Lady Nelson by daveward - Amati/Victory Models - 1:64 Scale - First wooden ship build

[AntonyUK]

Hi Dave.

Im'e glade to see you forward planning. It always pays off.

You have been studying the planking tutorials. Good.

Your build is looking good.

Still following with interest.

 

Regards Antony.

[daveward]

Thanks, Antony!  I'm going to be spending most of this weekend at an event with my wife, so I'm not sure how much work I'll get to do on the ship.  I'll update the log as soon as I get something meaningful done.  My sheetwood ships on Monday, so I should get it on Wednesday or Thursday.  I also ordered an electric plank bender to make the planking process go a little more smoothly.  

[daveward]

Well, even though this has been a busy weekend, I managed to make some more progress on the Lady Nelson!  Last night, I finished tapering the topmast and the bowsprit.  I started with a 4 mm dowel for the topmast, carefully tapering down the first section below the flare, as before:

 

 

 

After tapering the first side, I decided that this dowel was too thin to clamp and shave, so I did the rest of the tapering by hand with an X-Acto.  Eventually I got the right shape.  Next, it was time to cut the dowel down to length a bit:

 

 

Here's the topmast, about halfway through the process:

 

 

And here it is after carving out the flare and sanding it smooth:

 

 

Next came the extremely tense moment when I used my pin vise to drill the tiny hole in the topmast for the rigging:

 

 

Luckily, everything went well, and this was the result:

 

 

Next, I cut a small disc from a piece of the 6 mm dowel that I would use for the bowsprit:

 

 

I attached this piece to the tip of the topmast using Titebond III:

 

 

Finally, I glued the caps to the main mast, and attached the top mast, making sure each component was flush and true:

 

 

Here is the entire assembly, ready to go:

 

 

[daveward]

Next, it was time to taper down the bowsprit.  First, I defined the section before the flare:

 

 

The flare for the bowsprit is different from the others, as the base of the flare is actually narrower than the portion of the bowsprit that comes before it.  Soon after I began, I noticed that my whittling blade for my X-Acto was getting a bit dull, so I spun this dowel in my drill, tapering it with a coars grit sandpaper until I had the right shape.  I finished up with some fine sandpaper to give it a smooth finish.  Here is the result:

 

 

I like to check the shape of the finished dowels with the plans.  It was a perfect match:

 

 

Next, I had to drill what the plans described as a "2 mm hole" near the base of the bowsprit.  The bowsprit bitts have a crossmember that is made of a piece of square 2 mm x 2 mm dowel.  This dowel is meant to pass through the hole in the bowsprit, as a means of holding it onto the ship.  Unfortunately, I only had a 1 mm drill bit, so I used that in my pin vise:

 

 

Next, I use a needle file to enlarge the hole until it was large enough to just barely accomodate the dowel (this took almost an hour, but it turned out great):

 

 

 

Here is the completed bowsprit:

 

 

Finally, just for fun, I took a few pictures to show how the ship will look when I finally attach these pieces:

 

 

 

Today, I took some more measurements of the hull and marked the points on the bulkheads that would form my planking bands.  Using a piece of masking tape that I cut down to a narrow width with my X-Acto, I marked out the bands (I had to adjust the top band to make it a little narrower at the bow so that the lines looked a little more natural).  Here's what I came up with:

 

 

 

 

 

So, what do you guys think of the lines?  I'm going to mark the locations of the tweaked bands and apply them to the other side, adjusting them until they are symmetrical.  

 

Thus far, I have spent about 36 hours on this build.  I should be able to get the rest of the yards tapered down before my planking wood arrives.  I'll let you know how everything turns out!

 

On a very positive note, I had the pleasure of meeting up with another forum member (Bill Hime) this evening.  He sent me a message a few days ago, and it turns out that we live only about 20 minutes away from each other!  We are both very excited at the prospect of being able to enjoy this hobby together, in person, and I highly recommend that other members make an effort to meet fellow hobbyists in their area.  We are already making plans to get together next weekend to toss around some ideas for our builds, and we've even discussed sharing tools and perhaps each working on the same model side-by-side so that we can help each other out and learn together.  It should be a lot of fun!     

