Stuntflyer

Thanks everyone for your comments and likes.
 
When I was building airplanes, due to the filler being applied over silkspan, it was common practice to leave some filler the surface since it was not a good idea to sand through the silkspan. I started with the same approach as you can see from the previous post. I later realized that since the primer was applied directly to the wood that I could sand the hull a lot more to achieve a smooth contour while using the primer as an indicator of high and low spots. At first I was afraid of sanding through the wood, especially at the bow and stern, but there was plenty of material and no need to worry.
 

I think that little bit wont matter.  You may have to adjust the slot widths in the bulkheads and bulkhead former...but thats it.  The plans for example call for 1/16" thick planking....because its a readily available size....but because I am milling my own stock,  the planks are actually 3/64" thick.   That is closer to scale and easier to work with.   So feel free as I have done to change things up.   As long as you think ahead or shoot me the question before hand,  you should be good to go.  Again this is the beauty of a scratch build.  You have some flexibility as long as you think through the consequences.  Following the plans will do the trick...when you adjust any wood sizes...think about what you will need to adjust on the plans....but it may not even be needed.
 
Chuck

Thanks, Chuck. I don't think I was expecting you to do the conversions! It's amazing that you are doing all the work you do -- let alone re-adjust your whole plan to accommodate a question like this! I was just wondering how we'd do it in practice.
 
I know it is a simple matter of multiplying by 25.4.  I think I was just asking that if we did have it in mm, or since my saw is calibrated in mm, whether cutting to the nearest single decimal point would have enough cumulative tolerance over long distances  to have no problems in building. The following is the conversion for the sizes you posted which shows the very slight differences if I was to ask for cuts in mm, or to cut it myself:
 
ins        dec ins      mm          nearest mm for cutting purposes
0.025    0.025        0.635        0.6
1/32      0.03125    0.79375    0.8
1/16      0.0625      1.5875      1.6
3/32      0.09375    2.38125    2.4
1/8        0.125        3.175        3.2
5/32      0.15625    3.96875    4.0
3/16      0.1875      4.7625      4.8
7/32      0.21875    5.55625    5.6
1/4        0.25          6.35          6.4
3/8        0.375        9.525        9.5
 
I think the best thing for me will be to wait till I get the plans. I can then estimate whether these slight differences will accumulate or not. I can see that it might well be possible and easier to order wood cut to inches, so I'll have to find out. Although currently I have no concept of what quarters, eighths sixteenths and thirty-seconds look like, it'll be good for me to learn, given that so many plans that are available are in inches and feet.
 
Sorry for asking again, and thanks for taking the time to respond.
 
Tony

Turns out I made the two hatches the wrong size.  The forecastle false deck has squares marked on it for the placement of these hatches. Instead of adding the 1/16" square strips outside of these markings I placed them inside. My thinking was that the markings represented the overall size. Wrong! Chuck's watchful eye caught the mistake.
 
Before and after
 

 

Turns out I made the two hatches the wrong size.  The forecastle false deck has squares marked on it for the placement of these hatches. Instead of adding the 1/16" square strips outside of these markings I placed them inside. My thinking was that the markings represented the overall size. Wrong! Chuck's watchful eye caught the mistake.
 
Before and after
 

 

Turns out I made the two hatches the wrong size.  The forecastle false deck has squares marked on it for the placement of these hatches. Instead of adding the 1/16" square strips outside of these markings I placed them inside. My thinking was that the markings represented the overall size. Wrong! Chuck's watchful eye caught the mistake.
 
Before and after
 

 

Turns out I made the two hatches the wrong size.  The forecastle false deck has squares marked on it for the placement of these hatches. Instead of adding the 1/16" square strips outside of these markings I placed them inside. My thinking was that the markings represented the overall size. Wrong! Chuck's watchful eye caught the mistake.
 
