themadchemist

Thanks Bob,
 
I`m Feeling very much honored for all the kind comments and "likes", and am happy that my first heritage 18th century ship is liked. Hopefully I`ll find through all the rigging work as well, I am still gathering information on that behalf
 
I just sliced some rings from a 8 x 0,5 mm brass tube and reshaped these over the handle part of an old square-file, so the brace Fittings work out exactly to slip tightly on the 6 x 6 mast top squares, simple easy without soldering
 

 
Nils

Hi Jason,
 
today I found and ordered the edition: Petersson's "Rigging Period Ship Models" from a reasonable offer at Ebay, hope that shall bring some more detailed knowledge for my rigging process when the post arrives from the UK next week, thanks again for your tip
I would have liked to find a priceworthy second Hand David Antscherl`s Volume 4, like Bob suggested but there are only new books that come round about 90 USD incl. postage to Europe
 
Bow sprit rigging is nearly completed...
 

 

 
Nils

Just finished rubber banding the main deck to the frame to shape it. Now will wait until tomorrow to see if it holds.
 
Was going to soak with wet paper towels in microwave as suggested by CannonFodder, but decided to use a 22 inch baking pan. Sorry about the photo, forgot to switch from manual focus to auto.
 

 

 
So tomorrow I can glue the deck,  then the fun begins, planking the deck. 
 
 

Hello there, adivedog.  Welcome aboard and greetings from Canada!  
 
As a fellow 'Swiftie', I look forward to following your build log.  
 
And...you've got an excellent mentor in Keith! 
 
Like he said, this model is a great one to start with and it was my first as well - I completed it February of this year.  However, it took me so long to complete (27 years!) that I can't remember a lot of the details of the early steps other than I decided to add the keel and stem before the second planking, whereas the instructions said to add them after the second layer. (I'm assuming that your hull is double planked - I built the old version of the kit).  My method allowed me to cut in a rabbet to hide the edges of the second planks, particularly at the bow.  I will say that you should watch the thickness of your hull at the stern - I left mine too thick and it created problems when I was installing the stern post and rudder.   You will have a chance to fix up some imperfections after you complete the first layer by adding wood filler and sanding...and sanding...and sanding some more.    
 
One thing that I learned from my first build and that Keith absolutely embraces is that you should feel free to change/modify/question/deviate from the instructions as you see fit.  Reading the logs on this site is an inspiration and great education - you'll pick up lots of ideas on what to do and, if you read my log, what NOT to do!
 
Have fun...
 
Regards,
Gabe
 

Today, I shaped the Bow filler and stern filler. I was a little worried about this part, afraid I might screw it up somehow, then have to take them out, but everything went well. Did have a little concern with the stern, but think it will work. Mostly used a rasp and sanders I made out of paint stir sticks and dowel rods. ( Thanks Keith )
 

 

 

 
Have made and glued fillers to go between frames 2 & 3. So have to wait until tomorrow to continue.
 
 

Got on the fillers yesterday, glued in the bow and stern.
 
Before glueing, I formed them using my bandsaw and belt sander. Figured this would help with the shaping and am glad I did.
 

 

 
 

Thanks again Keith, that makes sense.  I'll take another picture of the bulkheads on the new model so you can see how they fit as to relationship to the keel.
I think AL upgraded the kit a lot from what I've read about the old one. My keel was straight, the bulkhead fit well and only had to work on one of them. Most of them are aligned fairly well to.
 
I appreciate your help. Thanks again

Thanks Keith, I got most of what you're saying.
 
So, it's all right for frames 2 and 3 to be flush with the keel ?
 
Am in the process of putting in the balsa fillers on bow, stern and between 2 & 3.

25’ Cutters Ver 2.5 (continued)
 
All progressed reasonably well with the planking from here on, although I did need to make a couple of stealer planks that I would not have needed to do if I were cutting the planks individually from sheet stock.  Never mind – I think I managed to sneak them in in a not too obvious way.  The secret here was to really feather the ends of the stealers so that they blended with the adjacent plank.
 
