hexnut

Main stay. 

@ccoyle thank you!
 
Sail is finished so I could attach it to gaff and mast and test-fit it on the deck 

Cutting the reef points. This is a method I come up with. 
1.I copied the sail template several times
2. I cut the shape of the "reef line" out of the paper. 
3. I insert the template between sail and reef ropes so I can see the lenght and direction 
4. I fix the reef ropes straight in correct direction with the tape. 
5. Cover the ropes with diluted PVA glue and let it dry
6. Cut the ropes with exacto knife according to the template
 
It is little bit time consuming but accurate. Works quite well! 

Small progress for the eye but huge for me!
Reefs in place. I just need to cut it to correct lenght and finaly hang the sail to the gaff........ Can't wait! 

Gentleman, to the sewing machines! My premiere with the sails (luckily the sails are pre-sawn in the kit with the Bolt rope in place and they are very nice). I just wanted bolt rope to correspond with other running rigging so I cut the original off and replaced it with my own rope. I also did not like the eyes on the original. I think I made it more real, I hope. 
Reef points: first row in place (I still need tu cut it to the lenght and shape it) but I have to say that I found something to be as annoying as ratlines! 🧐
I guess the only way to get it done is sit down and work! 2 more rows are waiting. 

On the right is sail with kit bolt rope and eyes. 

Hi Peta,
Please can you or someone explain or preferably show how to remove this little boat from the jig.
Every build I have followed where one of these small Master Korabel boats are being built says exactly the same thing.
"Remove from jig", but nobody shows or explains how to do this.
I have built the MK0102 and almost destroyed my build trying to remove it from the jig.
I am about to build this one, and do not want to go through the same heart stopping procedure again.
Many thanks,
Tony

Thank you guys!! 
Some more additions. I have finished footropes for spreadsail yard. 

And start to adding ropes to the mast. Already There are backstays, 4 pairs of shrouds and spreadsail jackstay. I have also added the iron belts with eyes for blocks. Ropes are served in areas where interfere with mast. 

 

I agree, Greg.  That cradle adds a lot to the model.
 
I am using 1/4" basswood plywood for the backbone and bulkheads.  The thickness will result in a stronger structure and will give a better gluing surface for the planking.  The backbone is made from three pieces and the joints are supported with a strip of scrap.  You can see the section between stations F and 16 that will have the lower deck completed.  To make cutting the rabbet easier, the upper part was sanded into the backbone before the keel/stem assembly was added.  At station O, the angle of the rabbet gradually increases from 45 degrees to 90 degrees and the width therefore becomes more narrow.  Just below station FP, where the angle is 90 degrees, the entire width of the rabbet is on the stem.  

The keel, stem and sternpost are made from costello boxwood.  The false keel is pear.  The width of the keel is 10.5" based on the RMG plan.  This is narrower than the 12.5" dictated in the Establishments but this difference most likely is because Swallow was designed as a merchant cutter, not a military sloop.  I do not have any pictures showing the construction sequence, but it is straight forward.  The keel was made from three pieces, scarfed together and secured with six bolts.  Black paper was inserted into the joints to simulate felt.  A 45 degree bevel was cut into the keel from station 14 going forward for the rabbet.  Aft of station 14, the deadwood starts and the angle changes.  The plan does not show structural details for the stem and I was unable to determine the structure from the model.  Based on other ships of this size and era I came up what I feel is a reasonable guess.  The width of the stem is 12" at the head, diminishing to 8" at the keel.  These joints also have black paper to represent felt.  Brass wire was inserted through the inner part of the stem to secure the pieces together.  The pictures show the stem before the rabbet was cut.  The bottom of the keel is curved fore and aft.  In order to keep the hull stable on the building board, I added scrap basswood to the bottom of the false keel.


The photo shows a test fit between the backbone and the keel/stem assembly.

Although this picture is taken out of sequence, it shows how the keel and stem were bolted together.

 
 
 

Hi Toni - 
 
Looks like another interesting project, and the finished model is certainly quite beautiful.
 
I have done a number of lapstrake hulls, and I would not want to fiddle with fairing the overlaps while also worrying about the dead space between bulkheads.
I would fill at least one more space at the bow and two at the stern.  That should make the fairing process a bit easier.
 
Hope that helps.
 
Dan
 

A few years ago, I was looking at some of the models posted on the RMG website and came across Swallow 1779.  I instantly was attracted to her overall appearance and the fact that she was clinker-planked.   The model is listed as SLR0540 and the plans are ZAZ4719.


Swallow did not have a long career.  According to Rif Winfield, in his book “British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792”, she was purchased on the stocks in 1779 and was originally designed to be a cutter.  On the sheer plan one can see where the original mast (located at the dead flat) was erased from the plan.  She was registered as a sloop and originally carried fourteen 4pdr guns.  The following year, four 18pdr carronades were added.  There is no mention of swivel guns, although the plan shows mountings for twenty-two of them.  With Lively, Swallow captured the US privateer Black Prince in 1779.  She was coppered in 1780 and on August 26, 1781,, Swallow was run ashore and burnt to avoid capture by US privateers off Long Island.
 
