Royal William by ken3335 - FINISHED - Euromodel - Scale 1:72

[Sjors]

Thank you Keith and Ken,

 

I was looking at my I pad and now I'm on the BIG pc and I can see what you mean.

Thank you both !

And thanks Ken,I not a stranger here on the forum ( I think  ) 

 

Sjors

[ken3335]

Hello,  The latest marathon building session has resulted in the first phase being successfully completed, the framework of the hull.

 

The second gun deck was fitted and glued, again no problems were encountered. I cut to size the dummy gun carriages and fitted them as I had previously done. I said that I wasn't going to get involved with detailing too much but just in case I decided to do a bit I cut out the opening for the ships staircase which I might tackle, I then fitted and glued the main deck.  It was then that I noticed a slight error. When I fitted the bulkheads I mentioned that the second one was too high to form an even base for the forecastle deck so I lowered it by 2mm, with the main deck in place I saw that it had been the first bulkhead that was too low not the second being too high. Looking at the plans I now see that there is a marked sweep upwards at the front which I hadn't taken into account,  I'm really glad that I noticed it in time. I've now added strips to bring these beams to their correct position, the front needed raising by 4mm. I really must learn how to look and properly interpret the plans. I gave the whole structure a final sanding to shape and unless you think that I've forgotten anything I'm now ready for the first planking.

 

I am now looking at the size of this model and realize just how big a task the planking is going to be. I've put a picture of my last build, "Fly" against the Royal William as a comparison, I hope the planking will be like that only a bit more of it.

 

Ken

 

 

 

[ken3335]

Hi All,   The build has been progressing nicely.

 

I added a false bulkhead in front of the foremost one. The planking doesn't terminate at the first bulkhead but goes about 20mm beyond, this new bulkhead is where the planking finishes, it will also provide a surface for the front roundhouses and doors etc to fix to. I can't remember whose log it was but the pitfall around that area was pointed out, I'm glad  I saw that log as I too would have finished the planking short,

so whoever it was, thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ken3335]

The next job was the deck planking. The wood supplied for this was good quality but it was a darkish walnut, I wasn't happy with the colour, it looked very wrong for a deck so I decided to bleach it. I soaked it in household bleach for about three hours, I then rinsed it through and left it overnight to dry during which time it got even lighter.

I used a dry board marker to darken the edges. I find that being a drier medium than felt tip it doesn't  leach into the grain and gives just the right amount of edge to the planks. I used Pete's measurements of 100mm for the plank lengths with a four butt shift at 25mm per shift. I marked out the deck and using white alaphatic resin glue I fixed the planks, the middle ones over the hatches I left full length to get the lines straight and scribed them later. I ran a thin line of glue the full length then put a line of planks down, the white glue makes it easy to slide them into position and allows them to be corrected for a couple of minutes, I then rub a damp cloth over the line which firms them down and at the same time cleans the surface of any glue. I find that with this fast grab white glue they bond very well, they don't warp or lift and after you notice any mistakes that you make you can lift them without damage for up to about 15 minutes .I sanded the planks and rubbed in a light oak stain, I gave them a coat of sealer then sanded again before giving them a coat of poly. 

 

I have tried a few methods for treenailing and I find that for me the one I prefer is to drill out the holes using a .6mm bit then rub in a water based light walnut wood filler, this is quick and easy. As I had already varnished the deck the colour didn't stain the wood and the excess was easily wiped off with a damp cloth. I gave it another light sand and a final coat of varnish, I am very pleased with the result.

 

I made up the main deck gratings and fixed them into place.

 

I can hear you all saying, " Is he going to make the stairs ?"   Initially as they wouldn't be noticed I wasn't going to but as I wouldn't be able to hold my head up if I didn't try I'm going to give them a go, they won't be elaborate but I think that I'll be able to come up with a simple version, watch this space.

 

 

Ken   

 

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[Sjors]

Bleach the wood ........

 

Why not ?

It is lighter and it looks not that bad.

 

Sjors

 

[ken3335]

Hello Again,       You didn't have to wait long for my staircase, it surprised me just how easy it turned out to be once I put my mind to it, so here's my version.

Instead of building it up in sections on the ship I made it on my bench, I cut two identical pieces out of ply, one was for the hand rail the other for the base. I cut several 10mm lengths from 2mm dowel for the stanchions. Using cyno I glued the dowels to the lower piece of ply then I glued the handrail on top, as they were identical the top just dropped into place. I then just cut away the gap in the handrail, sanded and stained, as easy as that, the pics show it better. For the stairs I cut steps from 4mm strip, bevelled the rear edge then glued them onto a strip of ply. Again I stained them and placed them in position, because of the closeness of the steps you can't see the ply. I glued the rails in place then put a hand rail for the stairs and varnished everything. I am very pleased with my simple not too fiddly construction.

 

I have painted the area of the gunports black and am now ready for the first planking.

I'm surprised that I have got to this point in just two weeks, everything has gone smoothly so far, may it continue so.

