KevinR

thanks guys ...if you are in a chair please be close to the kitchen because this may take a while.
 
stage 2....set up frame and get ready to plank
 
The first step is to glue up the keelson.  I set up two stations, 19 & 21 at the bow and 1 & 3 at the stern and set the center 1/4 plywood section into the slots.   I then took the two 1/4 by 2.25 plywood strips and fit then on the outsides and into the station slots.  the plywood had a natural bow of about 3/8 over the length.  Therefore I took a one inch aluminum box tube and clamped it to the length of the assembly and left it to dry over night......it worked!
 
next I took out the keelson and laid out the stations lines and water lines so I would be able to see them to align and level the stations as I progressed. 
 
next is to start at the bow and work aft, one station at a time. The blocks were screwed to the stations first and then as I glued the slots of the station to the keelson, I screwed the blocks down to the building board.   Some stations were only 1.5 inches apart and I needed to hold the drill horizontally to drill each station,  thus I had to work one end to the other. I chose to leave out a few stations where they were only 1.5 inches apart.
 
The next step was to cut out spacer blocks and temporarily glue them at the outer edges of the stations to square up the frame.
 
You can see in one photo to make the transom was an experiment. I took a 1x4 soft pine board and sort of carved out the shape of the transom.  using the band saw I cut the outside and then the inside leaving a block with a slot to grab the 1/4 inch center keelson.  I also built around the keelson because to install the rudder I need to drill 5/32 hole right through it.  I will show that later.
 
The final step is to add blocks at the bow to act as knighthead - hawse timbers and receive the planking. Sanding these to shape led to cleaning up the outer strips of the keelson assemble at their extreme ends for fairing in the planks. I finished by fairing up the bulkheads a bit.
 
end of stage 2
 

stage 4:   fiberglass the hull
 
My main goal is to be able to salt water sail , so we need strength. That means coating with fiberglass and therefore loosing any possible plank detail. Years ago I bought a roll of 6 oz Fiber and it was great for smooth hull pond yachts.  [ the Neaskegs by example]   Many experts say no more than 2 oz. should be used on a model.   I absolutely agree that the stem and rudder post needed to be wrapped in 2 oz and I did  that.  [  wish I had done the keel, but I traded off a little rounding again for strength] I opted for the strength of the 6 oz for the main hull.  Again this is learning proto type.
 
 I turned the hull on its side, so while applying the second resin coating I could better reduce drips and things. I looked at the transom that I had wondered about and saw .......oops?.   the cedar planks did not conform to the carved mold.    So that required a fix to get the right curve. I also used 2oz cloth here in the fix.
 
Also at this stage I aligned and drilled the hole for the rudder shaft through the Keelson.   Here I made another mistake, by putting the hole exactly where the rudder post should be according to the dimensions.  It would have been fine if this were to be a static model, but I want a working rudder.....I will explain later when I build the sailing rudder and need the brass shaft a bit aft to hide it in the rudder.
 
end stage 4
 
 

Stage 3.........well here we go to planking.
 
First of all I have a few sins to share that affect the process, but I will try to explain them away as follows:
I learned this basic planking method while joining a pond yacht session at Wooden Boat School  in 2001 with my son.  We each built hulls for the 'Naskeag'  a vintage Marblehead designed by Thom McLaughlin.   I include a photo here, so you can see that with nicely milled planks and some care one can have a nicely finished cedar hull. the hull was coated in clear resin and cloth and then varnish to protect the resin. FYI I only finished these models last summer and hope to sail them next year.  The cedar strips were cut down from 1x6 red cedar to about 3/16 thick and 5/16 wide and typically 4 to 5 feet long. When provided to us they were all the same.  Wow I did not know that was hard.   In the pond yacht every plank was full length,  there were sharp ends on the final pieces however no butt ends.   This is a racing boat and meant to look nice.  Most people paint the hull and put on a nice top.  We chose to keep the cedar look. Downeast Maine schooners were built for freight; the bigger ones for coal.  They were not nice cedar hulls. As I am learning they were red lead below the lower [ empty cargo] waterline and black or white above. I have found documentation verifying this but taken it from pictures.   White hulls at launch often became black at refit.  Also the 10+/- feet of planking  between lower and upper  [ full of cargo] waterline was often coated with a bit of slime. anyway, my sin is to take a little less care because after fiber glassing the hull, it is to be painted.  Also I stuck with the size planking that is way out of scale  5/16 is like 15 inches or 2-3 time wider than real.....but it is painted. My sin number one was in my learning how to do a good job on making the strips.  I have previously [8 and 5 years ago] made hulls for a 5-6  foot 1/24 scale schooner Gertrude Thebaud...still hanging from the shop ceiling waiting for a restart, and a 4 footer Boston 1853 pilot schooner 1/18 scale that welcomes guests to the shop but also incomplete.  In those years I used a normal " framing " table saw and the cutting left much to be desired as thickness varied and some scarring occurred.  A year or so ago I got a small Proxxon table saw and I am learning to use it.  I experimented with a few thicknesses.  My reason for this long story is I decided to use up all the precut planks knowing there were defects and thus a need for more filling before fiber glass.....sorry.
 
