Bill Hime

Some progress since the last post. I managed to get all three boats roughly shaped inside and out. I did more shaping on the inside, and now I am in the process of adding the ribs to all three. They are very thin, so I am hoping that the ribs will give some support before doing the final fairing of the outsides. I will then paint them white, except for the rails, and then add the natural wood details of the interior. I soak the ribs and bend them with the electric plank bender in the picture, then place them inside the hull and clamp then while they dry. The next day or so, I then glue them in place and again clamp them in with clothes pins. Here are a bunch drying after bending, with some already glued in.
 

 

 
 

I have finally finished with the hammocks and netting. I cleaned up the aft port side last night.
 

 

 

 
Now on to the ships boats. As an aside, while gathering up the ship boat parts I found the laser cut quarter davit brackets supplied with the kit. No where on the plans do they show these as laser cut that I could see, which is why I made them myself in the fist place. They do look better than the ones I made, so I may clean them up and paint them. It will be a while until I need them, though.
 
For the ships boats, I want two boats on the open hatch on cradles and one hanging from the stern davits. I do not want to put any on the quarter davits. In sources I read (Bainbridge's book, I think) it stated that in 1812 it didn't have whale boats, as they were bought in 1813. I will use the supplied gig whaleboat for the stern davits though, since I think the supplied parts will make a nice looking boat. I will also use the 36' cutter supplied parts for the bottom boat on the waist beams. For the top boat, I want a 28' cutter, so I shrunk the plans for the 36' cutter. After cutting out the centers of the 36' cutter pieces, I realized I could use these centers for most of the 28' cutter pieces.
 

 

 
I have one piece more than I do centers, but there was enough wood left on the laser cut board to make that last piece. It looks like the bow and stern pieces of the keel are to be carved out of the laser cut pieces at the same time as the hull is thinned down, but I may end up making these as separate parts and adding them to the keel. I am pretty sure I will have to do that on the 26' cutter because the tabs are pretty small on a few of them.
 
 

Thank you Bill and the others for the likes.
 
I haven't provided an update lately, mostly because I am in the middle of a bunch of things - still making hammocks and filling the cranes, making anchors, and making the stern and quarter davits. I did complete the stern davits and added stanchions and lifelines to the open waist. So here are some pictures of where I am as of last night.
 
Starboard aft cranes filed with hammocks and the port side almost done:
 

 

 
Stern davits:
 

 
Anchors and Quarter Davits:
 

 
Waist Rail:
 

 
Complete side view:
 

 
Once I get the hammocks finished, I will make the ships boats, then start on the spars and rigging. I will hold off installing the anchors, quarter davits, or ships boats that go on the davits until after the rigging is complete.

Hola:
 
I just finished doing the Engine Room Access trunk.  As you can see I used two types of varnish: one Satin and other glossy as are in the modern real ship.
 

 
Saludos, Karl
 

Hola:
 
Before going further I decided to varnish the deck and inside of bulwark with Satin Varnish. In doing so, it is easier to sand between coats of varnish if there are no objects to interfere:
 

 
After varnishing the deck, proceeded to put some of the eyebolts and cleats, but first I obscured the eyebolts using Black Patina (the one used for stained glass) and painted the cleats dark brown.  
 

 
but then, I realized that cleats were quite large, so I reduced the size of them in a couple of millimeters (left:original size, right: reduced size)

 
Here you can see eyebolts, cleats, chocks for mooring lines and rails to close ports:
 

 
Saludos, Karl
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hola Andy:
To make the lettering I used the Paint program that comes with the Microsoft Office, there you can write in several types of letters and sizes, the steps are the following:
1) Select a kind of background color: for the lateral signs I used black, for the lower part of the transom, yellow and for the upper part of the transom I cheat a little and copy a picture of the planks that are there

 
2) Select the type of letter and size, for example for the latter the size must be a little smaller than a plank wide

 
3) Copy the Paint result and paste it on a MS Word page. In this manner you can get the appropriate size you want or making copies in a very easy way.

