robdurant

Update time! Hooray!
 
Planking continues slowly and steadily on the starboard side. The second layer of the wale has been added, my first attempt at top and butt (anchor stock). You can just see the shape of the planks through the black paint. I used castello boxwood for the second layer, which was a pleasure to work with. Having the black strake 0.5mm proud of the surrounding planking gave a nice line for the first strake to butt up against.
 
Below the wales, I've carried on using the kit supplied walnut planking. It is incredibly splintery, Caldercraft must supply some other variety of walnut from that supplied by Amati (go figure). It works after a fashion, and doesn't look too bad. Most of it will be coppered anyway, and I find the the colour contrast to the castello appealing. Also, because the kit supplied planks are also about 1m long, cutting them down to more manageable lengths has made things a lot easier when it comes to bending and tapering, it also makes it easier to get a nice fit and finish where the planks meet the stem and stern counter.
 
Anyway, that's about it for now
 
Andy

Hi Tony,
 
Thanks so much for those pointers. I've been somewhat lax in posting over the past few weeks, but I have made considerable progress. I decided to keep pretty much to the kit, but to add an approximation of sails. Your log has been extremely helpful in this process, and although the results I have aren't nearly so neat, and the rigging isn't so authentic, I'm pleased with the results I've got.
 
So... to the pictures...
 
A lot's happened since 9th December. I decided the 'just wood' look wasn't really working for me, so it's had a bit of paint now...
 

 
I've turned the masts, booms, yards on my lathe. I replaced the wood for this task with larger walnut dowel, which helps in three regards.
 
1. It allows me to centre the wood carefully to get a more even round.
2. It allows me to put a square end on the bowsprit.
3. It doesn't need staining or painting - it just looks nice out of the tin (cardboard tube!)
 
I also rigged the cannon (with breaching ropes, but not aiming tackle). I unwound the rope to create an eye to put the rear of the cannon through (cascabel?). This looks more effective than tying it round, which is the method I've used before, and also means I don't have to do clever tying which seems somewhat too bulky when I've attempted it.
 

 
Then I launched into sailmaking using modelspan tissue...
 

 
At this point I paused, because I remembered a comment that I read in another log (possibly Tony's - tkay ? ) that sails attract dust like nothing else... So I finally got round to doing something I've been meaning to for a long time, and built a boat-box from wooden display box section stained with ebony stain and perspex. It's just large enough to fit Pickle and Sherbourne (as long as I have the square sail on Sherbourne trained round as though the wind's coming over the starboard quarter... That was the aim, anyway...
 

 
Then it was back to building... The mainsail was next...
 

 
Then the doorbell rang... And it was my next model
 
Just as a comparison... here's the centre-former of the next model, which is also 1:64 - HMS Diana, which I intend to build as Ethalion (1797), one of her sister ships...
 

 
Yep... those Frigates may not have been the biggest ships out there, but you wouldn't have wanted to take one on with a cutter! I stopped long enough to build a board to keep the straight keel straight.
 
Then it was time for Ratlines, swivel guns, anchors, lifts, braces, etc... The finishing touches...
 
And here it is, finished today:
 

 

 

 

 
It isn't perfect, but as a first attempt at sails, I'm really pleased... Not sure I'd attempt all the sails on a frigate, though!
 
Thanks so much for all the encouragement and advice along the way.
 
Happy building
 
Rob
 
[edited to restore photos, 11, 13 July 2017]

Very nice, Rob. I particularly like the colour scheme. Congratulations!
 
I'm looking forward to the next build.
 
Tony

Hi Tony,
 
Thanks so much for those pointers. I've been somewhat lax in posting over the past few weeks, but I have made considerable progress. I decided to keep pretty much to the kit, but to add an approximation of sails. Your log has been extremely helpful in this process, and although the results I have aren't nearly so neat, and the rigging isn't so authentic, I'm pleased with the results I've got.
 
So... to the pictures...
 
A lot's happened since 9th December. I decided the 'just wood' look wasn't really working for me, so it's had a bit of paint now...
 

 
I've turned the masts, booms, yards on my lathe. I replaced the wood for this task with larger walnut dowel, which helps in three regards.
 
1. It allows me to centre the wood carefully to get a more even round.
2. It allows me to put a square end on the bowsprit.
3. It doesn't need staining or painting - it just looks nice out of the tin (cardboard tube!)
 
I also rigged the cannon (with breaching ropes, but not aiming tackle). I unwound the rope to create an eye to put the rear of the cannon through (cascabel?). This looks more effective than tying it round, which is the method I've used before, and also means I don't have to do clever tying which seems somewhat too bulky when I've attempted it.
 

 
Then I launched into sailmaking using modelspan tissue...
 

