UdoK

HI ALL
 
FILLING TRANSOMS FITTED AND PARTIALLY FAIRED.
 
STERN TAFFRAIL FITTED....JUST SOME FILLING TIMBERS TO GO IN.
 
IT LOOKS LIKE I WAS A FRACTION SHORT WITH THE STARBOARD STERN FASHION PIECE.....SHOULDNT BE A PROBLEM AS THE PLANKING WILL EVENTUALLY COVER THIS INDISCRETION.
 
BASICS OF THE HULL ARE THEREFORE NEARLY DONE.
 
I WILL CUT THE MAIN SHEERLINE TO FINAL SIZE ONCE THE WALE STRAKES ARE ON.
 
CHEERS FOR NOW........MICK

HI ALL
 
FAIRING OFF THE HULL IS NOW PRETTY MUCH COMPLETE.
 
LAST OF THE THICK STUFF IS BEING FITTED AND TREENAILED .
 
MAST STEPS AND LIMBER BOARDS HAVE ALSO BEEN PERMANENTLY FITTED.
 
JUST A QUICK OBSERVATION WITH REGARDS TO FAIRING.
 
ON THE FORWARD AND AFTERMOST FRAME DRAWINGS THERE ARE NO BOLT POSITIONS INDICATED.
BEING PERHAPS OVER KEEN I DECIDED TO FIT BOLTS TO THESE FRAMES.
DURING THE FAIRING PROCESS, EVEN THOUGH THE FRAMES HAD THERE BEVELS CUT PRIOR TO BEING INSTALLED, SOME OF THE BOLTS ON A COUPLE OF FORWARD AND AFT FRAMES ARE PERILOUSLY CLOSE TO THE EDGE OF THE FRAME.
 
FOR ANYBODY ELSE CONTEMPLATING BUILDING THIS MODEL I WOULD SUGGEST LEAVING THESE BOLTS OFF.
 
FORTUNATELY I THINK THE WALE STRAKE AND LOWER STRAKE OF PLANKING WILL COVER THESE UP.
BECAUSE OF THE PRECUTTING OF THE FRAME BEVELS FAIRING TURNED OUT TO BE REASONABLY STRESS FREE.
 
I DID HOWEVER MANAGE TO LOOSEN ONE GUNPORT SILL AND BREAK OF A PART OF THE UPPER STERN FRAMING......NICE CLEAN BREAK SO EASY AND CLEAN TO FIX.
 
FAIRING WAS ACHIEVED WITH SOME 80 GRIT PERMAGRIT GLUED TO A ONE INCH QUADRANT MOULDING FOR THE INITIAL ROUGH WORK AND THEN WITH PROGRESSIVLY FINER GRADES DOWN TO 240 GRIT.
 
ONCE THE FINAL PIECES OF THICKSTUFF HAVE BEEN INSTALLED AND TREENAILED I AM GOING TO MOVE TO THE OUTSIDE OF THE HULL AND FIT THE WALES AND UPPER PLANKING BEFORE CARRYING ON WITH ANY MORE INTERNAL WORK.
 
THATS ABOUT ALL FOR NOW.
 
PHOTOS ATTACHED...WARTS AN ALL....FOR YOUR DELICTATION.
 
CHEERS....MICK
 
P.S. THE LAST PHOTO IS OF THE HULL SITTING ON ITS KEEL.......ITS STABLE AND DOSNT FALL ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.........SYMETRY ACHIEVED?????????.......ISH???????

OK, so the whaleboat stations are a lot more work than I was anticipating.
I've finished the aft port station, and have the approach figured out, so hopefully the rest will go more quickly.
The cut-outs, painting, and crane construction are all done for the other 2 port stations.
I've used black laser cut rigging hooks from Syren for the boat hooks.
Drilling 2 sets of 3 adjacent holes in the 1/8" ends of the davits to simulate 3 sheaves was fun.
The hinges for the cranes were done with 2 eyebolts in the crane edge and 2 right angle steel wire "pintles" in the lashing posts, with more steel wire used to make the rigid supports to hold the cranes perpendicular to the hull.
 
Although he's looking away at the moment the captain is keeping an eye on things!

Minor sidestep to add the foot ropes and netting to the bowsprit.
The foot ropes (at least the stirrups) should have been added prior to all the other rigging that gets in the way.
I had to use steel wire for the stirrups for ease of mounting thru all the existing rigging. Looks ok except for the size of the "eye".
Now work on the davits.

