Stuntflyer

● Bulwark Template Installation: I first glued the bulwark templates to the hull using CA at the area of the Great Cabin where the inward bend is most pronounced. Next, I glued the area at the Forward Cubbridge Head. These areas were not clamped as I found it easier to get a tight fit by using my fingers to push on the template. The area at the bow was done using CA and clamps. After that, it was simply a matter of working fore and aft using PVA to finish the gluing process. I lined the windows and other areas of the templates with boxwood to maintain uniformity where it will be seen. Both templates fit very close to the initial plank avoiding the need for a lot of filler. I still need to trim the templates where they overhang slightly. There are areas that will need a second coat of Wipe-on Poly, like the Forecastle deck, which I will do later after the remaining parts are in place.
 

 

That's impressive that you were able to keep them so straight and uniform.
 
--Randy

● Beakhead Bulkhead and Deck Planking: I prefer to do the planking off the model, whenever possible, to avoid sanding into other parts. Here the deck planking is sanded and ready to be installed.
 

 
The planks were glued to the bulkhead and sanded. The doors were replaced with ladders like those that are now on the Mayflower replica. I used this simple jig to align the ladders. Ladders were glued with 5 minute epoxy applied with a pin. A rather slow process, but I think it's worth the wait.
 

 
The completed bulkhead and deck planking with no sanding necessary other than the outside curve and overall height of the bulkhead.
 

I had to pull myself away from staring at that traveler Dan. I love the rigging too. Just great!

I'm sure I had read somewhere that the planking of the sides on these ships were planed smooth before painting, but I have not yet been able to find the reference.  However, in searching, I did come across the following related to paint used to blacken wales - in Crothers:
 
"Combine one pound lamp black mixed for paint, one pound red lead, one gallon paint oil, half pound litharge(?), and half an ounce of indigo, boiled for half an hour, and stirred at intervals.  Care should be taken that the composition boils that length of time.  After it has cooled a little, add one pint of spirits of turpentine; apply when warm and it will dry in a short time with a beautiful gloss, and be perfectly limber."
 
Ed

I had to pull myself away from staring at that traveler Dan. I love the rigging too. Just great!

● Bulwark Template Installation: I first glued the bulwark templates to the hull using CA at the area of the Great Cabin where the inward bend is most pronounced. Next, I glued the area at the Forward Cubbridge Head. These areas were not clamped as I found it easier to get a tight fit by using my fingers to push on the template. The area at the bow was done using CA and clamps. After that, it was simply a matter of working fore and aft using PVA to finish the gluing process. I lined the windows and other areas of the templates with boxwood to maintain uniformity where it will be seen. Both templates fit very close to the initial plank avoiding the need for a lot of filler. I still need to trim the templates where they overhang slightly. There are areas that will need a second coat of Wipe-on Poly, like the Forecastle deck, which I will do later after the remaining parts are in place.
 

 

That's pretty much the same as the one I've got on my list - the Scheppach HG580 - for sanding inside curves. 
 
I'm toying with the idea of making a thickness sander as well, copying somebody's design - it's here:
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/8927-home-built-thickness-sander/

Thank you Pat.
 
Jibboom Crupper
 
The aft end of the Jibboom is held fast by the Crupper, a similar arrangement to the Gammoning on the Bowsprit :
 

 
Jib Traveller
 
This is a tricky piece of "iron" work. The Traveller holds the Jib Outhaul and the running end of the Jib Stay. It's purpose is to allow the Jib sail to be adjusted or moved along the jibboom.
 
It consists of a ring which encircles the boom, a shackle to which will be attached the outhaul and the stay, and a hook which holds the tack of the jib (the forward corner).
 
I made the shackle and hook first, silver soldering the eyes. Then I bent the ring and slipped the shackle and hook through it, closed up the ring and finally silver soldered it closed. These pics show the assembly before cleaning up and blackening :
 

 

 
And the traveller on the jibboom :
 

 
  Danny

Thanks for looking in again John, Grant, Greg and David .
 
