Young America 1853 by EdT - FINISHED - 1:96 - POB - extreme clipper

[druxey]

It was wonderful to see both models in actuality at the Conference: thank you for bring them for inspection, Ed!

[dgbot]

I am sorry I missed the show and did not get the chance to drool over your models Ed.  Question.  What was your rational for gluing the margin plank to plywood.  Rigidity for shaping?

David B

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

f

[EdT]

David, the purpose of pasting the margin plank to plywood was to strengthen it for further cutting and forming of the hook scarphs at each end.  Because of the grain direction at the ends and due to the relatively low strength of Castello across the grain, this was necessary to avoid having the ends break off during cutting.  I used ordinary school paste sticks for this and the worked very well.  

 

Ed

 

Correction:  I used holly for this piece, not Castello.

Edited October 29, 2015 by EdT

[Landlocked123]

Hi Ed,

 

At various times in your different build logs you use something which looks like a cross between a rasp and a file. Would you please share the name of the tool and where I might find them? Thanks,

 

Best,

John

[EdT]

HI John,

 

All the files shown in the last post are Grobet Swiss files.  I believe they are all #0 cut (coarse) - if these are the ones you refer to.  If not let me know which post and I will be more specific.  I use a variety of these.  I also use fine cutting rasps by Iwasaki that I like.  These are reasonably priced.  You can pay anything for a good rasp.  I think I got these from Woodcraft.

 

I usually purchase Grobet files from Contenti, a jeweler's supplier, since they have a broad selection.  You will not have trouble finding other sources.  Here's a link to Contenti:

 

http://www.contenti.com/

 

Ed

[EdT]

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 29 – Poop Margin Plank 2

 

After installing the stern section of the margin plank, the next sections forward were made and installed as described below.  In the first picture a sheet of 3 ½” holly has been cut and notched to fit against the two mooring bitts and the outside curve of the piece is being traced as was done at the stern.

 

 

If I have not mentioned this yet, I did use some holly I had to do the deck planking.  The white holly gives a good simulation of the salt-bleached decks of the white pine that was originally used.  I used Castello on the larger model.

 

In the next picture, the outside line has been cut and the piece is being fit inside the topmost outboard plank.

 

 

The breadth of the margin plank was then marked out using the compass as shown below.  This is a fairly wide plank – wide enough to butt and joggle deck planks into it inside the cap rail that will be installed later.

 

 

Again, to avoid breakage at the curved end of this piece when sawing, it and the piece for the opposite side have been pasted to plywood.  The curve of the starboard piece is being cut in the next picture.

 

 

In the next picture, both pieces have been installed.

 

 

The fit against the outside planking does not have to be perfect, since it will be covered by the capping fancy rail.  This picture also shows hatch coamings and decking that I worked on concurrently.  This will be covered later.

 

To finish off the margin planks at the forward end of the poop deck, the breast beam needed to be in place.  This is shown installed in the next picture.

 

 

This beam is at station 36, forward of the first poop bulkhead at station 38 to allow some overhang of the forward end of the poop.  It was rounded up by a process similar to that used for beams on the larger framed model – but with some differences that I will describe later when the forecastle framing is covered.  Rather than cut the rabbet on the top of this beam, a 3 ½” strip was glued across the top. It overhangs the forward face of the beam by about three inches.

 

In the next picture the hook scarf at the end of the relatively straight forward section on the port side has been cut and the length to the rabbet on the breast beam is being marked.

 

 

In the last picture the plank is being glued down with the aid of some homemade pin clamps.  I will describe these later.

 

 

In the picture most of the poop decking has been installed.  I worked on a number of things concurrently.  This other work will be described later.

 

 

Ed

[EdT]

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 30 – Coamings

 

I think I have mentioned before that the term “coamings” describes not only the entire hatch framing but also the fore and aft members. This can be confusing when writing – or reading - descriptions.  The cross deck members are called head ledges.  Coamings for hatchways and deck cabins needed to be installed on the model before decking could begin.  On the full framed version, with its complete underdeck framing, the hatchways were built up on the actual opening.  Since the POB model has only bulkheads at the stations, a template made from the deck plan drawings was used to assemble the hatchways.  This is shown below. (Sorry, the main cabin template is mis-labelled "main hatch" on this early version of the template.)

