themadchemist

Hi Guys,
 
Thank you all for your very kind comments and remarks, also for all whom hit the like button, it is really appreciated.
 
It's been a while since I last posted and progress has been very slow, whilst my other project has gathered a bit of pace but even that isn't going as quickly as I would have liked.
 
I do however have a bit of good news, I have had two of my builds accepted for display in our local Maritime Museum. They really just concentrate on local history so both builds fit in nicely.
 
They are the Bomb Vessel Granado which was build in Ipswich and then fitted out in Harwich, the other was the Thames Barge Edme, she was commissioned by the Malt Factory back in 1896 and build by a local yard in Harwich.
 
It's only a small museum, it's housed in a Lighthouse in old Harwich Town.
 
With regard to the progress on Aggy, the snaking is all complete and I have finished the Crowsfeet on all three masts. I have also redone the timberheads either side of the Bowsprit and fitted the seats of ease.
 
Pictures will follow soon.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie

Following the kit plans, additional ribbing was added. The ribs were made of the kit’s basswood but not the bass designated for it. Instead I used the unused planking material which was half the intended thickness. Two pieces were cut to size, soaked, bent, and laminated together. The bending was much easier that the original ribs on the building jig. They were glued to the inside of the hull, trimmed, and stained. The whole hull was then coated with Wipe-on Poly.

Using the Teak planking I made for the hull, a new bulkhead was veneered over the original. The same was done to the transom to match.

You will notice that the pre-cut bow bulkhead was too small and I had to beef it up during planking so it was not a pretty sight.

The excess planking was removed at the stern, but in the process the unsupported stem post above the hull broke off. That was because the grain of the wood was horizontal so it had no strength. A sneeze could have knocked it off so it wasn’t unexpected. If the stem post had been constructed like a real boat, the grain would have been vertical but because this was a very cheap kit (I paid $5.00 on sale, otherwise $8.00) a lot of detail was spared. I will address this later.
 
The light colored basswood ribs and keel looked like tan lines against the darker Teak so I stained them with Early American 230 Minwax Wood Finish (what else?) to match the Teak.

Hi everybody. Sorry for the really long delay in posting. I haven't been doing much modeling for some time now. Still working in Colorado waiting for the house to sell in Kansas so my wife and dogs can join me here. We looked into places to rent or lease-to-purchase here, but having 3 dogs puts a big limit on what is available. It's been nearly half a year now but we're very hopeful that next month our house will sell there and we can then buy here.
 
But let's get back to the boat! With all of my tools in storage I decided to work on the sail. I figured all I would need is some thread and a needle. No sweat, a couple of dollars tops. Umm. The cloth that came with my whaleboat kit was way too coarse. At scale it was more like a net than sail cloth! So I found some nice cloth that is about 72 threads per inch and bought a spool of thread. Less than 5 bucks - no biggie. In Model Expo's "To Build A Whaleboat" book, they show a method of making a sail where you simulate seams by folding a zig-zag pattern in the fabric. This is done by making closely spaced parallel lines at the sail's 'seams' and folding the fabric along the first line and then positioning the edge of that fold on top of the second line and then pressing it flat. This creates an overlap that looks pretty convincing. The book says to make the parallel lines 1/4" apart which results in a 1/8" overlap, but since that is for the New Bedford Whaleboat kit that is nearly twice the size as my kit, I made the lines 1/8" apart for overlaps that are 1/16" wide. A little white glue was put into the overlap with a toothpick before the final pressing to help hold it together for a very flat look. I have a little steel bar that I used as an 'iron' to press the creases and overlaps nice and crisp (no heat used).
 
Lines marked out and starting the 1st crease

 
Pressing the 1st crease

 
Folding the 1st crease to the 2nd line and gluing the overlap shut

 
Finished seam creases

 
 
So with all the seams pressed, I was ready to start stitching the seams. The book shows 2 parallel rows of stitches; one along each edge of the overlap. I made an extra practice seam on the opposite end of my sail cloth to try to get the hang of using a needle and thread. My wife is kind of excited that we may actually sit together and stitch some day! This is pretty tiny work and it needs to look good on both sides of the sail. My Optivisor sure would be handy for this, but it's in storage somewhere. My boss at work has let me borrow his magnifying head band that he uses for changing batteries in his watch collection. They really do help and I'm thankful.  Using the plastic lenses makes me appreciate even more the clarity of the optical glass lenses in the Optivisor. Can't recommend those enough!
 