 

Ken

[ken3335]

[Sjors]

Wow,

 

That staircase is something to remember!

When i start with another build i will try that.

Great job Ken.

 

Sjors

[pirozzi]

Hi Ken, 

That was a great way to build the staircase. I did it the hard way. I wish I would have thought to do it your way. Very nice. 

 

 

Vince  P.  

[Hubac's Historian]

I think the staircase looks amazing, Ken.  Nice and clean and not overly fussy.   Great job!

[piratepete007]

Hi Ken,

Mark alerted me to your build of the Royal William and I am delighted to now follow your progress. Your words are so refreshing to read and I know this is going to be another enjoyable experience for me (as well as for you).  I have read everything you have done right from the start and everything looks as if the build is going to plan but did smile when you said you were going to keep this as a basic build. You could .... but you won't. Unlike other kits, the Euromodel drawings just draw you into thinking about what you are doing and so no two Royal William builds will ever be the same.

 

Good luck and remember the Euromodel helpdesk operates from opposite sides of the world on a 24/7 basis. But also there are a number of other great 'RW' builders out there with plenty of experience and ability. One way or another, help or advice is not far away.

 

Regards,

Pete

[ken3335]

Hello All,      Once again thanks to everyone for the likes and kind comments. Welcome aboard Pete, thanks for joining me and for your encouragement.

 

Well the last few days were two steps forward and one step back. The filler that I'd used to simulate the tree nails when fully dried matched the colour of the deck perfectly, even though I knew it was there it was so subtle I could hardly see it. It  had been fine on the usual Tanganyika decks but not on this bleached wood so I drilled out the filler and I'll get a slightly different but more noticeable shade of filler.    

 

I am now ready for the first planking. I'll show you all the tools that I employ. I use a flask of hot water to let the ends of the planks soak, usually about six at a time, this is probably the reason my tea tastes the way it does. My main bending tool is the Amati bender, I find that this is quick and easy to use on planks and does just about all the bends that I need. Any difficult curves I resort to using the shaft, not the tip of a soldering iron. I like using the Amati pin pusher, again easy to use and a small hammer for finishing some nails off. I use a small David plane, a blade and sander for tapering the planks and I have a home made plank holding vice. I always have a dish of water and cloth on my bench as I like to clean off any excess glue from the surface, I've learnt the hard way about poor varnish results having left traces of glue on the wood.       

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ken3335]

I don't use a holder when I plank, I put an old pillow on my knee to take the shape of the hull and rest it on that. I like to be able to move the hull around so that I can attack it from all angles. I must tell you though that doing it this way with the Royal William is like wrestling with a baby whale.

 

I opened the wood bundle and saw that the quality was again excellent, as good as I could wish for and better than most of what I have had in the past and there appears to a generous amount of it too.

[ken3335]

I put the first plank on as suggested, about 3mm below the finished main deck surface, glued and nailed it. I made sure that everything was well glued to everything else, again I learned the hard way about sprung planks. The curves were quite friendly and it wasn't until the 7th plank that I found it necessary to start tapering. Using Pete's measurements I then marked the line of the upper gun ports 11.7mm above the deck. I knew that this was needed so I had already set my callipers to that height but using the lower deck as the reference as the upper gun deck would now be covered. Later I will take from the plan the centre points of the ports and drill  a 2mm hole where the lines meet. I noticed that when I was working the upper deck frames felt vulnerable so as a precaution I put a couple of stringers across the top. They won't save it from a fall but from being handle too roughly.

 

 

Ken   

[S.Coleman]

Great start. This is a massive undertaking!! You plank in pretty much the same manner that I do. Good job. 

[ken3335]

Hello Again,

 

Pretty rapid and I think successful progress is being made so here's an update.

 

After finishing the initial planking, the upper, I turned my attention to starting from the keel upwards. Initially this caused me problems. The false keel is 10mm, nice and sturdy but the walnut keel to be added later is only 7mm, the bulkheads are set flat and even with the bottom of the false keel except for where they arrive at a steep angle at the front but mainly at the stern. It's difficult to describe in words the problem getting the transition from planks laying flat at the bottom then over what is a shoulder of the wider false keel and lie flat against the side. To overcome this I added a 7mm planking strip along the bottom of the 10mm false keel, and used this to butt my planks up to. It means that I have planked the bottom of the keel as well but it made it easier to get a good flow of the planks and when complete I could always sand it back to near its original dimension. I think you will understand better when you see the pictures.

 

I split the area to be planked in half, worked upwards and downwards letting the planks have as natural a run as I could let them. I've put on sixty planks so far and thing are looking quite good.

 

I'm taking a short break from it at the moment as the repetitive gripping of the many hundreds of small nails has caused cramps in my hand, I knew it wasn't going to be easy but that side of it is nearly complete.

 

 

Ken

[Sjors]

Hoi Ken,

 

At my manual those colors mean......

Red sanding and green needs filling and then sanding........