I am not sure this second point is a sin.   I marked out the shear line on every station and set a plank below that as my starter plank.  You can see in the photos there is some side bending here as there is about 8 feet or 2 inches in scale of shear on this ship.   Looking into the photos of the Maine schooners at launch, I saw their planks were not wide and thus easily followed the whole length of the schooner. their sides were not full of stealers and very little or unnoticeable tapering. The planks remain quite horizontal as they met the stem at the bow.  My strips at 5/16 are way out of scale but are going to be covered. So I honored the process of following the shear line and worked consistently from the shear down to the one garboard.  This required good soaking in ammonia water for all the planks.   Every plank started either at the bow or stern with the soaked end bent both ways and often twisting and coming to a butt joint somewhere along the way.  As each plank was set wet it was allowed to dry. Holding them required several methods based on location and access.  Small brass screws were the best for the most difficult bends, and clamps of different strengths were used. Often I needed to pull the clamp with rubber bands to get the twist.
 
After drying I would drill 1/16 hole through the strip into each bulkhead. I then touched the hole with a 5/32 drill to help avoid splitting the strip as I tapped in tooth picks at each connection.  I staggered the butt joint and added a splice plate behind with two pegs. Attachment was simple wood glue along the seam and at the bulkheads. Each toothpick was cut in half. the end was dipped in glue set and tapped.
 
The hull was upside down to  work up to the shear at the bow....downward is reality. I did add tapered stealers between most planks to make up the steep pitch at the  bow, hawse area.  I also needed about three very short stealers at the keel completing the stern section.
 
As I got to the internal temporary braces they were removed. I plan to reset them as deck supports after removing the bulkheads later.  After sanding I liberally used a water putty over all. sanding the putty and hull made it ready for fiber glass
 
At this point I added the cedar strips to transom....oops I will show the goof as my the next stage. Before fiberglass it was important to figure out the rudder and drill the shaft hole for the 5/32 sleeve that will house the 1/8 brass rudder post.
 
lessons learned in these first three stages.
While in the Turbo CAD I should have marked each station with the shear line.  I had to manually go along and mark the bulkheads before starting the first plank. Also I am not sure but perhaps I could have installed the temporary braces at the right location to double duty as temp frame support and future deck support and not have two activities as I do now. Now with a better saw and some experience....make the strips common and more accurate.  this means slowing down on the saw.   haste does make waste. If all the strips were full thickness one can do more sand shaping and less fill and shape.  Thom McLaughlin had us grind a drill into a taper. This way in one action we drill a hole that replicated the pointy end of the tooth pick....it was easier that way and worth considering if more than one boat is intended. sin three was I used up many tooth picks that were not all round.   This is not great as there were a few times the cedar slit and this caused a need for the second drilling process. the oops in my error for the transom...next posting So we are progressing,  taking pond yacht techniques and trying to make a more historical ship.  I fear a few compromises are happening.  this is not a static model. that would have a double planking using 1/16 by no more than 1/8 width. no fiber glass and joints all visible.  One might even try to paint on the slime between water lines!
 
 end of stage 3
 
 
 

Hi everyone!
Thank you for stopping by and all of your advice and help. The problem is that the angle of the starboard side planks is greater than the port side. The distance from center line on the starboard is grater than the port. I was able to realign the mast blocks with the stem and keelson. I also moved the forward port side the the forward cabin 3 inches closer to the side. I will have to trim some of the planks on the foc's'le to try and hide the difference. I have only 1 deck beam to complete on the foc's'le. That is the very first one. I placed a stub mast and a temporary sampson post to get an idea of how it will go together. I have not glued in any of the deck beams. The are a couple of additional tasks to complete on the hull before I can glue them in place.
Disassembling the mast blocking.

