery.myshopify.com/collections/portable-clamping-system-parts. I've ordered parts for mine from Advanced Machinery and was happy with them.
 

 
(Sorry about this fellow's Kiwi accent!  )
 
 
How one deals with holding a model's hull while it's being worked on is a matter of personal preference. For next to no cost at all, I often make a holding base for a hull I'm working on out of a suitably-sized block of styrofoam packing material carved to fit or from foam tubes soled as swimming pool toys or split pipe insulation. These can be cut to length, formed into a suitably-shaped bundle, and bound at either end with duct tape. This creates a tight slot that the keel can be pushed into and the hull can then be worked on on the bench without the danger of it being damaged.
 
There are many clever gadgets on the market for ship modeling. Some of the more expensive of these are often either of questionable practical value or far more easily and inexpensively made in the shop. As for the Keel Klamper, you've got to ask yourself, "Is this bit of plastic and lightweight aluminum worth a hundred bucks plus shipping? 
 

Here are a couple of sources. I didn't know it's available in hardcover for $45 USD from Amazon, but I have the paperback, which is spiral-bound, and that is quire convenient for folding it over and laying it flat when I'm using it for reference on my workbench or drafting table. It's copiously illustrated with full text explanations. It is also helpful for clarifying what one needs to loft to build a boat versus what can be lofted if for some reason one wants to develop higher levels of detail.
 
Like any language, fluency in lofting is more easily acquired by "immersion," rather than from books. I'd urge anybody who's interested in it (which should be all modelers who remotely contemplate working from anything other than plans drawn for modeling purposes to the scale they desire) to get some basic drafting tools and "just do it" with a book open at the same time.
 
I'd say the minimum equipment required would be a board, a T-square, a triangle, a compass, some battens (which could simply be flexible strips of wood, plastic, or even a length of broken bandsaw blade) something to hold the battens in place (weights, pins, etc.), a good rule for measuring, an eraser and erasing shield, and some hard pencils and a sharpener (which could, at the very least, simply be a pen knife and a piece of sandpaper glued to a stick.)
 
The picture on the cover of the book below shows the use of a batten to lay out the shape of a plank on the stock with a batten after the shape had been transferred from the loft floor.  It illustrates how a batten is used to develop fair curves on the drawing board, as well, although on the board, the batten would be smaller and held in place with weights ("ducks") or pins, rather than the ice picks and joggle sticks shown in the picture below.)
 

 
https://www.woodenboatstore.com/product/book_Lofting/boatbuilding - $20 USD
 
https://www.amazon.com/Lofting-Allan-H-Vaitses/dp/0937822558 - Used $15 USD
 
Lofting a Boat: A step-by-step manual (The Adlard Coles Classic Boat series) by Roger Kopanycia has also been highly recommended by some whose opinions I respect. I have not seen a copy myself. It may be more readily available in the UK.
 
https://www.amazon.com/Lofting-Boat-step-step-Classic/dp/1408131129/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=77653017128321&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&hvqmt=p&keywords=lofting&qid=1556226359&s=gateway&sr=8-1

 
 

Yes! That's certainly true. Each field of technical drawing has it's own refinements and they can often get very complicated. With nautical drafting, developing rolling bevels or curved elliptical transoms, for example, can be quite involved, but at the end of the day, the "grammar" and "vocabulary" of the "language" of drafting is pretty much all the same. At the risk of being accused of setting this thread "adrift," I'll offer the observation that since US high schools quit teaching drafting (often called "mechanical drawing" or "technical drawing") a generation ago, we've become an increasingly "drafting illiterate" culture. I doubt many under the age of fifty know what orthographic projection is.
 
I think the lack of knowledge of technical drawing basics is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for many modelers who otherwise would be able to seamlessly transition from kit-building to scratch-building, and with that, the reason we lack a greater diversity of subjects being modeled. So many feel limited only to kits, or at best, to subjects with available "model plans." Yet, our maritime museums and other archives are chock-full of incredibly interesting modeling subjects which are rarely, if ever, modeled because many are intimidated by the full-scale lines drawings and tables of offsets. The Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) has detailed drawings and photographs of tons of historic vessels, available in TIFF format, which can be enlarged without loss of definition, all for free on the internet.  You have to do some searching on their search engine, but if you are looking for an existing museum ship in the US, you can probably find it by name. For example, HAER has dozens and dozens of photographs of all the details any modeler could possibly want, together with exquisitely detailed modern drawings of the sailing ship Balclutha on display at the San Francisco Maritime Historical Park. See: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Balclutha&sp=1&co=hh   So many ships and so little time...
 
