Schooner Altair by KeithAug - Scale 1:32 - 1931 - Finished

[shipmodel]

Keith - 

 

If I could have hit the 'like' button a dozen more times I would have.  What a great idea with the magnets as clamps.  I will definitely use that the next time it fits.  And that envious gnashing of teeth that you hear is me after seeing your shop.  Looking forward to seeing a launch that will be the equal of all your other brilliant work.

 

Peace and Smooth Sailing to all

 

Dan

[wyz]

Oh Keith, what a nice looking shop.  I'm certainly envious.

 

Tom

[KeithAug]

Thank you Dan - I think I have seen others use the magnet trick.

 

Thank you Tom.

 

Thanks to everyone for all the likes.

 

So to continue with the launch (the guests are proving less disruptive than expected).

 

I put the former for the bow in place and installed and shaped the bow filler blocks. The former was then edged with mahogany to form the continuation of the keel and the stem. The  2 parallel upper hull planks were then installed. The keel / stem have yet to be cut down to their finished size.

 

 

I adopted a novel (simplified) method of making the remaining planks. Rather than individually shaping planks I went for the mass production approach. I measured the required length at the waist and stern and then used the ratio to determine how much wider the planks needed to be at the waist. I then downloaded a series of arc profiles from the web and printed them out.

 

I cut the raw stock for the shaped planks - a piece of mahogany 7"x 0.75" x 0.125". I then selected an arc that gave me the desired waist and edge thicknesses on the 7" x .125" edge. I then used double sided tape to paste the arc on to the edge.

I then sanded away the edge to form the required plank shape. The sanding was done on the disc sander, employing a "V" block to keep the plank vertical while shaping.

Identical .040" width planks were then slit off on the Byrnes saw.

The planks were bent using heat from a hot air gun - a very effective process that I will use in future - no more messing around with steam or hot water for me.

Planking of the hull then progressed.

Sometimes with many clamps and elastic bands.

So far (half way) its woking out well (nice water tight joints).

This is definitely my last pre Christmas post. I'm looking forward to what Santa might bring.

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS to you all.

Edited December 23, 2017 by KeithAug

[michael mott]

A very neat way to plank the hull.

 

Michael

[KeithAug]

11 hours ago, michael mott said:

A very neat way to plank the hull.

Thank you Michael. I hope you are recovered enough to enjoy Christmas dinner. The pudding is already resting very heavily in the stomach over here and I never want to see another Brussel sprout.

 

Thank you to all who have hit the like button and for those of you about to sit down to your meal my advice is "beware of the Christmas pudding".

[Jond]

Kieth

 

Wow I love the production plank method.  My failed dories started cutting each plank on the scroll saw. My issue there is the two direction teeth on many blades grab the wood. I am going to try to get one way blades. By slowing down the stroke I feel safer making these small cuts on the skroll than on the big band saw.    I need 12  of each side plank for six dories, so it must be easier to try your method.   We'll see

 

I hope you Christmas dinner went well.   I look forward to follow-up in the new year

 

 

Cheers

[John Allen]

17 hours ago, KeithAug said:

"beware of the Christmas pudding".

Kieth,

Not the place but a quick one. My sister in law is proud of her English Heritage, one Christmas she ordered an authentic Plum Pudding from Jolly Aulde England. Poor thing crowed for a week about the traditional English Christmas Dinner and her ordered Plum Pudding. Well the dinner was grand and memorable now time for the aforementioned pudding. Man it would gag a maggot at a 10 yards really bad, poor thing was beside herself. no consoling her that she couldn't have known and the dinner was grand.

She never ordered another plum pudding. Never liked ordering food on line I am sure this may not have been a good representation of a plum pudding.

 

 

 

[noel_colledge]

John, A good home made Christmas pudding laced with Brandy for 3 months before hand is joy to behold, and space must be left in the pudding belly for this and the White sauce (Not Custard) also laced in Brandy after the festivities even if you have to wait an hour or two afterwards in order to consume. Shop brought ones like everything else claiming tradition or otherwise are only as good as the ingredients and love that has gone into making them.