 

 

The hatchways for the POB model were made in exactly the same way as those on the larger framed model.  I described this process in the build log for the other model and more thoroughly in the book.  In the next picture a dovetailed lap joint at the corner of the main deck cabin coaming is being fitted.

 

 

These corner joints are a bit complex, but as I said, they are well described elsewhere.  In all cases the cross-deck head ledges fit over the ends of the coamings, thus clamping them down.  Head ledges were bolted through the beams, while coamings were fitted over carlings that were normally only wedged between beams – thus having little resistance to upward forces.  The excess stock at the corners was removed after assembly when the corners were squared off and the above deck parts rounded - by sanding/filing.

 

The next picture shows the poop deck portion of the coach coaming being constructed.

 

 

A reinforcing strut was glued into this assembly to maintain the correct width.  The next picture shows a finished hatchway installed on a bulkhead and on to one of the supplementary pine members described in an earlier post.

 

 

To support the ends of the planks forward of this framing, another supplementary member was need and later installed.  In the next picture the coamings on the poop deck have been installed and planking has begun starting with the central plank.

 

 

Note that the cap on the  breast beam was cut out to fit the aft section of the coach framing.  The lower part of this coaming is shown installed on the main deck.  These two assemblies had to be carefully aligned so the side walls of the coach would fit neatly – and vertically.  Another view of this is shown in the next picture.

 

 

This picture shows the first version of the pin clamps I used to hold down the glued planks on this model.  I will discuss the improved final version of these in the next part.

 

Ed

[rwiederrich]

Fantastic work..love the dovetailing detail.  The life before screws and adhesives.  Joinery was an entire science in of itself.

 

Fine craftsmanship indeed Ed.

 

Rob 

[GLakie]

Really nice joinery Ed. 

[dgbot]

A lot of patience and a steady hand went into those joints.  I wish my hands were that steady.

David B

[EdT]

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 31 – Decking

 

Readers may note that I am going into some detail on methods in this log.  As I mentioned earlier, I wanted these posts to be a supplement to the POB model work described in Volume I of the book.  Once the POB model is framed, common methods are used on both versions, but space did not permit pictorial presentation of both versions.  So this should be helpful for POB modelers who are using the book.  There are also a few twists on this version that may be useful.

 

With all the hatchway and cabin coamings installed, the planking of the weather decks began - working from the central plank outwards with the strakes parallel to the centerline.  Inside the waterways that abut the frames at the side, there are three strakes that follow the curve of the side on the main deck – two thicker structural “binding strakes” and one wide ”margin plank”.  The margin plank is similar to that shown below on the poop deck where there are no binding strakes or waterways.

 

 

In the picture the starboard margin plank is being glued to the tops of the frames and to the top outboard plank.  These margin strakes were made wide enough to “cut in” the ends of the straight planks to avoid feathered-edge tapers that could not be caulked. 

 

The picture also shows the pin clamps that I used to hold all of the deck planking in place on this model.  On the larger, framed version, planks were held down with pins pushed through tight holes drilled in each plank – into the members below.  I did not wish to drill holes in this version, so used “pin clamps” that could be hammered into the plywood bulkheads at the edge of the plank being glued.  I made about a dozen of these by drilling holes through small segments of dowel that would allow a tight sliding fit for ½” long lil pins, allowing the pin point to project from the end by about 1/8”.  The pins were then glued into the dowels using medium viscosity CA.  Pins can thus be driven by tapping the head of the pin with a hammer, and removed by pulling on the dowel with pliers.  There is little stress on the CA joint in either case.  These were very useful to say the least.  The next picture shows the completed poop deck.