Anybody who wants to expand their modeling horizons need only pick up a used "Mechanical Drawing" or "Technical Drawing" high school textbook and a copy of Alan Vaitses' book Lofting, still in print, do a little reading and have a go at it!
 
From HAER:

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 
 
 Balclutha's HAER historical documentation file contains sixty-nine pages of plans drawings and well over a hundred (I didn't count) photographs, some old and some current, covering every square inch of this vessel. All the research possible has been done, "our tax dollars at work" and in the public domain, ready to download. What isn't anybody modeling her?
 
(If anybody wants to study the photos or plans up close, click on the "TIFF" pixel option on the individual image page after clicking on the thumbnail, and then use your PDF page "tools" icon to enlarge the image to whatever size you want.)

Who? Me?  I certainly did not intend to convey the impression that large ships of the relevant era, naval or otherwise, were build with steam-bent frames on battens and molds! My point was that heat-bent frames on battens and molds could be used in a model of a large ship if one wanted to avoid extensive lofting to achieve an unplanked, frames showing, "Admiralty style" model.
 
Close examination of Admiralty Board models seems to indicate that few have built-up sawn frames as some of today's master modelers have depicted in attempting to construct ever more accurate interpretations of the original vessels. (With the exception of Victory, which is extant, and those few which may have had lines and construction details recorded, a truly accurate portrayal of actual constructions details is impossible.) I would suspect the frames on many, if not most, Navy Board models may well have been heat-bent as I described. To get the curves required sawn out of a single piece of wood would result in grain run-out resulting in fatal structural weakness. None of those pictured below, collected from a casual internet search, appear to have sistered frames or separate futtocks, the frames all appearing to be single pieces of wood.
 
Mordaunt, Royal Museums, Greenwich 
 
 

 
 
Below: Bonaventure (ff. 1683) National Maritime Museum

 
Ship of 44 guns - unknown- Royal Museums Greenwich:
 

 

 
Navy Board model, Boston Museum of Fine Arts
 
 
 
 

Another story about the same phenomenon related how a fellow went up the mast in a bosun's chair on one of the J's with the intention of varnishing the mast on the way down. He had a block on his tackle or chair with a messenger line down to the deck so his assistant could haul a bucket up to him. He called for the bucket full of varnish and the brush, a fair amount of varnish, to be sure, and when the bucket got past the balance point on the way up, the bitter end of the line started accelerating down and the bucket accelerated up. It was going at a pretty good clip when it hit the bottom of the bosun's chair and sprayed the bucket of varnish all over the man aloft and everything alow ! Too bad nobody caught that one on film.  

Another story about the same phenomenon related how a fellow went up the mast in a bosun's chair on one of the J's with the intention of varnishing the mast on the way down. He had a block on his tackle or chair with a messenger line down to the deck so his assistant could haul a bucket up to him. He called for the bucket full of varnish and the brush, a fair amount of varnish, to be sure, and when the bucket got past the balance point on the way up, the bitter end of the line started accelerating down and the bucket accelerated up. It was going at a pretty good clip when it hit the bottom of the bosun's chair and sprayed the bucket of varnish all over the man aloft and everything alow ! Too bad nobody caught that one on film.  

According to Llewellyn Howland III in his biography of W. Starling Burgess, the first large yacht to utilize solid bar rigging was the 1934 America’s Cup defender Rainbow.  The bars couldn’t be produced in long enough lengths requiring turnbuckles half way up. Shamrock V would, therefore, have been rigged with wire rope.
 
 Apparently, the J Boats also used wire rope for some running rigging.  Burgess, became marooned atop Enterprise’s mast when he used the main halyard to hoist him up. The wire rope halyard was heavier than he was! 
 