Here’s a few photos of the completed planking.  The stem needs trimming and shaping, as does the transom, but the hard work is done.  While it could be better, I'm satisfied with the results here - they say the third time is the charm!
 

 

 

 
And just to prove that I was working on two at once:
 

 

 
I thought I’d throw these two photos in to show the real difference in hull shape between the Cutters and the Pinnace (the Pinnace is 3’ (actual) longer than the Cutters).
 

 

 
And finally, just for scale, here’s the obligatory picture of a Cutter in that giant fake hand…..
 

 
Next up, fitting out and painting.  Stay tuned……

25’ Cutters Ver 2.5 (continued)
 
An idea that I picked up from looking at the 18’ Cutter build log by MauryS, was to simply use some blue painters tape to help hold the keel in place on the plug.  This must have been serendipity, as I'd only just acquired some of this tape after watching some YouTube tutorials on using a scroll saw, where it was used underneath patterns due to it's low tack and lack of residue being left behind.  Because we’re using more than one plank per strake, it is easy enough to re-locate the tape for the next plank.  This is particularly important because of Lesson No.3 in the previous post!  As soon as a plank was glued in place, I would remove the tape, pop the keel out of the plug and check for any glue seepage before it became a problem.  This routine saved my bacon on more than one occasion later on.  Here you can see the blue painters tape with the fore part of the Garboard being fitted.
 

 
Another thing I noticed by studying Maury’s log was just how far forward the Garboard strake went.  Here you can see a close up showing that I have taken it almost to where the keel rises vertically.
 

 
And here is a shot showing the entire Garboard strake in place.
 

 
One problem I had with this version was that I no longer had enough sheet stock left to cut planks individually, so was limited to using some strip stock.  All of this planking was done with 3/32” wide Boxwood strip (1/64” thick), with the exception of the Sheer strake, for which I used 1/8" wide strip stock.  I found that once the planks were shaped, a quick dip in a glass of water (remember not to drink from THAT glass ) and the plank could be bent in the fingers roughly to final shape before fitting.  The heat from the fingers and the thinness of the planks meant that they dried out during this process.
 
Here’s a couple of pics of the second strake in place:
 

 

 
And here is one showing the hull starting to take shape off the plug (remember to remove from the plug after EVERY plank to check for glue seepage).
 

 
One important aspect with this style of planking is the bevel on the edge of the planks.  Both mating faces need to be beveled and this is best achieved with a small sanding stick (I use a flexible one similar to a nail file) prior to final fitting.  The other, somewhat more tricky part is to add the “rolling bevel”.  This occurs at both ends of the strake, where the bevel is reversed to allow for the “gain”, which is where at both bow and stern, the planks cease to overlap and lie adjacent to each other.  In this picture you can just make out the bevel on the upper edge of the second strake, with the rolling bevel occurring just as it rounds at the bow.
 

 
Continued next post…..

Thanks Augie, Remco, Mobbsie, Mark, Sjors, John, Leanne and Rich for your kind words of encouragement, and also to all of the “likes”.
 
I’ve been quiet on this log for a couple of weeks, partly because I’ve been both back at work and back into hospital for some minor surgery (nothing serious), and partly because some more “learning” has taken place.  It has taken me a while to figure things out and have some real progress to report, but here I am at last with some learnings to share and some progress to show.  I will post this across three separate posts due to the number of photos (should keep “See Yours” happy )
 
25' Cutters Ver 2.0 (continued)
 
To start, picking up where we left off with Cutters Ver 2.0.  Things got off to a promising start, however the further I went, the less satisified I was with the result – mainly with the way the run of the planks was working out. I think I just plain got the garboard wrong, and it just sort of gradually snowballed from there.  A couple of things I learned along the way……
 
Lesson No.1 - because of the issues I was having with clamping, I decided to try using thick CA glue instead – never my preference as I tend to suffer an allergic reaction to it if I’m exposed to it for too long.  Anyway, it seemed to work pretty well, and of course enabled work to progress a little more quickly than waiting for PVA to dry.
 