[Bill Hime]

Dave, your mast looks great. We really enjoyed meeting you and your wife today. Looking forward to working together for sure

 

 

Bill

[Elijah]

The lines look good to me! I have learned that a modeler most valuable tool is a good club. Have fun!

[daveward]

I appreciate the kind words, guys!

 

I am really pleased with the progress on the Lady Nelson thus far.  I think I've made good use of my time while I wait for my sheetwood to arrive so that I can begin planking.  Last night, I completed the gaff boom and the middle yard.  I started with the gaff boom.  I began by tapering the end of the dowel that fits into the walnut jaws on the mast end (in retrospect, I probably should have started on the more gradually tapered end in order to avoid damaging the finely pointed jaw-side end, but everything turned out fine this time).  I performed this process completely by hand, using a #10 X-Acto blade:

 

 

The process consisted of me shaving away wood gradually, sanding, and test-fitting:

 

 

 

And finally, it fit right into place:

 

 

After I got the right fit, I glued the pieces together with Titebond III, making sure the jaws were properly centered along the length of the boom:

 

 

 

When this was done, I tapered the other end of the boom by hand (in the future, I will shape this end first, using the drill method; if the jaw-side is tapered first, the dowel does not want to sit in the drill chuck properly, and you run the risk of damaging something).  Next, it was time to add the small bits/protrusions that keep the rigging in place.  These were made from a 1 mm x 2 mm walnut strip:

 

 

After carefully marking the positions of the bits, I glued them in place, wiping away any excess wood glue with a toothpick (this can be a little difficult, as the bits do not stay in place very well; since the surface of the dowel is rounded, it is easy for the bits to tilt to one side or the other, so I had to pay close attention):

 

 

 

Here is the completed gaff boom:

 

 

[daveward]

For the middle yard, I used my drill and sandpaper to taper one end, then completed the tapering on the other end by hand until it was symmetrical:

 

 

Next, I cut the bits for the middle yard (there were a total of 6, although only the two slightly longer center bits are pictured here):

 

 

I applied Titebond III to the underside of the bits and positioned them with my tweezers, as before:

 

 

Here are the center bits, glued in place:

 

 

I finished the job by gluing the other bits along the length of the dowel on both ends:

 

 

Here is the completed middle yard:

 

 

When I was done, I cut out the walnut ring that sits at the base of the main mast, sanding it down until I was able to fit the mast through it (I will have to remember to slide this up onto the mast before I glue the mast in place, so that I can lower it down to the deck afterwards).

 

So, that is my latest progress report, after a total of 40 hours spent on this build.  I'm really happy that I'm getting these masts and yards done now so that I'll be ready to jump right into rigging when the body of the ship is complete.  My sheetwood is scheduled for delivery tomorrow, so I'm going to do my best to finish up the remaining gaff, the upper yard, and lower yard tonight (without rushing, of course).  The middle and lower yard have a maximum diameter of 4 mm, but the upper yard is only 3 mm wide.  The material supplied for the upper yard is not walnut (it appears to be birch).  Unfortunately, this thin dowel appears to have warped.  Luckily, the last 4 mm walnut dowel that I'm using for the driver gaff will provide just enough material for me to use for the top yard.  I will simply sand the dowel down to 3 mm at its widest point.  

 

So, let me know what you guys think!  I'm curious as to how these masts should be finished...  I was thinking of applying some stain or tung oil to darken them up, then perhaps a coat of Minwax Wipe-On Poly before painting them with black acrylic paint (the yards and booms will be completely painted, while the main mast will only be painted from the lowest flare upward).  Does that sound like a good course of action?     

