USF Confederacy by UpstateNY - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64

[Trussben]

Hey Nige, nice to see another Confed build starting, and just a few miles away from my own, good luck with the rigging, Ron ( Hollowneck ) Neilson did a fine job rigging his and maybe able to give you some help on the belaying plan.

 

I will watch with interest

 

Ben

[UpstateNY]

Thanks for stopping by Alde and Ben!  

 

Great to have the company and it is also wonderful that some is only a few miles up the road. 

 

Thanks as well for the tip  that Ron rigged his Confederacy! I hadn't found his build yet...very helpful!

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

[UpstateNY]

Hi All.

 

Well, the bulk of the fairing work has been completed.  Safety timbers were added to brace the bulkhead extensions as recommended in the instructions. I also added some lengthwise bracing to add more strength as one bulkhead extension was especially weak due to a knot.  These lengthwise timbers also raised the hull and protected the delicate stem assembly while the hull was inverted.

 

Fairing was mostly done using 220 grit paper and sanding sticks that would always bridge across three bulkheads. The 220 grit made the fairing slow going, but I hoped it would stop me removing too much wood. A shorter, thinner stick was used at the bow given the very sharp curves and to avoid sanding the stem.  Battens were used to check the hull during fairing, especially at the bow and stern. At the bow especially, a lot of wood needed to be removed given the filler pieces and sharp curves so here I also checked the distances to the bulkhead former to makes sure things were staying symmetrical.

 

There is still some  tune up work to be done, but I need to complete the shadow box and cut away section with the false hull frames in place before tackling that. Hopefully the fairing is good as this will make planking go much easier down the line!

 

Images below and as always thanks for all the kind comments and the likes.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[donrobinson]

Your fairing looks perfect, time well spent with dividends to pay off soon. Well done

[SawdustDave]

Off to a great looking start Nigel. You're going to really enjoy this incredible set of plans and the beautiful job Chuck P did with the step by step illustrated instructions.

Pulling up a chair to watch another great Confederacy come together by a very fine modeler.

 

Cheers

Dave

[UpstateNY]

Hi Don,

 

I certainly hope the fairing work pays off...this is a very big hull for any planking redo's! 

 

Hi Dave.

 

Thanks for stopping by and your extremely kind words.  I totally agree with your comments on the wonderful kit design, instructions and plans. They are the major reason I felt I could take on a build this size  along with simply loving the way this model looks when completed as your Confederacy and the other builds here on MSW show so well.  

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

Edited February 27, 2016 by UpstateNY

[cog]

Seems I keep on running behind ... so too with your build Nigel. Some good progress ... looking solid!!! I'll bet the onlookers will enjoy themselves as much as with your previous build, so I'll be joining the crowd!

 

Cheers

[UpstateNY]

Thanks for the kind word Carl and welcome...I certainly hope everyone enjoys this voyage! I know I am! 

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

[Kevin]

permission to follow your build please, this will be my next purchase 

[UpstateNY]

Hi All,

 

Welcome Kevin and I really think you'll be very happy with this kit...she's a beauty! My thanks to all as well for the kind comments and the likes!

 

One of the really nice design features of this kit is that it can be built showing some exposed hull framing. First step is to build a shadow box from the laser cut pieces. Two of these have very fine spacers to set the framing separation.  A heads up to anyone with this kit is many of the spacers were not cut all the way through especially at the corners in my kit. It took quite some time to safely release them using my finest Xacto knife as the spacers are quite fragile. After sanding and gluing in place, the shadow box was  painted matt black.

 

The double frames were glued up making sure the tops matched up and then all the frames were glued into place. I used wood glue as this gave me time to try make sure the spaces were even and the frames vertical using my small square to guide my eye. Fairing to the bulkheads was done using my sanding sticks and 220 grit paper. I thought about staining the frames to match the keel, but there was quite a lot of grain visible so I decided against it. I am really glad I left well alone as the frames still took on a really nice, deeper color after a protective coat of poly. Seems when I select planks for hull and deck planking, I will need to really watch how the grain is running and perhaps pre-stain or add a light coat of poly to help match the finish.

 

One last thing is I decided to copy Ed Tosti's board design (link below to his fabulous Young America log)  and added T track's to my board. I can now hold the hull firmly using the simple clamps you can see in some pictures and they also let me square the hull to the board which should be helpful given next up is Chapter 3 and the stern framing!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

 

Link to Ed Tosti's Young America log.

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/3453-young-america-by-edt-extreme-clipper-1853/page-1

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cog]

Good job Nigel. Love the shadowbox!!

 

Cheers

[Elijah]

That black is very dark ! It appears to absorb all light! The framing looks good too!

[texxn5]

Hi Nigel, just getting caught up - looks great and looks like a fun ship...much anticipation going on....Keep up the good work.

John

[UpstateNY]

Thanks for the nice compliments Carl, Elijah and John and to all for the likes! 

 

Stern framing has begun, but I will be taking this slow so I get all the angles and curves correct!

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

[UpstateNY]

Hi All,

 

A small update as I've finished the first part of the stern framing.