Lesson No.2 - using at least two planks per strake makes it MUCH easier.
 
Here is the result of one of the Ver 2.0 Cutters. In this photo, it doesn’t look too bad, but viewed from the side, the planks at the bow look pretty ordinary.
 

 
I would probably have used this, had it not been for Lesson No.3…..
 
Lesson No.3 – No matter how good your preparation, never trust that glue will not stick to your plug.  Here is how the second Ver 2.0 Cutter came off the plug………
 

 

 
Lots of rude words out loud later………..
 
Thought about this for a couple of days and decided that a third attempt was called for.  Much of my method for Ver 2.0 was okay, but needed refinement, so I decided to call the next version, Ver 2.5.
 
25’ Cutters Ver 2.5
 
The first thing I did was to modify the keel assembly.  I decided to cut the keel in two pieces so that the stem was cut with the grain running diagonally for greater strength.  I even managed to cut a scarph joint!  I also decided to go back to my original idea of an extended apron that would become a hogging piece, with notches cut out for the frames.  I also notched the stern deadwood for the frames.  Here’s one of the new keel skeletons:
 

 
I then decided to modify the plug by carving a groove for the keel/apron assembly:
 

 
This made the keel assembly almost a “press” fit and certainly provided much greater lateral stability.  Here is a picture of the new keel in the modified plug.  In this picture the plug has been marked out for the run of the planks.  This worked out to be reasonable guide.
 

 
Continued next post…….

And then there were two planks.....  then one plank and (almost) done with planking! 
 
The 2nd to last plank was made same as the others with updated measurements.  The last plank was made almost the same.  The major difference is the final plank was beveled on both edges so it could 'press fit' for a snug fit.  Added some glue and called the planking almost done!  Before I sand the bump and lumps, I'll add a layer of epoxy on the inside of the hull. 
 
The ends of the planks will be trimmed up to a nice straight line.  The garboard strake, in addition to needing a bit of filler, is a bit too wide at the front.  

 
The starboard bow needs a bit of clean up. The planking got a bit snug at the bow, but ALL planks run the full length of the hull with no add / dropped planks. 

 
And then I did THIS to the deck!  I got carried away when opening up some of the false deck to add the epoxy.  I decided to add the wells, framing, mast shoe / step.  Good idea, until I figured out, that to do it right, I should have done some of the prep work on the false keel for the mast shoe / step and individual bulkheads for framing (back on page 1).  Oh well, I'll figure it out!  It won't be right, but it will be close.

 
In this photo of the Shepherdess from Domrémy, you can see the cockpit floor boards are in two sections.  From the thwart forward, the floor boards are loose to access the fish wells below, and aft of the thwart, the floor boards are fixed.  The oyster would be stored in the (wet?) well below the floor boards.  At the end of the day, the boards would be put back and head for home. 

 
While I'm trying to figure this out, I'll add a layer of epoxy to the inside of the hull and try to get rid of THAT bump on 14 & 15 and work on the stern post. 
 
As always, thanks for stopping by. 
 
Dee Dee

Bob,
I'm a 'puzzle person' and planking any hull is a puzzle!  Too much fun!  I tried my best with single planking and I learned a lot about planking!    
 
Keith,
Scary kewl, but I understand most of what you wrote!  Sort of!  A puzzle with thinner tape would definitely be interesting!  I'm thinking the results will either bring total order or some really kewl '60's Pop Art'. 
 
 
Here's the fun part of this puzzle.
By feel, I know there's a ridge on the port side due to the 14th and 15th planks aft of the 6th bulkhead.
In the tape puzzle, theoretically, there should be no gaps between the strips of tape. 
However, the stern view photo shows a gap between the blue / green tapes and the green / black tapes and the gaps start when the tapes cross planks 14 & 15.   
 