 
4) Print using an ink jet Matte Photo quality paper
5) Cut and glue them with white glue
 
Hope this information can help you,
Saludos!!

Hola:
 
Continuing with some details:
 
Modeling, painting and installing the Fairlead:
 

 
Later I made some tests to paint the Baltimore´s Emblem that are laid on the transom, but it's really difficult to work in detail on this scale. Therefore I got the idea to do it on the computer: copying the shield and reducing it to the appropriate scale. And after several tries I obtained an acceptable result. Here you can see the hand made try and the printed one attached on the wood form
 

 
Because Guaymas is a little city, it is quite impossible to obtain the appropriate dry transfer letters to make the ship´s names, so, following the same procedure I used my computer to do them:
 


 
Saludos
 
 
 

Hola:
 
Before gluing the main rail I made the cleat platform and see how it fits. Here is important to mention that the main rail at the stern must have enough space to accommodate the transom pieces including the fashion pieces.
 

 
Next step was preparing the bulwark planks.  For this the five planks needed are clamped together and painted all at once painting them, one side black and the other cream white. Doing this facilitates gluing them to the stanchions:
 

 
Here you can see the bulwark done:
 

 
Finally I do the the transom including the fashion pieces. For these I used 1/64" strips instead the 1/32 that mention the instructions because I think they fit better:
 

 
 
Saludos, Karl
 
 
 
 
 

Good! You'll have something to do while your glue dries
Replank...It's just wood...and the journey is in the build and time spent doing what you love. This is your first ship, I assume there will be more. The experience you gain from doing this right will make the next one better.
 
This hobby, passion for these ships, requires a great deal of humility. A "Redo" is not a failure, it's another opportunity to get it right...something life rarely affords us.
 
 
Bill

Mr. bigcreekdad everyone does stuff that they are unhappy with.  It is part of the learning process, whether it is your first or 91st model.  The key is to learn and enjoy the ride.  You are lucky that it is easy at this point to rectify the problem by sanding and applying a new veneer of planking.  Consider making a template of the deck and assemble the planks off the model.  That way you can take a straight edge and align the treenails properly.  Or leave them off completely because of the scale you are working in.

Good! You'll have something to do while your glue dries
Replank...It's just wood...and the journey is in the build and time spent doing what you love. This is your first ship, I assume there will be more. The experience you gain from doing this right will make the next one better.
 
This hobby, passion for these ships, requires a great deal of humility. A "Redo" is not a failure, it's another opportunity to get it right...something life rarely affords us.
 
 
Bill

Good! You'll have something to do while your glue dries
Replank...It's just wood...and the journey is in the build and time spent doing what you love. This is your first ship, I assume there will be more. The experience you gain from doing this right will make the next one better.
 
This hobby, passion for these ships, requires a great deal of humility. A "Redo" is not a failure, it's another opportunity to get it right...something life rarely affords us.
 
 
Bill

Good morning Everyone!
 
Grant, Well heck, that sounds way too easy, lol. I just asked my wife if our computer could do a "spreadsheet". She looked at me sideways and giggled. "Of course", she answered.
You would think with all my "higher education", I might have picked that skill up somewhere along the way, lol! 
 
So I'm getting a lesson on spreadsheets today!
thanks Grant
 
 
Sjors!!! Great to have you drop in my friend! Lol, it's in active production! Resizing plans when I can get into town this week for sure. I'm going to throw together a desk/work table for the new shipyard today
 
 
 
I have missed being here with good friends and new friends. You all give me a great deal of peace..
 
 
Bill

Jcoby, you're absolutely correct. I work with both as well, But as A Cabinet/furniture-maker, finish carpenter, I live in the Imperial math world !
 
Actually, it's not all that difficult. Just the short time here tonight I've been doing conversions, many of them are repeated numbers !
 
