Bill Hime

Good looking start Daveward.  Seems like you've done a good amount of reading before you started, as you seem to have a very good idea of what needs to be done at this point in your build. 
 
Good luck and welcome to the hobby!

I used the false deck to check the alignment of the bulkheads, and everything looked good.
 

 

 
I marked a center line on the false deck to aid in planking the deck later (note that the holes for the bowsprit bitts are offset to the LEFT):
 

 
Interestingly, my false deck was slightly warped, but I was confident that this would work itself out when the false deck was glued to the tops of the bulkheads and false keel.
 

 
I used a combination of rubber bands and modified binder clips to hold the false deck down during gluing.  I made sure that the deck was centered, and that it followed the slight curve of the tops of the bulkheads (the deck curves downward on the port and starboard sides, which was done to allow water to drain from the deck at sea; it also curves upward toward the bow and stern):
 

 
The foremost hatch opening was too small for me to fit a binder clip into, so I ran a rubber band around the center keel and held it in place with toothpicks:
 

 
In this picture, you can see how the binder clips hold the deck down against the center keel, allowing it to take on the right curvature while the glue sets:
 

 
In these pictures we can see the false deck held in place, with the proper curvature:
 

 

 

 

 
And this is how I left it for tonight, to give the glue time to completely cure:
 

 
So far, I've spent 9 hours on this model.  Stay tuned for more!

Here are the bulkheads sitting in the center keel, with their bevels:
 

 

 
The bulkheads sat slightly low in the center keel, which I took care of later:
 

 
Here is one of the bow filler blocks, with its edge beveled:
 

 
Here it is during one of my test fits:
 

 
Here's the beveled stern block during a test fitting:
 

 
I applied some Titebond III and clamped the bow filler blocks to the center keel (I did this first to allow me to position the first bulkhead square in the slot).
 

 
To make the bulkheads sit flush with the top of the center keel, I cut a small piece of index card so that it could be glued into the top of the slot of each bulkhead.  This was the perfect thickness to get a flush fit.  In this photo, the card has not been trimmed down to match the width of the slot yet (I did this to make it easier to see in the photo):
 

 
Here are the bulkheads, sitting flush, during the gluing process:
 

 
I glued each bulkhead, checked for perfect alignment, then let it set up before moving to the next bulkhead.
 

 
The results were quite pleasing:
 

 

 

 

This log will document my progress as I build the Amati/Victory Models Lady Nelson.  I've always wanted to build a wooden ship model, but I've never had the time.  Now that I'm finally out of school, it's time to get started!  I've done a good amount of research before starting this build, but I'm sure I'll have some questions for the experienced and knowledgeable members of this forum as I make my way through the build.  Thank you in advance for your help!  
 
I'm going to do my best to take as many closeup photos of the process as I can.  Perhaps they will be helpful to other modelers in the future!  So, let's get started!
 
After taking a look through the kit and getting acquainted with the instructions (which are basic), I sat down at my workspace with the sheet containing the bulkheads:
 

 
First, I numbered all of the bulkheads, based on the plans.  Then, I cut them out using my X-Acto.  The cutting left some rough remnants of the tabs that held the pieces into their sheets:
 

 
So, I sanded these smooth with my sanding stick:
 

 

 
The final bulkhead/transom sits at an angle in the center keel:
 

 
This piece had to be beveled to match the angle of the center keel:
 

 

 
Here it is, sitting flush with the center keel:
 

 
Next came the fairing of the fore and aft bulkheads.  I did this before I glued anything in place, as it made the process easier.  I fit the bulkheads in the center keel and bent a plank around them to get a feel for the required curvature, then filed by hand:
 

 

 
Here is the second bulkhead fitted in the center keel, with its bevel on the forward edge:
 

 
Here is the foremost bulkhead, with its extreme bevel:
 

 

 
I test fit each bulkhead, marking each with the letters "F" and "A" to represent the fore side and aft sides, respectively:
 

The framing continues, though I took a little break from working on the hull to play with the little Unimat lathe a bit. I gave turning some cannon barrels a go.

Jerry,
 
I spent some time this morning going through your build, including your first version.  Sorry to be playing catch-up.  There are so many fine builds going on MSW that it is very hard to keep up with them.  First, let me thank you for purchasing the Naiad book and for the nice comments on it.  Even better, I like the fact that you are adopting some of the ideas and tools.  I think you are off to a great start on what I am sure will be a beautiful model.  This is clear from the lovely joinery on the initial work.  It looks great.
 
By the way, the Naiad build log is still there on MSW.  See the link below.
 
I second Druxey's thoughts on wood selection, especially if your are able to purchase large stock and cut the model sizes yourself.  Considering the overall effort on a model like this, to say nothing of the cost of tools and other necessities,  wood cost is a small item, but one that has major impact on final model quality.  Cherry is a lovely wood.  I used a lot of it (along with European boxwood) on my first model, Victory.  For subsequent work I switched to Swiss Pear and Castello.  Cherry remains my favorite wood for other work like furniture, because of the beautiful grain as well as the color. Pear is similar in color to cherry, but the grain is generally much straighter, making it a superior model wood, but less beuatiful in grain for furniture, etc.  However, I am sure you will be happy in your choice of cherry.
 