Topgallant Shrouds and Stays
 
The Topgallant Stays are the first lines fitted, unlike on the lower masts where the shrouds and backstays are fitted first. I decided on this arrangement after reading Lees who quotes Steel on the "Order of Dressing". TFFM has the stays fitted as per the lower masts.
 
EDIT - see a few posts below. This could be wrong   .
 
The Stays and Shrouds are all served around the mast and for a few feet below. The forward stay may have been served for it's full length, but at this size of shroud (0.2mm) the serving would have looked too large so I've omitted that.
 

 
The running end of the backstays end in deadeyes fitted to the aft end of the channels on the Main mast, and on the aft deadeyes on the stools for the Mizzen and Fore masts :
 

 
The running end of the Stays on the Main and Mizzen masts lead through a block stropped around the lower mast heads and are tied to the strop of the topmast lead blocks :
 

 
An overall view of the Main Topgallant Stays and Shrouds :
 

 
The Topgallant Futtock Shrouds are fitted in similar fashion to the topmast futtocks :
 

 
  Danny

The rigging of the smaller Mayflower is complete.
 

 

 
Seems like I spent more time today on the spritsail yard than all the other yards combined.
 

 
All's left is two anchors and her stern  carving.
 
Thinking seriously about painting the hull below the wales.

● Bulwark Template Installation: I first glued the bulwark templates to the hull using CA at the area of the Great Cabin where the inward bend is most pronounced. Next, I glued the area at the Forward Cubbridge Head. These areas were not clamped as I found it easier to get a tight fit by using my fingers to push on the template. The area at the bow was done using CA and clamps. After that, it was simply a matter of working fore and aft using PVA to finish the gluing process. I lined the windows and other areas of the templates with boxwood to maintain uniformity where it will be seen. Both templates fit very close to the initial plank avoiding the need for a lot of filler. I still need to trim the templates where they overhang slightly. There are areas that will need a second coat of Wipe-on Poly, like the Forecastle deck, which I will do later after the remaining parts are in place.
 

 

● Bulwark Template Installation: I first glued the bulwark templates to the hull using CA at the area of the Great Cabin where the inward bend is most pronounced. Next, I glued the area at the Forward Cubbridge Head. These areas were not clamped as I found it easier to get a tight fit by using my fingers to push on the template. The area at the bow was done using CA and clamps. After that, it was simply a matter of working fore and aft using PVA to finish the gluing process. I lined the windows and other areas of the templates with boxwood to maintain uniformity where it will be seen. Both templates fit very close to the initial plank avoiding the need for a lot of filler. I still need to trim the templates where they overhang slightly. There are areas that will need a second coat of Wipe-on Poly, like the Forecastle deck, which I will do later after the remaining parts are in place.
 

 

Looks great...JUST MAKE SURE...That you lined up those templates port and starboard at the stern.  This is crucial.   The moldongs wrap around the stern and if the templates arent lined up you will have serious problems later on.

I just checked the measurements. They are the same port and starboard. I didn't think to check this before installing them. I guess I just got lucky.

I appreciate your candid comment Ed. I was a bit surprised by the gloss, perhaps most by the degree of it more than the fact that it is glossy. I can also appreciate your need to not dally over these things too long when dead lines loom. I think that we come up against the whole issue again of scaling nature with regard to the finishes we impart on our models. sort of reminds me in a way of the old comment about if we scaled the earth down to the size of a billiard ball it would be much smoother than a billiard ball.
 
I hope that you will not be upset later that you are not completely satisfied now, later.
 
Regards Michael

I'm not even sure what you call it but the joinery looks terrific.  This is downright exciting.

I have gone through your log.  This is a different framing system that I have ever seen. If you do not mind I will be in the audience with a pair of binoculars.
David B

Only the forward most head timbers left - and then its on to installing the rail and hopefully some pictures.  The Byrnes disc sander has come in big time for making these rapidly (as my scrap pile grows).  Id advise anyone building her to use a hardwood for these - I'm amazed Chuck was able to pull it off with basswood considering how fragile this structure is.  Trial and error is the only way I've found to make these vs using templates etc... This is by far the most challenging part of this build - Confederacy builders you are warned...LOL 

Augie, Thomas and Randy, thank you for all the nice comments!
 