 

Sjors

[Tallshiptragic]

She's looking great Ken! It's surprising how fast the first planking goes on when you have prepared the framing correctly. The best bit of finally seeing that hull come to life!

[ken3335]

Hello Everyone.        

 

 

Satisfactory progress on the build is being made. I'm taking a short break whilst the next few planks are soaking so am taking the opportunity to write up the log.

 

Looking over the planking that I had done I could see that a slight hollow was forming around the second frame and that where the bow filler blocks joined the frame the curve had a slight bulge. I think that the hollow relates to the earlier problem of the height of the bulkheads which I corrected, I've added strips to the edges of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th frames and re-profiled them so that should now be ok.  I realised that the bulge was because I hadn't been aggressive enough shaping the edge of the bow blocks, I've now taken more off the remaining part and hope that I've done enough to get a good profile. I haven't yet managed to complete a hull without the use of filler and I was hoping that this would be my first. This is not really important but is just a matter of satisfaction, it's still a possibility but it's a close call at the moment.

 

I've now planked to bellow the lower gun deck, I'm happy with the way that the planks are lying with a nice true run. I drew in the centre line of the gun ports, again using Pete's suggested measurement and as before because the deck was covered I pre set my callipers using the previous marked line as a reference. I them marked the centre of each gun port and drilled a hole for a jig to be used later. I took the measurements from the plan, I used the leading edge of the mainmast as my start point and using my callipers marked the distance along the drawn lines of each port centre point forward of  the mast. I then again using the main mast, marked the ones towards the stern. I've checked and rechecked the port positions from as many reference points as possible and all seems to be ok.

 

I earlier said that there was a generous amount of planks supplied, yes there is and now I know why!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ken3335]

Hello,      Thanks for your likes and comments.  Again happily making good progress, Here's my update.

 

I've completed the first planking, it's a great feeling seeing that last bit of plank slot into place, closure. Not much to say, I just continued in the same way until it was finished. I've looked at the planking and I'm pretty sure that after sanding I will achieve my goal of no filler for the first time. The stern and the rear part of the keel need to be sanded down from there original 10mm to 5mm to allow the second planking to butt up flush with the stern post. I hoped that I'd done this initially but I had been much to timid and quite a bit more sanding was needed. To get it down to 5mm evenly and without going too far I made a metal 5mm strip and attached it to the area needing reducing, this will be a good guide for me and give me confidence to take as much off as needed without going too far.

 

The pictures show the hull just having been completed but not yet sanded,

 

Next will be the big sand, but that will be when it stops raining as I'll have to do it outside.

 

Ken

 

[marktiedens]

Hi Ken - nice progress. For some reason I can`t see the pictures in post #50. Anyone else able to see them? The pictures in post #51 look fine.

 

Mark

[BillLib]

No problem seeing the pictures in post #50.

 

Bill

[Sjors]

I can also not seeing the pictures in post 50

51 no problem.

Maybe because it is area 51 ? 

 

Looks good Ken.

And she is BIG !

 

Sjors

[Dilbert55]

Can't see pics in post 50 or post 46, screen shot of what I see in post 46 shown.

That being said, great idea with the pillow for planking Ken! 

[ken3335]

Hi,  Sorry to hear about the pictures, I'll try and post the missing ones here, let me know if it works.

 

Ken

[marktiedens]

Pictures are ok now.

 

Mark

[ChrisLBren]

Hey Ken 

Your first planking looks great - question are you painting the hull white below the waterline or leaving it natural ? Reason I ask - your method of first planking is fine for the structure but not historically accurate. If you paint no issues - but if you want second planking natural finish you may want the consult some of the planking guides here on MSW. 

 

I love the Royal William - look forward to your progress 

 

 

Chris 

[Hubac's Historian]

I was wondering the same thing, Ken.  Your first planking is really nice and clean, but the finished model is immensely improved by following traditional practice.  One of the Forum moderators - Chuck - has an excellent series of two videos that describe the layout and spiling of continuous planking using simple math, tools and techniques.  Though I'm still a plastics guy, I will be coming back to this when I transition to wood.  The learning curve under his tuteledge is a speed-bump instead of a mountain.  I will post the thread link.

[Hubac's Historian]

 

[ken3335]

Hi Chris,   Thanks for liking my build so far and for taking the time to comment. I haven't decided yet about painting the lower hull, I probably will because I like the finished look. I hope followers won't be too disappointed when I say historical accuracy is not my intention. I mentioned in my introduction my goals for this build, I do hope though that I will end up with a clean, neat well finished and good looking model that I will be proud of. I will add as much detail as I'm able. I do have a problem though, you may notice in one of my pictures that I have lost part of my hand, I have a reduced sense of touch and poor dexterity. I started my first kit for movement and control therapy, it was either that or knitting!  I found that I enjoyed the building and just continued for the pleasure of it. For me this is going to be a most challenging project as it is and to add another level of difficulty would I think take away some of the enjoyment. I did see Chuck's video though and will bear his planking principles in mind.

 

Ken