Senior ole salt

As well as Daniel's aforementioned masts for small ships, BAMBOO BBQ SKEWERS are also the perfect material for making Treenails. A pack of 100 skewers costs about $2.00 and will make about 80,000 treenails (rough estimate ).
 
Using a sharp Xacto knife, split the skewer lengthways into as many strips as possible - depending on the quality of the bamboo used (which varies between brands and even individual skewers) you can get up to 8 or 9 thin strips. Pull these through a Drawplate until the desired size is reached - 0.024" is perfect at 1:48 scale. Use pliers to pull any stubborn strips through the drawplate - bamboo splinters are almost impossible to get out of your finger   . Trim the end as needed.
 
One finished piece should yield about 100 "nails".
 
  Danny

Jewelry (bijouterie)

Construction of lanterns and ornaments.
 

 
Belco
 
 
 

Cans of soda.

Are soldered easily.
 

 
Belco
 

Jewelry
 
Jewelry was already mentioned but here's a fun spin on it.  I made this for one of my early ship in bottle builds.  The ships to ugly to show and this was just rattling around in the bottle so I pulled it out and got a couple shots.  
 
A treasure chest.
 

 

 
This was some of my earlier work and it's a bit sloppy.  A better modeler could make the gold chain look more like coins.  

Match Sticks
 
They actually carve and sand well bend well with a quick soaking and are very inexpensive.  All of the channels, rails and external ribs on the Santa Maria above and was done with match sticks.  You can also plank a ship with match sticks.  
 

What a cool thread.  Here's one of my regular items.
 
Bamboo Skewers.
 
Bamboo stays very strong at small scale and pulls through a draw plate pretty well.  At my 1:500 - 1:1250 scale it works great for masts and yards.  On a larger scale I think it would do well for oars or harpoons.  
 
Here's a couple of ships with bamboo masts and yards.  I've thrown in a couple other shots to help show scale.  It may be hard to see but that is an American dime next to the Santa Maria.    
 
 

Really astounding work. I think the crew is about to move.   I hope you case it soon.
 
S.os

Excellent presentation. You are also a good photographer. I enjoy seeing the progress you are making. Keep it coming and thanks.
 
S.os

Well, the soaked and bent waterways held their shape just fine. I did add a strip to the corner of the transom for the ends to fit in, so I re-soaked them and stuck them out the transom to get more curve in the stern.
 

 
I also soaked and bent the other side pieces to the bulwark supports.
 

 
While those were drying, I made up two templates from manila folder for the two bow waterways. 
 

 
I used the templates to cut these waterways out from some basswood sheet material, which is actually excess laser cut pieces from the kit. I glued these to some thinner sheets after getting them to shape inside and out, to get them to the same height as the other waterway pieces.
 
I also made the waterways for the gun deck, using the one piece I had left from the kit and another that I had. These will go on when I can get into that area more easily.
 
I cut the miter joints into the transom waterway and the ends of the two side pieces, and scarf joints in the other ends. I cut some of the scarf joints on the drill press with the end mill, but the two in front I had to do by hand. They came out the same in either case, not great, but OK since the pieces will be painted. I will need to practice a lot more before attempting these for wood that is to be left natural.
 
I then started gluing the waterways in. Here are the two starboard side pieces being glued in. Being able to clamp that stern section so it was tight to the transom filler was a huge relief, as otherwise I don't know how I would have gotten that area to stay down.
 

 

 
After I took this picture I could see that the middle sections were not being held down tight enough, so I broke out the bigger clamps. Why I didn't start with these I don't know, as they were perfect in not leaving any marks on the wood.
 

 
And to be fair, here are the port side pieces being glued in.
 

 
And finally, the bow sections being glued in.
 

 
OK, here we go on the kit bashing part. I removed the bulwark supports to show the open waist area, and I have marked the deck beams that I will remove to add the gun deck. The beams will be replaced later with new beams made from basswood strips, as they will be shown in the open main hatch.
 

 

 
Tomorrow, I will remove the marked deck beams. I sure hope this works.
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you all for your encouragement. I wouldn't dream of tackling something this complex without knowing I can rely on you all for guidance and support.
 
I have been comparing the supplied plans with the AOS Constitution and started to note some of the differences, although the deck details in the AOS are not as detailed as I would like. I fear that I may end up adding details from the current configuration that weren't there in the 1812 version, but hopefully that won't happen too much.
 
This week's progress. I cut the keel and stem pieces from the laser cut sheet and glued the halves together. I used just about all the clamps I had that would work on these pieces.
 

 
I then cleaned up the three keel former pieces and some of the other pieces. I used a sanding block on its side to keep the edges square. I have since ordered a True Sander to do this right, so I am waiting for that to arrive before cleaning the other keel pieces.
 