Edited April 13, 2016 by daveward

[daveward]

I am pleased to report that I completed the driver gaff, upper yard, and lower yard last night!  I started with the driver gaff, as that one seemed like it would be the trickiest.  This time, I tapered the aft end first, using my drill.  When that was done, I started to taper the jaw-side by hand.  The result was an excellent fit:

 

 

Here's what it looked like when I was done gluing the jaws in place:

 

 

Next, I glued the bits that hold the rigging in place.  Interestingly, the plans do not show 2 sets of bits for the driver gaff.  Although the plans show a block rigged to the end of this gaff, there seems to be nothing to hold this block (and the rigging that attaches to the gaff itself) in place.  In these photos of the plans, you can see where the bits are depicted further up the length of the gaff, but not shown in the areas circled in red:

 

 

 

After studying some reference pictures that seemed to show a second set of bits at this location, I made the decision to add the bits.  This will help keep things more secure, as this gaff will sit at an angle, and I don't want the rigging to slide down the gaff.  The driver gaff differs from the gaff boom that I made earlier in that it has an eyelet attached to it for rigging.  Using my smallest drill bit, I carefully drilled this tiny hole in the jaws of the driver gaff:

 

 

Here is a photo of the jaws with the eyelet inserted:

 

 

After this gaff is painted, I will cut the end of the eyelet's pin down and bend it under the jaws, applying a small drop of CA glue to hold it in place.  Here is the completed driver gaff (the pin has been removed, as it will not be inserted and fixed in place until after the gaff has been painted):

 

 

Next, I began work on the upper yard.  This is the warped dowel that was supplied with the kit for this piece:

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, I was fortunate enough to have extra material left over from the walnut dowels I was using for the rest of the yards, so I decided to fashion the upper yard out of that instead.  After some careful sanding with the 4 mm dowel in the drill chuck, I was able to narrow it down to an overall diameter of 3 mm.  Then, I used a combination of shaping with a rough sanding stick and scraping with my X-Acto blade to taper the ends of the dowel, finally smoothing everything out with a piece of 400 grit sandpaper.  I was surprised to see how easily and quickly I could taper the ends of these dowels with this method, and I will likely use it on yards in the future.  Here is a photo of the upper yard, with the bits glued in place:

 

 

I repeated the process for the lower yard.  Here it is, after tapering:

 

 

And this is what it looked like after the bits were glued in place:

 

 

Finally, here are some photos of all the masts and yards together:

 

 

 

 

 

I am extremely happy with how everything turned out!  It required a lot of time and effort, but I think the finished products look great.  I had been nervous about shaping these dowels from the moment I received the kit, so having them done is a huge relief for me.  Now I'll be ready to start rigging as soon as I get the hull and deck finished.  I do not have any finishing/painting supplies, so I'm going to hold off on finishing the masts and yards for now.  

 

While I have enjoyed the sense of satisfaction that I've gotten from tapering these masts by hand, I think it would be far easier to use a miniature lathe for this process.  For future builds, I might invest in a Proxxon DB 250 (if the Admiral approves)!  

 

My sheetwood will be arriving today, so I'll be sure to update the log with a few pictures.  I can't wait to start spiling and planking!

 

So, that's where I am after a total of 45 hours of work on this project thus far.  Let me know what you think of my progress, guys!  

[daveward]

I finally got my sheetwood in yesterday, and I am very pleased with the quality of the timber!  It was extremely difficult to find a domestic source for sheetwood in metric thicknesses, but luckily I found Crown Timberyard, owned and operated by our fellow forum member, Jason.  He was extremely helpful throughout the entire purchasing process, and was always in constant communication with me until the order had shipped.  I purchased a number of 3-inch sheets of 1 mm thick German lime and walnut from him, and he went above and beyond to make sure I got wood of the highest quality.  In fact, after milling some sheets of walnut for me, he wasn't happy with the grain, thinking that it might not be adequate for planking, so he started over and milled new sheets for me!  The wood was well-protected during shipping:

 

 

And everything was professionally packaged:

 

 

Here are the sheets of German lime:

 

 

 

And here are the sheets of walnut:

 

 

 

Jason was even kind enough to send me some samples of Castello boxwood, Swiss pear, and basswood (not pictured):

 

 

So, if you're looking for quality timber for your project, I highy recommend Jason at Crown Timberyard!