 
At this point I paused, because I remembered a comment that I read in another log (possibly Tony's - tkay ? ) that sails attract dust like nothing else... So I finally got round to doing something I've been meaning to for a long time, and built a boat-box from wooden display box section stained with ebony stain and perspex. It's just large enough to fit Pickle and Sherbourne (as long as I have the square sail on Sherbourne trained round as though the wind's coming over the starboard quarter... That was the aim, anyway...
 

 
Then it was back to building... The mainsail was next...
 

 
Then the doorbell rang... And it was my next model
 
Just as a comparison... here's the centre-former of the next model, which is also 1:64 - HMS Diana, which I intend to build as Ethalion (1797), one of her sister ships...
 

 
Yep... those Frigates may not have been the biggest ships out there, but you wouldn't have wanted to take one on with a cutter! I stopped long enough to build a board to keep the straight keel straight.
 
Then it was time for Ratlines, swivel guns, anchors, lifts, braces, etc... The finishing touches...
 
And here it is, finished today:
 

 

 

 

 
It isn't perfect, but as a first attempt at sails, I'm really pleased... Not sure I'd attempt all the sails on a frigate, though!
 
Thanks so much for all the encouragement and advice along the way.
 
Happy building
 
Rob
 
[edited to restore photos, 11, 13 July 2017]

Hi Tony,
 
Thanks so much for those pointers. I've been somewhat lax in posting over the past few weeks, but I have made considerable progress. I decided to keep pretty much to the kit, but to add an approximation of sails. Your log has been extremely helpful in this process, and although the results I have aren't nearly so neat, and the rigging isn't so authentic, I'm pleased with the results I've got.
 
So... to the pictures...
 
A lot's happened since 9th December. I decided the 'just wood' look wasn't really working for me, so it's had a bit of paint now...
 

 
I've turned the masts, booms, yards on my lathe. I replaced the wood for this task with larger walnut dowel, which helps in three regards.
 
1. It allows me to centre the wood carefully to get a more even round.
2. It allows me to put a square end on the bowsprit.
3. It doesn't need staining or painting - it just looks nice out of the tin (cardboard tube!)
 
I also rigged the cannon (with breaching ropes, but not aiming tackle). I unwound the rope to create an eye to put the rear of the cannon through (cascabel?). This looks more effective than tying it round, which is the method I've used before, and also means I don't have to do clever tying which seems somewhat too bulky when I've attempted it.
 

 
Then I launched into sailmaking using modelspan tissue...
 

 
At this point I paused, because I remembered a comment that I read in another log (possibly Tony's - tkay ? ) that sails attract dust like nothing else... So I finally got round to doing something I've been meaning to for a long time, and built a boat-box from wooden display box section stained with ebony stain and perspex. It's just large enough to fit Pickle and Sherbourne (as long as I have the square sail on Sherbourne trained round as though the wind's coming over the starboard quarter... That was the aim, anyway...
 

 
Then it was back to building... The mainsail was next...
 

 
Then the doorbell rang... And it was my next model
 
Just as a comparison... here's the centre-former of the next model, which is also 1:64 - HMS Diana, which I intend to build as Ethalion (1797), one of her sister ships...
 

 
Yep... those Frigates may not have been the biggest ships out there, but you wouldn't have wanted to take one on with a cutter! I stopped long enough to build a board to keep the straight keel straight.
 
Then it was time for Ratlines, swivel guns, anchors, lifts, braces, etc... The finishing touches...
 
And here it is, finished today:
 

 

 

 

 
It isn't perfect, but as a first attempt at sails, I'm really pleased... Not sure I'd attempt all the sails on a frigate, though!
 
Thanks so much for all the encouragement and advice along the way.
 
Happy building
 
Rob
 
[edited to restore photos, 11, 13 July 2017]

Here's an update just for you Sjors...
 
Since finding out the Aggy lights are not an option been trying to figure out where I want to go with these.  I realized that the thickness of the mullions of the supplied PE parts was a major reason why the lights just did sit well to my eye.  Plucked up the courage to thin these down with the smallest file I had.  The photo below shows the filed down ones at center and on the right, original on the left.  I stopped here for now at the risk of taking too much off and ruining these pieces reserving the right to possibly thin a little more after I've looked at them for a bit.  I deliberately left the top 'mullion' thicker to simulate the single sash.  Definitely would appreciate others opinions and suggestions here....
 
I shaped some 1x1mm box for the cove moldings, the trickiest to get right were the outside coves as the curve is so tight.  Left the strip to soak for a day and then steamed with an iron over a cardboard tube left over from some rigging line which was about the right shape.  I'll try to shape this a little with a scraper at a later date.
 