So my sorry little practice sewing began and I quickly found out several things:
1) It's hard to make tiny stitches that look good on both sides.
2) Regular sewing thread is too big to look right at this scale.
3) Cheap household scissors do not cut thread very well.
4) Small thread that looks dark enough on a spool looks much lighter when used in small stitches.
5) You can spend a lot of money in a stitchery store, but they have some cool tools for this sort of work!
 
So here's part of my $40 haul at the stitchery store. The Inspira micro-tip embroidery scissors are a joy to use. The finger loops easily accommodate my Sasquatch fingers and they snip thread more cleanly than the cataract scissors from Model Expo. The Inspira scissors were only a little over $9 and you really need these! The special pencil allows you to mark fabric and the marks disappear after a few days. They can also be erased if you make a mistake. Regular pencil lead is hard to erase from fabric- I am going to have to do some careful washing once I finish stitching to get rid of some of my initial pencil markings. This marking pencil leaves a fat mark and I'm not sure how much I'll be using it. It's a bit pricey at about $20, but it comes with extra "lead" and a very cool twist to extend eraser. The folding stitch puller is handy for removing stitch mistakes, but is a tad large for the size stitches I'm making. I have mostly been using the tip of my needle to loosen and remove mistakes. It is a bit comforting to know that stitching mistakes are common enough that tools have been made to remove them!
 

 

 
So, here's some practice stitches. The stitches closest to the edge are done with regular sewing thread and they look very bulky to me. This polyester thread looked very thin on the spool, and I'm surprised how huge it looks on the sail. The next bit of stitches is still a bit bulky to my eye and the color disappears into to sail's color. I was surprised by that since the thread color has a nice contrast with the sail when its on the spool. This is Mettler brand No. 50 "silk finish" embroidery thread from the stitchery shop. The 3rd bit of stitches is using Mettler No. 60 "fine embroidery" thread and its size looks good to me. I'm thinking that the color is a tad too dark, but the next lighter color in brownish earthy tones that the store I got it from has is much lighter. In this thread size, most of the colors are very bright vibrant colors. I am going to look around a little more to see if I can find another color in that size of thread. This stitching is going to take a long time so I want to find a color I won't have 2nd thoughts about.
 
Three different thread sizes and colors.

 

 
Sorry for writing a book. Hope everyone is doing well. 
 
Best wishes,
 
 
 
 
 

Nice work. I have certainly seen pictures, even a photo or two of windlass sides being made up of two pieces. The log bit was all of a piece and so constructed sides would make sense.
 
Sorry to hear you have Lyme disease, it is known here in Portugal, and with all the wild boar  in the forest and flocks of sheep around here (mid Portugal) ticks are a real nuisance, and potential threat.
Hope you're felling better soon.
F

Next the stanchion. Cut to correct size & used mini saw & files to get the cuts & angles as shown on plans.

Spacing & marking where the belaying pin holes go in the pin rack. Once drilled got them to just the right size with these handy little twist reamers I got years ago & glued the pin rack on.

Drilled holes in lathe ends & sides to hold everything together strongly & for the drum on the side.

Glued sides together. I wonder why these were not made in one piece instead of two. Shows an ugly glue line. I tried to hide as best I could with sawdust in the glued line.

Started with sanding & shaping the lathes. Decided to put a wire through the middle to hold the cogged wheel, found it holds together better & stronger than just gluing them together- plus it keeps it all lined up better.
 

Lyme has been kicking my butt the last few weeks. Here is an attempt at artistic humor to show/tell how this disease makes me feel: it attacks every part of my body, feel adrift, alone in rough seas, every day is a constant battle & feel like I'm near death every day.
 
Oh well, enough of that. I have been trying to work on preparing ahead of time other parts of the build in the small amounts of time I have been able to do any work. I find I enjoy assembling these smaller parts of the build just as much as I do the more major parts of it. So first as soon as I load up the pics will be assembling the windlass......

today.......I started with the incline rails,  cutting and trimming them to fit.
 

