Captain Al

Thanks guys.  Good information.  The one number that surprises me is the 17,000 for drilling that you show Mumin.  Do you suppose that's for metal or wood?  Reason its surprising is cause my full size Delta drill press which has multiple combinations of spindles for multiple speeds, has a table that shows in the low 1000s for wood (depending on thickness).  If its for wood, the 17,000, then my dysfunctional Dremel is going too slow for even wood at 13000.  Or maybe its running at 35,000 (its original max speed) even though the speed control says less than 15,000.  I'm going to do some additional research.  Maybe Dremel's web site has a table.

Not much chance of that.  And yes, I knew you weren't a stickler for historical accuracy and had your tongue in cheek.  Heck, maybe Bligh would have preferred some of you modifications and ordered them installed.  Who knows?

Don't think of not putting the jolly boat on the ship as being historically inaccurate.  It all depends on when you are looking at the ship in model form.  There were many times when the jolly boat (and the launch of course) were not on the ship.  If you are presenting the model as how it looked after the mutiny, then the launch would not have been on board.  On my build (for various reasons) I chose not to include green breadfruit plants in the pots.  My rationale is that I'm showing the ship as it was before they arrived in Tahiti.  I don't think anyone would criticize a painting of the Sierras in August by saying "where's the snow?"

Hey Boyd, as usual a great log and description of all the great work you've done.  While my build may have initially been inspiration for you, the shoe is certainly now on the other foot.  You set the bar extremely high.  I can't wait to see what you have planned for your deck, planking and adornments. 

Don't think of not putting the jolly boat on the ship as being historically inaccurate.  It all depends on when you are looking at the ship in model form.  There were many times when the jolly boat (and the launch of course) were not on the ship.  If you are presenting the model as how it looked after the mutiny, then the launch would not have been on board.  On my build (for various reasons) I chose not to include green breadfruit plants in the pots.  My rationale is that I'm showing the ship as it was before they arrived in Tahiti.  I don't think anyone would criticize a painting of the Sierras in August by saying "where's the snow?"

Hey Boyd, as usual a great log and description of all the great work you've done.  While my build may have initially been inspiration for you, the shoe is certainly now on the other foot.  You set the bar extremely high.  I can't wait to see what you have planned for your deck, planking and adornments. 

Thanks everyone for the answers.  I'd never even heard of an orlop deck.  I thought it was a typo.  Now I have something further to research.  But it all makes sense.  I think I'll reroute my model's cable and lay it on the platform. 85 fathoms would be around 500 feet, correct?  That and the 4 inch cable are both out of scale in this model.  They suggest 1.5mm thread which is more like 2.8 inches at 1:48, and they give us enough of that to make 2 1000mm rodes, each of them scaling to only 150 feet of rode.  Hope they don't need to anchor in a storm.  thanks again all.

Thanks jb for your insights.  A lot of good nautical history.  I noted elsewhere to tlambo that the belaying to the foremast could just as easily and strongly be done around the mast rather than through a ring on the mast.  Was I correct?  It would seem like it would be easier to pull a bolt or pin out of the wood than it would be to snap the 4" rode if the right knot was tied.

Welcome GG to the A.L. Bounty club.  I'll be watching your build and maybe from time to time can offer some good advice.  At this point all I can add is that you've gotten great advice from the others and I agree with it all.

Bryan, as one who struggled for 4 months on this same planking, I know all the trials and tribulations you've gone through.  You should be commended for persisting in the task and getting it done.  Good job.  If I can chime in with a couple observations (lessons I learned along the way as well) perhaps you'll have an easier time with your next build. 
 
The first thing I notice from your pix is that your frames (particularly on the port side) do not appear to have had much fairing and beveling to match the curvature of the hull.  It may be only the photo illusion.  Without a lot of painstaking sanding of each frame to a proper angle, it would be hard if not impossible to get the planks to lay flat and there will be precious little gluing surface under each one.  The other issue I found to be so extremely important on mine is the tapering of each plank and the position of the garboard plank.  You may have waited too long to start tapering; I did and ended with a few unwanted pointy planks.
 
Overall looks good and like you said, ready for filling and lots of sanding with that 3000.  You'll soon be moving to more fun stuff, so hang in there and wear a face mask.

Thanks for the references Duffer.  Yeah, .25 wire works pretty well on blocks.

Bryan, as one who struggled for 4 months on this same planking, I know all the trials and tribulations you've gone through.  You should be commended for persisting in the task and getting it done.  Good job.  If I can chime in with a couple observations (lessons I learned along the way as well) perhaps you'll have an easier time with your next build. 
 
The first thing I notice from your pix is that your frames (particularly on the port side) do not appear to have had much fairing and beveling to match the curvature of the hull.  It may be only the photo illusion.  Without a lot of painstaking sanding of each frame to a proper angle, it would be hard if not impossible to get the planks to lay flat and there will be precious little gluing surface under each one.  The other issue I found to be so extremely important on mine is the tapering of each plank and the position of the garboard plank.  You may have waited too long to start tapering; I did and ended with a few unwanted pointy planks.
 
Overall looks good and like you said, ready for filling and lots of sanding with that 3000.  You'll soon be moving to more fun stuff, so hang in there and wear a face mask.

Many thanks FF5 and Kurt.

I haven't seen any on the internet that small.  Half inch is the smallest I've found so far.