 

 

As areas of planking were installed, the tops were leveled out using curved flat rifflers followed by sandpaper.  The planks were initially cut about 1” thicker to allow for this.  As described in Volume I of the book and in earlier posts, the planking material was painted on one side with dark brown acrylic paint before ripping the planks – to simulate caulked joints.  Cutting planks into the margin plank is also described there and in other posts.

 

The next picture shows the first central plank on the main deck being installed between hatchway head ledges.

 

 

Accurate centering of these first planks is important.  Although the hatchways were carefully centered on the bulkhead pattern centerlines, I marked a center on each head ledge by measuring in from the outsides of the hatchway with dividers.  This helped ensure that the planking will be symmetric on each side of the hatch framing.  If hatches are found to be slightly out of line as the planking progresses forward using this method, they may have to be moved slightly.

 

In the next picture a plank is being marked for notching to fit around one of the mizzen bitts.

 

 

Planks will most likely need to be notched to fit around the sides of hatchways.  Where very thin widths would result, wider sections in planks along the side of the hatch were used, cut back to normal width to fit against angled cuts in planks at the ends.  (I will look for a picture and post later.) Dark glue was used for all this planking.   In the next picture a screw clamp is being used to close a joint at the corner of a hatch.

 

 

The next picture shows the main deck planking progressing forward.

 

 

To ensure adequate and symmetrical spacing between plank butts, I used a standard plank length that would span eight bulkheads, 7 spaces.  Planks were thus about 35-40 feet long.  This resulted in uniform and adequate spacing of butts both across and along the strakes.  Planks on these ships were narrow – about 6”.  On this model I used a standard width of 7” including the caulk paint.

 

You will notice that the outer members – waterways, binding strakes and margin plank are not yet installed in the last picture.  This work will be described in the next part.

 

Ed

 

Later:  Here is a picture illustrating the planking configuration described above.

 

 

Edited November 9, 2015 by EdT

[amateur]

Hi Ed,

 

How did uou do ,the treenailing of the deck?

Is that real treenailing,or is it some kind of clever faking?

 

Jan

[EdT]

Jan, I will describe the method of simulating fastenings in the deck planking of this model in a later post.  The decks on these ships were not treenailed, but iron spiked and capped over with wood plugs.  Rather than describe the method here, I will cover in one of the next posts with pictures.

 

Ed

[EdT]

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 32 – Waterways, Binding Strakes, Margin Planks

 

Before deck planking could be extended out to the sides, the waterways, binding strakes and margin planks needed to be installed.  I worked on all these things concurrently – partly to break the monotony of deck planking and also to fill the time it took glued planks to dry.

 

The first picture shows the blue waterway is installed on the starboard side.

 

 

Installation of these members on the POB version is identical to the installation on the framed model and is covered in detail in the book and to a lesser extent on the 1:72 blog.

 

The next picture shows the binding strakes being installed.  I made these structural members with Castello to distinguish them from the ordinary holly deck plank.  These members are also joined at the ends with hook scarphs.

 

 

The next picture shows these members and some of the holly margin planking installed at the bow.

 

 

Deck planking at the bow has begun in this picture.  Planks have been notched as necessary to fit around the installed Samson post.  In the next picture a barrette file is being used to clean up the inside edge of the margin plank on the port side.

 

 

The next picture shows all three members installed on both sides of the forward hull.

 

 

After the planks were installed, they were cut out to allow room for the bowsprit to fit against the forward bulkhead below the deck,

 

 

Installing the planks then cutting the opening ensures that the strakes will be aligned.  Of course all this forward planking will be covered by the forecastle.

 

The next picture shows the decking approaching the margin planks at the side.

 

 

Each plank is cut into the margin plank at one-half of its width.  The planks were tapered back to the point of the next cutting.  This process will be covered in the next part.

 

In the last picture the planking is being levelled out with a flat riffler prior to sanding.

 

 

The straight, parallel strakes of decking were continued outward until the gaps at the margin plank were completely closed.  This final fitting will be covered in part 33.

 

 

Ed

[Mahuna]

Very nice work, Ed.  I like the idea of using Castello to distinguish the binding strakes from the Holly deck planks.

