Endeavour 1934 by Julie Mo - Amati - Scale 1:35 - America's Cup UK J-Class Challenger

[captainbob]

We had a new frig arrive today (the old one died) and now the kitchen remodel has my attention.  We weren't going to buy new appliances until we were ready to tackle the kitchen but the old frig kind of forced our hand.  Depending on energy levels, I may have another break in ship building coming up.  

 

Enjoy the kitchen remodeling.  We'll wait.   

 

Bob

[Nirvana]

Julie, kitchen is important for the happiness of the family. Maybe you can sneak in a minute or two with the Endeavor.

[Julie Mo]

Mike,

 

The thickness, or should I say thinness, of the frames is too small to cut by hand.  The instructions don't even mention anything about frames and keel.  I was just venturing out on my own (as I do too often) and seeing if I could pull this off.  Everything was fine until I introduced CA glue to the project.  When the time comes to build a tender, I'm thinking I may make something like a Yankee Tender.  But I should probably built the kit's "lifeboat" as the instructions show just to hone some skills, if for nothing else.

[Landlocked123]

Hi Julie,

 

I'm catching up on your build and had a couple of thoughts regarding the problem you had with the CA. First, you can debond CA by soaking the joint with acetone. It's nasty stuff but It works. Second, instead of using shellac or varnish, try bee's wax. You can buy little bricks of it at most of the sites that supply stuff for model boat building. To make a paste, chop it up into small pieces, put in a small far and cover it with turpentine. It takes a day or two, but it will soften the wax up. It is also useful to treat the ropes used for rigging.

 

Best,

John

[Julie Mo]

Hi John,

 

You know, the first thing I went to look for was a block of beeswax I have.  But I couldn't find it.  I still haven't found a way to get my new shop as organized as the one I left behind. 

 

Other than sticking my fingers together, CA glue and I never really hit it off until I found accelerator.  There was a video showing using CA and an accelerator on a guitar fingerboard.  One zap and it was done!  Suddenly I became a CA lover.  But maybe the accelerator did me in on this one. 

[Julie Mo]

The kitchen remodel came to a grinding halt when I was about to face my mortal enemy - blown-in insulation!  So I scurried to the workshop and fired up the glue pot.

 

The hot hide glue was so new to me I didn't know what to expect.  I started on the bow with an angle that looked right to me and glued up the first piece and held it in place for about 10 seconds.  Not enough, at least when there's spring back working against you.  I pinned it in place and left the room to do some other things.  I came back about 5 minutes later and the plank was locked in place.  I found it needs about 3 minutes to cure enough to hold against the spring back.

 

This section took me about 30 minutes but I was leaving the shop after each glue-up to do other things.  I'll have to actually time it to see how fast it really sets up but I think 3 minutes is pretty close.

 

Clean up is a breeze.  The squeeze-out is easily removed and the glue just washes off the hands with water.  A nice change from PVA.  I think I'm going to like this.  

[dgbot]

Julie,  At a Shipwright meeting on of the members showed how he made life boats and other small craft using the method you were using.  Once the fixture was made he would use candle wax and melt it over the form. Then he would use basswood or apple for the frames.  After wetting the wood he would wrap it plastic wrap and nuke it.  After that he would bend it to the bulkheads and use a small pin to hold them down.

David B

[Julie Mo]

Hi David,

 

Thanks for sharing that.  I can see the benefits of making a better form for the tender.  I never even thought of covering the wood with plastic wrap before zapping it.  But I can see how that would more closely mimic steaming it. 

 

[Julie Mo]

As for the hide glue, I am not used to working this fast.  The planks are going down one after the next and I find it's too fast for my comfort level.  I like being able to absorb and analyze my work when venturing into new territory.  I think I was letting the fact I had hot hide glue, waiting for me to use it, push me faster than I was ready to go.  And I've got other irons in the fire waiting  aka: the kitchen.