I placed the various cast ornaments for now to get a sense for alignment even though I would like to try and carve some replacements and was pleased with the way these sat together, my eye being very sensitive to proportions for some reason.  I'm happy so far.
 

 
Something else just hit me as I was reconciling various dimensions and it also explains discrepancies in the kit plans and supplied parts.  I'm estimating that the width of the bulwarks at the stern is approx. 10mm larger (5mm each side) in the kit than is identified in the AOTS and possibly explains why the supplied stern fascia is so wide - for comparison below you can see the kit supplied PE versus my version..  I wanted the proportions shown in the AOTS and you can see the rough misalignment  I don't think that this will be that noticeable so I'm not proposing to do anything else here.  The angles look rather off in this view but to the eye it is much less jarring.
 

 
Lastly, a slightly more forgiving angle showing the expected  results of all the compromises, overall, I think this may just work.  Obviously lots to do yet and a few more tricky problems to solve...including some carving.
 

Today , workin' a littlle bit on  some details ...

And now -- a little milestone- for me  -  arranging drivers cabin etc.  on the deck   -  it fits !!
 
cheers Steffen 

Today , started planking the deck
I want to use some black twine to put between the  planks -  for gaining some "calk" effect
 
hope it works ....
 
The best way to get a nice curve on the edges of the planks near bow and stern   is to  cut and taper before glueing !
 
Cheers Steffen 

Hi guys
 
roundabout   after  3  years , I'm back  to continue and hope I will finsih  the project in 2017 
Everything else  would be a pitty
 
  Merry christmas and happy new year  to all 

Now Trying to remember:
 
After many holidays in Denmark - It was my wish to build one of these  little nice fishing boats
which one can see in all harbours of the West coast of Denmark
 
Cheers Steffen
 
I hope my work looks like  this afterwards  :

Rob,
 
When in doubt, check with the neighbors.   I've done that for power tools and even the smoke coming out of the laser cutter being vented outside.  Some won't notice it, others will.  
 
What Tony said about the jeweler's saw.  For fine cuts, they can't be beat and if you ever go for a scroll saw, many of those will take a jeweler's saw blade also.

When I was cutting bulkheads by hand, I preferred a jeweller's saw with a very fine blade to the slightly larger type of coping saw you show in the picture. That allowed me to cut really close to the line. As a result, using a drill-driven sanding drum like yours took less time and therefore less noise, but equally demanded really careful handling to avoid over-sanding.
 
However, I found cutting so many pieces by hand tiring and when a nice low-cost re-furbished scroll saw came up on eBay I seized the opportunity and bought it. The sanding issues remain, but it's a whole lot quicker and less tiring now.
 
You might find that it's better to buy a larger drum sander for your drill as you could then rotate it at a lower speed with less noise and greater accuracy. I've been contemplating doing that myself.
 
Tony

Brilliant. Some wonderful people gave me a jeweller's saw for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to trying that out... I think this build is going to go slowly, and hopefully plod along beside the new incoming project - HMS Diana from Caldercraft, but built as Ethalion (1797). That's due to arrive in the new year and will be much easier to get on with in the evenings without annoying the neighbours
 
Happy Christmas to you all

Brilliant. Some wonderful people gave me a jeweller's saw for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to trying that out... I think this build is going to go slowly, and hopefully plod along beside the new incoming project - HMS Diana from Caldercraft, but built as Ethalion (1797). That's due to arrive in the new year and will be much easier to get on with in the evenings without annoying the neighbours
 
Happy Christmas to you all

Brilliant. Some wonderful people gave me a jeweller's saw for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to trying that out... I think this build is going to go slowly, and hopefully plod along beside the new incoming project - HMS Diana from Caldercraft, but built as Ethalion (1797). That's due to arrive in the new year and will be much easier to get on with in the evenings without annoying the neighbours
 
Happy Christmas to you all

Brilliant. Some wonderful people gave me a jeweller's saw for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to trying that out... I think this build is going to go slowly, and hopefully plod along beside the new incoming project - HMS Diana from Caldercraft, but built as Ethalion (1797). That's due to arrive in the new year and will be much easier to get on with in the evenings without annoying the neighbours
 
Happy Christmas to you all

The Alaskan Yellow Cedar barge has been planked.  Still lots to do on this one.  I havent even faired the hull inboard yet.  But before the molding and red paint is added I thought this would give you guys a nice idea of how the yellow cedar looks.  I have just applied some wipe on poly.  You can see the cherry version behind it.   They are actually the exact same size but digital cameras do these funny things....
 

 
I would like to get the cedar version to the same point as the cherry version so I can progress with both simultaneously.
 