 

First step as usual was the clean off the laser char and here I went very light given the stern timbers have complex curves I didn't want to alter by mistake. The stern timbers were then glued in place, making sure they were firmly seated against bulkhead 8 and that their angles matched the template.  I copied the paper templates onto clear transparency film so I could see the timbers completely and so line them up easily. I did double check there was no scale offset when I copied them as Chuck warns in his instructions. The film is also much stronger than paper so I could use clips to hold the template against the frames without risk of tearing.

 

The upper side pieces were then chamfered so they fit snugly against the stern timbers and, together with the hull frames, were glued in place following the laser etched reference lines. I used my steel rule to make sure the upper pieces were not tilted in or outboard, again as warned in the instructions as these pieces form the bottom sills for the aft cannon ports. Once the glue set, my final check was to overlay the window template to double check the spacings.  Seems to be OK, but please sing out if you see anything amiss so I can correct it! 

 

Next up is some careful fairing of the upper pieces and then adding the sills and lintels to complete the window framing.

 

Thanks for reading and again for all the kind comments and "likes".  

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[alde]

She's coming together nicely. Great job on the stern frames.

[texxn5]

Looks like a fun project...very nice Nigel

[NMBROOK]

Excellent work Nigel

 

Kind Regards

 

The other Nigel

[UpstateNY]

Thanks Alde, John (yep, this build is a lot of fun!) and "the other" Nigel ( ) for all the very kind words and of course to everyone who hit the like button.  Really great to have you all along...really encouraging.  

 

This week I've been working on the stern window framing...not many pieces really but it sure took some time.  

 

First up was to make the sills and lintels by gluing 2 laser cut pieces together.  The lintels were first glued into place making sure they protruded from both sides of the stern timbers per the instructions so they could be faired in from both sides.  I used my sturdy, transparent templates again but this time I cut out the locations for the lintels so the template itself helped to support the lintels as the glue dried. After carefully fairing in the lintels and also the sills for the upper gun ports, the window sills were added and then faired in. The fairing took a lot of time to make sure I didn't change the curves of the stern timbers. After another check using the window template that the frame positions looked OK, the  three stern filler pieces were added on each side to support the planking to come.  These fillers will also need fairing in to allow the planking to run true.

 

A few images are below and again, please shout out if you see anything that doesn't look right! Easy to redo right now if needed!

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

 

 

 

 

 

[alde]

It may be slow going but it's time well spent. I like the idea of using the clear film for layout. Very nice.

[Chuck Seiler]

Nigel,

    When you printed the transom on clear plastic, did you print that from your computer or did you have it done professionally?

[UpstateNY]

Hi Alde,

 

The transparency film is working well for me so far...we will see how well it works for the many gun and sweep ports still to come! I find the fact it is so much more rigid than paper very helpful.

 

Hi Chuck,

 

I tried my inkjet printer, but the ink didn't adhere to the transparency. You may have more luck depending on the transparency and ink combo in your setup. In the end, I just made a 100% copy of the small section of the plans I needed on my inkjet printer and then took that sheet to Kinko's to print out on their slides with a laser printer. I just had to be careful there was no scaling change as Chuck warns in his instructions. Hope this helps.

 

My thanks of course to everyone for the "likes" as well...really appreciated!

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

[cog]

My experience with inkjet and transparency are only bad. For that reason, and double sided printing amongst others I got a second hand laserjet 15 years ago

[Elijah]

Looks good to me! Using that clear plastic is a very good idea!

[Burroak]

Nigel that's a great job on that transom!

 

Greg H.

[UpstateNY]

Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words Elijah and Greg!  Thanks as always to all for the likes  .

 

Carl, I can only say after getting inkjet ink all over my hands as I picked up the print out, I rather wish I had a laser jet as well! I am lucky as my local Kinko's is pretty close!

 

So, a little more progress this week as the stern framing is now completed.  Framing the four ports was an exercise in patience. Even with the transparent template to help me, keeping the sills and lintels completely level was hard due to the complex transom curves so I had a couple of redos on this bit!  Adding the vertical frames for the ports once the sills and lintels were in was a matter of just using the template as the stern timbers are not vertical so aren't a good reference.

 

Fairing was done while the framing of the ports was in progress and you can see the fairing edge hitting the pencil line I drew using the template in one shot.  Last job was to add and fair in some balsa wood blocks under the counter and along the stern post to add gluing area for the planking to come. Hopefully things are OK, but as always, I'd appreciate any help if something looks off.

 

Next up will be adding the false deck, but as I will fully rig her, I have to drill holes into the bulkhead former to support the masts first. There are no slots already pre-cut of course as the model is designed with stump masts. So...time to dig out the Crothers plans and the protractor to make sure I get the mast angles correct.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cog]

Nigel,

 

I'm glad you didn't get ink all over your build ... that would be rather a nuisance ... maybe time for a second hand laserprinter ... I do like the looks of what you've been doing (even with stained hands)

 

Cheers

[Kevin]

I am so following this log, and other Confederacy builds since I decided it would be my next build, If chuck allows me

[UpstateNY]

HI Carl,

 

Fortunately, all the ink came off pretty quickly so no great disaster.  Thanks for the kind word on the build! 

 

Kevin,

 

Thanks for following along and I am looking forward to seeing your Confederacy log start up once you finish your awesome Victory!

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

[Elijah]

The stern framing looks good to me!