Stuntflyer

Well, I have finally completed the first of the the 21 square body frames. A temporary cross-spall was placed (tack glued) across the frame pair at the height of the top timber. It is cut to the width necessary to set the frame vertical. I used the cross-spall to level the frame across the ship by measuring at both ends vertical from the build board. A rubber band is all that was needed to hold everything in place after gluing. Mike

Thank you all! Tom, I'm semi-retired which gives me time to build almost every day. I considered boxwood which of course is great to work with, but I wouldn't be able to use Chuck's laser cut parts. Chuck did not approach me with the idea to build a prototype. I have always liked the Winchelsea and when I mentioned my wanting to build her, he suggested that I wait until version II was finalized. He happened to have had the head knee parts available for me to try out. Mike

Thanks, guys! Nils: I agree that it is a very beautiful ship. Ian: Check with Chuck on this as I have not spoken to him in the last week or so. Mike

Welcome to my Winchelsea build which will be done alongside Hayling. It will be based on Chuck's version II design. I have chosen to build the ship mainly from Cherry. It will be a P.O.B. model, using the laser cut parts and mini-kits that Chuck will offer. This will be a fun build for me and I'm looking forward to the many challenges that are ahead. The build starts with making the Knee of the Head from Chuck's laser cut kit. Cherry, being a softer wood than Boxwood, cuts somewhat cleaner and the pieces fit together quite nicely. Only a gentle scraping with a #11 blade was needed to remove the loose char. I used a #2b pencil to darken all the joints (optional) which were then joined with Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Glue. No clamping was necessary. The upper area from the stem down to the forward edge of the bobstay piece was gradually tapered from 3/16" to 3/32". The bobstay holes and gammon slot edges were softened as well. Mike

Mark, Kurt and Michael, thank you for the kind words. Kurt: I do all the photography under incandescent lighting (no flash) on a tripod with an 80A conversion filter on my Nikon D5100. The filter helps to reduce the orange tint created by the ambient light. Photo processing is typical and I rarely do any sharpening or cropping. Of course using a good macro lens helps tremendously. Mike

I managed to complete the forecastle deck hook and the breast hook over the last few of days. Both of these required a lot of fiddling in order to get them to fit properly. The angle of their inside edges changes constantly due to the changing angle of the hawse pieces. Bolt holes were drilled through the hooks with a #75 drill. 24 gauge copper wire was used for the bolts. The position of each hook was set prior to gluing and clamping with copper wire. The wire being inserted into three of the holes that were extended about 1/32" into the hawse pieces. After the glue was dry, copper wire was snipped to a pointed shape and pushed firmly into the holes with a needle nose plier. The wire was snipped off leaving about 1/64" showing. Using a wide flat-tip nail set, the remaining wire was pushed (not hammered) into the hole until flush. I was wondering if this method would aid in holding the hooks in place, so I made test piece without using glue. I found that I could not pull it apart easily. I would recommend using this method as it is easier to do and avoids using glue which can be messy. Thanks for the tip, druxey! Liver of Sulphur was diluted 10:1 and applied to the copper wire for blackening. Mike

Looking very nice, Bob.

A bit more progress as the remaining fore cants are now installed. Two machinist squares and a Q-tip hold things steady while cant #5 sets up. Mike

Looks great, Thomas! Mike

I will leave things as they are then, druxey. Mike

The bollard timbers and hawse pieces are now completed. I left room for final fairing later on after all the frames are in. I didn't notice it earlier, but it appears that the upper limit of the air spaces should be shaped to a point and not square. Guess I will need to come up with a solution to achieve that and not do damage to any of the work already done. Mike

The first of seven fore cants was made and installed. I was careful in making sure that it was vertical and at the correct angle to the keel. Rather than using my homemade 90° plywood jig, I now find it easier to align the cants with just two machinist squares and a little hand holding. The trick is to establish the exact angle needed at the foot of the cant and hold it down securely to the stepping line while the glue quickly sets. Once the cant frame was installed I started to work on the Bollard timbers and hawse pieces. I ended up making three sets before I was satisfied with the shape and fit. Luckily, they don't require using a lot of wood. Mike

Looking nice!