[rwiederrich]

Ed, do you have a mass production method created to produce your deck planking, or is it one at a time on the tablesaw?

 

Rob

[EdT]

Thank you, Frank, and others for the "likes."

 

Rob, to make simulated caulked deck planks I start with a wood blank about 45' long. the thickness of the plank width (usually 6-7") , and about 2"(actual) wide.  One side is then painted with dark brown acrylic paints.    More coats yields thicker caulk lines.  A paper covering can be used instead of paint for a wider line.  Individual planks are then ripped off the blank at the thickness of the planks (usually 3 1/2" for decks planks.  I believe there are some pictures of this in earlier posts - perhaps in Naiad, and the method is covered in detail in YA Vol 1 and Naiad Vol II.

 

Ed

[Landlocked123]

Hi Ed,

 

In this and your other builds you use pins to keep things in place while gluing. Do you pre-drill the pin holes? Also, when I've tried to use pins while gluing, I've found I need to use excessive pressure to pull them out. Am I missing something? Do you then go back and fill up the holes? Thanks,

 

Best,

John

[EdT]

Hello John,

 

Thanks for your question.  In most of the work shown in the last few posts the pins are used against the parts and not through them.  For the planks on the POB model the pin clamps are placed against the planks.   However, I do use pins through pieces - especially planking on framed members.   Holes are always predrilled.  This requires some careful selection of pins and drills.  The fit needs to be tight enough to hold the piece down but not tight enough to split it.  This requires some pretesting.  I push pins in and extract them with needle-nosed pliers.  In pulling them out I apply finger pressure right next to the pin to avoid pulling the pieces apart or damaging the work.  This is essential and works quite well.  I usually place pin holes where fastenings - bolts or treenails - will be inserted later. 

 

Ed

[EdT]

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 33 – Main Deck Planking continued

 

Completing the deck planking on each side involved fitting the straight parallel planking to the wide margin plank inside the binding strakes and waterways. These members follow the curve of the side.  The waterways and binding strakes were structural.  The curved margin planks allowed the deck planks to be cut in without damaging the structural inner binding strakes.

 

After the angles of the plank end cuts reached about 60 degrees, further tapering would result in feather edges at the ends that could not be caulked.  Forty-five degrees is probably a better guide, but I used sharper angles on these joints that would be completely hidden by the forecastle deck. In the first picture, loose planks are being used to mark the points at which the full plank widths intersect the edge of the margin plank.

 

 

These marks define the cutting in points.  At each of these a knife or chisel cut was made into the margin plank perpendicular to the deck plank ends and one-half of the plank width.  The shapes of the required plank tapers can be seen in this picture.  Note that the joints get longer going aft, as the curvature of the side becomes less.

 

In the next picture the end has been formed on a plank and it is being marked for cutting out further aft where it meets the main cabin coaming.

 

 

The next picture shows the plank ends under the forecastle.

 

 

In this picture the Samson post knee has been installed and the breast beam made and laid across the bulwarks. The bowsprit opening has been enlarged to the required 36” width.  In the next picture the main deck planking is approaching completion.

 

 

The method of cutting the long joint tapers is shown in the next picture.

 

 

I cut the joints while there is sufficient space for the chiseling - before the adjacent planks were installed.  The chisel is a long, straight, model-sized paring chisel – one of my most frequently used and most essential tools.  Directions for making these chisels were included in Naiad Volume I.  In the next picture a shaped plank end is being fit into its joint.

 

 

For best visual results the pared side of these planks should be painted like the inner edges – to show the caulk line.  I did not do the on this demo model – relying solely on the dark glue to highlight the joint.

 

The next picture shows the very last piece – with a very longer taper – about to be installed.

 

 

Except for the uncovered hatches, the crude POB framing under the deck was now completely covered – a moment I was waiting for.  In the next picture the last plank is in.

 

 

The deck is still wet in this picture from washing off excess glue.  When completely dry, the deck planking was leveled where necessary using the flat rifflers and then sandpaper.  I will cover the methods used for fastenings and final deck finish in the next part.