I noticed that you have begun finishing frames with Tung oil.  Keep in mind that once given an oil finish, glue will no longer adhere to it.  My advice would be to hold off on finish until you are sure that gluing is no longer needed.
 
Congratulations on your Unimat purchase.  I bought mine  - also used - in 1978 and have added many accessories since.  Unfortunately many of these are now unavailable, though I do keep an eye on eBay - Toms Tool Store comes to mind as a source.  The tool has been a reliable workhorse.  I do have occasional problems with the original motor tripping my ground fault protection when it gets hot.
 
So, I look forward to your continued progress on Poor Richard.
 
Ed

Framing continues. I have installed from frames 49 through 61. I have also begun fairing the frames from the stern forward as I go. I also applied a coat of Tung oil finish to the frames to help show off the grain and also to show the low spots a little better. It's starting to look a little more like a hull.

Update. Keel is mostly done, it still needs bolts. I wanted to wait on installing bolts until I got Vol. 1 of the 74 gun ship series. I mistakenly ordered the second volume first. No big deal as I intend to get all four volumes anyway. I did move onto the framing since there aren't many visible bolts there. Ever since I laid eyes on Ed Tosti's Naiad build I have wanted to build those tools, his Ship Ways is superb. So, I ordered his first book on the Naiad build. I have been reading through it for a few days now. Gleaming Ed's little pearls of wisdom from it's pages. Unfortunately, Ed the pages of your book is now covered with sawdust as I spent the day building an Ed Tosti style Ways for the Bonhomme Richard. I sourced my T-track from Rockler woodworking supply. They sell a universal T-track kit that comes with one 4 foot track and a bag of knobs and T-bolts for $31.99, the track alone is $25.00 for a 4 foot section.  If I were to buy just the track I would get it from Woodcraft Supply. So, I bought 2 universal kits giving me plenty of bolts and knobs. I still have to build the gantry and probably another height gauge. Each of those will be fabricated from maple since I have a good stock of that in the shop. I also added a Unimat Lathe to the shop. I purchased it on eBay. The first of two boxes came today, luckily it was the lathe itself. I powered it up and played with it a bit. Its used obviously but is still pretty tight throughout. Overall, I am impressed with the quality of this little machine.

So work on the keel continues. Rabbet is cut so onwards we go.
Also, new lighting for the shop.

Cherry boards - resawn and planed down to roughly 1/4" thick. My first build went awry when I scanned my drawings and then printed them out to use as templates. I did spend some time checking for scanner distortion and initially everything checked out. However, going back over the maple version I could see where things were slightly over size. So, in Version 2 I transferred the required profiles directly to the wood using drafting vellum and spray adhesive. I cut out each piece on my scroll saw leaving a slightly over size edge for later fairing.

Progress,
The stern is coming along nicely. It's pretty close to the stage from version 1. I've started cutting the sternpost and keel. I also cut the rabbit into the sternpost as detailed in the pictures. This was done using a Pfiel 3mm V-chisel. You can see the small cuts I made working the rabbit down to it's final dimension. I have not as of yet cut the rabbit in the keel itself, that will be done once I have all the pieces cut out and glue together.
 
Another word of note for those of us living in the U.S. Upon my return to this project I was pleased to find that ANCRE has redone their website, It is much friendlier as they now have shipping options for the U.S. listed directly in the order process. So, we don't have to email them and wait weeks to hear back. Also, You may or may not know the Ancre publishes a 4 volume set pertaining to the build of the 74 gun ship. This is kinda THEEE authority on French shipbuilding.As with most Ancre products it has been a little difficult to get here in the States. I think I've seen volume 2 priced between $150 and $300 on the used book market. Well, good news!!!!!! Because the dollar is strong against the Euro at the moment and with the new an improved website. I jumped at the opportunity to purchase Vol. 2 of the 74-gun ship series directly from Ancre. It is priced at 103 Euros or about $120 US, Shipping was another 5 Euros. I received my copy this morning 11 days after ordering it. I'm so jazzed right now because I've been wanting this book for 3 years now and beating myself up over the cost of buying it used. Now I have a new copy hot off the press. I will be adding the rest of the volumes shortly to round out the collection.

Ok I'll post a few teaser pics. So the first one doesn't involve shipbuilding at all. It is a carving that I did late last year. The carving is done in cherry. In doing this carving I found I really liked how it carved and really liked the figure and finish of the wood. The carving is on the lid of a humidor that is sitting on my workbench. It's pretty much what convinced me that I'd rather have such a fine model in Cherry rather than Maple.
 
The rest of the pictures are of the stern. I am doing some rough shaping and contouring on these pieces. I have included a couple pictures with the original maple stern alongside the version 2 Cherry stern. Hopefully you can get an idea of the difference in wood figure from these. I'll have to work better lighting for photos in the future.

Yup, cumulative error can really mess things up. Good on you for having the courage to re-start, Jerry!