 

 

 
I began with the striped strips.......I must warn you......it does get a bit graphic here.  if you have that  'dizzy issue'.....then look in controlled glimpses.  if your susceptible to the 'WTBH syndrome',  refer to the picture a page or two back,  and it should dissipate rather quickly.   my only regret,  is that I probably should have made the sand area a bit wider.    and so I began........
 

 

 

 
when I did the inclines,  I wasn't sure how I was going to the curved parts.........I quickly figured it out though
 

 

 

 

 
then it was time for the bow to get it as well
 

 
until I arrived with this........really staggers the imagination,  doesn't it? 
 

I said that I was going to do a little yesterday.....well,  I did.   I began with the rudder,  finishing it off and staining it.  instead of the bland looking plywood,  it looks like this.
 

 

 
all of the rail parts got the reddish mahogany stain.
 

 
working on the port side first,  the rails were cemented in place....starting at the fore deck 's outer hull
 

 
I added in the end caps.......and then the bottom rail was added.
 

 

I began to do a little work with the decal maker.  in my search to find the perfect diamond image,  I found it odd that I was more successful looking through images of mineral diamonds,  than playing card images.
    I did see some really cool tats though........if I was doing a car model,  I could see an avenue for some cool decals!  I settled on two of them......one of them has a black border around it,  so I'll save it for another time.   I have another one that is a pair.   it was imported into the decal program and sized down..
....I need to go a bit more,  but I'll wait until I have the string created and do it in one shot.   I'll need to change the color as well......I went ahead of myself and created the string before I did it......I had to do it to each pair, instead of it as a whole.  
 

 
this is done by copy and paste
 

 
what I need to do now,  is print this out once it's finished,  and then scan it back into the computer  it will then be reintroduced into the decal maker again,  where I can copy the image as many times as I want,  as well as resize it down a bit more.  I have already checked it with the test copy I printed.   the other thing I'm concerned about is the transparency issue.   I've done a search.......seems I'm not the only one who has noticed it.  there is a transparency tab on the program page,  but it has been deactivated.  I contacted the company today......and got a pretty prompt reply.  there is an updated program for it,  but it will cost me another $15.00 to get it.....only being offered as a download.  I need to get inkjets for my printer as well,  mine are almost dead.   I'll have to see what develops here
 
on the rail front.......I have all three pairs done and stained.......all I need to do now,  is give them the reddish tone.  I have also done some bending to another pair of strips.  these will be used to do the bottom line,  the base line for the incline rails.
 

 

 
I'll see if I can get some of it done now........the bow area is easy.

A nice bit of improvements have occurred since last I stuck my head in the door. Great creativity as always.
That picture you just showed of the replica? it doesn't have top masts?
 
I cant wait to see the painted sides change as you add the striped rails and diamonds, and so forth, This point of the build they seem to change appearance so fast.

Thank you Patrick and Marc.
 
I seem to have finally made a bit of progress attaching string this weekend!
 
First up, here's the Mizzen Pinrail with lines attached.  
 

 
The mast cleats that I removed from here have been relocated to the Belfry, because reading ahead, I realised that I was going to need these and as usual the kit hadn't provided for them.
 
This weekend I have managed to fit:
Topsail Sheet and Clue Lines to both Fore and Main lower yards. Leech Lines and Bunt Lines (Fore Lower Yard) Spritsail Yard Brace Spritsail Topsail Yard Brace Topsail Yard Reef Tackle (Fore) Topsail Yard Buntlines (Fore) Topgallant Sheet and Clue Lines (Fore) Topgallant Bunt Lines (Fore) The kit plans aren't too bad, once you figure out which line you are looking at. The only real issue is the belaying points - because the kit omits both shroud and mast cleats, it takes a while to figure out where the lines really need to go. Longridge has been indispensable for this.  I also have to acknowledge Gil Middleton's excellent log.  On one occasion, he was able to save me when even Longridge let me down!  Thanks Gil.
 
Pics - starting with Topsail Sheets and Clue Lines
 
Edit: I put a number of labels on these pics, but when I resized the pics, I lost most of the annotations.     
 

 

 
Topsail Buntlines:
 

 
Topgallant Sheet and Clue Lines:
 

 
Topgallant Buntlines:
 

 
A close up showing the underside of the Fore Top - it's getting quite busy under there!
 

 
And finally, a couple of overview shots:
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Hi all,
 
Back home after a week away with work, and just enough time in the shipyard to address the Mizzen Mast pinrail question.
 