 
I copied the plans for the three keel former pieces and glued them to some manila folder material. I will use these to transfer the bearding and other reference lines to the wood.
 

 
One difference between the 1812 version and the current version is that in 1812, the ship had rope gammoning, not chain as it does today. So, in order to use rope on the model, I need to expand the holes in the stem to slots. I have marked them on the stem but have not cut them out yet.
 

 
Here is my favorite picture of the stem - looks like a dinosaur to me 
 

 
Thanks again for the encouragement and support.
 
 

Thanks Joe,
I have used this building board for several builds and it has worked well on all of them.
 
This set of photos shows the half frames on the stern section. I used a very simple jig to align the stern pieces with it is not a thing of beauty but seemed to work well.
 
 

This set of photos shows a little more progress on the gunports.
 

This set of photos shows the gunports and sweep ports being installed.

The following set of photos show how I made the hawse pieces. I glued the hawse pieces into two blocks and roughed them out on the bandsaw and finished shaping them with a small drum sander.
 

Hi Daniel,
 
Thanks, I like to use ribbands on the amidships section and small jigs at the bow and stern. I won’t be filling the space between the frames on this ship but I will on my next build.
 
I made a small saw tooth jig to hold the bow cant frames in place while the glue dried. These photos show how I used it.
 

This is a few photos of the keel assembly. The keel is made from European Beachwood and the false keel is rosewood.  

The evolution from galley to galleon was slow, but the improvement in naval battles was immediately seen.
As an example you can check on the web the details of the Battle of Lepanto, which was fought between the Christian fleet against the Muslim fleet.
It was still a galleys naval battle, but the key factor for the victory was the presence of six "galeazze" of the Venetian Republic.
These were big galleys, pretected on sides too, and armed with cannon also on both sides. the galleys usually were armed with cannons only on the bow.
the "galeazza" was the first step to the evolution to the galleon.
You can find many details on internet regarding this naval battle, since it is very famous.
In those period existed already ships armed with some cannons, but were mainly merchant ships with some self defense arms or mechant ships converted for military use.
The "galeazza" was a slow ship, so it cannot be used in the same way of the galleys and cannot withstand open sea like a galleon.
The next step was the galleon, projected specifically for war and that can sail more freely in open sea.
The presence of galleys in period later than 1700 is related only on specific duties on specific type of sea.
For example for "patrolling" croatian coasts by venetians.
their influence on naval battles ceased to exist, but still existed for coastal patrol and small escort duties along coasts.

Instructions point you in the right directions of what to do next and give a sense of security.  I think I'm close to being over the impulse to reach for those instructions......
 
Only 8 parts from the kit were used and all were altered; 4 bulkheads (2 were removed,) 1 transom, 2 combings and 1 cut water.  The further I got into this build, the errors started to show up and a couple almost derailed this project.  But this is an adventure in learning and I worked my way through each one.  However, this build has come to a temporary halt due to the problems with the hatch cover.  I have thought it through and need to order some specific dimensional lumber so I can rework it and complete this build. 
 
  
The planking turned out really nice.  The center board operates smoothly, it's a bit short in length, but it's a cool feature.   

 
The transom ended up be straight across, this photo shows the camber of the decking. 

 
Since the planking was off a bit, the decking is not even on both sides.  But I like the way it turned out, the basswood takes on different colors.  Chapelle's drawing shows a bench, but I decided not to install it, this is a working boat!  These fish wells are smaller (than my first build) and are very simple in design.  

 
Close up of the rudder.  Since I didn't add the wrought iron bracing on the centerboard, I decided against adding it on the rudder.  This photo gives a nice close up of the hull planking.  

 
The base layer for the cabin combing was a bit crooked, but I took my time with adding the veneer and it ended up looking good.  I was planning on sliding covers for the windows, but I didn't have the lumber needed to build them.  The rectangular windows are per Chapelle's drawings.  The bottom of the mast will be square and a foot or so above the deck, it will be rounded.  I need to remake the square mast coat, I lost the first one that was a nice tight fit.  (This one is just for show and it's not square.)  And the build comes to a screeching halt!  I need order some lumber to redo the rails the cover slides on.  There's a big gap where the rails meet the door and cover

 
So that's where I'm at!  While I'm waiting for the lumber, I'm going to start my next build, but I have not decided which one yet. 
 
Thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

Keith,
Thanks for all of the likes!  Hope all is well with you.  Looking forward to seeing more of your Swift!
 
Craig,
Thanks for stopping by and your vote of confidence!    
 