HI ALL
 
WORK CONTINUES ON THE THICK STUFF AND INTERMIDIATE PLANKING......NEARLY FINISHED JUST THE UPPER STRAKE OF THICK STUFF TO GO ON.
 
ONCE THIS IS DONE ITS TIME TO FINALLY FAIR THE OUTSIDE.
 
JUST A QUICK UPDATE FOR NOW.
 
CHEERS....MICK

Bob:
The wood is great quality, as is the laser cut. I guess the pre marking helps a beginner a lot. You'll have to be illiterate and blind to glue the parts in the wrong place. (I hope this comment won't jump up and bite me later on...)
 
Jan:
I've been thinking of one of these: 
 
 
Attached the frame and supports yesterday. Der FRAU has some strange idea that I should go to bed so I didn't post them last night...
 
Frame #7 (the 4th frame), foremast support and bottom "deck":
 

 
 
Cannon deck/frame supports glued on:
 

 

 

 
She'll be one big tub, 4th frame 172 mm wide!
 
 
Next is the anchor. Instructions say to paint it "metallic grey", gives the color code RAL 5011, which is labelled "Steel blue".
I'll probably go with Admirality's matt metal black.
We'll see.

Update...
 
am still building the profiled edge of the boats deck, am pleased with the way the stanchions fit for soldering, it provides a strong hold...
 
Nils
 

 
the profile is done in 3 sections, each about 250 mm long
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
the small brass brackets will get a drop of CA later on to fasten and hold the boat deck edge
 
 

 
here the lower portion ( 6,5 mm tube ) aft mast is set in, considering its correct rake angle, it rests in the ships "spine" square bar down, just above the keel.
Also  some of the porthole sleeves and their "glassing" in one of the deck housings can be seen...
 
 

 
status overall view
 
 

 
drilling the 0,8 mm stanchion holes into the edge profile. A simple little jig (slotted wooden chunk) holds the T-shaped profile for drilling
 
 

 
 

Thanks Sam,  I appreciate it.
 
     I Continued to work on the Head Timbers this weekend.  
 
     And wow - what a giant pain in the keister!   Obviously, the bow of the ship is not perfectly symmetrical, but I figured if I used the supplied paper templates, I could get close with the timbers and then make some minor adjustments.
 
   Not so much.  Basically - it came down to just trial and error trying to get them to fit on either side of the head rail.  Here are my scraps of cutting, sanding, fitting,  and failing.    
 
 

 
     I'm not completely satisfied with the outcome here, so I'm going to feel out the middle rail and see how it looks, along with exploring options with filling in the little gaps to make everything nice and snug.    If that doesn't pan out, maybe I'll just scrap it all, and try again.  We shall see.
 

Today I made and fitted the netting for the staysail

Bowsprit Continued...
 
More views about the Bowsprit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Dave R

Thanks Ir3 and Mark, much appreciated.
 
  I took a Friday off and decided to hang in the shipyard most of the day, so got a fair amount done.
  
   First, I duplicated the cheeks and trailboards and finished the Starboard side.
 

 
   I then got to work on the main head rails.  A couple challenges here - obviously the port and starboard sides of the bow aren't exact, so I needed to measure the head rails to fit, rather than specific measurements.  In order to accomplish this, I installed the head beam first, so I had something to give me a frame of reference.  
 

   
    After thinning the head rails and tapering them as instructed, I encountered a problem at the fore deck of the ship along the rails. A gap.  
 

 
Now, I wasn't sure if I should taper the head rail, or if I should taper the ship.  My solution, was to add a little bit of filler, then sand it to fit nicely.
 

 
   Once each head rail was glued to the foredeck, I then glued it to the main beam.  
 

 
Finally, having those in place gave me a chance to shape and bend it slightly before gluing it to the out near my mascot.
 

 

Hi friends,
 
construction mistake removes,
some accesories there made.
Karl

Pics of the anchor

I haven't had a lot of time to dedicate to the Morgan build lately so she's moving along slowly. I had to hold off building the bow sprit because of the lack of building space and my ability to break things during the build. You know, two steps forward...one step back! I'll upload some pics of the last work I've done on her. I should have swept or vacuumed the deck of build debris before taking the pics. But it's been a long time since I uploaded so maybe looking at the pics will help others.
 
 

Thanks for the looks and likes everyone, it's much appreciated, sincerely. 
 
 I've got another trip this weekend. So, knowing I wouldn't really get any 'days off' over the weekend, I decided to procrastinate some of my work during the week and head down to the shipyard and get some things done.
 