 

But it's kind of exciting to see the planking taking shape so quickly.  Being at an angle, the pieces are a fraction of what they would be if I ran it according to the directions so it will take much longer to do the 2nd planking than the 1st.  That is, had I not changed to hide glue. 

 

One could conceivably lay one plank after the next, if working side-to-side.  By the time the port side plank was clamped in place, the starboard side plank glue is set.  Clean up the squeeze out, glue up the next plank, clamp it and switch sides. 

 

I was able to glue a plank, bow-side, pin it, then remove the pins from the stern-side plank and lay another.  What I realized is I was getting caught up in a planking frenzy.  I had to deliberately slow down and take my time.  Haste makes waste.  But this method certainly is fast, if that's what one wants.

[KeithAug]

Hi Julie

 

I had a go at steaming and bending the .010 inch mahogany planks. It sort of worked but I don't think I'd use this method. I think David B's post is the way to go.

[Julie Mo]

Hi Keith,

 

I understand what you said.  I have yet to find a perfect solution to bending wood.  But what David proposed is steaming wood, however that is achieved.  That is the age-old process of making wood bend.  The idea is to heat the lignens in the wood to the point they release their bond with the wood fibers, or so that is how I understand the process to be.  I'm just trying to take what I know and make it work.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

 

It's funny, even though I had reached the point I needed a break from the planking frenzy, before I retired for the night, I had to jump right back in. 

 

I had taken the hot hide glue and put it in a sealed container and placed it in the refrigerator.  When I pulled it out this evening, it was a solid gel, pliable but not adhesive.  I took a small portion and placed it in the already heated glue pot.  And I returned to planking...

 

All total I laid 46 rows of planks today.  Not bad, I guess...

[mikiek]

Back to your frames for a sec. I am building the Model Shipways English Pinnace kit on the side. The design is an interesting idea. The frame goes in as part of a solid bulkhead piece. The bulkhead fits to the keel like many kits. You then plank the bulkheads. Afterwards, the center part of the bulkhead knocks out leaving you with a frame. A poor description on my part but you can see what I am talking about here (documents tab). The bulkhead pieces are only 1/16" thick. In the kit, the knockouts are laser cut but given the sheet is only 1/16" it could be done with a knife fairly easily.

 

If you want some better pix let me know,

[Julie Mo]

Thanks, Mike.  I can see how the solid bulkheads would help deal with the forces at work when planking.  It looks like a great solution when you can cover the plywood.  If the frames on the lifeboat/tender were 1-1/2" thick full scale, I would need planks 0.043" thick for the model.  And something tells me that even 1-1/2" frames are too large. 

[Julie Mo]

After yesterday's bone-rattling experience, it was good to give myself a break and hole up in the workshop.  I didn't get to spend much time but I did manage to lay a few more rows.

mineral spirits applied

 

I'm a little upset with myself for not mixing up the planks at the beginning.  Once I started doing that, the wood grain really started to show through.

 

This shot told me I was on the right track with the diagonals.  I was a bit worried how it would look as it reached midship.

[captainbob]

She's looking good, Julie.  Looking good.

 

Bob

[Julie Mo]

Thanks, Bob.  I needed to hear that.  Sometimes I can be blind to my own work so outside input is always appreciated, good and bad. 

 

I am considering removing the planking toward the bow.  The other planks look so good, they make the rest look blah.  I'll have time to consider that because the house is nagging me again.  But it was sure fun playing hooky. 

[captainbob]

Ah the hazards of the artist.  Build it. take it apart.  Rebuild it.  Uh.  Rebuild again.  Is it good enough this time?  Uuuhhh. 

 

When you finally say that's done, I'm sure that both the boat and the house will be beautiful.

 

Bob

[Julie Mo]

Last night I decided to put the hide glue's ability to "unglue" by applying heat and water to see if I could pull up some of the planks toward the bow.  I thought it would be easy.  HA!  That glue didn't want to let go at all. 