 

 

Ed

 

[Mirabell61]

Hello Ed,

 

I like your method of planking the deck...

 

Nils

[EdT]

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 34 – Main Deck Finishing

 

After all the deck planking was installed, it had to be leveled off and finished.  Regardless of how well the plywood bulkheads and the added under-deck supports are faired off beforehand, it will be necessary to level off the planking using a combination of filing with flat rifflers and/or sanding with coarse (say 120-grit) paper.  If you are building the model, I hope you will pay more attention to the bulkhead fairing work than I did.  My fairing could have been a bit more thorough.  The deck has some waviness, but only those permitted to touch it will notice.  Regardless of the perfection of the bulkhead fairing, it will be prudent to start with heavier deck planks – say 4 ½” thick vs. the final 3 ½”.

 

The first picture shows some 220-grit finish sanding being done after all the irregularities between planks were leveled out using a flat riffler.

 

 

I used this model to experiment with deck finish.  On the larger model, beeswax thinned with turpentine was used on all unpainted wood – after more extensive sanding and polishing.  After sanding with 220-grit, I finished this decking with water based, acrylic sanding sealer thinned to about 50% with water – two coats, each sanded smooth – 220-grit then 320-grit.  The planking was then coated with acrylic gloss artists’ varnish.  Two coats, thinned, each sanded with 320-grit and then rubbed with Scotchbrite® grey then white grades.  This left a silky satin finish on the deck.  Simulated deck fastenings were embossed after the first coat of varnish.  I used a piece of syringe tubing for this and felt that the varnished surface would better resist pulling out small plugs.

 

Deck fastenings on these ships were normally iron spikes driven into counter-bored holes that were later filled with wood plugs that usually matched the decking.  The next picture shows the embossing in progress.

 

 

For this work a length of syringe was held in a pin vise that could then be lightly tapped with a hammer.  I was very careful to emboss all fastenings directly over bulkheads or other under-deck supports to avoid the possibility of breaking the planks.  I used a light pencil line across the deck for each row, then alternated fastenings on either side of the line.

 

The next picture shows the tools used for this.

 

 

The syringe tubing had an OD of about 1 ½” and a sharp bevel was stoned around its end.  I used a scriber point to flare out the end slightly to avoid plugs being jammed in and pulled out.  The second pin vise shown was fitted with a small drill to use for cleaning out the end of the syringe as it became fouled.

 

After this embossing work, the deck was sanded with 320-grit paper and rubbed out with Scotchbrite®  in preparation for the final varnish coat.  This was then applied, left to dry, sanded with 320-grit, and finally rubbed out with grey then white grades of Scotchbrite®.  This left a polished sheen on the deck as shown in the next picture.

 

 

I felt that the acrylic varnish worked out quite well.  It dried hard enough to be rubbed out and polished to the sheen I was looking for.  Below is a picture of some of the finishing materials and brushes used on the model.

 

 

The finish used on the decks was Liquitex® High Gloss Varnish applied with the flat synthetic brushes shown.   High gloss finishes contain no flatting agents so they can be rubbed out to the desired sheen without being limited by the dulling agents used in semi-gloss or matte finishes.  The Scotchbrite® pads mentioned above were used for this and are shown in the picture.  The black Golden Fluid Acrylic® shown in the picture was used on the hull finish – to be described later.

 

Ed

[Erebus and Terror]

I wish I could build half as quickly as you, Ed! Beautiful work. Learning lots from following along.

[Landlocked123]

Hi Ed,

 

You've left me in my usual state of befuddlement! (Usual to me, not your instruction). I guess where I'm confused is where the beeswax mixture is applied. Is it one the first stage, after sanding, but before the acrylic? I would think the wax would interfere with adhesion of the later layers of finish?

 

Would you please lay out the finishing process in a more linear fashion?

 

Thanks,

John

[EdT]

Thank you, E&T, John and others for the likes.

 

John, I am sorry for the confusion.  I did not use beeswax on this model, but used it without any other finish on unpainted wood on the 1:72 framed model.  Only the applications of acrylic described in the post were used on the POB model deck.