The first order of business was to develop a set of plans.  Comparing the plans with the model revealed several inconsistencies.  Starting at the bow, the model has a much larger stem with cheeks, rails, a false rail and a figurehead.  The bowsprit come out of the hull in the midline.  The plans show a simple stem and the bowsprit exits the hull to the port side of the stem.  The model shows the capstan at midships but the plan has it aft of the main mast.  The locations of the various hatch covers also differ between the model and the plan.  There is a difference in the deadeye configurations and the swivel guns are not modeled.  Finally, although the gold detailing is stunning, this little boat certainly would have never been decorated in other but the simplest schema.  To make things even more confusing, in small print on the plan is the following..."a copy of this was given to Mr. Ladd for finishing two cutters the Board bought of him when half built 9 Feb? 1779".  And, yes, the question mark was in the sentence as written.  So the plan is actually the proposal for finishing and not as-finished.  
 
I had to decide whether I was going to model a model or model a ship.  Because the model is most likely a presentation piece, I decided to use the plans layout rather than the model's.  This still left me with concerns.  The biggest one was whether to model the swivels.  Since the model does not show them and Winfield does not mention them, I decided to leave them off.  There is also no "proper" access to the lower deck on the plan but a companionway is visible on the model.  I have added a ladder and companionway.  If any of you have additional information or insights to the contrary, please let me know.  Things are easy to change at this point.
 
This was going to be a plank on bulkhead model.  My reason for this construction style was that the beauty of this ship will be in the clinker planking; therefore, both sides of the hull will be completely planked.  I will be installing the lower deck and its associated fittings in the mid-ships area as I plan on making the hatch covers removable.  Plans were developed using the tutorial written by Wayne Kempson which is found in the Modeler’s Database. 
http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/plans_and_research/DraftingShipPlansInCADwayne.pdf  TurboCAD 18 was my CAD program. 

Once the plans were developed I made a half hull in 1:96 scale to make sure that I did not have any glaring errors in my rendering.  

 
 
 

I finished the cheeks and put on the rails of the bows.

 
 
 

 

From the plans there is decorative scroll on the stem piece but no trail board.  Two cheeks curving up to the billet at the end of the stem, and a rail above the noble wood going out to the top of the stem with a light intermediate rail below that.

Between the plan and the illustrations of other boats in American Fishing Schooners... by Chapelle, I've got it pretty close.
 

 
Back to the cheeks.  These are the most complex pieces I've ever cut/sanded/carved/sanded.  Multiple angles and curves.
I started with an over-sized block with the angle between the hull planking and stem cut.  Next came beveling the after portion to align with the slope of the hull vis a vis the vertical line of the stem.  Everything past that was trial and error on the fit.

The notch on the left one is for the gammon iron holding the bowsprit to the stem post.
 

 

The varying thickness of the lower cheek must be an issue with the lens.  Doesn't look that way to the eye.
Maury
 
 
 

The covering boards need something between the main and quarter deck.  A simple hanse will solve the problem.

 

Maury

Just below the noble wood is the upper cheek (temporarily tacked in place).  There are two and no apparent trail board between the two.   It is a complicated piece because of the multiple angles.  Looking at the photo, I think the forward part needs some more thinning.  Very hard to hold and sand.

Maury

I cut and installed the Noble Wood with hawse flanges.

Maury

Very nice work. vaddoc!  Are you using Rhino?    First of all, I understand the pushback from the "ship's curves and paper" fans, but at the same time, I think part of the frustration some experience is that CAD offers a LOT more precision, and old boats simply were not that precise.  Go down to the drydock on a nice, salt-spray-blowing November day in Bristol, crawl around a large hull taking measurements, dodging teams of workers doing sheathing and caulk, go back to the office and calculate the offsets by candlelight--Or during the initial build, lay out the stations with splines, ducks and chalk on the lofting floor, then have wrights rough the sections out of wood with a pit saw and broadaxe.... It's enough to give a quality assurance/risk mitigation director nightmares...  I think the historian in all of us can't help but have enormous respect for primary sources, or  high-profile scholars working at an earlier time (Chapelle, Longridge, et al.), but the reality is that by CAD standards, the original plans often weren't all that accurate. 
 
One of the biggest problems in lofting a hull in 3D is getting the stations and WL's to line up and meet while being fair in both directions.  I have yet to trace a vintage plan where that happens, because the original was never fully-resolved until wood started coming together.  There is a bit of an 80/20 rule--what is good enough to start construction without wasting too much material?  When doing it in CAD, every tiny surface imperfection is abundantly highlighted; where on the model, it's an issue that may be solved in 30 seconds with some 120 grit. 
 
vaddoc, the truly good news is that now that you've put the work in to make a faired hull, once you make it solid you can boolean ribs and even planking out of it,  setting up shiplap profiles at a station and extruding single-rail surfaces using the planking curves projected onto the hull. You can also offset the polysurfs to accommodate whatever you choose for wood thicknesses...
 