Eamonn,
Thanks!  The decking is basswood!  After I glued on the basswood decking, it was sanded, scraped, then a couple of thin coats of poly were wiped on (with paper towel.)  This was repeated a few times.  What is really kewl is how the wood changes colors pending the angle of the light.  There is one plank that will change from very dark to the extremely light.
I really hope your timber arrives quickly!
 
Thanks Popeye! 
Yep! The walnut can get a bit dark.  These lids are closer to spec in size.  I really liked the look of the lids on my first build and they were very 'stylish.'  But they were way oversized and not in character with the build.  This build is all about getting as close to what this work boat looked like back in the day. 
 
Bob,
Thanks for stopping by.  I was planning on adding false framing to the cockpit, but when I did some dry fitting, it didn't look good so I decided to skip it.   I thought the ceil planking was only inside the cabin, but I just reread about the ceil planking and it was carried the full length of the hull.  So, it is close to right. 
 
I don't have any specific dimensions per se for the fish wells, rather, I made an educated guess-t-mate based on the drawings in Chapelle's book. 
 
Here's the drawing I used:  The outline of the fish wells are highlighted in red, the mast step is in green and the port side bunk is in blue.  This is a low res photo, I'll send you a link to a high resolution copy that shows a lot more detail including the ceil planking.  
 
Also, note the 'open space' on the stern side of the fish wells.  It looks like 'empty space', but I've been thinking that this was storage space that was accessible from the cockpit.  The French Smacks have storage space in a similar location that is accessible from the cockpit.  
 
Also, I added a trim piece on the transom and it's really kewl.  I shows the curve in the decking.  I'll include this when I add more pictures this weekend.  
 

 
Thanks again for stopping by!
 
Dee Dee

Bob, Thank you for your compliment I really appreciate it.
 
Doris, thank you very much for your kindness I continue to draw some of my inspiration from the very high standards that you are setting.
 
Yesterday and today I spent most of the days working on some new shackles, I mentioned the cone cup centre, the first picture shows getting the blanks ready for necking down by machining the 60 degree bevel on both ends.
 

 
With the cone centre set in the tailstock and the blank clamped in the three jaw chuck the first step down is started in the middle of the 3/16 free machining brass blank and the form tool cuts down to the finished diameter in 2 passes the tool is prevented from running into the chuck by an adjustable stop that engages with the carriage.
 

 
The stock is removed from the three jaw and end for ended and re clamped in the three jaw without moving the cone centre, this ensures that the ends are machined to the same length (mostly)
 

 

 
the next picture shows the centre with one of the blanks after the first stage of the machining the outer ends are then shaped with the same form tool to round them off
 

 
After the second stage with the ends rounded
 

 
Next they set up on a heat sink so that both ends could be annealed prior to squashing flat.
 

 
The flattening was done with the Milling machine vice.
 

 
A pin was machined from the 1/8 hex stock threaded 2x56 and then flattened for the finger pad finally drilled and cleaned up with the wire wheel.
 
The bending was done in the same manner as the previous shackles with the round nosed pliers.
 
The next picture shows 3 slightly different sizes hung up ready for service,
 

 
Michael
 
 
 
 

Steve,
Thanks for the input! I've made a little progress:
 

 

 

 
Skuppers are next, then I will bravely face the hull planks again...
 
Andy

I knew that all along.
 
S.os

Thanks Bob for the heads up.  Glad you're OK.
 
S.os

Thank you all for your nice remarks and for all the likes.
 
Today I did do the eye-splice for the topping lift it was harder to do than I expected.
 

 

 
I eneded up gluing the ends of the three strands to create a stiff end to thread under the lay.
 

 
I found that it was a bit easier to have the rope clamped to the bench and then be able to pull on it while doing the threading
 

 
Looped over the boom
 

 

 

 

 
I also sanded the top of the cockpit walls ready to start on the cap.
 

 
The first piece of wood for the boat it was 2 years ago this month that I began building this cutter, this first picture of one of the frames was taken on March 9th 2012,  it seems like it was both yesterday and years ago at the same time.
 
Michael
 

Mark, It was much easier making the giant rule ;~)
 
B.E. Thank you I am glad it is useful.
 
Sailor, That sounds a lot easier said than done. I will see what I can do.
 
Earlier when I was making the bowsprit stays and creating some eyes with the shrink tube I did give the tapering some thought, and I did serve the whole area to cover the shrink tube on one of the eyes.
 
In the following picture the shrink has been served but I did not taper the strands.
 

 
The eye on the right toward the end of the bowsprit still needs to be served to cover the shrink.
 

 
One of the reasons for learning how to make the real splice is because one of the shrink eyes did come loose early on, it could be seized and only a short piece of shrink used then served and it would look Ok but it would not be as strong.
 
Michael