 Next up, the cheeks, hawse holes and trailboards.  Before I got started I did some fitting and measure, and prepping the figurehead etc.  
The first problem I ran into was paint color.  The rear decorations and etchings of the ship were done is straight "wood" color from Testor's Model Master line.  Although it looked good, it is considerably darker than the natural stained color of the hull, etc.  I liked this very much, as it made the details on the transom really pop.  However, when we get to the bow of the ship and painting those etchings and even the figure head that dark - it just didn't look right.
 

 
  After some experimenting, I was able to come up with a pretty good color with about a 60/40 mixture of "House Cream" and "English Oak".   Of course that meant repainting all the etching and window frames and details on the transom.
 
I was NOT looking forward to this... but necessary is necessary and I spend three days with a size 0 brush while my eyes crossed and my fingers cramped.  ;p
 

 
As a side note - I had to add a good coat of primer to the figurehead to get it to take the paint.  Remember, we swapped out the metal figurehead with the plastic molded one. 
 

 
Next up, the cheeks.  Very light sanding to get rid of the char, then a bit of reshaping to get them to fit to the bow snuggly.
 

 
No alternatives for the photo etched carved strips, so they required some careful painting.  I fitted them first to get an idea of what part of the bow needed to painted black, then did more painting.
 

 
The instructions call for some etching along the cheeks my gauging out lines on the sides, then smoothing them out.  But I found this little tool in my stash and thought it'd look pretty cool.  Overall, I like the way it came out with the etching attached.
 

 
Same process for the upper cheeks.  Some delicate sanding to get everything to look pretty seemless.  And I dry fitted the figure head to make it all work out.  You'll notice here that the gap between the figurehead's foot and the lower cheek extension is a bit too wide, so I redid the lower piece to get it closer.  That took some fiddling with the metal etch carving pieces, etc.
 

 
My next problem occurred when I dry fitted the hawseholes and trailboards.  The directions call for four pieces shaped to fit the bow of the ship.  But, after only three, I was running out of room quickly.  And bear in mind, I BARELY sanded the backsides of the cheeks. Just enough to get rid of the char and adjust the "roundness" to fit the bow ok.  Oy.
This wasn't going to do.  So i stuck with three, and fitted the bolster.  NO CHANCE any of this was going to fit.  
 

 
My first solution was to create and inset in which the bolster would fit.  After a number of different attempts, this failed miserably.
 

 
So, my final solution was to just have ONE layer of the trailboards and fit the bolster and drill out the hawseholes.  Overall, I think it's definitely passable.  All of the basswood is treated the same as the rest of the trip with a layer of wood conditioner, stain in Miniwax "Natural" then I'll add a layer of lacquer.  Ultimately, this as made the etching and wood pretty close to the same color.
 

To continue.
I made up some jigging to help me keep the bulkheads square, both in the vertical and to the former.
Just a base with a triangular section glued on.
Then the vertical trued up square on a face sander.
 

 
This is how they work.
One placed each side of the bulkhead and clamped to my base.
The bulkhead is then adjusted and checked with a square.
The jig moved to hold it there and a clamp added.
 

 
So here goes the first bulkhead.
 

 
Continuing to add bulkheads, up to number four.
I have to wait for the glue to dry each time because I only have one pair of jigs.
 

 
slowly getting there.
 

 
Last few to go on the Stern.
 

 
All bulkheads now done.
here I have added the re-enforcing parts onto the former between each bulkhead after sanding to size.
 

 
I thought that the bulkheads still had a bit of fore/aft movement in them.
So to stop them moving when I fair the hull I have used some cut up pieces of scrap to re-enforce between the bulkheads further out from the former.
Here are the first few.
 

 
And with a full set in place.
They also help confirm the squareness of bulkheads.
 
Will continue on next post
 
Nick
 
 
 
 
 

HI ALL
SOME MORE WORK HAS BEEN DONE.
 
DECK CLAMPS HAVE BEEN FITTED..I FIRST HEAT BENT A SHEET OF 3/32 BOX ABOUT 1" WIDE AROUND A FORM AND ONCE THAT HAD COOLED DOWN A CARDSTOCK PATTERN FOR THE FORWARD SECTION OF THE DECK CLAMP WASGLUED ON WITH SOME PRITT AND THE PLANK CUT OUT.
 
 PROCESS FOR THE THICK STUFF .....SPILE THE BASIC SHAPE AND THEN HEAT BEND AND TWIST TOO THE REQUIRED SHAPE.
 