 

Ed

[lagrayjr]

Ed, would you please comment on your two methods of finishing, beeswax versus varnish. Which do you like better? I am very interested since I need to start adding some finishes to inaccessible places on my Naiad. On some of my other models  I finished I have used sanding sealer which seems to give acceptable results. Thanks. Laman 

[EdT]

Laman,

 

Finishes are heavily influenced by personal preference, so there is never a "right" answer.  The best approach is to test finishes on scrap model wood to see what you like and get familiar with them.  Perhaps a brain dump of what I think about will be helpful, or at least give you some ideas to pursue:

 

On bare, natural wood on framed models, I prefer beeswax/turpentine for a number of reasons.  In appearance, it leaves the wood in a natural state - not film covered.  It is easy to apply and can be done piecemeal without fear of overlaps showing differently - because it is self dissolving with each added coat.  I like the penetration vs. a surface finish like varnish or sealer - unless a definite gloss is desired.  The turpentine/wax solution penetrates the wood, leaving the wax in the wood as the solvent evaporates.  So the finish has more depth.  I think this gives a richer look.  Adding more coats of wax then buffing will add sheen.  Excess wax (or sheen) is easy to remove by buffing or wiping with turps.  Beeswax imparts some warming of the color (yellowing), but much less than oils like linseed or Tung, which can leave some woods, like pear, appearing orange.  Oils also build gloss with each coat and do not self dissolve, so progressive finishing (like working up from the lower framing) may leave glossy areas at overlaps.  Oil finishes also have a habit of later oozing out of corners, joint crevices, and pores and then polymerizing on the surface - leaving glossy spots that are very hard to remove.   Water based sealers and varnishes(acrylic) do not yellow even with aging, nor does microcrystalline wax, which could be used like beeswax - with a solvent.  Sealers and varnishes penetrate very little, leaving a film on the wood.  This is good if you want an easy gloss, which is why I tried it on the POB decking.  Oil based varnishes or shellac also lay on the surface and can be polished to a gloss.  These yellow the wood and darken with time - like oils  Solvent based varnishes are oils, but with driers added.

 

Some of the above relates to technical performance but much is preference.

 

Ed

Edited November 25, 2015 by EdT

[Landlocked123]

Thanks Ed,

 

That is very helpful. I guess I owe you another beer!

Edited November 19, 2015 by Landlocked123

[EdT]

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 35 – Forecastle Deck Beams

 

The POB model has some real deck beams to install – not many – just enough to introduce the method used on the framed model to POB builders. The method I used to make the forecastle beams – as well as the breast beam at the poop shown earlier – was very similar to that used on the framed model, but somewhat simpler.  It begins with a template for the round up of the beams.  In the first picture, a copy of one of the bulkhead patterns has been pasted to plywood and the curve of the deck is being sanded on the edge.

 

 

Since the round up radius is the same for every frame and every deck, any one of the patterns could be used.  The template was then used to trace the round up on to a piece of maple.  The curve was then sanded on to this piece as shown below.

 

 

Using a compass the depth of the forecastle beams was then drawn along the curve.  A blank that will be sliced into several beams was then cut off along this line, allowing some excess for sanding.

 

 

I then used the thickness sander to impart the final thickness on the underside of the beams as shown in the next picture.

 

 

The thickness sander does a great job with this.  The depth is uniform and parallel to the top face.  It is also very fast.  Without a thickness sander, I would have cut very close the line with the scroll saw, then sanded the underside by hand – not too arduous a task.  The individual beams were then ripped off –top side down! – on the circular saw as shown in the next picture.

 

 

The last picture shows the six maple beams and the breast beam, for which pear was used since it will be exposed and not painted.

 

 

As can be seen, I made these beams long before they were needed - before the planking of the main deck.  Cutting and fitting of the beams will be described in the next part.

 

Ed

 

[dvm27]

Never thought of using the thickness sander to finish the underside of the beam, Ed. Much easier than hand finishing each one to spec. Great tip!