From another members build & this ship plan there are stuns'l sail booms. I couldn't find any historical evidence of them on this ship but it sure was a possibility so I wanted to add some. Found that with jackstays also it is hard to figure out just how both of these fit on the yard without one of them getting in the way of the other- especially with how the sails will tie onto the jackstays. I have no idea how they were supposed to fit around each other but I got something figured out. I wont be adding the stuns' sails but wanted to show some booms for added detail. I made all the bands & end pieces from CA coated paper then painted them black. Drilled holes & joined each piece with wire. Turned out looking good.
 
 

Indeed. In addition to simply moving I've renovated a bathroom, the hobby room (where work on this will happen) plus a laundry room. Oh yeah, and child #2 is overdue by three days now...so I suspect life will continue getting in the way. But progress! Timber heads have been added using clothespins as clamps...they were the wimpiest clamps I could find to avoid potentially denting the sapelia. Putting these on was an example of having to work in spite of the kit; the kit inventory sheet said there would be 42 pieces to cut and shape to fit. In fact, there were two long pieces, not 42 short. Okay, no problem....except I realized about a third of the way through that I was cutting off too much material to use as each timberhead blank. It was only by carefully measuring for each timberhead position along the gunwale that I ended up having enough material. Whew!

Build log part 53
 
 
 
Still doing the masting, top platforms and started tackling the bowsprit
 
 
 

self made "heart blocks" for the stays and violin block
 

All blocks put on
 

 
 

The Standing rigging for the bowsprit can be put on...
 

 

 

lazy day at the Fitting out shipyard
 
 
 
 
Nils

If you're only looking to turn spars, mast, etc, I would check out the Grizzly Hobby Lathe.
 
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Hobby-Lathe-Disc-Sander/H2669
 
I have one and it's come in handy for turning mast and spars and other small turning projects. It's easy to setup and use all need is the drill motor that fits the collar. You can attach it to your work bench with some clamps or mount it directly.  I used it to turn the mast for my Enterprise.
 
 

 

 

 

Nice work!
 
Just remember, you can tell the experience of a builder by the size of their scrap bin. There's no lesson learned quite like repeating the same task and no lesson learned quite like the tasks that fail. We learn so much more from failure then success sometimes.
 
1:96, Wow, you do like a challenge

Your tape puzzle is very much like a derivative in math. The tape shows the tangent curvature of the hull at 6 distinct points, assuming the tapes center is that point. Thinner and thinner tape would push this to infinity as in calculus. What a very unique method of making a mathematical aspect of hull shape and form mathematically visual.
 
Its like looking at a graph of a three dimensional function describing the hulls form.
Cool exercise, Once again things like this are why reading Dee Dee's logs are just so dang interesting and informative.

Eamonn,
 
Thanks for stopping by!  Good catch sighting Andy trying to slink thru Montreal during the F1.   
 
I just finished the thriller called "As the Plank Snaps!"  In the stillness of the evening the next plank is being added.  The quiet was broken with a loud and distinctive "SNAP!".  Yep!  the  starboard plank #5 snapped off aft of the 8th bulkhead, right where it makes a twist and edge bend.  Oh fiddle stixs!  But, there was a happy ending!  It's fixed and it adds a little character to the hull!

 
Now I'm trying to figure where / why these black lines are appearing on the edges of the planks.  It looks like a gap between the planks, but the planks fit very tight.  In the second photo, you can see the snug fit on the ends of the planks.  It's not causing any problems, just curious.
 


 
After I add three more planks, I'll start planking up from the garboad strake.  
 
Back to the ship yard!
 
Dee Dee

I've made some progress, so it's time for an update!  
 
The Corel instructions / prints are, shall we say, a bit less than vague about the top plank, garboard strake and planking.  So I made my plan for the planking and got started.  Before I added the first plank, I defined the line where the planking needs to land on the keel.  After the first plank, the garboard strake was added.  This was an adventure, as every mm of this strake needed to be shaped to get it to fit tight against the keel.  The first five planks and the garboard strake are smack dab on the line.  