Great-looking hull!

I'm stunned and very saddened by Gerald's passing...he truly is an inspiration.   *Techniques of Ship Modeling* is an amazing testament.
I'll miss his conversations and encouragement.
 
Rob

May I add my condolences. Gerald was a master craftsman and shared his knowledge freely. As it was said of Christopher Wren, si monumentam requirat, circumspice; If you need a memorial, look around. His work will endure.

Sad news to hear of the passing of an exquisite craftsman but at least his exceptional legacy will inspire future generations of modellers.

sad news indeed.
a bit late, but condelences to his friends and family

Fig-152 - It soon became apparent that with cams of this size that even with my ingenuity I could see no way of making them as accurately as would be required to actually work - Step forward good friend Jeff and his CNC milling machine.  I showed him how I had plotted the shape of the cam, and he soon had this in 3 dimensions in his computer program for the machine to follow - and follow it did to produce a working set of cams in no time at all, such is modern technology - how they would have loved this in in 1878  
 
It is interesting to note that the working dimensions allow for no inaccuracies whatsoever in the shape of the cam - if it is right it will work - if not, it will not work.  Now how they produced such a part in 1878 in quantity - four per pump is still a mystery to me, particularly as it would not have been cast or stamped in iron or steel, because of the sea water corrosion.  Working inside the cam would need to be two free running rollers, any interference to these such as corrosion would  have made the pump inoperable.  My only surmise would be that a master pattern for the cam was hand made in iron and used as a hot stamp in something like bronze to form the cams.  But the Victorian engineers were masters at overcoming supposedly insurmountable problems, this being just one of them.

Fig-151 - Here are shown most of the parts with the second stage machining, the milling of the flats, and the pump parts are now starting to take form.

The real boat had a cast iron ballast keel. Gerd Löhmann gave his model a wooden keel, painted in black to imitate the lead. I want to give my model a real metal keel. I will make my keel of tin. I first make a dummy keel in spruce wood which will serve as template to make the casting mold.

 

Filling up the dead wood.

All the wooden parts of the keel are now made. I screw the ballast keel template provisionally  on the keel to glue the dead wood pieces in place to shape the sides of the keel.

 

 

I draw the rebates which have to be made on the stem.

Before chiseling the stem, I will make the stem knee to give it some more strength.

I make also the stern knee.

 

 

 

 

 

Now I can make the rebates.

 

 

Checking the depth of it.

The round groove of the sternpost has to continue on the back of the keel and the dead wood. I file it out with a round wood file and sand it afterward.

 

The forward part of the bow has to be narrowed. Cutting the bow in shape with the chisel.

 

 

The keel is wider than the bow. It has to narrow gradually to the fore end to the width of the bow. It is also done with the wood chisel.

 

 

The keel as it is now.

 
Thank you for the likes
Thank you to follow
Tank you for the constructive comments.
 
Till next week!

CHAPTER I. The Boat
 
1. Keel and stems
 
Starting with the keel, the prow and the stem. To saw them in the right shape I glue a copy of the plan on the different pieces of wood.

For the right cuts, I clamp my work piece with the cutting line along two steel L-profiles in the vise and saw with a hand scrub along the profiles.

Where I have to saw curves, I use the jig saw...

.. and the band- (outer curves) and drum (inner curves) sander to finish.

 

 

In the back side of the stern post there has to be made a round groove to give room for the rudder. I made it before sawing the sternpost. I have no precision tools to do it, therefore I make a much longer piece then needed; that gives me the opportunity to choose the best piece to make the sternpost from.

 

 

At the bottom of the sternpost is a pin which fits in a hole in the keel. Sawing the pin.

 

Making the hole in the keel.

 

 

Keel and stems glued together

 
Thank you for the likes
Thank you to follow
Tank you for the constructive comments.
 
Till next week!

My eyes are exploded. That engine is a challenge to build and to paint. It must have at least 100 parts to put together.

I am building it pretty much out of the box. The only change I made was to cut the plastic pushers and replace them with metal wires for more realism. Not an easy thing to do: you need to drill 12 holes with the proper alignment. Trumpeter has been placing a lot of hoses and it makes the assembly a challenge: at the scale of 1/48th, these hoses are too big and are crammed, preventing a nice organization of all the parts, especially around the rockers.


I have seen some modelers push the insanity at replacing the plastic valve springs with real springs. I just cannot do that. Besides they are almost invisible once the engine is in place.


After painting the entire engine, some kind of "Hemp" color, it is time to install the pushers and paint all the details. My eyes are too shot to go any further today.
 
Yves