 

 

Now that I have material to work with, it's time to start making my final preparations for planking!  Stay tuned!

Edited April 14, 2016 by daveward

[AntonyUK]

Hi Dave.

You are making a excellent job of this ship. I thought it was your first wooden ship... Your skill's are so very good for your first wooden build.

I wish there was a Crown Timberyard need me.

Hint... Jason sends it in bags so it can be sealed from moisture. Keep it in the bags until needed.

 

Regards Antony.

[Bill Hime]

Wow Dave, everything looks great to this point! Your attention to detail and execution are that of an seasoned shipwright. And nice bump for one of our members, Jason at Crown Timberyard.

Look forward to our next session! And Antony just gave me an idea; building a humidor to store ship lumber and even the hull during construction

 

Bill

[daveward]

Antony and Bill, I deeply appreciate your compliments!  I can assure you that this is, in fact, my first wooden ship model!  Whenever I undertake any new project (not simply models), I do my best to do the proper research beforehand, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to produce results that are as close to perfect as I can manage.  While I am pleased with my work thus far, there are several aspects of this build that I know I could have done better, and they loom in the back of my mind (for instance, I think about that broken scarf joint between the stem and keel piece every single day).  I'm sure that is common for most modelers, and I hope to improve my skills with each and every build!  The support, encouragement, and advice from the members of this forum have been an absolute joy to me during this build, and I thank you all!  Now, let's get on with the latest update!

 

Before I started planking, I needed to get my hull completely lined off into planking bands.  Picking up where I left off, I copied the measurements of the bands I had made on the port side of the hull and marked them on the starboard side.  Then, I applied my thin tape and adjusted the lines until they looked "right" and were symmetrical with the other side:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I made some new tick strips, labeling them on one side with "P" for port and "S" for starboard on the other side.  This allows me to use the same tick strip for both sides of each bulkhead.  

 

 

I carefully marked the location of each piece of tape on my tick strips (in this photo, the top of the tape indicates the edge of the plank in the second band, so I measured the size of the first band starting from the bottom of the bulwark to the top of the tape):

 

 

Next, I compared my tick strip to the planking fan, finding the point at which 4 planks would fill the band, and marking the spacing of each plank on the strip:

 

 

Finally, I transferred the plank spacing marks to my bulkheads and then removed the tape.

[daveward]

At this point, I decided to take a practice run at spiling a plank.  I do not have any pictures of this process, but it doesn't really matter, as the results were less than adequate!    Using some painter's tape, I attempted to lay the tap flat along the bulwark, making sure it did not bend or buckle (I soon found out that this is the wrong method of laying the tape, and leads to an improper curvature in the resulting spiled plank).  I traced the bottom edge of the bulwark using the side of my pencil lead, also marking the positions of each bulkhead on the tape.  Then, I laid the tape on my sheetwood and used my tick strip to mark the plank spacing at each bulkhead onto the tape.  Using my ship's curve, I drew a line that connected all the plank spacing marks.  Next, I cut the plank out and gave it a test fit.  The curvature was not correct at the bow, so the bottom edge of the plank flared out away from the bulkheads.  This would have given me a clinker effect, so I tossed the plank and made a few more attempts, none of which were particularly successful or up to my standards.  

 

