Weelig Straal by Keith Simmons - FINISHED - Afrikaans for 'lightning bolt'

[Keith Simmons]

    Another horrifying frame, we'll see how it goes, The keel is Red Oak, with Black Walnut hull planking. The lightning bolt pattern in hull is quarter sawed African Mahogany. Decking is Bubinga, hard to say right now what the rest will look like, I'll see where it takes me..    By the way , that's my lumber mill in the background...lol

[Piet]

Lovely shape, beautiful colors in the wood.  The "bliksem straal" (Dutch for lightning bolt  ) really stands out.

 

Cheers,

[Keith Simmons]

Lovely shape, beautiful colors in the wood.  The "bliksem straal" (Dutch for lightning bolt  ) really stands out.

 

Cheers,

Thanks Piet, I never know what the hull shape will be till I'm done. Design on the fly...

[Keith Simmons]

    Still a lot of work to do beginning with catch up sanding, Final hull dimensions are 36"L x 7"T x 8"W, my best guess at the final overall dimensions is 54"L x 51"T x 16"W. The only thing I am sure of is that the Captains quarters will have an American cherry deck, the sterncastle is African Mahogany and it will have 9 guns....

[Omega1234]

Very nice Keith!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[Keith Simmons]

   Well, making a little progress on this build. Sterncastle is African Mahogany with Bubinga rails. Still have quite a bit of trim to do and some changes such as doors and possibly stairs, but beginning to look like something. Stairs and masts are Red Oak and the plan is to have a square rigged 2 master (I never know from one day till the next). I'm already thinking about my next ship...lol  Thank you all for the views and comments...    PS, I am obviously a bad photographer, hope you see what I see.

[Omega1234]

Hi Keith

 

Lovely work. Your skills as a furniture maker are clearly evident in the way you have finished the wood and your ability to combine different colours and types of timber.

 

Nicely done!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[popeye the sailor]

very interesting ship Keith    cool design and very nicely done!

[Keith Simmons]

Hi Keith

 

Lovely work. Your skills as a furniture maker are clearly evident in the way you have finished the wood and your ability to combine different colours and types of timber.

 

Nicely done!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

Thanks Patrick, I have always liked mixing different exotic woods in furniture, even more so in these ships...

[Keith Simmons]

very interesting ship Keith    cool design and very nicely done!

Appreciate your comment Popeye, thinking about my next weird ship..lol

[Keith Simmons]

 Moved into finishing stage on my hull and masts, after several coats of lacquer I will begin final assembly. The only things left to make are the cannons, trim on sterncastle and the black sails. Then I will have a rigging session with both Blockade Runner and this one...

 

  Thanks for your interest in this ship, I believe I have chosen a style for my next ship and  going to attempt a real plank on frame build. I am in the process of designing the hull now. After seeing the great work being done out there, there was no where else for me to go..lol

 

 

[Omega1234]

Hi Keith

 

Very nice and I can't wait to see her all rigged and ready for the maiden voyage.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick 

[popeye the sailor]

super shine........really makes the grain pop!   I really like the design.........are you going to have sails as well?

[Keith Simmons]

super shine........really makes the grain pop!   I really like the design.........are you going to have sails as well?

 ThanksPopeye, have to get my girlfriend to fir up the sewing machine before I can rig it..lol

[Keith Simmons]

Hi Keith

 

Very nice and I can't wait to see her all rigged and ready for the maiden voyage.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick 

Thanks Patrick, as soon as I get The Lindworm ready for rigging I will rig all three ships at the same time. I sometimes get distracted by another design..lol

[popeye the sailor]

glad I'm not the only one           saw your lindworm....awesome looking ship!  

[Keith Simmons]

glad I'm not the only one           saw your lindworm....awesome looking ship!  

Thanks Popeye, turned out pretty good ...

[Keith Simmons]

  Finally have 80% of sails made and mocked up on ship. Time to take it all apart and start final rigging, my fingers are sore just thinking about it...lol. With ships this size, once I decide it's new home I have to patch and paint walls. The work never ends...

[popeye the sailor]

superb color for the sails...appears that they send a purplish hue down to the deck.  the ship looks so awesome with them on!  very nice work  

[Keith Simmons]

superb color for the sails...appears that they send a purplish hue down to the deck.  the ship looks so awesome with them on!  very nice work  

Thanks Popeye, still have quite a bit to do on her yet. Just have to keep fiddling with it till done...

[Jolley Roger]

Hi Keith,

 

Interesting build, wish I had the skills and tools to build a ship from scratch.

 

For interest sake, the correct spelling in Afrikaans would be 'Weerligstraal', we also make use of word 'Bliksem straal' as Piet mentioned above.

[Keith Simmons]

Hi Keith,

 

Interesting build, wish I had the skills and tools to build a ship from scratch.

 

For interest sake, the correct spelling in Afrikaans would be 'Weerligstraal', we also make use of word 'Bliksem straal' as Piet mentioned above.

Thanks Jolley, appreciate the input, Since I was using African woods or this build I looked up Lightning Bolt and saw the current spelling. I actually like the correct spelling better so I will use that on name plate....  thanks again....

[Omega1234]

Hi Keith

 

Nice to see the sails temporarily set up.  With her raked masts and lofty sails, she looks fast just sitting there.

 

Nice job.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

Edited April 9, 2016 by Omega1234

[Keith Simmons]

Hi Keith

 

Nice to see the sails temporarily set up.  With her raked masts and lofty sails, she looks fast just sitting there.

 

Nice job.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

Thanks Patrick, had a bit of a problem with the sail configuration and I am in the process of rethinking rigging. The real problem of design on the fly is when it doesn't look right , it doesn't look right ..lol. Hopefully I get it right this time...

[Keith Simmons]

  After much staring at this ship I came to the conclusion that my original sail configuration was just too busy for me. I decided to have only one mast and this is the end result. All that is left to do is finish the shrouds and some rigging....

[Omega1234]

Hi Keith

 

Whimsical, creative and imaginative are words that come to mind.  I like it!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[Keith Simmons]

Hi Keith

 

Whimsical, creative and imaginative are words that come to mind.  I like it!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

Thanks Patrick, I kind of hated to finish that one....

[popeye the sailor]

I think the best thing to do is get an idea of what class of vessel it will be...then look up the type of rigging for that particular vessel.   the basic rigging for that vessel,  will give you the ideas to modify it to your vessel.   whatever sheet you plan to raise will need the rigging for it's function.  you may elect to run a second fore stay.........lash your jib sails to them.  I love your configuration....very unique!   well done