All the cedar is wood project source
 
 
Chuck
 

A little update to what must be the worlds slowest moving build log.  Coppering on the hull is pretty much done, the only piece still to do is the aft side of the sternpost which will need some work done on pintles/gudgeons finished before I can do...more to come on that in a follow up post.  Just for a cathartic moment for me, pictures of where I'm at.  Like others, I wanted to give the copper more of an aged patina, all personal taste. Rather than following the bodily fluid method used by others (I must confess to being worried my model would smell like a car park for evermore!) I experimented with a chemical from JAX called - BROWN Brass, Bronze, Copper darkener (they also make a 'BLACK' version which seems to work well).  I diluted this to around 25%-33% by experimentation which seemed to give the best results.  It takes a number of applications, and I simply 'painted' it on with a modeling nylon brush.  Found that rubbing and agitating the surface while doing this gives best results.  Initially, the surface is very hydrophobic, but once the oxidation starts, its becomes much easier to keep a consistent surface covering and beading is not desired as it leads to dark spots.  The more dilute solution tends to green more upon drying, but this can be easily wiped off with water and/or rubbing alchohol.  Personally, I didn't want a green monster, and was happy to have a little patina in the crevices/nail holes which is almost  a negative effect for how the plates are supplied.  I'm not planning to seal the copper (yet if at all) as this should then continue to age naturally, I very consciously forced myself to stop despite there being some patchy spots but these all blend in and to my eye have a natural look anyway.
 
Bunch of photos which hopefully show the copper plate pattern in various areas, hope its not overkill, these are the kinds of pictures that I find useful from others.
 
More to come soon on the rudder..
 

Also, in case you don't know about it, there's George Bandurek's book on Super-Detailing the Cutter Sherbourne, which is a much more detailed explanation of his build log with lots of pictures. I may well put mine on eBay and if so, I'll let you know.
 
Tony

I don't know if you've seen Lennarth Petersson's book on Rigging Period Fore-and-Aft Craft, but it provides and excellent guide to a cutter's rigging with very simple drawings. It was invaluable for me as I had no understanding at all about rigging and it seemed a totally mysterious and complex art before I started. If you're good with search engines you might even find it as a downloadable pdf. Otherwise it's not expensive to buy -- especially if you buy a used copy.
 
You can even buy a Kindle edition from Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rigging-Period-Fore-Aft-Craft/dp/1848322186.
 
It has a couple of very small errors, but these are pointed out in the build logs.
 
If you do go for more complex rigging, there are some interesting discussions about where to place the belaying points around the bowsprit.
 
Be wary also of whether you're going to position the top mast fore or aft of the main mast. The kit and a lot of people have it going aft, but there are good arguments for it going forward.  I went with Petersson and had it forward as it fitted with a lot (not all) contemporary models and it gives good strength to the support of the gaff. In the end it's a matter of opinion, and if you go aft the kit does provide the parts to do that -- going fore means you have to make your own parts.
 
It's a good idea whilst you're looking at the other logs to keep these points in mind and see how others have approached the issues.
 
Tony

Thanks again to all for the likes and encouragement
 
Yes, it really does spur you on when the pile of wood starts to look more ship-like...
 
Lots of progress today...
 
The rudder's on. Made up the anchors. Also put the channels on along with the peg boards inboard. I made replacements of these parts from beech to contrast the hull, rather than use the walnut ply, as I wanted them to look a little bit less flaky... Also made all the frame heads and swivel gun mounts out of beech to continue the theme...
 
Long story short, here's the progress so far...
 

 

 

 

 
Really pleased with how it's coming along.
 
Take care
 
Rob
 
[edited to restore photos, 11, 13 July 2017]

Aah, I'm glad you mentioned that, Tony, as I hadn't spotted it... I've been focusing just on the hull, but I am hoping to try out some sails (and even add them if they turn out well enough), so I'll have another look at the logs on this site, and perhaps add some more belaying points on.
 
Thanks so much for the heads up!
 
Rob

Nice progress, Rob. It might be worth thinking about how much rigging you'll be doing. If you're going to go for more than the kit plans, then now might be a good time to think about belaying points. Quite a few of the Sherbourne builders add more belaying points here and there.
 
Of course this won't be an issue if you're sticking with the kit plans.
 
Tony

Thanks again to all for the likes and encouragement
 
Yes, it really does spur you on when the pile of wood starts to look more ship-like...
 
Lots of progress today...
 
The rudder's on. Made up the anchors. Also put the channels on along with the peg boards inboard. I made replacements of these parts from beech to contrast the hull, rather than use the walnut ply, as I wanted them to look a little bit less flaky... Also made all the frame heads and swivel gun mounts out of beech to continue the theme...
 
Long story short, here's the progress so far...
 

 

 

 

 
Really pleased with how it's coming along.
 
Take care
 
Rob
 
[edited to restore photos, 11, 13 July 2017]