Rattlesnake by ZevEisenberg - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64

[ZevEisenberg]

 

 

PS: You will find the filler does not like pins. Keep this in mind when you plank your stern.

 

Thanks for the tip. This filler definitely dries harder than the stuff I used when I did my first small model boat a few years back. I will probably drill holes for the pins if I can. Are you painting your hull, or leaving it bare to show off the treenails? Do treenails show through paint?

[JPett]

Ahoy Zev

 

That is still up in the air. We don't use  "P" word in my log "lol"

 

For now

 

And: Yes if you do a light enough coat. I might use an airbrush

[ZevEisenberg]

Using grip pins to hold the waterways while glue dries. Experimenting with sideways iPhone panoramas.

[sport29652]

It's good to see you up and building again !

[ZevEisenberg]

Now that I understand stern covering boards (the instructions are a bit murky), I’ve decided to leave them for later. The outer one has to go on after the hull planking, and the inner one seems to be part of the quarter deck planking. It seems like these will be much easier after the hull planking. It also seems like they would get in the way of planking if I do them first. Possibly same story for the breast beams. The order of these instructions seems weird to me.

[ZevEisenberg]

Finished the gun port framing. Got a lot of help from JPett’s build log. In the closeups, you can see the arrows and triangles that I drew onto the parts to keep track of how they were supposed to be oriented so I didn’t lose track between bending, cutting, and gluing.

 

[ZevEisenberg]

I don’t know how much I’ll get done before the holidays, and I want to take it slow and do it right, but the next step is planking. I am excite.

[sport29652]

Zev- wanted to give you a heads up. It appears in your picture that the gun/oar port framing is shallow. Your framing meets the outer bulkhead perfectly but the inside does not appear to reach the inner bulk head. It needs to be wide enough to fill in between the outer and inner bulkheads or you will end up with a noticable gap after planking the bulkheads. Keep up the good work and Happy Holidays !

[ZevEisenberg]

Thanks for the heads up. What do you recommend? I think I will use 1/16″ strip to re-frame the gun and oar ports only, rather than doubling up all the framing pieces.

[JPett]

Ahoy Zev

 

Right now It all looks good to me

 

Reduce the thickness of the bulkhead wood from the inside to match the 1/16  width of the wood used to frame the ports: but only after you plank the outer gunwales. Otherwise they will be too weak. The manual shows how the width of the frame is constant and thin.

 

The only minor problem I see is it looks like your waterway strip has been glued in before reducing the bulkhead widths. You should be able to just taper the bulkhead width at the bottom to meet it so it really isn't too much of a worry.

 

I used a very sharp chisel and shaved the bulkhead wood working from the top, down.

 

If you need a pic or more help, just ask.

 

 

Happy holidays too

Edited December 11, 2013 by JPett

[JPett]

Ahoy Zev

 

As you will be starting your planking soon I would like to share this mistake I made.

 

The position of the first strake is critical. Mine was misplaced in the stern and it caused problems for me when it came time to plank my gunwales which start from the top of this plank and go up.

 

On my next build I plan to mount the hull to a flat building board, then use the plans to mark the proper position of this strake before installing it. Do not just follow the deck like I did.

 

I will most likely fix my mistake by omitting a trim piece.

Edited December 11, 2013 by JPett

[ZevEisenberg]

I don't know if I'm "back" quite yet, but I had a few minutes, so I'm finally getting around to posting about a possible mistake/error/problem that was just annoying enough that it caused me to let the project languish for nearly two years. I've had plenty of stuff to keep me busy in the meantime (new apartment, new job, got married - the usual  ). The last time I was working on the project, I had just attached the laser-cut forecastle covering board (page 13, fig. 14 in the Model Shipways instructions).

 

The problem is, the laser cut pieces don't seem to quite line up with my ribs. Towards the back, the rails curve in slightly too far, leaving the ribs and gun port framing sticking out. The pictures should make this clear.

 

My question is: can I continue like this? Or should I remove the laser-cute forecastle covering boards and modify them (or re-make them from scratch) so that they more consistently follow the curve of the underlying structures? How far should the forecastle covering board overhang the un-planked hull?

 

 

 

 

[scott larkins]

Can you show a picture of the very bow area where those two pieces come together?  Up there by the king pieces.  I suspect there may be some sort of a gap there but I can't make a suggestion without seeing it. The port side looks pretty good but the starboard, as you say, does come in.  It may be as simple as a little sanding up front there on that one piece.

 

It also looks like the gun port between B and C rib may be a little twisted.  You don't want the twist, you want a curve that mimics the curve that the hull planking would take. Maybe even a little between B, C and D on the starboard side. Try to back through any of our blogs to see how we others did it.

 

Don't give up, you can do this.  I would work on the ports first before messing with that laser cut piece.  That is difficult to make the same way. It looks like you did a little rib mending.  Not uncommon for this model.  I would suggest you also take some time with one plank piece and wrap it around that bow area the best you can. Don't bend it to much as the plank will break if it is not soaked or steamed.  You may have to rock the planking back a forth a little to see how it fits.  As so many people told me, and I said the same in my blog.  Getting these ribs right is worth all of the time put into it.  Get them right now because they really to make the ship.  Review, review, review our other blogs.

 

Believe me, if I can do this, and you really want to take the time to make your own Rattlesnake, you can do this.  I've only built one other wood ship prior to this.  I learned a lot but it took my 20 months and 1 week.  Other did it faster, others longer.  There is no rush.  You get out what you put in.

 

Good luck!