THE JIG IN THE PHOTOS WAS USED TO BEND THE DECK CLAMPS TO SHAPE
 
FIRST ROW OF THICKSTUFF IN PLACE AND TREENAILED.
JUST STARTING THE NEXT THREE ROWS OF THINNER PLANKING.
 
SWEEP PORTS HAVE FINALLY BEEN LINED OUT ASWELL
 
THATS ABOUT IT FOR NOW...THE INEVITABLE "BACK TO WORK" LOOMS LARGE!
 
CHEERS FOR NOW....MICK

I've seen quite a few posts referencing that these exist and apparently some are having a hard time to find them.   I hope Chuck doesn't mind but I'm putting the links here.   
 

Adding on the Bow pre-cut pieces.
 

 
And at the Stern.
 
I am going to put filler pieces at the Bow and Stern to help maintain the shape of the planking and to provide greater gluing area.
So that's my next job.
 

 
First I cut some 1/2 thick balsa into rough shapes.
This set is for the gap between first and second bulkheads.
 

 
Then I offered them up and marked bulkhead profile on the edges.
Then removed them and roughed a line across the upper and lower face to correspond to the edge marks.
Then carve an approximate shape following the lines.
 

 
I am doing them for the first three bulkhead gaps.
 

 
Here the Bow fillers are now glued in place.
 

 
And as the manual advises I have added temporary bracing pieces across the tops of the more exposed bulkheads.
 
Next I will making lots of sawdust by fairing the frame.
 
Nick
 
 

So, it's about time for an update.
I got to work on the stem:
 

 
Here it is fitted together and with the leading edge faired down.
 

 
And now going into place.
I found two thin strips to act as shims, they were the stem thickness minus the bulkhead former thickness /2.
Put one each side then laid strips on top of them and clamped it up.
Did that in two places.
That helped insure that the stem was glued as central to to former as possible.
 

 
Here it is now in place.
 

 
And where the edge is faired. made sure that the figurehead was a good fit.
 
Next job is the keel.
 

 
Used my keel clamp (here it all finished)
 

 
Mounted the former inverted and clamped it for a solid working position.
 

 
Put on the rabbet strip, and the Keel sections.
Drilled them off to simulate tree nails (as per Chuck's method)
The false keel will then follow.
 

 
Then stood the former on it's Keel and clamped it tight.
Now ready to start on the bulkheads.
 
I will continue later (next lunchtime at work )
 
Nick
 
 
 
 
 

The Roundhouses
 
   The Roundhouses seemed to be pretty straightforward, however Augie had written in his notes that he was intending to use the Swiss Pear instead.  I really liked this idea, as it would surely set off a bit of color on the bow of the ship. 
 
   It really didn't change how I approached the Roundhouses initially, but soon after I discovered the slightly thicker Swiss Pear was going to involve a little more intricate bit of beveling than the stock parts.
 

 
    In addition to mitering the edge, I also sanded the inside of the strips with a round file to try and match the shape of the guides.  Then I marked the inside seams with a sharpie to simulate the caulking between the planks.
 

 
    Chuck's instructions call for a bit of 28 gauge wire glued under the overhang, which is a very nice touch.  Instead - for me to pull in a little bit of the natural color of the bow, I used the original light colored overhang, sanded it down, then covered it with the swiss pear roof. 
 

 
   Finally, I dug up in the "extra pieces" bin, some small circular brass rings with a lip that came from who know's where, and I used those to bring out some detail int he ventilation scuttle.
 

 
   Ultimately, Augie nailed it with his approach (as he always did), and I really love the way the swiss pear looks on the bow.
 

So, the catheads were pretty straightforward given Chuck's instructions.  It did take a bit of fiddling of course, to match the sanded size of the catheads and then properly notch out the side of the ship for a snug fit.  There was a lot of delicate sanding and tiny bit at a time with varying sandpapers and files, then fit the cathead, then sand some more.  A patient process to be sure.
 


 
   
   Though I fitted the cathead with the wedge as outlined in the schematics, I ended up sanding it almost all the way down. This was a little challenging as the wood here is pretty soft.  But all in all it fit together pretty tightly.
 

 
   To make the sheaves, I filed down some boxwood then cut out ovals.  Although obviously they'd have been circles, the ovals made for a better fit and ultimately finalized look.
 

 
  Then the catheads in place.  Because the fore of the ship is not perfectly symmetrical, I did my level best to get the catheads to look as symmetrical as possible.  The discerning eye will notice they're not quite exact - however, I don't think it'll be noticeable for the most part.
 