I mentioned I'd come up with a cunning plan, and Danny picked it - that's exactly what I did....
 
First up, here is the starting point, showing the Mizzen mast with NO pinrail and with my scratch built mast cleats doing an admirable (if incorrect) job of securing the Truss Pendant tackle falls.
 

 
First job then was to create a pattern for the pinrail. A relatively easy job using TurboCad, although I did do a little bit of fiddling to get the size/proportions to my liking.
 

 
As I needed to construct this in four pieces (a la Danny's previous picture), I printed two patterns, cut them in half and glued them to a scrap piece of 1/32" boxwood:
 

 
Then it was simply a case of cutting out and gluing together..........or was it? 
 
On my first attempt, I cut out the basic pattern with a scroll saw, glued it all up and then tried to drill the large centre hole (about 6mm diam) ................. and watched the entire piece disintegrate. 
 
On the second (and final) version, I used a cylindrical stone in my Dremel to first cut the half-circle in each of the four pieces (stone was just the right diameter), then cut the four pieces off on the Byrnes saw, then got them close to final shape with the Byrnes disc sander, before temporarily gluing up and finishing the final shape by hand with a sanding board.  This proved much easier (and quicker) than using the scroll saw.  After that I drilled the holes for the belaying pins and did a test fit:
 

 
Then I soaked the entire assembly in isopropyl alcohol to separate the four pieces before carefully installing them around the mast.  Here's the final product:
 

 
Just waiting for the glue to set before re-attaching lines various.  In the meantime, I managed to fit the Mizzen Topgallant Yard with Tye, Parral and Lifts.  Once the lower yard lines are re-attached, I will have finished this stage of the rigging and will return to the Foremast to begin the process of attaching Clue Lines, Sheets and Braces etc.  And of course the Driver Boom and Gaff will need to be fitted soon as well...............
 

thank you all for the comments
 
after a second session of filling and sanding this is how she looked :

 
then I spray painted a few layers :


 
this is now showing up a fair bit of errors so after the paint is completely dry I will start on fixing those up
 
I see a fair bit of work ahead of me before I am done with the hull
 
 
 

thank you for the comments
 
sorry I haven't been posting for awhile but I have taking a bit of a break from the online world
 
I have been slowly but steadily working on this build though
 
second planking is finished
 
I have applied a first layer of filler, mainly to seal most of the gaps between the planks and have sanded most of it smooth
 
after that I have added the last keel part and used some more filler to seal the gaps between that part and the hull
 

 
I will now finish the sanding and then check for bumps and such and apply more filler
 
this will then finally allow me to start the painting of the hull
 
 
 
 

its been awhile but I am finally have got an update
 
second planking is almost done , just a few more planks near the keel
 
during the sanding of the first layer I didn't notice that I sanded down the keel to a point at the front and back
 
I decided to cut off these parts and replace with 2 new bits
 
here they are glued on and some filler applied to cover up the gaps :

 
I have also soaked the stern part and bended into the right shape using the form the keel came from

 
I intend to start the tedious work of sanding and filling the second layer next weekend

thanks dragzz
 
thanks Robbyn, unfortunately I wont be able to keep my time line either
 
progress so far . the planks have been lightly sanded

 
 

thanks Augie and bug
 
second layer is progressing well

 
I have used some P180 sandpaper on the first few planks and I am amazed how smooth it feels quickly and so far I can see that only a minimal amount of filler will be needed to have a good surface for painting
 
tomorrow is the first work day this year an dhow I am looking forward to it .... not
the next 2 weeks I will slowly work on the planking . then I will have 2 weeks of real holidays in which I am hoping I will have plenty of time to start on painting the hull which I think after the planking will be the most difficult to get right
 
 
 

thanks Sjors update follows as requested
 
thank you Don
 
thanks Bug . you don't have to wait long its already underway
 
thanks dragzz
 
after lots of sanding on the first layer to get most of the unevenness out I added some filler
 

 
after a bit more sanding I felt I had a smooth enough base for the second layer
I also made sure the bow and stern edge was the required width of 4 mm , this to ensure that the back and front bit of the keel will fit nicely
 
I have started the second layer and added the first few planks
I decided to use some cheap masking tape (useless for fine paint jobs) to hold the planks in place till they dry as I did not want to experiment with CA
so far this is going well