druxey, I removed just enough wood to reach a faired state and not a bit more. Lower timberheads around 9" or 9 1/2". Timberhead tops between 7 1/2" and 9". I'm hoping that's good. Mike

Frame making continues with the completion of the seven aft cants. While fairing the last three aft cants, AC 5-7, it occurred to me that I had no idea as to where the stop line would be for the forward most one, AC 7. My solution was to use the square body frame just forward AC 7 for marking out a reference line to fair to. I tried making a few square body test frames a while back. Needless to say, improvements have been made and are on-going. I will explain how I make them when I start to produce them in quantity. With the square body frame in place, a reference line is drawn slightly above its edge onto AC 7. If you look at the port side you can see just how much wood needs to be removed, including those frames previously faired. The square body frame has been removed and fairing can continue. With the starboard side fairing completed I can now place a batten anywhere and get a smooth run. It's probably too much finish work at this stage however, I don't mind the extra work as I find it quite enjoyable. Fairing a few frames at a time rather than all at once gives one a lot more room to work. My hand was outside the hull most of the time. Now its on to the port side. I see that I need to cut down that too tall toptimber on the port side too, Ooops! For this work I prefer using hard edge tools along with the Dremel rather than sandpaper Mike

Cliff, this is what I used. https://contenti.com/901-die-sinkers-riffler-files https://contenti.com/no-604-silversmith-s-riffler Mike

I have completed an internal rough fairing of the first four aft cants. Lots and lots of filing, sanding, etc. This before and after photo should show just how much wood needed to be removed. The structure is quite strong with AC 1 glued to the wing transom and small spacers glued between the toptimbers. This allowed me to use chisels and coarse riffler files without fear of breakage. Mike

Chuck, I've seen your original Winnie first hand it's a beauty. I'm sure that Winnie "Version Two" will be every bit as nice and probably top it. I'm looking forward to the build and also hearing about those design changes you plan on making. Your off to a great start! Mike

Thanks guys! I appreciate the feedback. I'm waiting for a new riffler file to arrive to handle some of the inside fairing work. Meanwhile, frame making continues. Mike

Great stuff, Chuck! Always innovating. . Mike

Thanks for the kind words, ken and for the "Likes"! I now have four of the seven aft cants completed, though I'm still developing my preferred method of making them. Before moving onto the remaining three, I need to do a rough fairing inside the hull. There is a lot of wood to remove, especially on the two aft most cants. The outside of the hull will not be sanded or faired until all the framing is completed. Gonna be a while. Mike

With the the stern framing completed, I'm ready to work on the 7 aft cant frames. They are all doubled with no scarph joints or chocks. Basically sections glued together with butt joints. To be safe, all of the sections are cut slightly past the line and double checked over the drawing before gluing them together. Here I have completed the assembly of aft cant No.1 (AC 1) port side. In order for it to line up properly, a score must be made on the aft side where it meets the wing transom. This is because it has not been faired yet and must be moved in a bit at the top. A bevel has been created where it will sit against the deadwood. My disc sander has an accurate adjustable table that makes this an easy process. Installing the frames was done with the aid of a 90° jig that was made from plywood. Clamps and a rubber band hold it securely in place. The score in the frame allows for the proper alignment with the drawing. Mike

Thank you all for your comments and "Likes" Continuing on with the stern framing requires that the fashion pieces be added. The feet of these pieces sit in the scores that were made earlier to the inner post. They are not the same shape since the one on the port side has a "timber loading port". A small filler piece was added to create the lower sill. Two vertical posts were added to define sides of the port. The angle where the pieces join the wing transom needed to be established and there was some beveling done on the inner face. I had fun making them! I left a generous amount of wood outside for the fairing later. Mike

Coming along nicely, Bob Mike

Work continues with the making of the transom wing. The initial shape can be seen while sitting on the inner post. From here a curve on both sides needs to be created. The convex curve was done on the disc sander while handheld. For the concave curve, the wing was glued to a pine block with "Elmer's School Glue" and sanded with the spindle sander. After establishing the curve, a paper template was glued the the wing. Scores need to be cut for the counter timbers and cut-outs made for the first aft cant frames. Afterwards, the finished wing was glued and pinned to the inner post. Careful attention was given to insure proper alignment for both centering and the wings relationship to the building board. Mike