[Nirvana]

Keith,

Isn't the heat gun a great tool?

I used it, while planking the Longboat and the Bluenose. 

Great helper.

[John Allen]

On 12/23/2017 at 4:37 PM, KeithAug said:

hot air gun

Agree, been better to get a current English recipe and make one what you posted would have been a treat. Like our fruitcakes people joke about its the most re gifted item at Christmas. My Aunt made them so filled with booze they dripped it a year later 5 years still fresh.

[John Allen]

Keith,

Messed up my post the hot air gun your using it on dry wood, work as fast on all woods, looked on line is there one better than the other or are we talking generic hot air gun.

[KeithAug]

I seem to have missed a few posts - my build seem to have descended into a mess of puddings.

 

Thank you all for your contributions - I will try to answer the points raised.

 

Jon - good luck with trying the plank method - the following post will show how it turned out.

 

John - my wife makes her own pudding to a recipe passed down from her ancestors (served with brandy butter). Best not to dwell on what goes into the pudding but it tastes wonderful. The heat gun I am using was bought cheaply off Amazon (sold for hobby use). I am using it directly on the wood without any wetting.

 

 

Per - agreed the hot air gun is a great tool.

 

So to continue.

 

I continued planking down the hull until I got to the position in the next photo, I then attached the garboard planks - leaving a gap of just under 2 plank widths to fill.

 

Both the fill planks had to be individually shaped - on the bench sander and then by hand sanding.

I then cut down the keel to finished size and sanded the hull to remove imperfections.

The profile of the back of the keel was cut to take the screw.

I then did some final sanding with 400 grit wet and dry (used dry).

Rubbing strips were cut to add to the hull (.040" x .040" section).

Finally the launch got its first coat of poly.

I'm pleased with the shape given my starting point was some improvised and hand drawn sections.

 

Edited December 26, 2017 by KeithAug

[tadheus]

Keith,

 

 

Pawel

[Jond]

Beautiful.   My problems included getting ca glue to set to hold prebent planks, since they are quite large they over powered glue and I had solid plug for a form. I assume the small planks held well since there's no mention of the glue up.

 

Anyway when I get back home I am inspired to try again.  Thanks for the lesson

 

Happy New year

Jon

[KeithAug]

1 hour ago, Jond said:

My problems included getting ca glue to set to hold prebent planks,

Jon - I over bent the planks i.e. to a radius slightly smaller than I actually required. I applied PVA glue to the abutment edge with an artists paint brush before offering the plank up and clamping it in the middle. Clamping in the middle caused the bend to open up to a slightly larger radius and at the same time caused the ends to press against the frames due to the spring in the plank. I then applied other camps to lock the plank in position while the glue cured. The season assisted the glueing because we have a wood burning stove which roars away all day. It stands on legs with a 5 inch gap below it. The hull was placed in this gap to cure the glue as each plank was laid. The curing time was about 30 minutes. Good luck.

 

Pawel - thank you.

 

And thank you to everyone else who has viewed my log.

[michael mott]

Beautifully executed Keith.

 

Happy new year and i look forward to the rest of the finishing up of you yacht.

 

Michael

[KeithAug]

22 hours ago, michael mott said:

Happy new year

Happy new year to you and yours Michael. 

[BANYAN]

Hi Keith, i have only just found your log and what a fascinating build - I regret not looking in earlier.  I am particularly impressed with your brasswork/smithing - some outstanding work there.  I will take the time to read right through your log over the next few days as you show a lot of things I can learn from.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Edited January 3, 2018 by BANYAN
spello

[KeithAug]

On 29/12/2017 at 11:58 PM, BANYAN said:

I will take the time to read right through your log over the next few days

Pat, thank you for visiting and for your positive comments. I hope you enjoy reading the rest of the log.

 

Update:-

 

I have not had much time over the last few days but did get a bit done

I cut the launch off the building frame. I had not waxed the frames to make detachment easy. Also I had purposely glued the planks on to the central frame as felt this would retain the planks in the correct position. Never the less the non-glued frames came away easily with a simple twist. The central frame was nibbled away with a pair of side cutters assisted by a small circular saw attached to the craft drill. It proved a fairly simple task.

