Phantom by Elijah - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:96 - New York Pilot Boat

[cog]

That's a very clean cut minute cleat, Elijha. If you got them all a like, very well done!!

 

Cheers

[Mirabell61]

very nice work Elijah,

 

also those cleats are great...

 

Nils

[EJ_L]

Excellent work Elijah.

[cobra1951]

Wow I never realised the kit was so small

Makes your work even more impressive

[Omega1234]

Hi Elijah

 

It's always a joy to follow your ship's progress.  Tiny and nice!!!!

 

Keep up the great work.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[dgbot]

Congrats on a nice job Elijah.  Patience is everything and a little at a time will usually do the trick.  Your railings came out looking great.

David B

[Elijah]

Thanks everyone!

[DocBlake]

Nice work, Elijah,  The cleats are impressive!  So small!

[Elijah]

Hello again! I hope everyone is doing well! I have been continuing with tiny details. I made the eye bolts by burning of the plastic coating, cleaning them, paining them, and gluing them in the hull. I had drilled small holes in the stanching they are attached to first, as a way to make the connection stronger. I also drilled the hawse pipes. This was a bit nerve racking, but after consulting a few different builders, I was able to do it. I started with a tiny drill bit on the inboard side. I drilled halfway through, and did the same on the outboard side. I then enlarged the hole, and glued on the painted hawse pipe lids. Here are the pictures!

Until next time!

[mikiek]

Looking great! Was there a fitting for the hawse opening or did you make that?

[EJ_L]

Well done on all those eye bolts. Your hawse holes look nice on their as well. One more step done!

[markjay]

Looking really good

[cobra1951]

Nice bit of delicate work completed well done

[Elijah]

Thanks everyone! Mike, they are fittings that came with the kit. Sadly, I am not done drilling large holes. Does anybody here have some advice as to drilling the mast holes at the right angle?

[mikiek]

You can do it backwards. Use a plumb line (you can make one) that will be your mast alignment. Hang it somewhere so that the end is about an inch or two above the boat. Then slide you boat under the hanging end of the plumb. You can then raise the stern ever so slightly until the keel is at the angle you want. Your drill should then line up with the plumb.

 

For future reference, it is usually easier to cut the mast steps in the false keel at the start of your project. Some kits, like my Niagara already had the cuts so all I had to do was mark holes in the deck as I was planking it.

[Elijah]

Thanks, but what's a plumb line?

[cobra1951]

Plumb line. Basically a length of string or rope with a weight on the end, you hang it up and it has no option but to hang in a perfect vertical line

Edited September 21, 2016 by Cobr@

[mikiek]

Cobr@ nailed it Elijah. The reasoning is it's easier to get the mast (and your drill) into a known position - perfectly vertical -  and then make adjustments to the hull position for the angle.

[Elijah]

Hello again! How deep should the mast holes be?

[cog]

Do you have a drawing? normally it is shown on that, for a POB build, I presume somewhere between 1/2" and an 1" would do. The Dolphyn (I still have under construction, a POF) has about 4/5"

 

Cheers

 

P.s. With these kind of questions, it comes in handy to know the scale you are building at. You might add it to your topic's title

Edited September 22, 2016 by cog

[trippwj]

For the solid hull Phantom, about 0.5" at most.  Measure the length of the supplied lower mast dowel.  Then, from the plans, measure the height of the lower mast above the deck.  The difference (dowel length minus height above deck) is the amount available for your hole in the solid hull.  Start slightly short of the target and dry fit to see if things look right.

[DocBlake]

Nice job on the hawse holes, Elijah.  It's always tough drilling big holes in your model! 

 

Once you drill the mast holes, if they're perfect you're good to go.  If they aren't, and your angle is off, or masts aren't lining up in the midline plane, all is not lost!  You can enlarge the hole slightly, and glue in little scraps off wood (wedges) to force the mast to sit in the proper position.  Your kit should provide you with a wooden ring (deck collar) that sits on the deck and circles the mast to cover up the hole you drilled, so no one will see the wedges you used.  That's the way it was actually done with real masts!

[robnbill]

Looking great. The only advice I would give when drilling the holes is once you do think you have everything aligned, drill the first hole with a very small drill bit. Then you can stick a small nail into it and check your angles both directions. Then you can gradually increase the size of your drill bits until you have the correct size for your mast.

 

Lastly, for the final bits, try reversing the drill bit (if your drill will do that) and drill the final enlargement that way. It keeps the drill bit from catching the wood grain and ripping things out around the edges. This advice was from another builder here, but I did not note who it was. I use it all the time.

[DocBlake]

Good point, Bill.  Whenever I drill holes, I start with a small bit (1/16") and gradually enlarge the hole with successively larger bits.  Your tip about reversing rotation of the drill bit for the final couple of passes really works, also!  I've used the technique on model ships as well as full sized furniture and it produces clean, crisp holes with no tear-out at the edges.

[cog]

Depends largly on the type of drill you use. With some drills it just isn't possible

[gjdale]

Elijah,

 

JesseLee just posted on his Syren log about a jig he made for drilling the mast holes at the correct angle. Have a look here:

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/10420-syren-by-jesselee-model-shipways-scale-164/page-33#entry442086

[mikiek]

I'm being slow I guess. How can a hole be drilled with the bit in reverse?

[Elijah]

I would just twist my pin vise in the other direction .

[DocBlake]

Mike:  You need to be pretty close to the final diameter of the hole to use the "reverse the drill" technique.  It won't hog out a lot of wood.  When a drill cuts the right way, it's like using a continuous spiral chisel:  the wood is "shaved" from the wall of the hole.  If you reverse the drill direction, there is no chisel effect, but friction between the metal and the wood can enlarge the hole slightly.

[cog]

As far as I know, a clean cut, depends on the densness of the wood, the sharpness and the type of the drill bit, and the speed of the drill. The harder the wood the easier it is to get a clean cut.

 

Elijah do what feels right to you. It is a hobby, and you will learn, the more from your own mistakes unfortunately, as most of us have

Edited September 25, 2016 by cog