Before and after
 

 

Turns out I made the two hatches the wrong size.  The forecastle false deck has squares marked on it for the placement of these hatches. Instead of adding the 1/16" square strips outside of these markings I placed them inside. My thinking was that the markings represented the overall size. Wrong! Chuck's watchful eye caught the mistake.
 
Before and after
 

 

Very nice!  I really like the looks of the aftermarket woods (box, pear etc).  Nice crisp lines and good color.

● Forecastle Deck:
 
I started the deck planking today using a #2b pencil to simulate the tarred seams. All of the deck planking will be done using boxwood. I applied a coat of Wipe-On Poly to bring out the color.
 

 
 
 

● Forecastle Deck:
 
I started the deck planking today using a #2b pencil to simulate the tarred seams. All of the deck planking will be done using boxwood. I applied a coat of Wipe-On Poly to bring out the color.
 

 
 
 

● Forecastle Deck:
 
I started the deck planking today using a #2b pencil to simulate the tarred seams. All of the deck planking will be done using boxwood. I applied a coat of Wipe-On Poly to bring out the color.
 

 
 
 

● Forecastle Deck:
 
I started the deck planking today using a #2b pencil to simulate the tarred seams. All of the deck planking will be done using boxwood. I applied a coat of Wipe-On Poly to bring out the color.
 

 
 
 

I have started to line out the hull for planking.   There are 20 strakes under the wales.   The first two are already done....those were the ones with the drop plank.  So I measured midship for the remaining 18 strakes.  They will be 3/16" wide.   Interestingly,  the strakes fit perfectly as they did on the contemporary draft.   There will be just two belts of strakes.   The first will have the remaining 8 under the wales.  The bottom belt will have ten.  Basically the hull was split in half down to the bottom of the square tuck as shown in that contemporary planking expansion.
 

 
I used black line tape to split the hull into the two belts.  I am spending a great deal of time examining it from all angles until I am pleased with it.   Then I marked along the tape and removed it.  All there is left to do is to take the space remaining in belt one on each bulkhead and transfer it to a tick strip.
 

 
The tick strip is divided into eight with the help of the planking fan.   Then the tick marks are transferred back to that bulkhead.  Once again I am amazed at how the cutter is so well designed by the naval architects.  Almost every bulkhead except for the four forward bulkheads have strakes exactly 3/16" wide.  Its a straight run to the square tuck with 3/16" planks.  No tapering/widening required in this first belt . Only those at the extreme bow need to be tapered which is a huge time saver.
 

 
This will not be the case in the lower belt.  The strakes will get wider at the stern as they run off the hull and also require tapering at the bow.  But it should be a very very close match to that original planking expansion for 1806.  Yippee for me.  It all worked out.
 
I also started fixing the wales at the bow which you can see in the photos.  They are now the proper thickness entering the rabbet or nearly so....almost there!!

Thanks everyone for your comments and likes.
 
When I was building airplanes, due to the filler being applied over silkspan, it was common practice to leave some filler the surface since it was not a good idea to sand through the silkspan. I started with the same approach as you can see from the previous post. I later realized that since the primer was applied directly to the wood that I could sand the hull a lot more to achieve a smooth contour while using the primer as an indicator of high and low spots. At first I was afraid of sanding through the wood, especially at the bow and stern, but there was plenty of material and no need to worry.
 

I added the first two strakes below the wales.  This was to get the drop plank out of the way.  The drop plank was shaped from a piece of card stock first just to get the hang of it.  After I was satisfied that it fit OK I  cut the real ones from wide stock the same thickness as the planking.  They were pre shaped as you can see.  You can also see my pencil on the edge to simulate the tarred seams. Now I will line off the remainder of the hull into two belts and finish the planking.  I also painted the first of many layers of red paint on the counter at the stern.
 
Chuck
 

 

 

 

 

All pin rails inclusive riding bitts and fore bitts are finished . . . and only 24 additional belaying pins left to turn 
 
Thomas
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Mike, the planking came out really well, on your way to a great looking ship!