Roger

America’s Cup competition has always featured boats built with high tech features to gain a competitive edge.  This was as true in the 1930’s as it is today.  Furthermore, the very tall Marconi rigs were highly stressed and rigging was tuned (highly tensioned) to provide optimum performance.  Stretch had to be minimized.  As a minimum the J boats would have been rigged with wire rope.  In later years America’s Cup yachts featured solid rod rigging. More research needs to be done to determined which was used.
 
Roger
 

I believe the "solid bars" (green arrows) are supporting struts for the channels. The chainplates carry the upward strains of the shrouds transferred to the hull, while the channel struts bear downward strains on the channels. Some channels on larger vessels were quite wide and the compression of the chainplates and shrouds was not sufficient to support the channels which ofter served as platforms that had to carry the weight of crew standing upon them to perform various tasks such as casting and recovering the lead line when taking soundings.

I believe the "solid bars" (green arrows) are supporting struts for the channels. The chainplates carry the upward strains of the shrouds transferred to the hull, while the channel struts bear downward strains on the channels. Some channels on larger vessels were quite wide and the compression of the chainplates and shrouds was not sufficient to support the channels which ofter served as platforms that had to carry the weight of crew standing upon them to perform various tasks such as casting and recovering the lead line when taking soundings.

At the risk of being keel-hauled for inciting "thread drift," let me give this observation a big "Amen!" I'm sensing it already. Much of the material modelers are interested in, and until now used to sourcing easily or relatively so, is produced in limited quantities (relatively) and sold on fairly slim profit margins. The usual suspects local specialty lumberyards are disappearing and the selection of those that remain is dwindling. We've all watched long-established specialty modeling businesses selling milled modeling wood, parts, and so on, go begging when their owners get too old and tired to keep at it and try to sell a going small business to a new owner. It just ain't penciling out in this day and age. Add to the long list of craft skills ship modeling demands the ability to source your own raw lumber, drying it, and milling it to your own specs. 

Work on the cutter stalled for a good two weeks due to an unexpected event: we went down to Spain to spend a week there and – in spite of all the precautions and safety-measures we took for the past two-and-a-half years and having been vaccinated three times, on the flight the virus caught up with me and my wife. Flu-symptoms with throat-ache, a light fever and general fatigue. We had to extend our stay by a week, until we tested negative. Still rather tired and bothered by a cough … at least we can relax a bit more for the next half year or so until the immunity declines again… 
 
**********************************************************************
 
Planking of the cutter continued …
This work continued as before, eye-balling the run and spacing. I am not sure that I got the spacing at the bows quite right, as the planking is sweeping more up at the bows, than expected. As noted above, the forward section was more difficult than the rear section.

Clamping the planks tight at the bows
 
Once the planking was complete, the stem- and stern-post (or rather the deadwood) areas were cleaned up and sanded to match the stem- and keel-pieces. The planks were also sanded flush to the transom.

Planking complete and cleaned up 

Planking complete and cleaned up
 
The stem-keel-piece was laminated from three layers of laser-cut Canson-paper and lacquered into place on the boat. The outside contur was then cleaned up using a diamond nail-file. These files are very useful for the purpose. However, after a few strokes the freshly exposed paper has to be consolidated again with varnish to prevent it from fraying.
Like the gig, the cutter had a rubbing strake running along the lower edge of the top strake. This was simulated again using a 0.2 mm copper-wire lacquered into place.
Due to the charring from the laser-cutting process, it is difficult to see, whether there are any gaps between the stem-keel-piece and the boat as such. I probably will apply a thin coat of paint to be better able to see any imperfections, that then will be filled with putty.

The completed cutter

The completed cutter

The completed cutter
 
Overall, I a reasonably pleased how the cutter turned out so far and the strategy to attach stem-post and keel after planking is complete has paid off.
 
To be continued ....

Amen to that, Eberhard.
 
 The jolly boat looks great, in fact at 1:160 scale it's remarkable. 

Almost 5 years to the day....she is finally finished.   Always a bit anti climactic.   Thank you all for following along all these many years.  For those of you building her,  I hope you are having as much fun with it as I did.
 