There were a few things I learned during this process.  The first was that I was laying the tape down incorrectly.  By laying the tape against the bulwark (which is vertical), I was essentially transferring a curve that would result in a plank that would lie vertically (i.e., the bottom edge of the plank would not sit flat against the bulkhead, which curves inward -- the classic clinker effect).  The proper way to do this is to lay the tape at the same angle at which the spiled plank will lie (i.e., lay it on the bulkheads).  This gives a curvature that will allow the plank to remain flush with the curves of the bulkheads while following the edge of the previous plank (in this case, the bulwark).  The next thing I learned was that my model's design creates a very poor surface upon which to lay my tape (thanks to Chuck for giving me some insight/advice on this one).  I found that when I tried to lay my tape along the bulkheads, which drastically change angles as you move to the fore end (going from a U-shape to a V-shape, when looking at the bow from the front), the tape would buckle and bend in odd ways.  This has to do with the fact that the hull is more spherical than cylindrical, and wide tape does not sit properly on a spherical surface.  The other thing that made it hard was the spacing between my bulkheads.  With nothing in between the bulkheads, the tape does not lie in such a way as to replicate the shape of the spiled plank hugging the curves.  These two issues combine to make it very difficult to lay the tape well enough to get a consistent curvature, which leads to inaccuracies in the spiled plank.  

 

It was clear that in order to keep my spiling process from becoming a nightmare, I would have to make some filler blocks to sit between the bulkheads at the bow and stern (or possibly the entire length of the ship).  I did not want to have to make these out of basswood, as I've found from my previous experience with basswood that it is rather difficult to shape with only my files/sanding sticks.  So, I went out and bought some 3/32" sheets of balsa, which I knew would be easy to shape.  The first thing I did was use my calipers to measure the distance between the bulkheads (I decided to begin in the third space from the stem):

 

 

Next, I transferred this measurement to the balsa sheet, and cut out the proper width using my steel ruler and X-Acto:

 

 

I made sure that it fit properly:

 

 

Then, with the piece of balsa flush against the bottom of the bulwark, I bent a spare plank around the bulkheads and traced the curvature of the outer edge of the plank:

 

 

I cut the piece a little longer than this mark, and performed a test fitting, making sure the piece stuck out further than the bulkheads.  I continued this process, creating more and more of these balsa "wafers" and stacking them in the space between the bulkheads:

 

 

 

 

When this was done, I took my "wafers" (which I had numbered), and glued them together, one by one, with CA glue.  When the pieces had been bonded, I took my sanding stick and started shaping the block by hand, carefully following the curvature from one bulkhead to the other.  Here is a photo of the block, roughly sanded:

 

 

I continued this process for the next bulkhead spaces (in this photo, you can see the dots I used to number the "wafers"):

 

 

Here's another shot of the bow blocks about halfway through the sanding process (you can see a few ridges in the block in the third space, where two of my wafers were not quite long enough;  this is fine, as the plank is much wider than these ridges, and will still lie flat against this area because of the surrounding filler material):

 

 

The process was:  sand, check, and repeat.  When I was done, the blocks looked like this:

 

 

 

 

Everything looked and felt smooth, so I was pleased with the results.

[daveward]

I decided to make another attempt at spiling a plank in order to see if I could get better results with my new filler blocks.  I was quite pleased with how everything turned out!  I used two different spiling methods, to see which I preferred...  The first method was with my painter's tape, and the second was using a compass to trace the curvature of the bottom edge of the bulwark onto an index card laid across the bulkheads (I'll be showing this method, although both worked for me).  One thing I learned was to always transfer the traced curvature to an index card and cut it out for test fitting so that I wouldn't waste any of my precious sheetwood.  In this photo, you can see the index card with the traced curve cut out:

 

 

This photo shows the curve transferred to my sheetwood, with the curvature of the other edge also marked, according to the plank spacing at each bulkhead:

 

 

This was just a rough practice run, so I simply cut the plank out along these lines without allowing any extra clearance.  I wanted to give my spiling technique the ultimate test, to see how closely the plank would fit based solely on my tracing, without any additional tweaking.

 

 

 

I didn't even bother sanding/filing the edges, and soaked the spiled plank immediately in hot water for a few minutes (I found that the lime softens very quickly after only a short time in hot water).  I am awating the arrival of a plank bender, but since I don't have it yet, I simply bent the plank around the bulkheads and held it in place for a few minutes.  It came out looking like this:

 

 

In this photo, you can see how well the spiled and bent plank hugs the curvature of the hull:

 

 

You can also see how the bottom edge of the plank no longer creates the clinker effect, sitting flat against filler blocks:

 

 

Finally, here's a photo of me holding the plank in position (pretty nice fit for a rough-cut practice plank, right?):

 

 

I have only created one bow block thus far, but I'm quite pleased with how things are looking at this point.  I know that the stern blocks will be tougher to shape, but I'll give it my best effort.  Anyway, this is the result of approximately 50 hours of work, in total.  Let me know what you think!