Just to clarify the use of a machinist pin vise in a table top drill press... You simply put the shank of the pin vise into the chuck just as you would a drill bit?  Wouldn't this mean that whatever chuck you're using it would have to handle a bit (or pin vise shank) of 1/2" to 3/4"?  My standup full size Delta drill press can do that, but can these table models handle bit's that large?

Bryan, as one who struggled for 4 months on this same planking, I know all the trials and tribulations you've gone through.  You should be commended for persisting in the task and getting it done.  Good job.  If I can chime in with a couple observations (lessons I learned along the way as well) perhaps you'll have an easier time with your next build. 
 
The first thing I notice from your pix is that your frames (particularly on the port side) do not appear to have had much fairing and beveling to match the curvature of the hull.  It may be only the photo illusion.  Without a lot of painstaking sanding of each frame to a proper angle, it would be hard if not impossible to get the planks to lay flat and there will be precious little gluing surface under each one.  The other issue I found to be so extremely important on mine is the tapering of each plank and the position of the garboard plank.  You may have waited too long to start tapering; I did and ended with a few unwanted pointy planks.
 
Overall looks good and like you said, ready for filling and lots of sanding with that 3000.  You'll soon be moving to more fun stuff, so hang in there and wear a face mask.

Just to clarify the use of a machinist pin vise in a table top drill press... You simply put the shank of the pin vise into the chuck just as you would a drill bit?  Wouldn't this mean that whatever chuck you're using it would have to handle a bit (or pin vise shank) of 1/2" to 3/4"?  My standup full size Delta drill press can do that, but can these table models handle bit's that large?

I've used a sewing needle with the eye cut in half -- cut into a 2 pronged fork.  Then I put a couple drops of CA into a plastic teaspoon (which can be bought at a Dollar store for, of course $1 for 50) and I put the fork into the drop of glue and then transfer it to  the wood joint.  This works well with very thin CA, not well with gel.

I use this technique.  I cut the sides of the mortise with a razor saw, holding the keel in a vise.  Make sure to cut equally on both sides and just up to the depth you want (mark it).  Then I put the point of an exacto blade (in the holder) in between the two cuts and a sharp tap with a mini hammer knocks the mortise out.  I don't know how well this will work with plywood.  It works best with solid wood and you must be cross cutting with the saw and knocking out the mortise with the grain.

I use this technique.  I cut the sides of the mortise with a razor saw, holding the keel in a vise.  Make sure to cut equally on both sides and just up to the depth you want (mark it).  Then I put the point of an exacto blade (in the holder) in between the two cuts and a sharp tap with a mini hammer knocks the mortise out.  I don't know how well this will work with plywood.  It works best with solid wood and you must be cross cutting with the saw and knocking out the mortise with the grain.

I've used a sewing needle with the eye cut in half -- cut into a 2 pronged fork.  Then I put a couple drops of CA into a plastic teaspoon (which can be bought at a Dollar store for, of course $1 for 50) and I put the fork into the drop of glue and then transfer it to  the wood joint.  This works well with very thin CA, not well with gel.

I use this technique.  I cut the sides of the mortise with a razor saw, holding the keel in a vise.  Make sure to cut equally on both sides and just up to the depth you want (mark it).  Then I put the point of an exacto blade (in the holder) in between the two cuts and a sharp tap with a mini hammer knocks the mortise out.  I don't know how well this will work with plywood.  It works best with solid wood and you must be cross cutting with the saw and knocking out the mortise with the grain.

Orvis makes a fly tying scissor for $7.  Its great.  You can nip off the ends of loose line right up to the knot or place you want to end a wrap. 

Good Morning Bryan and welcome to the world of my masts don't go into their holes.  I don't know how extensively I covered this problem in my build log -- maybe not at all -- but I had the exact problem.  Masts were perfect when I dry fit the deck.  Then two of the three didn't hit the holes correctly.  Boyd may have just referenced my solution which was (in part) to take off a bit of the mast at the foot.  I also got down in there with a long round file and worked the hole.  Now I can also recall that my problem was not so much getting through the round holes of the lower deck, but actually fitting into the mast step itself.  These steps are rectangular and the mast is obviously round.  Before going down into them they had to be tennoned.  So the process of getting them to sit well was really just an extension or exaggeration of what had to be done anyway.  Once you create a rectangular shaped tenon at the mast foot you'll have to always orient the mast the same way -- ie there will be a front and back and port and starboard side to the mast.  My last comment on this is that I learned while doing it that one of the masts, I believe the mizzen, is supposed to have a slight rake to it.  I think its like 7 or 10 degrees.  In my case, just by sheer luck, that's about how well the mast sits after all the fiddling.  I think I spent around 20 hours on these adjustments.  Otherwise, I wanted to say that your interior looks great and the deck looks fine as well.  Oh, one more thing -- I had to enlarge the mast opening on the top deck to allow the mast to slide in at the right angle.  Not to worry; the rings (provided) are large enough to cover the slight gap.  At one point I considered really making these holes large and using shims around the mast.  This is actually the way it was done I believe.

Wow, where have you been all my life Capt. P? These are first real closeups I've seen and now it makes some sense. I've done the inserted sheave in the sprit but til now didn't know what was going to go through it. So it looks like the ring, with its hooks, block and sheaves, will slide forward and aft. How clever;
seriously.
 
I wonder if you have any more closeups of your bowsprit and if I'd be imposing to ask to see them.
Regardless, a million thanks for these. I'm inspired to get back to the bench.