Benjamin W Latham by mattsayers148 - Model Shipways 2109 - 1:48

[mtaylor]

This is going to look great, Matt.  Excellent wood choices and I admire the planking skill.

[mattsayers148]

Thanks Don, Mark and everyone for the likes.

 

Finished up with the planking below the waterline. Filled the cracks and gave it a light sanding, then a coat of wax for protection. The final finishing will be done later on.

 

[Canute]

Nicely done, Matt. I really like your work with the cherry. That's a great looking hull; great lines.

[dgbot]

Nice job of plankng.  A natural finnish will really show it off.  But I am partial to painting myself.  As I did on my model.

 

The model is a littlee rough at the moment because of neglect and my model being tossed into a box, but you can see the paint scheme I use for the the hull.

I will be very happy when I can get back to it and clean it up and repair the rough handling it has.

I have seen these models colored in wood and painted.  But the choice will be up to and what you are comfortable with

 

David B

Edited June 3, 2016 by dgbot

[Cathead]

I love the raw wood. That cherry almost looks like copper. Beautifully done.

[mattsayers148]

Thanks Ken, David, CH and everyone for the likes.

 

That's what I was thinking CH. My info said the Latham was painted copper below the waterline.

[Salty Sea Dog]

That's looking great!! So what direction are you thinking of going **French polish** with the finish on the hull? As smooth and as beautifully planked **French polish** as you have the hull, you might consider something like a French polish to really add depth and make that cherry pop!

[Mirabell61]

Beautiful build Matt

 

the planking job looks very nice...

 

Nils

[mattsayers148]

Thanks Buck, Nils and for all the likes.

 

I finished up with the planking above the waterline as well as the planksheer on the fore and aft decks. Now comes the process of planking the decks. I took a bit of time also on getting the transom fine tuned a little better, it looked a little wonky.

 

[Cathead]

That is gorgeous.

[src]

Wow,

how was it working with that poplar? All that squirrely grain on curves looks daunting.

Sam

[mtaylor]

Wow... love the planking.

[mattsayers148]

Thanks CH, Sam, Mark and for all the likes.

 

Sam, the poplar is pretty decent to work with. It helps that this boat has fairly smooth lines. Also cutting the planks to scale helped quite a bit.

[mattsayers148]

Thanks again to everyone for the likes.

 

The deck planking is mostly complete. For this fishing schooner there were the semicircles painted onto the decks. So I did the division with the two woods.

 

 

The fore deck lays straight while the aft deck follows the curve of the ship. Scaled out, the deck planks are at 3 inches by about 20 feet. There are also going to be thickened areas around the masts and bowsprit, which will be added a little later on.

 

 

Buck, I love the look of the French polish but am unsure if I have the skills to pull it off. I am considering it though.

 

My plan is to add treenails, which leaves me at a crossroad. Pattern 1 will be used on the decks, but I'm unsure what is the best pattern to use on the hull. The hull planks scale to 9 inches at the widest points. 1 & 2 work out to around 5000 treenails, while number 3 will double that figure. I'm in the process of making them out of bamboo so I have a little while to get that figured out. What does everyone think? I also scaled them to a one inch treenail(.02 inch/,53mm) which I'm also in question over. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[CaptainSteve]

That's some funky deck-planking there, Matt !! I really love the contrast between the wood grains.

Awesome job !!

 

PS: Reckon I'd choose Pattern#2 for the tre-nailing ... if only coz it would save you a ton of work.

[mtaylor]

Tough call on the treenails/planking, Matt.   I would say #2 as #3 will probably look a bit busy.  Maybe test it on some scrap first and see what you like.

 

I love the wood colors and that deck just pops right out at you.

[Salty Sea Dog]

Matt, you have mad skills in so many areas that French polishing would be easy for you. The smooth shape of this hull would also lend itself to it. BTW, nice deck planking! Keep up the great work!

[src]

Matt, that is some great joinery you have there, I am jealous!!! I didnt do that! Lol

As far as tree nails, I agree with the others, #2. Number 1 may end up looking like a sheet of graph paper, #3 has the potential to get really busy.

Just my two cents.

Sam

[cobra1951]

Fantastic job of planking on both the hull and decking and a great choice of wood colours

[mattsayers148]

Thanks CaptainSteve, Mark, Buck, Sam, Bob and everyone for the likes and words of encouragement.

 

Here's a small mock up of the treenail patterns. The left side is #2 with bamboo plugs and the right is #3 that I just punched the holes with a ,5mm lead pencil. More time will be spent on the final product to get the holes evenly spaced. I'm liking #2 as several of you thought so as well. But #3 doesn't look to bad either. Any thoughts?

 

[Elijah]

I like #2 better. How did you get the bamboo to blend in wth the wood? Also, where do you get the bamboo plugs? I'm just wondering for future reference. I think the one on the right still looks good.

[Cathead]

I think #3 looks too busy. Whether or not it's accurate, it looks busy and distracts a bit from the model. I think it's important for models to appear right, and I think #2 captures the impression of treenailing without running on stage and grabbing the mic.

[mattsayers148]

Elijah, I use the raw plant, cut and dried. Since it can grow like weeds, I look on Craigslist and search for 'free bamboo'. I use bamboo for different projects so I have a decent stash built up. I just cut and split into manageable pieces then run through a draw plate. Once they're sanded down, I wax them.

 

CH, thanks for your insight. The planks scale to 9 inches and I believe under 8 would be number two, 8-11inces would be number three. As you said the 'correct' way is a bit busy.

[Canute]

They sell bamboo skewers for cooking. Check for them in cooking supply places. We have a bag of 100 or so. You'd have to split them and then run them thru a draw plate to get to your desired diameter.

[Stubby]

I have bamboo all over my yard.... I'll have to experiment with it.

 

Stubby

[mattsayers148]

Stubby, when you cut, do it close to the node(leaving it). It'll help prevent it from splitting while it dries. Leaving them in a window sill exposed to the sun works well.

[mattsayers148]

Thanks again to everyone for your encouragement and likes.

 

So goes the treenails. I went with the popular consensus of the #2 pattern and so far looking good. After doing the small mockup I saw how easy it was to mess up on hole placement. I ended up drawing a grid on the hull and marking every single hole. I did each section, port and starboard, at the same time so everything would be symmetrical.

 

 

After I glued in a few hundred, then I'd clip off the extra length and move on to the next section. Once that phase was completed I followed up with a very sharp chisel, cutting the treenails flush with the planks. Then a light sand and follow up with a little wax. Now I move up to the deck.

 

[Cathead]

Very nice indeed. I like how subtle they are; the pattern blends into the hull without dominating it. And that first photo of USS Porcupine gave me a chuckle.

 

I'm curious: there are a few stretches where there are none, why is that? For example, in your last photo, upper middle, right along the waterline there aren't any on either side of the line, and in the photo above that there aren't any along the waterline in a stretch at upper right.

[mtaylor]

Nice work on the treenails, Matt.   Not obvious but definitely there.   

[Canute]

Treenails look great; very subtle.