Making sure the mast is straight this time.

It looks straight this time.

My current status.






 
Thanks again everyone.

Using the compass to get the 3/32" width I trailed from the outside, creating the sanding line.

Using the caliper I am very close to the correct measurements, some extra sanding might be needed.

 
The connection of starboard and port cap rail at the stem is an area I am happy with.

 
So far I am satisfied with the out come.
Still there is a lot of wood fuzz I need to get rid off.
Basswood is not a friend of mine when it comes to sanding.
 
Painting is getting close.

BEADS - (Is there anything they cannot do ??)
 
Many kits feature sails. However, from my limited experience (four manufacturers), I have never seen a kit supply eyelets (grommets) for the attaching of sails to spars.
For my Bounty Launch (1:16 scale), I used these beads:

(... they are the very same ones used as Pommels for the cutlasses)
 
Evenly-spaced holes were cut along the top of my sails ...

 
The beads were coated with two-part epoxy, inserted into the holes and positioned into place ... 

Be sure to clear any glue from the bead hole with a toothpick before the glue sets ... or be prepared to re-drill the holes.
 
Depending on the type of bead used, you may find the glue will react, leaving a stain. This is from a test I did prior to actually fitting the beads to my sails ...

This problem could be avoided by using wooden beads (if you can find them small enough). 
 
O'course, in my case, I was looking to create a particular effect. Here is my sail after some dry-brushing ...

Beginning with the fact that I finally have a rigged yard (Lanteen)....
 

 
Creating the Parral was probably the most challenging task related to this stage.

 
Note the addition of the Topmast Backstays (Main and Mizzen), which I discovered had not yet been completed.

 
The Garnet Tackle, seen here, was another little surprise task I discovered that I had not previously completed.

 
All in all, this was a fairly straight forward rigging task, made much tougher by the fact that I had not done that much rigging in over three years. I think I may be beginning to get a little feel back.
Not quite there yet.... but making progress.

Hi everyone!
Thank you for stopping by and all of your advice and help. The problem is that the angle of the starboard side planks is greater than the port side. The distance from center line on the starboard is grater than the port. I was able to realign the mast blocks with the stem and keelson. I also moved the forward port side the the forward cabin 3 inches closer to the side. I will have to trim some of the planks on the foc's'le to try and hide the difference. I have only 1 deck beam to complete on the foc's'le. That is the very first one. I placed a stub mast and a temporary sampson post to get an idea of how it will go together. I have not glued in any of the deck beams. The are a couple of additional tasks to complete on the hull before I can glue them in place.
Disassembling the mast blocking.

Making sure the mast is straight this time.

It looks straight this time.

My current status.






 
Thanks again everyone.

The schooner America served as blockade runner in the American Civil War for a brief period.

Hi everyone!
Thank you for stopping by and all of your advice and help. The problem is that the angle of the starboard side planks is greater than the port side. The distance from center line on the starboard is grater than the port. I was able to realign the mast blocks with the stem and keelson. I also moved the forward port side the the forward cabin 3 inches closer to the side. I will have to trim some of the planks on the foc's'le to try and hide the difference. I have only 1 deck beam to complete on the foc's'le. That is the very first one. I placed a stub mast and a temporary sampson post to get an idea of how it will go together. I have not glued in any of the deck beams. The are a couple of additional tasks to complete on the hull before I can glue them in place.
Disassembling the mast blocking.

Making sure the mast is straight this time.

It looks straight this time.

My current status.






 
Thanks again everyone.

Hi everyone!
Thank you for stopping by and all of your advice and help. The problem is that the angle of the starboard side planks is greater than the port side. The distance from center line on the starboard is grater than the port. I was able to realign the mast blocks with the stem and keelson. I also moved the forward port side the the forward cabin 3 inches closer to the side. I will have to trim some of the planks on the foc's'le to try and hide the difference. I have only 1 deck beam to complete on the foc's'le. That is the very first one. I placed a stub mast and a temporary sampson post to get an idea of how it will go together. I have not glued in any of the deck beams. The are a couple of additional tasks to complete on the hull before I can glue them in place.
Disassembling the mast blocking.