 

As previously explained I have little information on the launch but this is giving me a degree of freedom to innovate. I decided I wanted a flat slatted deck so I grooved a thin piece of mahogany and shaped it using the lowest horizontal hull section.

 

Having glued the deck in place I decided that I would get a better internal finish by interior planking before simulating the ribs.

I have not finished the internal planking because I got a bit distracted with a few fittings - the wheel, screw, rudder/brackets and the strap that runs from the keel to the bottom of the rudder.

 

The screw was turned as a disc and then shaped with piercing saw / needle file. The blades were twisted with pliers. The screw about 0.3" external diameter.

The wheel was made as a hoop and boss connected by 6 wire spokes

For comparison purposes here is the rather poor picture I have of the real wheel.

 

I hope to get back to building some time over the weekend.

 

 

Edited January 2, 2018 by KeithAug

[Jim Lad]

That launch is a mini masterpiece, Keith.  Great work.

 

John

[KeithAug]

Thank you John, and a belated happy new year.

[Guest Riccardo1966]

Happy New Year Keith

The launch is looking very nice, neat and inventive work as always.

Regards Richard.

[KeithAug]

Thank you Richard and a Happy  New Year to you.

[BANYAN]

Hi Keith, I have now perused through your build and what a sensational job you have done.  I love the details (some you won't even see) such as the charts etc in the drawer but I think my particular astonishment lies in the quality of your metalsmithing.  I will need to have an even closer read to breakout some of your techniques as the detail you achieve is amazing.

 

regards

 

Pat

[KeithAug]

Hello Pat.

 

Thank you for taking time to look through the entire log and for your kind comments. I am thinking of putting a miniature letter/envelope in the drawer explaining who I am ----- a time capsule for future generations of shipwrights. If my explanation has failed at any point please let me know and I will fill in the detail.

[BANYAN]

That is a great idea Keith, I have heard of modellers leaving such a note inside the hull - an 'easter egg' of sorts.  Be sure to seal the paper and ink to ensure it is preserved as I think this model warrants such a 'provenance'.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Edited January 7, 2018 by BANYAN

[Bedford]

Keith, I always write my name and the start date on one of the frames of all my ships

[mtaylor]

I did something not quite the same on my current build.  I laser etched a square of wood with the dedication to my wife and then sealed it in the ship's hold.

[paulsutcliffe]

Hi Keith

 I have just read through your whole log, sorry I missed it until now, absolutely beautiful work especially the brass milling and soldering, looks awesome

Regards

Paul

[KeithAug]

Christmas and New Year over and I am delighted to announce that the management has graciously agreed to the reopening of the shipyard.

 

Pat / Bedford - Thank you for your contributions.

 

Mark - Your light sabre is obviously very clever, my skill with manufacturing automation relegates me to the 3rd division, more of a latter day Zorro than Luke Skywalker.

 

Paul - Thank you for taking the trouble to browse my log. 

 

I continued this week with the building of the launch.

 

I completed the planking of the the inside of the hull and then marked out the position of the ribs before attaching them. I needed some quite tight bends but I managed them without too much trouble / breakage.

 

Two bench seats run along the sides from amidships to the stern. I shaped these using the previously drawn hull lines. They are currently glued in place but I think I will add more supports for aesthetic / realism reasons.

 

 

I spent last night awake making and fixing the capping rails in my head. Not very productive I would have been better occupied getting up and doing the job.

 

Anyway the plan involved cutting the rails to shape using the inverted hull as a template. By about 3am I had rejected the alternative plan of bending straight planks to fit. My plan for clamping the rail while the PVA dried was effective if not a little basic. It involved holding it in place with finger pressure while blasting it with the hairdryer. My fingers got a little warm in the process but I gritted my teeth an toughed it out like a man.

 

The next job is to plank the small section of foredeck before getting on with the internal fit out.

 

 

Edited January 11, 2018 by KeithAug