 
 
Bill 

Good! You'll have something to do while your glue dries
Replank...It's just wood...and the journey is in the build and time spent doing what you love. This is your first ship, I assume there will be more. The experience you gain from doing this right will make the next one better.
 
This hobby, passion for these ships, requires a great deal of humility. A "Redo" is not a failure, it's another opportunity to get it right...something life rarely affords us.
 
 
Bill

Good! You'll have something to do while your glue dries
Replank...It's just wood...and the journey is in the build and time spent doing what you love. This is your first ship, I assume there will be more. The experience you gain from doing this right will make the next one better.
 
This hobby, passion for these ships, requires a great deal of humility. A "Redo" is not a failure, it's another opportunity to get it right...something life rarely affords us.
 
 
Bill

Good! You'll have something to do while your glue dries
Replank...It's just wood...and the journey is in the build and time spent doing what you love. This is your first ship, I assume there will be more. The experience you gain from doing this right will make the next one better.
 
This hobby, passion for these ships, requires a great deal of humility. A "Redo" is not a failure, it's another opportunity to get it right...something life rarely affords us.
 
 
Bill

Good! You'll have something to do while your glue dries
Replank...It's just wood...and the journey is in the build and time spent doing what you love. This is your first ship, I assume there will be more. The experience you gain from doing this right will make the next one better.
 
This hobby, passion for these ships, requires a great deal of humility. A "Redo" is not a failure, it's another opportunity to get it right...something life rarely affords us.
 
 
Bill

I just ordered of bunch of fly tying supples.

Only on brand new decks of ships that used Treenails are they nearly invisable If you go to any museum that has a wooden ship of age out side you will see many of the treenails with dark rings around them it shows age. Some times not a bad thing,unless its GRAY hair on my 55 year old scalp.
Andy 

I drill a hole less than 0.5mm and shove a tooth pick in it, snip off and sand. Very quick. Here are some pics (i'm certainly no master, this was my first build...so it is very easy to do!)
 
 
 

Hello. Hope am not too late. Check this for butt end patterns
 
http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-model-framing-and-planking-articles.php    Look for article: Simple Butt-Shift Deck Planking
 
And for the treenails, if you must absolutely have them, drill the holes (properly aligned) with the smallest drill you have, or as someone said, just punch them with a sharp point. I use a drop of Boiled Linseed Oil (maybe can use some other stuff like varnish, but I have never tried it) on a piece of very fine sand paper, sand over the holes. The dust will mix with the BLO filling the holes and leaving a very subtle spot of the same wood.
 
Hope this helps

While the pin-prick method does work for some, I've never seen it implemented in a way that left the impression of a cleanly done plug.  I'd love to see photo's to prove me wrong on that one!
 
 
The plugs were 1 to 1.5" typically (based on actual ships I've been on and taken pictures of).  This works out to .021" to .031" in 1:48 scale.
 
I chose to go large just because I liked the looks better and used a .031" drill for the plugs in my deck, and I am very happy with the result.
 
I encourage everyone to simply make up test deck sections and experiment with all the different methods until you are happy with the results.  It's your model, and you should make it in a way that makes you happy with the results!
 
 
 
 

What scale are you building in?  At 1:48 you would have holes approximately the size of a number 76 drill bit.  If your scale is any smaller, you are best off either eliminating the pegs/trunnels/whatever-you-want-to-call-them or just make a shallow impression with a thin sewing needle and fill the impression with putty of the same color or slightly darker if that is the look you are trying to achieve.

BigCreekDad,
If you want to add the simulated bolts as mentioned in several of the inputs by drilling and filling.
I would recommend to make a template, using sewing needles that has been inserted into something hard, approximate three boards wide.
You are now wondering why.
Going three boards wide, you will be able to center nails easily.
Glue the needles.
Now using a hammer, tap in the area you want to be marked and then drill.
This way you will have an even marking and on the plus side the drill will not wander of the target.
 
Just my two cents