 
I'm using the fan / tick method for planking and decided on 20 total planks per side.  I made tick marks on the port side, the planks taper from 2.3mm at the bow, to 5mm at bulkhead #7. So far, the planks are hitting the targeted tick marks and landing on the line.  The blue tape around the stem is to protect it from getting banged up.  To protect the keel from getting banged up, I added a 1/64" / 0.4mm strip of walnut.  

 
In my last post, I mentioned how the instructions / construction drawing do not match the blue print.  The planks taper from 2.3mm at the bow to 5mm at the 7th bulkhead.  I'm thinking it is possible to plank with the first four planks being straight as shown in the drawings / prints:  The number of total planks at the bow would drop from 20 total to 16-17 with 2-3 stealers.  But stealers are not shown on the prints.......   

 

 
In this photo, you can see the top plank run back to the transom.  The tops of the bulkheads will be removed when the planking is completed, so I'm trying my best to use minimal glue on the bulkheads.  

 
Like the garboard strake, the last plank added in this photo had to make a 90* turn, but this one was a bit easier since I had 2.5" / 65mm to make the turn.  

 
If I was to start over, here are some changes I would make:  (Hey!  I like doing the research and I want to make it right!) 
-Currently the cockpit floor is 23" below the top of the cap rail. The top plank and the decking need to be raised / dropped to increase this height closer to 36". 
            Remake all of the bulkheads/keel and increase the height 5-8" to raise the top plank. 
            Drop the height of the cockpit floor 5-10".  I'm thinking for the reason the current cockpit floor height is due to the false
            framing that is added after the bulkheads are removed.  But that would be an easy fix. 
            The transom would also need to be raised.  
-Make a rabbit in the keel for the garboard and bow planking. 
-Add a rabbit on the stern edge of the keel.  I'll add the rabbit above the garboard strake and the garboard strake will need some major reshaping.
-The first planking is 5mm x 1.5mm, 4mm would have been better.  The second planking is 6mm, if I was doing a second planking, I would replace it with 4mm. 
 
I'm definitely enjoying this build.  The planking is going well, but I'm not taking any chances!  After I add 3 or 4 more planks, I'll re-do all the measurements and make any adjustments.  Even though the hull will be painted, I want the hull planking to shine through the paint. 
I like the quality of the wood in this Corel kit!  All of the strip stock is straight and nicely finished.  Also the plywood for the decking was flat (unlike the decking for another kit on the shelf.)      
 
SO!  That's where I'm at and I'm really liking this build! 
 
Thanks for stopping by!  Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome. 
 
Dee Dee    

Markku,
Thanks for stopping by!  You did a great job on your Flattie, especially all the little details.  Agree, it's interesting to see how work boats change to work the local waters.  
 
Eamonn, JesseLee,  
It's always nice to have you stop by. Yep!  I managed to add another 'character' mark!  You'll get to see it in my next update.  
 