After completing the first layer planking I used some Elmers wood filler to fill small cracks and then applied a coat of primer as a color indicator for final sanding of the hull. At first I tried using the Model Master Acrylic White Primer #4622 but it wasn't opaque enough so I switched to their gray #4680.
 

The first layer hull planking is completed on one side with 2 more planks remaining on the other. I was hoping to finish both sides before my leaving on a week's vacation but rushing things is not an option. The completed side has been sanded with 120 grit to within 90% of where I want it. I still need to taper the planking at the stern to 1/8" where it meets the sternpost. Right now it's 1/16" too wide overall.
 
I have to say that the experience so far has been somewhat of an eye opener. I was hoping that my planking the Longboat would have made things a lot easier, but new challenges were presented. The biggest challenge was having to plank a more rounded bow using 1/16" x 1/8" basswood strips. If not careful, this wood is sure to crease, splinter, crush or lose an edge. Although it was too late to turn back at the time, Chuck mentioned that instead of using 1/8" planks in the lower hull I could have used 5/32" planks tapered to 1/8" near bulkhead "0". This would have avoided the use of stealers altogether.
 

After completing the first layer planking I used some Elmers wood filler to fill small cracks and then applied a coat of primer as a color indicator for final sanding of the hull. At first I tried using the Model Master Acrylic White Primer #4622 but it wasn't opaque enough so I switched to their gray #4680.
 

Thanks...
 
No its correct....there was never a one size fits all for these things.   Some had alternating holes and others had them as I have designed it.  And as Jan points out,  there is the example above from the NMM.  I have also seen other contemporary models that show them like this too.
 
There was always some variation on the same.  The good news is...should you decide to build her,  you could absolutely change it to what you believe is correct.  That is why it wont be a kit but released as a scratch project.  
 
I am 100% confident that the Windlass is correctly designed and portrayed.  Not that there arent other configurations that would work as well.
 
Chuck

Hello all,
 
Well I’m happy to say I’ve completed the planking on the portside too. No stealers or drop planks this
side either. All that is needed now is a good deal of sanding and then some wipe on poly. I have to say
planking this way is more time consuming but it works so much better and the run of the planks is much
easier to maintain. Definitely the way I will plank from here on out!
 

 

 
One thing I want to point out is that I handle a model a lot when I’m working on it. 
Because of this I would inadvertently rub off some of the pencil marks. To make sure
I didn’t lose the main belt line mark I used a sharpie to mark them. Then if I accidently
rubbed off any markings I could go back to the main mark and redo them.
 
After I check the hull over and make sure it’s all set I will move on to the stern.

Thanks Ben, Rusty and Mark - here are the updated photos.  I will be adding the channels next in boxwood and dye their inverted knees with Fiebings black leather dye.  I will scratch the deadeye strops and chain plate assemblies (hoping to get a torch for Xmas), then its finishing the head rails and adding the stump masts/anchors and mounting her to a display board.  
 
Yancovitch - I did not simulate caulking on the hull planking - not really a fan of that look - and most museum models do not show this detail.  You can see from the photos that the Tung Oil finish I used did accentuate the lines of the planking slightly - which was the effect I wanted. I  used a number 2 pencil to simulate caulking for the deck planking.  As far as treenailing - at this scale i didn't want to bother with it - I do think think the drilling and saw dust method would work well though if you want to go for it.  All planks were glued to each other and the bulkheads to try to get as tight of a result as possible.  Hope that helps - and thanks for the kind words!
 
Happy Thanksgiving !
Chris

My finished Longboat, a very rewarding and humbling experience.
 
A big thank you to everyone for all your support over the past eight months. You have kept me going when I was seriously in doubt. I know that this wonderful group of people here on MSW will help me to move forward and I look forward to sharing thoughts and ideas with other members in the future.
 
Now, if I could only decide on what to build next?