Well here goes the final pics.  The top picture is of course of the Winnie contemporary model which inspired me as well as the Amazon.   I hope I did them justice.   Everyone should build a Georgian style model of an English frigate at least once in their lifetime.
 


 












 
 

At the risk of being keel-hauled for inciting "thread drift," let me give this observation a big "Amen!" I'm sensing it already. Much of the material modelers are interested in, and until now used to sourcing easily or relatively so, is produced in limited quantities (relatively) and sold on fairly slim profit margins. The usual suspects local specialty lumberyards are disappearing and the selection of those that remain is dwindling. We've all watched long-established specialty modeling businesses selling milled modeling wood, parts, and so on, go begging when their owners get too old and tired to keep at it and try to sell a going small business to a new owner. It just ain't penciling out in this day and age. Add to the long list of craft skills ship modeling demands the ability to source your own raw lumber, drying it, and milling it to your own specs. 

I believe the "solid bars" (green arrows) are supporting struts for the channels. The chainplates carry the upward strains of the shrouds transferred to the hull, while the channel struts bear downward strains on the channels. Some channels on larger vessels were quite wide and the compression of the chainplates and shrouds was not sufficient to support the channels which ofter served as platforms that had to carry the weight of crew standing upon them to perform various tasks such as casting and recovering the lead line when taking soundings.

I believe the "solid bars" (green arrows) are supporting struts for the channels. The chainplates carry the upward strains of the shrouds transferred to the hull, while the channel struts bear downward strains on the channels. Some channels on larger vessels were quite wide and the compression of the chainplates and shrouds was not sufficient to support the channels which ofter served as platforms that had to carry the weight of crew standing upon them to perform various tasks such as casting and recovering the lead line when taking soundings.

Sherline equipment is modular.  The head which includes the motor, speed control, and spindle is the same for both the lathe and milling machine.  The head can be easily interchanged between the lathe and Mill by removing one set screw.  Rigidity is a key to accurate work, and the design of the joint between the head and column or lathe bed provides rigidity.  If you use a Mill often, but a lathe seldom, you could buy a mill and later just the lathe bed.  
 
Although pricy, Sherline offers a huge selection of accessories to complement the machines themselves.  IMHO, the skill in machining is often the setup to hold the parts accurately and rigidly, and that’s where accessories are needed.  I recently bought a rotary table to allow me to drill a series of equally spaced holes around the periphery of a disc.  In addition to the table, I was able to buy a fixture that accurately mounts in its center to hold a collet chuck (the same collets that fit the lathe).
 
Located in California, Sherline is easy to contact and they back up their products with excellent customer service.
 
Roger

'Securing' a knot with glue/varnish means that you overcome the springiness in the thread that has a tendency to unravel knots by some sort daub. This something very different from glueing two materials together. In the first case the process of knotting forms an interlocking, mechanical connection, that is not there in the second case. When your knot does not form this interlocking connection, then something is wrong with your knot. Seamen's knots are always secure.
 
I use a fast-drying clear varnish for the purpose that is very similar, in fact, to nail-varnish. The advantage of varnish is that you can loosen the knot (or belaying) again by putting a drop of solvent on it. Comes handy when you discover mistakes, or when you need to tighten/loosen something.

I have posted this before but here it goes again-   Old fashioned clear nail polish; not the acrylic kind but the varnish kind that comes in the little bottle with the brush in the top.  Sold in cosmetic sections of pharmacies, it’s cheap, dries very quickly and convenient.  No need to clean anything up since when you screw the lid on the brush gets dunked back into the liquid.
 
Roger

I've been told there are still things that ducks and battens do that can't be done on a screen, particularly on large drawings. I bet you'll find a use for them within a week of getting rid of them. Isn't that always the way it goes?  

Ditto. I came across it the other evening.

Ditto. I came across it the other evening.

Using another's planking measurements is rarely a good idea. It only works if their hull is exactly the same shape as yours, which is rarely ever the case.
 
If you'd "bothered ticking off the bulkheads," you'd have generated the shape of each plank. This is a critical step in hanging plank. Each plank has to be fitted individually to it's mates. "Within a millimeter or two" is a large distance when things are supposed to fit flush and errors compound as the number of your planks increase.