Making sure the mast is straight this time.

It looks straight this time.

My current status.






 
Thanks again everyone.

Hi everyone!
Thank you for stopping by and all of your advice and help. The problem is that the angle of the starboard side planks is greater than the port side. The distance from center line on the starboard is grater than the port. I was able to realign the mast blocks with the stem and keelson. I also moved the forward port side the the forward cabin 3 inches closer to the side. I will have to trim some of the planks on the foc's'le to try and hide the difference. I have only 1 deck beam to complete on the foc's'le. That is the very first one. I placed a stub mast and a temporary sampson post to get an idea of how it will go together. I have not glued in any of the deck beams. The are a couple of additional tasks to complete on the hull before I can glue them in place.
Disassembling the mast blocking.

Making sure the mast is straight this time.

It looks straight this time.

My current status.






 
Thanks again everyone.

Thanks to everyone for following this build, your input and kind words.  I really enjoyed i,t especially with all of you visiting.
 
This will be my last post for this build and will try to put her in the Gallery.
 
I still have a few months so I may continue fiddling with it some more, a little touchup here and there.
 
Here are a few pics i took this morning for the Gallery, I like to close this log with a few pics.  Come and visit me with the 019 and the VOC ship in the scratch build part.  And who knows - - - I may even start the Dutch botter or kotter in a lamp.
 

 

 

 
Cheers to all,
 

Thank you, thank you, thank you - - - he says with a deep bow and a big smile   Very much appreciated!
 
Well, we have arrived at the end of this build.  There is actually one more detail left to do, Amateur Jan's lobster    But he'll have to wait till I catch a few 
 
I haven't made the final pictures yet for the Gallery, I'll do that tomorrow and post a few here.
 
I finally decided on a name for this special build.  It came to me Thursday night as was in bed waiting for the sandman to come.  I didn't want a "sissy" name or something mundane and how can I tie the name in with the purpose of this endeavor, Wounded Warrior?  There it was, Warrior!  Not Wounded anything, just Warrior.  
 
I cheated - - - I typed it up in green and 14 point and printed it out.  So, Friday morning I cut the name tags out and glued them to the hull using Liquitex medium.  
 
Just for fun, I made a coke bottle and two glasses to toast the successful completion of the build    In the second picture I put that bottle and glasses on the sliding hatch.  Any one for more will have to go into the cabin and raid the wet bar.  Sjors on the dock with the popcorn machine 
 
Then I thought, hey, we need an anchor.  I Googled anchors and found a nice simple one that was used on landing craft during WW II.  So, I cut some metal and made an anchor.  The blades are 0.1 mm brass shim, the post is 1 mm square brass stock that I soldered to a small piece of 1 mm brass tubing.  Put a piece of 0.5 mm brass rod through is and then soldered the blades to the rod, one on each side of the tube.  The blades can actually rotate to grab the sea floor.  Then a brass eyelet on the end of the post for the anchor rope.  Who would have thunk it, an honest to goodness workable anchor 
 
I hope I can post the final pics to the Gallery, have to read up on it.
 
Alright folks, here are a few pics of the last details.
 

This bottle was used for the "christening" of the boat. 
 

We are ready for a toast, cheers to all.
 

 

 

 

This shows the completed anchor on my work bench. 
 

This shows the anchor ready to be dropped and lashed to the samson post.
 
Cheers, 

Today was rather productive.  As mentioned yesterday I needed to tidy up the loose hanging sheets.  So, that's what I did.  This sounds like a simple job but I had to muster up some patience wrestling these springy "ropes."
 
I made double sticky tape from masking tape so the cords could be stuck to it as I tried to bend them to my will and not theirs.  I have some clear all purpose glue and dabbed some on the coils to keep them in shape.
After the glue had cured I peeled the coils off the tape and with a small dap of the same glue I tacked them to the deck.  For a static model that's not meant to be a toy I figured it would be best to secure them.  
 
The jib sheets are just wrapped around the cleats in the cockpit with one loop hanging loose to make it look ready for action.  Everything is secured with a dab of glue.
 
Well, that was it for today and now it's time for a few more details to finish her.  One of the main things is the name board that'll be placed on the display board.  I don't know yet how I'll do that.  The other detail thingy's will be announced and shown in due time.
 