 

I took a wet paper towel and let it sit on the planks for about 5 minutes.  Nada.  So I took a hair dryer and set it on high and put it about an inch from the drenched planks.  A little of the glue on the edges softened up.  I continued applying the heat but the remaining glue just didn't let go.  And this was only on the first plank.  I managed to remove that plank after a lot of work but neither the moisture nor the heat worked. 

 

Since removing the planks was purely for aesthetic reasons, no sense putting in all that work for so little results.  I plan on applying dye because I don't like the orange look so the dye should soften the color differences.

[captainbob]

Julie, I've never used hide glue, but I remember in an article I read years ago about repairing stringed instruments they said to work a hot thin spatula into the glue between the two pieces of wood.  I went so far as to get a thin pallet knife from an art store and then decided the interment was not worth repairing.

 

Bob

[Julie Mo]

Julie, I've never used hide glue, but I remember in an article I read years ago about repairing stringed instruments they said to work a hot thin spatula into the glue between the two pieces of wood.  I went so far as to get a thin pallet knife from an art store and then decided the interment was not worth repairing.

 

Bob

Bob, I love it!  Thanks for sharing.  My eyes are watering from laughing.    The crazy things we do...

 

Tonight I had a few moments to spend with my baby.  I guess I laid maybe 10 more rows of planks.  But as I laid another plank, I saw the clinker effect becoming more pronounced.  All of the cold molding hulls I have seen are modern day designs, fin keel and all.  I really wonder if a wood plank could make the twists and turns I am demanding on this build.  Probably not.

 

I laid a plank and let it follow its natural tendency. 

 

When I look at it from different points of view, it just doesn't look right.  If I filled in the void with a tapered plank, I'm not so sure it would work visually.  I'll have to think about this some more...

[captainbob]

When doing normal (horizontal) planking we need to modify the width of the plank to make it mate with the already mounted plank.  It looks like diagonal planking has the same problem.

 

Bob

[Landlocked123]

Julie,

 

One more point in favor of modern technology is that PVA is easily released with the application of isopropyl alcohol.

 

Best,

John

[Julie Mo]

Spile added and planking proceeds

 

 

 

I'll have to watch the diagonals to keep it looking the same along the entire hull, as it looks like spiles are unavoidable.

[KeithAug]

Julie

 

That seems to have worked out pretty well. Well done.

[captainbob]

Your spilling is not noticeable. She should really look good with a bright finish.

 

Bob

[Julie Mo]

Thank you, Keith.  Tapering that spile to such a fine point took some time but I didn't want to have something like a drop plank or stealer in there.  I was afraid it would be too obvious. 

 

I have also become aware of the need to keep the angle of the planking as close to the same throughout the hull as possible.  Had I not been taking my time, I probably would have missed this.  I didn't even see it until I looked at the pictures I took above.  Another benefit of taking that first build slow.

[Julie Mo]

Thanks, Bob.  Last night I was visualizing the finish and started wondering how it would look if I dyed the bottom dark and the top light.  Any bleed off from the dye could be covered with the waterline stripe.

 

I haven't yet begun to experiment with dye tones on the hull though.  When I was doing kitchen cabinets in the previous house, I mixed so many formulas, I became somewhat of a dye alchemist.  When you get it right, it can be gorgeous.  The hull is such a prominent part of the model it seems to me it HAS to look good or the entire model will look bad.

[donrobinson]

Your planking looks great, I have never seen this done before.....real cool!!

[Nirvana]

Julie,

Even though the finishing planking is running "against" the water it looks amazing.

Question: Why this running of planking?

[Julie Mo]

Julie,

Even though the finishing planking is running "against" the water it looks amazing.

Question: Why this running of planking?

Per, I have seen this on cold molded hulls.  If you think about it, the planking is running with the wake created by the hull - slicing the water on contact and moving it aft. 

 

This is one of those cold molded hulls that gave me the idea.  You can see the final planking runs the same as on my model