Glenn-UK

As I cruise down the Rhine, bathed in sunshine do I get envious of the excellent progress the other Indy builders?, such as @Kevin, @ECK and @Blue Ensign A picture is sometimes better than words I should return to the shipyard sometime next week

Nicely done.

I have done a little bit more on the deck planking. I have found it necessary to use plank off cuts to hold some of the deck planks in place as the glue cures to ensure the planks are nice and snug to the adjacent planks. I will be AWOL for the next 9+ days as my wife and I take a nice train journey to Basel (Switzerland), via Paris (and the riots) and then will enjoy a 5 star cruise up the Rhine to Dusseldorf, with plenty of places to visit, including: a) Lucerne and Bernese Oberland b) The Black Forest c) Strasbourg d) Speyer e) Rudesheim, Rhine Gorge and Koblenz f) Cologne

It looks like you've made an excellent job of the 2nd planking

I am spoilt for choice for my next project.

Looks great, excellent workmanship as always.

No treenails with any of deck planking😀

Many thanks. Also much of this planking will be hidden by the upper decks and gangways.

Gun Deck Planking – Left-Hand Side Started Before I start planking towards the left-hand bulwark, I need to complete the infill areas around all the hatches. Using the laser etch line on the gundeck base as a guide the first I added a set of planks from the bow to the stern. The first two planks that were cut and glued in place are shown in the photo below. The next task was to cut and glue the various inner infill planks. The completed first hatch infill area is shown in the next photo. The next hatch infill is soon completed as there was not much work required. The next section required a lot more work, but with careful measurement and accurate cutting the infill was completed and the bitts were test fitted. The final hatch to infill was straightforward and one of the deck beam support was test fitted. The infill to the stern was the final task. I decided it was unnecessary to open up the area for the final hatch, but I did mark the area where the hatch would be located and then did a dry fit as can be seen in the next two photos Next is a photo of the stern area with the deck support beams test fitted. To ensure the eyebolts are correctly positioned I am using a simple jig and the one shown has been set for the first pair of eyebolts. The supplied boxwood planks do vary in colour so before I start the planking toward the left-hand bulwarks, I will try to sort out the best colour matched planks. 19 planks lengths will be required to complete the left-hand side.

Gun Deck Planking – Right-Hand Side Completed I have now completed the planking of the right-hand side of the gun deck. As stated in my previous post(s) I am using a 3-butt shift pattern, with a plank length of 100mm and 25mm offsets for the required butt shift pattern. This equates to approx. 6.4m long planks at full scale. I was fearing adding the cut-outs for the cannon bases would be tricky, but it turned out to be relatively straight forward, especially when using the 100mm plank lengths. As each slot was cut it was tested using one of the cannon base parts. Although I really like the boxwood finish I might, once the completed deck has been scrapped clean, consider using a wood stain. A little bit of experimentation is in order before I decide to use either a WOP varnish or a wood stain. I have attached a few photos of the planking, noting these planks still need to scrapped clean.

Looking good so far.

Deck Planking – Update I realised that I had omitted any photos of the central section deck planking in my last post, so I took a few pictures showing this aspect. The first photo shows the current state of the gun deck planking. The next few photos are some close ups of the different central openings. As each opening was made I did make sure the various deck items would fit be it hatches, bitts, masts, etc. As mention in the last post as the planking approaches the right-hand side inner bulwarks I would have to include the openings for the cannons. As can be seen in the next set of photo’s I have now created the first two openings, one for the bow and one for the aft cannons. These openings are checked with the locating piece of the cannon.

I remember it took me several weeks to add 3000+ copper tiles when I built Caldercraft's HMS Victory so I'm not surprised this task will take you some time to complete, even without the interruptions of gardening related work.

Deck Planking – Very Slow Progress As reported a few weeks ago I have been incapacitated with an ongoing prolapsed disc. The back pain did relocate to the outer and front part of my right thigh which indicated I had developed meralgia paresthetica (nerve entrapment as a result of the disc prolapse) and is caused by compression of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve that provides sensation to the skin covering your thigh. Thankfully it has been warm and sunny so I have spent a great deal of my time sat in the garden developing a nice tan and doing the exercises provided by the physio to help. Over the last four days the pain has finally started to subside, and I no longer need to take the oral morphine for the pain relief although there is still a tingling sensation in the right thigh. As a result I have now been able to return the shipyard however I am keeping my sessions short for the time being, limiting each session to no more than 20 minutes with plenty of rest between each session. I am using a 3 butt shift pattern for the deck, with a plank length of 100mm, but I'm not using the shift pattern around the central section cutout area. I have also made some templates which can be loaded into my plank cutting jig (see post #145) for cutting the shorter planks (25mm, 50mm and 75mm). I started by planking the area around the central deck section moving outward toward right-hand bulwarks. To ensure I get the eyebolt holes drilled in the right position I used a simple template, as shown below. To ensure I get the best possible join between planks I add an indication mark to the back of the plank to show where the next plank should be orientated so the two planks are fitted end to end with the common cut line. The next 100mmL plank has just been cut I (and is still in the jig) as is ready be glued in place. Once I have cleaned up the edges I apply a coat of titebond to the underside of the plank and then it is placed in on the deck. I have found it useful to use some offcuts to hold the glued plank in place whilst the next plank is being prepared. The 3 butt shift pattern can also be seen in the photo below. I am not adding a margin plank to the first part of the bow area, as this will not be visible once the forecastle deck has been added. The stern area is not as neat as I would have liked but again it will not be visible once the upper deck sections have been added. Fun times ahead as I will need to add the cut-outs for the deck cannons. Once the deck planking is complete it will need a good scrapping with a sharp blade before the WOP is added.

Slow and steady with the tiling, looks good so far.

Jim used wood glue on the prototype and then pinned the 2nd planks in place. The pin holes were then filled during the sanding phase before painting.

Fabulous. I'm very impatient to restart my Indy but I must wait to allow time for my back to recover.

Great build, well done.

Nice progress. With regards to the waterline I tend to use the plan sheets to work out the position at the bow and stern. When practical to do so I will also add some additional reference points in between. I will add a length of tape using the reference points as a guide. I will adjust the tape as necessary to get a nice smooth flow in conjunction with the waterline tool. I find getting the aft portion (transom area) of the waterline most troublesome to get right.

Nicely done, great job. I'm still AWOL with my glass back so not sure when I can resume work on my Indy. My current goal is be be in a fit state to travel to a Switzerland (by train) at start of July. Plan is for a river cruise to Dussledorf. If back is still playing up I might try to book into one of the special Swiss clinics for instant and total pain relief

No idea why that happen I have deleted and readded the picture and seems OK now

I went black

Very nice

I would recommend lateral plank bending for the bow area. I tapered the bow planks to approx 3mm

Recovery is still very slow so I must limit my shipyard time at the moment.