 

One of the things I'd like to do is use scale plank lengths.  They are more historically accurate, and they will make spiling easier because curves tend to become less accurate as the length of the spiled plank increases.  However, I'm a little lost as to how to set up the staggering for the butt joints.  I've seen butt joint guides for deck planking, but I'm not sure how easily that would translate into hull work.  Any suggestions, guys?  

Edited April 15, 2016 by daveward

[slow2cool]

WOW Dave

After looking over your build log, I have to take my hat off to you.

To begin with this being your first build and the job you are doing is just amazing.

Next thing is, it is one thing to do this kind of stuff and have power tools to do the job.

It looks like you are doing this with hand tools sandpaper and determination.

So to do all this and obtain the results you have, makes you a true and skilled shipwright.

Joe

[daveward]

Thank you so much, Joe!  You're too kind!  It's really great to have a place like this where I can discuss the hobby with such friendly people.  I wouldn't call myself a skilled shipwright just yet, but I'm doing my best!  I'm glad you're enjoying the build log.  Writing it up and adding all the pictures is almost as time-consuming as building the ship itself!  

Edited April 16, 2016 by daveward

[AntonyUK]

Hi Dave.

Whenever I undertake any new project (not simply models), I do my best to do the proper research beforehand, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to produce results that are as close to perfect as I can manage.  While I am pleased with my work thus far, there are several aspects of this build that I know I could have done better, and they loom in the back of my mind (for instance, I think about that broken scarf joint between the stem and keel piece every single day).  I'm sure that is common for most modelers, and I hope to improve my skills with each and every build

That says it all. And that a real drive to Acheave a better standard. Which explains your excellent work and results.

 

Now back to the model in hand..

That's one excellent method of learning the planking method. The wood shows a much better curve than the tape you were using.

And the infill blocks will help no end.

Nice photo's by the way.

 

Regards Antony.

[daveward]

Well, I don't have any updates for today, as I spent the whole weekend engrossed in a video game (Naval Action).  If you play computer games and haven't heard of this one, check it out!  It's all about trade and naval combat in the age of historic sailing ships.  You start as a Midshipman on a cutter and work your way up through the ranks, taking command of larger vessels of your choice, such as privateers, brigs, frigates, and ships-of-the-line.  You can battle pirates or ships from other factions, or board and capture trading vessels carrying contraband goods.  The game is still in its developmental stage, but it's looking great so far.  I am a First Lieutenant on a U.S. light frigate at this point.  You can even build your own ships!  I was particularly interested because the cutter that you start with looks almost exactly like the Lady Nelson -- it's almost like they based the game's cutter on the wooden model that I'm building!  If any of you happen to play this game, let me know!  It would be fun to team up with people from this forum!  

 

Anyway, even though I had a lot of fun with the game, I am eager to get back to working on the model.  I'm a little nervous about taking on the filler blocks for the stern, as I know that they will require some tricky angles.  I was confident enough to glue the bow block in before trimming it to its final shape, but I think I will leave the stern block unglued until the very end, in case I make a mistake.  I hope to have the rest of the filler blocks trimmed and in place in the next few days.  I will be sure to update the log with more pictures and progress reports as I continue through the process.  Thanks again for the kind words and support, everyone!

Edited April 18, 2016 by daveward

[GuntherMT]

Really like your approach to the filler blocks, I've never seen that before, but it clearly works quite well.  I'd probably use wood glue though, just because I don't like CA very much.

 

As far as Naval Action...  I am purposely avoiding that, as I'm sure it would suck me in and completely eliminate all my free time for the foreseeable future.  

[AntonyUK]

Hi Dave.