And Thanks to all that hit the 'like' button.  
 
~~~~
 
I'm finally home after a couple of weeks on the road and plan to get back to the boat yard this week.  But that may be delayed by some nice long rides on my bicycle.     
 
I need to add one more plank to get to my next planned build update.  So far, I'm happy with how the planking is going.  But the last five planks added on each side have been a real challenge!  Each plank bends, twists 90* and has significant edge bending in the middle of the plank and also add some edge beveling!  It takes a few hours to make and glue each plank.  I'm taking my time to make sure each plank fits snug, I don't want to use any filler and single plank the hull.   
 
As I progress in my build, I'll be posting a few more photos of the Bergère de Domrémy.  These photos are not being added for 'fluff,' 'log filler' or 'eye candy', rather they are a reference when I make a change (or where I wish I had made a change, such as dropping the height of the cockpit floor 10-12".)
  I'd like to share with you more about the boat I'm using as my model guide,  the Bergère de Domrémy, (Shepherdess from Domrémy, referring to Joan d'Arc).  (See post #2 for more photos.)  The Bergère de Domrémy, hull #B5929, is a coquillier, shellfish sloop, built in 1936 at the shipyard M. Auguste Tertu in Le Fret, France, length 37'5", beam 13'.  Of the more than 200 boats built, only a few still exist and are used for recreation purposes or as museum boats today.  Since 1982, the Association An Test has owned, maintained and operates the Bergère de Domrémy, which is considered a French National Treasure.  The boat was overhaulled / rebuilt 1989 - 2002 at the museum shipyard Chantier du Guip in Brest. 
 
 
The Bergère de Domrémy hull is cleaned frequently, always on a king tide day.  The boat is laid over on one side (here port side) and some weights are hung from the mast to stabilize it.  Below the water line is cleaned with high pressure water and scrapers.  

 
Any wet spots on the hull are dried with a flame so it can be painted.  Weird to see a flame on a wooden boat, but they only have the tide duration to do the job.  On the other side, the paint is touched up above the water line.  The next day, the boat is laid on its starboard side and cleaning process repeated.

 
 
These boats were built to last and were very heavy.  Careening (leaning) these boats over was done frequently, to strengthen the hull, the plank that it lays on is ~2" thicker.  I'm thinking about adding this detail, it can be done by adding a layer when I'm done planking.  These next three photos show this plank.   

 

 
Ringed Plovers are enjoying some of the mussels that have been scraped from the hull.

 
I was starved for info and photos on my MBLS, but for this build, there is a lot of information available! 
 
I'll add a build update as soon as I get that plank added. 
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
Dee Dee  

I enjoy planking, it's sort of like a jigsaw puzzle with all rectangular pieces and there's no picture. 
 
Here's the puzzle:  I laid out 6 strips of art tape, (same width as the planks) on a piece of glass and fixed them with the strip of gold tape.  The tapes were transferred to the hull (parallel to the keel) and each strip of tape was then laid flat following the contour of the hull.   The views from the bow and stern show the puzzle the best.    

 

 

 
 
 
Just a few more planks to go. 
Here's a quick review on how I made each plank:
Each plank was steamed, edge bent, then shaped to size.  The measurements at each bulkhead was taken, then divided by the number of planks to go.  My goal was +/-0.03mm at each bulkhead, bow and transom. I averaged 45 - 60 minutes shaping each plank, it's a process that just cannot be rushed.    
 
This target measurement here was 3.58, I got 3.57.  The amount of pressure applied on the calipers will change the reading, so I just tried to be consistent with my process of measuring. 

 
This is the port side #17 plank, it just needs to have the top edge beveled and it will be ready to glue. 

 
Port plank #17 glued and partially sanded.

 
Three more planks to go!
 
There's a slight ridge on the port side, on planks 14 and 15.  It's not visible on the bare wood, but I'm thinking it might become visible after the hull is painted.  So I'm going to follow Cap'n'Bob's suggestion, add some two part epoxy on the inside of the hull, just in case the wood gets a bit thin while sanding that ridge.
 
The kit wood for the cockpit flooring is about 12" wide, way out of scale.  So I'm thinking of going with some maple, 3" wide  and staining it to the gray weathered color.   But before that, the mast thwart is too wide, so I need to extend the foredeck a few inches.  It's really kewl to have an actual boat to refer to.  
 
Thanks for stopping by, suggestions are always welcomed!  
 
Dee Dee

Started glueing the frames. So will be slow going for the next few days.
 

 

 
I'm sure everyone has somewhere they keep they're clamps. I got a couple of paint stir sticks and fixed to my work area.
A gallon stick on the left of my work area for clothes pins and the right side a 5 gallon stir stick for other clamps.
 

 
 

All done, guess the pirate, stole the fishermans boat to bury his loot.