It doesn't look like a lot I did but I took this afternoon off.  Actually, it was rather cold in the garage and I was not very comfortable, even with a jacket on.  It was my lower legs that felt like icicles.
 
Okay, here are a few more pics.
 

This shows how I coiled the sheets.
 

Here are the jib and gaff halyards neatly coiled after being secured to the cleats on the mast.
 

Here is the main sheet cleated and then coiled on the aft deck.
 

This shows the jib sheets cleated and just looped over the cleat.  I also stuck the oar thingies in.  The oars are fastened under the deck overhang and out of sight 
 

One more profile pic with all the rope work neated up and the flag tied to the sail, can't go without the flag.
 
Cheers, 

And purhaps Mr. HMS Bellisle has hit on the reason no kit exists. If the National Meritime Museum charges that much to an individual for a copy of the plans, I can only imagine how much licensing fees would be to a company looking to mass produce a likeness of this ship. It's unfortunate that such a wonderful piece of history isn't made more available to the public. Especially considering the original ship is forever lost.

I have now come face to face with a dreaded part of the build: metal work. I have zero, zilch, nada experience in working metal. I am staring at these brass strips and trying to figure out how to turn them into the complex and detailed pintle/gudgeon assemblies so blithely shown on the plans. What is used for the pins? The brass nails look too thin. Am I supposed to shape the strip into a full tube to hold whatever pin I come up with?  I have read through a number of logs and haven't found (or missed) a discussion of how this is supposed to work. The instructions are no help at all.
If someone knows a good discussion of exactly how to do this, feel free to direct me there instead of needing to repeat everything here. 

Cap'n'Bob,
To late, I already repositioned the mast. I think the route that I am taking will work out. The mast is now straight. With the forward cabin, I believe I can hide the alignment problem with the deck. If I had move the mast step, the planks would not have lined up with the stem. I have moved the fwd port side of the cabin out by 3 inches. I still will have to trim 3 inches from the port side planks to get the alignment correct. (I Hope ). The tricky part is around the cabin. How ever it turns out, I guess I will have to make do.
 
It does not appear to be as bad as it looked yesterday afternoon. I remember reading about a fishing schooner with a twisted keel from when it was built. It had a long life despite the imperfection. On the survey of the EC Collier, I believe, It was noted that nothing was square or true. Maybe this just makes it more realistic.

Leave the mast on center at deck level and move the mast step to make the mast vertical.
 
Bob

Hi Kevin
 
That sounds like good solution.  Amazing how sometimes things workout better after sleeping on it....although, sometimes, I wish I'd slept on a few things more than I had in the past!
 
Good luck and look forward to seeing how it all works out.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

OK, after sleeping on it. I plan on re-centering the mast blocks and continue. The forward cabin will help hide the mistake in the planking. I believe there are 2 -1 ft king planks running from the stem to the cabin. I don't remember where I read that, have to find it again. I will shave the planks on the port side so the number of planks will be the same as the starboard. I will see how it looks after I reposition the mast.

Rigging the tackles for the main and mizzen masts turned out to be a little less difficult than I expected, but will admit, they would have been much easier if I had completed this task before rigging the shrouds (as recommended by Chuck in the instructions).
Much tougher on the small ship than the larger one.
 
READ THE INSTRUCTIONS STUPID!
 

 

 
Now.... FINALLY... I can begin hanging some spars.

Came across these web sites today while surfing the web at lunch.
 
Skipjack Kathryn - 1901
http://coastalheritage.org/cha-east/restoring-skipjack-kathryn/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_%28skipjack%29
 
Skipjack Rebecca T. Ruark - 1886 (Oldest surviving skipjack)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_T._Ruark
 
Both of these are fore and aft planked. In the write up about both, it stated that the early skipjacks were fore and aft planked with soft (rounded) chins.

Thanks for all the suggestions for imitating vinyl.  I may try several before I settle on one. 
 
I have tried many ways to bend wood.  Soaking in hot water, soldering iron, etc. but I’ve never had wood be as flexible as this piece was. It may have been the process, it may have been the wood, I don’t know.  I’ll have to try it again.  As for the microwave I do the cooking so the admiral doesn’t know.  Just a thought, under the forum “Shore Leave” there’s a heading “What did you cook today?” Do you think I should give them this recipe?
 
Bob

Thanks Marty, 
I have to finish it first!  February will be the two year mark! 
 
Tim