One of the game designers was asking questions on this forum regarding ship design if I an not mistaken.

Do you have a in game name?.

I already play Archeage. RPG game.

 

Regards Antony.

[daveward]

Antony, I play on the first U.S. PVE server under the name David Ward.  You should start playing!  It's very fun!

 

As for my build, I have finished one of the stern filler blocks.  I'll post some photos tomorrow.  I am really becoming concerned over how the planking will look at the sternpost and keel.  Since these pieces are so thin and there was no real way to create a rabbet joint, I don't know how the planks are supposed to be flush with them.  One layer of planking is already thicker than the sternpost and keel piece...  There's only so much sanding I could do before the planks would just break because they'd be too thin.  I'm not sure what the kit designer expects the builder to do, as the planks are flush in the plans...  Something doesn't add up here.  What do you guys think?

Edited April 19, 2016 by daveward

[Elijah]

Your planking is looking good! I hope to use that method on my ship, but I won't need to add filler blocks, as she is a solid hull. As far as your question, I don't know. As for Naval Action, I have looked at it, and it looks to be of great quality. I do think that if I got it it would absorbe a lot of my time, but I'm still not sure.

[daveward]

Thanks, Elijah!  I recommend giving Naval Action a shot.  I really enjoy it!

 

I spent last night making the stern filler blocks for the starboard side of the ship.  This was pretty tough, as there is not a lot of space to get in and do the required sanding.  However, I think it came out alright.

 

I began by using a needle file to adjust the bevel on the kit's "filler block," which was a bit to steep:

 

 

Once that was done, I used the same technique of fitting balsa wafers in the space between the bulkheads and sanding them down:

 

 

The first filler block came out looking pretty good (it was difficult to get all the angles smooth, though):

 

 

 

I skipped the next section (for no particular reason -- I just felt like it), and began work on the next block:

 

 

Here's what it looked like when it was done:

 

 

 

 

Finally, I filled in the remaining space:

 

 

After sanding the final block down, I used some 400 grit sandpaper to finish things up and try to get them to "flow" into each other.  These are the results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, I think the blocks look pretty good.  It was much more difficult to create these blocks, as it's hard to get a feel for what angles they should have.  With the bow blocks, it was just a matter of bending a spare plank around the bulkheads and seeing how it sat on the blocks.  In the stern, however, it's almost like I have to have a spiled plank in order for it to lie properly so that I can check it.  Since I can't spile the planks well enough without the filler blocks, it's a bit of a catch-22.  From what I can tell, planks seem to sit fairly well on these stern blocks.  There are a couple of uneven spots here and there, but I think the planks will still look good once they are glued in place, and I'll be added filler to any uneven spots anyway.  

 

I'm still really worried about the sternpost and keel areas once the planking is complete.  I just don't think this kit was designed for the planks to be flush with these pieces.  I am giving some serious thought to doing some careful tracing and measuring in order to cut some facades or veneers for the sternpost, keel piece, and stem out of my walnut sheets.  If I could attach these to the port and starboard sides of these pieces, it would thicken them up enough so that they create their own false rabbet joint, hiding the edges of the planks.  It's just an idea, but it could work (in theory).

 

I'm still trying to figure out how to space the butt joints for the planks on this ship.  If you guys have any thoughts on this matter, please let me know!  

 

Anyway, that's my progress for now, with a total of 55 hours of work done on this build thus far.  Now comes the hard part of replicating what I've done on the starboard side for the port side!  Feel free to tell me what you think!

[GuntherMT]

Make sure that before you actually lay any planks, that you fair everything using test planks so that the planks lay flat against the entire width of the bulkheads.  It looks like most of your filler blocks will need to be sanded down further in order for the planks to lay against the bulkheads instead of being held off of them by the fillers.

 

As far as spacing on the planks, is this a double planked kit?  If so, just get the first planking on to give yourself a smooth hull form, and don't worry about the spacing.  For the second layer, pick a scale 'length' and go with that, don't worry about where they end, since the bulkheads don't actually correspond to where the frames would have been.  In theory there were planks in line with at least one edge of the gunports, so a plank shouldn't end in middle of a gunport, but that's probably not something very many people would notice.