The shipyard has been taking care of a couple of small items.
 
Scuppers: 3 per side, one with a hose so the AOTS indicates.
The starboard side ones >>
One with hose.

 
2 others, plain pipe

 
 
Rudder Coat:
The black flange(third one I made) is plastic with black paint over it.
Thanks to Greg Lester, I used same foil wrap for the coat, painted brown.

 
Close up photos show up all sorts of scratches, dint's, dirt, imperfections etc.
 
Next > onto the Anchors.
I ordered some anchors from Cornwall Model Boats, which have arrived.
Another post another time..
 
 
Dave R

In the Shipyard - Anchor Update.
Following on from post #431
 
I received the new anchors I ordered end of last week.
What I ended up using(with modifications) for the 4 Anchors are:
These are very similar to the style as depicted in the AOTS.
Main difference being the flukes are not set back at the ends, thought I could live with this, however now that I am writing this piece, will modify the ends to a spike. I suppose the anchors had a spike to "dig" into the bottom.
 
For the 2 Sheet/Best Bower Anchors:         Caldercraft # 87049
Modified:  5mm off the shaft to give a 67mm shaft(13' 2")
                71mm wide stock (14' 4")
                Fluke overall 45mm(4' 5") close enough
 
For the Small Bower Anchor:              Caldercraft # 87049
Modified:  7mm off the shaft to give a 65mm shaft(12' 10")
                69mm wide stock  (14' 0")
                Fluke overall 45mm(4' 4") close enough   Stream Anchor:                                   Caldercraft # 87021
Modified:  5mm off the shaft to give a 48mm shaft(9' 3")
                52mm wide stock  (10' 3")
                I filed the end of the flukes to reduce the overall width to 34mm, should of been 32mm but close enough(3" 1")
 
So the lengths(n' n") are same as in the AOTS.
 
The stock lengths are the Shaft Length plus 4"(half the ring diameter of 8").
These are slightly wider by 2mm. I forgot to trim them back, which I may still do(drop saw them off)
Where did I derive this from ?
 
Steel's - Anchor Rigging Section
The length of the stock is the length of the shank and half the diameter of the ring. The depth and thickness in the middle is as many inches as the stock is feet in length.
The ends to be kept square, half the depth or thickness in the middle. The upper-side next the ring is always kept straight, as is the lower-side half the depth on each side the middle; and thence it tapers to each end in the above proportion. It is necessary to leave an opening in the middle of one inch and a half, between the two pieces, that the hoops may be driven nearer the middle, in case the stock should shrink. 
 
Stocks rough fitted to the Shafts:

 
Stock ends held whilst glue dries(just used CA)
Gluing the stock half ends and onto the shaft.
I had small 0.5mm spacers either side of the shaft to keep a gap between the 2 stock halves. ~1.2 inch gap(ref. above)

 
Packing the stock rebates
2 of the shafts needed packing to the stocks, as the rebates were cut deep.

 
Steel's description of the fixing of the stocks: "STOCK is composed of two long pieces of oak tapering from the middle, fastened together with iron hoops and tree-nails, and fixed on the shank transversely to the arms. "
 
Tree-Nails and Hoops
I added 4 small nails about the centre of the stocks/shaft, 2 per side, facing opp.
The other 3 holes per end I used pin off-cuts driven through.
Aim was to simulate the tree-nails. 
One(1) stock has the 4 "hoops" on it. The ends hoops are ex. 1mm wide square brass tubing and the middle 2 hoops ex. black card wrapped about.

 
Nearly finished
Started undercoat with satin black. May go for a gloss black final coat ?
The rings are yet to go on, along with the Puddening.
I am wanting to keep the stocks with the timber finish, with clear over them.

 
When I was looking at the photos I noticed a huge ? minor ? mistake.
The Small Bower Anchor stock is too wide. Should be more the same width as the 2 Sheet/Best Anchor stocks.
Bla bla bla. May get away with it as it is. Not the energy to fix it at the moment.
 
Well the shipyard is closing down for the weekend.
All deck hands, shipwrights on shore leave.
The Brother in-laws 60th in Newcastle-NSW.
 
 
Dave R

Well, I got the first two issues today. 
 

 
Unlike the Victory and such there is no magazine, only the building instructions.
 
There was also a poster of the Vasa.
 
3 frames, stern decorations, thread  and one cannon is what you get in these first two issues.
 
I promised my 10-year old son that he could "help" me build it so I have to wait until he comes home from school before building can start.
 
I will continue later this evening.