Hello Everyone,
Wow, it's a little over 2 years since I've posted anything. So, here's a little update. One of my other life long hobbies is R/C aircraft - large R/C aircraft. Back in April of 2013 my dad approached me with the question of whether I could build a replica of the TBM Avenger torpedo bomber in which my grandfather was a turret gunner aboard during WWII. I informed him that it was indeed possible and that yes I could do it. My Grandfather just turned 90 years old last Dec. Due to his age such a project required immediate attention as I wanted to get it finished before he passed on - we just don't know how long we have. So, that meant putting the Richard on the shelf and shifting focus to the Avenger. I am happy to report that last summer we fired the engine up and taxied the plane around my Granddads backyard. There is still a lot of work to do on it yet, painting for one - which due to the size of the model (little over 9 foot wingspan) must be done outside. Basically, I need to wait until spring when it stops raining here in Washington State. So, I am taking a little break from the Avenger for a couple months.
 
More importantly, I started the Bonhomme Richard as a long term project. Back when I started it I really had no place to put the model once it started reaching finished dimensions. My home was too small to house a  4 or 5 foot long model ship. So, I am happy to report that as of November of last year I purchased a house large enough to house the Bonhomme Richard in its yet to be built case once completed. A fringe benefit to the larger house is that I now have a larger shop. I went from a small table in a single car garage to an entire two car garage. This has allowed me to expand my collection of shop tools. Things like a new 48" lathe, 14" bandsaw, planer, and one heck of a nice delta table saw. I had one of those little Craftsman table saws and one day I was trying to rip a full size sheet of plywood for some storage cabinets in the garage. I got tired of chasing the table saw across the shop floor and down the driveway. Plus the thing is insanely loud. Since I was on a mission to improve my tool inventory I also took the opportunity to improve my wood carving tools. I years ago I had looked into quality woodcarving tools and choked at the cost of them, as a result I turned to low quality Chinese wood carving tools from Harbor Freight - I hated them. They took hours of work to put and edge on them only to have it lost 5 minutes into carving. Advice DON"T BUY THAT JUNK. I finally bit the bullet and started buying Pfeil gouges and I now have about 30 different ones. I am still simply in disbelief at the quality of these gouges They take a razor sharp edge and they hold for a long time cutting through oak, maple and cherry. When they do dull all they really require is a couple passes on a strope to bring back that razor edge. I'm not kidding about how sharp these are either, they are like scalpel sharp. So do yourself a favor and don't skimp on tools.
Now for a bit of bad news - well good news then bad news, and then good news. Last weekend I finally located the box in which I had packed away the Monography for the Bonhomme Richard. Finding it got me eager to jump back in a work on her some more. The hull had been sitting on a shelf in my office in the state I left it in two years ago. I brought it in to shop and laid out some of the plans to figure out where I left off and that's when I noticed problems. Alignments where off due to certain parts getting cut wrong. I began to realize that when I started this project I was making little errors here and there and trying to compensate for them as I continued one. I spent the better part of last Saturday going over the hull rechecking everything thinking that I could pull the bad parts off and remake them and drive on. Honestly, I could have done that but sometime last Sunday I decided to scrap the entire hull and start over only this time instead of using maple I would switch to cherry. In addition to the stock of maple I have in my shop I acquired roughly 500 board feet of cherry that I used to make some cabinets inside the house. I really like the figure and character of the cherry wood and decided it would look nicer than the maple on the model. So, I am in the process of rebuilding the model in Cherry at this time. I'm not going to post pictures just yet because it would really be just a rehash of the ones I've already posted just with a different wood. Once I get caught up to where I was I start posting pics again.

some more pictures of the bow after performing a little sanding and shaping

More frames. As you can see from the previous pictures there is 61 frames that make up this hull.

The next piece I chose to tackle is the the bow stem. This piece was the most difficult piece I had done at the time. I think it turned out quite well.

Stern frames continued

the stern frames continued

Now for the part that had me sold on building this ship...the stern framing. Karl's (Jeronimo) stern framing was so smooth that it looked like a sculpture.
I guess it is worth mentioning that I scan the area of the drawings that I am working on. Then print them out on my computer. If you do this though be advise to check the print out against your drawing because many scanners do distort the image. I then cut out the area I am working on and afix it to the wood using scotch 77 spray adhesive.

Moving on to the lower keel and towards the bow. I treenailed the keel pieces even though these will be covered over by frames later on. They are still visible from the bottom should I be crazy enough to turn the model over later on.

So beautiful! Sjors, your making rigging look easy...and we know that it is the exact opposite!
 
 
Bill

So beautiful! Sjors, your making rigging look easy...and we know that it is the exact opposite!
 
 
Bill

So beautiful! Sjors, your making rigging look easy...and we know that it is the exact opposite!
 
 
Bill

Shrouds and lanyards on both side are done.
I only have to tie up the lanyards at the starboard side but the port side is done.
So a few pictures before I go further.
Also one picture of how she looks totally .
Difficult to get that in one shot.
She is BIG !!!!!!!
 
Sjors