● Upper Deck Planking: The strips I received vary by as much as .020 in thickness so I ran them through my new thickness sander until they were all 1/32" thick. This proved to be very helpful during the sanding process. I had to be very careful not to damage the area around the coamings and Capstan base. For this I used a "0" barrette escapement file which was able to get right up to these parts without damaging them. I'm not sure how important it is to have the deck planking be uniform in color. Does anyone have a comment about this?
 

● Grating (Upper Deck): I made my first set of gratings today with 3/64" holes and 3/64" battens. The coamings were made from 1/16" x 1/8" strip with lap joints. I used the method described on EdT's Victory log to make the gratings. .http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/316-hms-victory-by-edt-196-pob/page-2#entry29518. No glue was necessary since the battens went together with a nice fit. Thank you Chuck, EdT and Michael Mott for all your help.
 

 

● Forward Cubbridge Head Bulkhead: Now that the Byrnes table saw has arrived I'm finally able to finish this bulkhead. The kit supplied ladders, although not too bad, were replaced with ones made from boxwood. There was only a tiny area in which to glue the ladders and the PVA glue I first tried did not hold well enough. I switched to 5 minute epoxy applied with a needle and that worked out very well. Any excess glue was easily removed minutes later with a sharp #11 blade.
 

 

Augie, That looks lovely!!!  And a nice way to think ahead on enlarging that hole now.   Very nice. 
 
As far as a stern lantern goes.  I would say it is very plausible that this frigate had one.   Just one in the center.... but because the Confederacy was never ever modeled that way,  I did not add one to the prototype.  I would say it is fine either way but would indeed be very interesting to see a model with it.  It would however make it impossible to see that center figure on the stern.   It would cover it up.   Based on its location you might have to drill the hole for the main iron bracket right through the bottom of her torso or near-abouts.  Something I didnt want to to do.   
 
Chuck

Haven't really made enough progress for a proper update but there's something important I need to point out ... and now is the time.
 
The bulkhead beakhead doors were made the usual way by laminating 3 sections together, thinning them down, applying the finish and hardware.  They required only minor adjustments to fit the openings properly.  The two outermost doors will be covered by the roundhouses down the road.
 

 
Next, we fabricated the bowsprit step out of 3/16 and 1/4" strips.  After painting, it was securely pinned to the deck:
 

 
OK, here's what I wanted to discuss.  The bowsprit hole in the beakhead is quite a bit undersized for the bowsprit.  The bowsprit will be tapered but the hole still needs to be enlarged.  With the stem already in place, getting the proper angle and size on that hole is somewhat problematic.  Also, the next steps will include installing additional deck fittings as well as forecastle deck beams which will largely cover the bowsprit step.  I could visualize painting myself into a corner and being unable to properly fit the bowsprit 6 months from now.  So I fabricated and aligned this NOW and I'd strongly suggest you do something similar.  If you check Rusty's great Confed log you'll see that he left off the upper part of the stem (that which holds the figurehead) at this point ----that would give you room to work.  But I didn't think that far ahead.
 
I don't like breaking out my dad's old Craftsman 1/2" drill for work on a 1:64 ship model.  So I slowly enlarged the hole using slightly tapered sticks (old paint brush handles) wrapped in sandpaper.  Yes, it's just this side of Neanderthal (and slow) but it works..... and nothing got destroyed in the process.  Here's what we have:
 

 

 
The bowsprit has a tenon cut in to sit nicely in the step.  That will need to be painted red just prior to final installation.
 
Didn't mean to bore anyone with this as I'm sure you all know it's good to think ahead.  But now my conscience is clear.
 
 
 

This is a matter of taste. In reality, the planking would not be that uniform in color. This was a hard working aged merchant ship. It is up to you regarding how you want to see the finished model.
 
Russ