 

As far as how to arrange the planks, I know you've read through the tutorials, so you should know how the offsets work, you just need to decide how many planks are in your shift pattern (3, 4, or 5) and then just pick one as your starting point and go with it.

 

On my AVS I wanted the planking pattern to be visible, so I used 16' scale length planks, which is pretty short.  Most people go with 20-28' scale length I think.

[Bill Hime]

Very nice work Dave! I think the fillers will definitely improve the planking process. Hope to see her this weekend, maybe Sunday

 

 

Bill 

[daveward]

Good advice, Gunther!  I'll do a little more sanding on the filler blocks once I get all of them made.  Some parts of them will serve as the bonding surface for the planks, as a few of my bulkhead angles were more extreme than the angles that the planks will take.  

 

Bill, I look forward to meeting up with you again!  Hopefully I'll make some more progress on the fillers before then!

 

In other news, the electric plank bender that I ordered from Model Expo was supposed to arrive a few days ago.  I received the package, but to my surprise, there was a waterline marker inside instead of the plank bender!  I realize that mistakes happen, so I made a call to Model Expo, and I was told that the bender would be shipped out tomorrow.  The man I spoke to apologized for the inconvenience, and told me to keep the waterline marker, so it looks like I'll have a nice clean waterline when the time comes!  

 

I haven't made any further progress on the Lady Nelson yet.  The only thing standing between me and planking is getting the last two filler blocks made, but since I'll be waiting for the plank bender to arrive, I have some time.  I'm not particularly looking forward to it, as I'm pretty sure that it's going to be slightly more difficult since I'll have to ensure that the port side is symmetrical with the starboard side.  However, I'll try to be careful and make my way through it as best I can.  I think I'm going to use scale lengths for the first layer of planking, as it will help me practice for the second layer, and it will make the planks easier to cut and shape, since I won't have to try to get a perfect curve along the entire length of a long plank.  I have found that any slight change in angle early on can get out of hand as you get further along the length of the plank...  I am convinced that planking will be the hardest part of this build!  Nevertheless, I will get it done, and hopefully the results will be aesthetically pleasing.  

 

As always, I will keep you guys updated on my progress as I move along.  Stay tuned!     

Edited April 21, 2016 by daveward

[Seventynet]

... In theory there were planks in line with at least one edge of the gunports, so a plank shouldn't end in middle of a gunport, but that's probably not something very many people would notice.

 

Dave sorry for hijacking your log for a moment but Brian has said something that I would like more information on. Brian this is something I have wondered about and even though I tried to carry through the 4 butt shift planking pattern from the hull when I got to my gunports on my Victory I didn't do this perfectly so I was always left wondering what the norm is. You seem to be saying that the pattern isn't repeated once you get in amongst the gunports - but I am not positive I am interpreting your advice accurately. Can you explain a little more?

 

Dave I will delete this post once Brian weighs in if you want me to. By the way, wonderful work you are doing.

 

Thanks, Ian

[GuntherMT]

Ian,

 

That's not what I meant.  What I mean was, if you look at almost any model (or actual plans) that shows the frames, there will typically be (at least on the one's I've paid attention to) a frame along at least one edge of the gun port.  Since the planking on an actual ship would land on the frames, that would indicate that usually a plank would not end in the 'middle' of the gun port alignment.

 

I'm sure that this is not a hard rule, as there were so many different ships made, but it's something that I've seen mentioned on planking in a few places (not that I could find any of them to reference).

[Seventynet]

Thanks a lot Brian. Sorry to misinterpret your note. As you can appreciate when you are using defined lengths for your planking pattern things get tricky around gunports where the plank wants to end say 1mm before the edge of a gunport or things get wasteful when a plank crosses the majority of a gunport opening. Just looking for some wisdom that magically eliminates the problem - like ignoring the pattern.

 

Best, Ian