HMS Winchelsea 1764 by Stuntflyer (Mike) - FINISHED - 1/4" scale

[Stuntflyer]

Lou: This version uses a thicker and better grade of wood for the bulkhead former and bulkheads. Filler blocks are not necessary.

 

Chuck has supplied me with some nice boxwood sheets for planking, so I am finally ready to start work above the black strake. Cutouts or tabs are made where necessary in the area of the gun ports. I'm using clamps and Titebond II. Sanding will be done after all of these planks are in.

Mike

Edited November 16, 2018 by Stuntflyer

[KenW]

Mike.  I'm always impressed with the quality of your work.

What type of clamps do you use and how do you set them up?  Too many clamps will leave indentations in the wood.

Thanks.

[Stuntflyer]

Thank you, Ken!

 

I only use clamps with protective tips. Here is an example of the clamps I use and how I set them. Those are 2" Wolfcraft clamps which are used to pull the plank against the hull. http://www.wolfcraft.com/en/products/p/microtip_spring_clamps/2_microtip_60_precision_spring_clamps/s/p/index.html The 6" Dewalt clamp is used to pull the plank down tight to the previously installed plank. I usually glue and clamp 4"-6" of planking at a time. No matter how many I use there is no chance of denting the boxwood.

Mike

[SJSoane]

Mike, very nice, crisp joinery. Looking great!

 

Mark

[KenW]

Thanks Mike.  I’ll look into those Wolfcraft clamps.  

I enjoy watching your outstanding work.

Cheers.

[Stuntflyer]

The planking work above the wales on the starboard side is finished. I think you can see the difference in the newly purchased wood compared to that which was used for the first wale layer. It is much more even in grain and color. The most difficult work was shaping the planks that have both tabs and cutouts.

Mike

Edited December 12, 2018 by Stuntflyer

[CaptMorgan]

Wow -- that's is some awesome work on those planks.  Looks like each one will almost be a model in its self.

Just curious, what size are the planks that your using on the Winnie??

[John Cheevers]

Excellent joinery!

[Stuntflyer]

Steve, the planks with no tabs are 1/4" x 3/64 and the tabbed ones are 5/16 x 3/64"

 

Mike

Edited December 12, 2018 by Stuntflyer

[Seahawk1313]

Excellent work!-Hal

[KenW]

Excellent Mike.  Your workmanship is stunning to behold.

Cheers.

[Gahm]

Wonderful work, Mike!!

 

Thomas

[Maury S]

Mike, You're doing excellent work on the planking!

Maury

[KORTES]

Wonderful work.

My best regards.

[Jorge Diaz O]

Master.

[Stuntflyer]

Thank you all for the very nice comments and for all the"Likes"!

 

Mike

[Stuntflyer]

The port side planking above the first layer wales is done. Again you can see the original wood color in the area of the wales compared to that which is above. I pencil marked X's on the first layer wales so as to avoid placing the second layer in the wrong location.

I also started to clean up and fair the inside of the hull in the forecastle area. I glued scrap 1/8" basswood and balsa in-between the frames as a guide while removing material. Lots of sawdust!

MIke

Edited January 15, 2019 by Stuntflyer

[SJSoane]

Hi MIke,

 

Beautiful work!

 

I somehow got the idea in my head that the red paint at the gunports would extend out along the revealed edges of the planking, to meet the face of the planking at the outer edge, not the inner edge. Do you have another understanding, or are you planning to paint those edges later?

 

I have been fretting over how to do this myself, assuming I did not misunderstand this detail!

 

Best wishes,

 

Mark

[SJSoane]

Hi Mike,

 

Fair enough! Purism should never win out over maintaining high quality of craftsmanship if a choice has to be made, as far as I am concerned. I wonder how good a job the sailors did out at sea, cutting paint to that outer edge. It might have looked like smeared lipstick!

 

My wife the retired architect, never, ever, specified paint to change color at an outer edge because it is impossible to get a clean line.

 

Mark

[Stuntflyer]

Thanks, Mark!

 

I have fretted about it too and decided not to paint those edges. Guess I'm not a purist!

 

Mike

Edited January 15, 2019 by Stuntflyer

[druxey]

Actually, it is possible to get a clean edge on a outside corner. This is how:

 

Use a flat brush and do not overload it.

Brush in strokes at right angles to the edge from inside to out, over the edge.

If you use a light touch, the edge will be perfect.

 

Should a little paint get over the edge, let it dry completely. Then lightly scrape it off. (This works even more easily if the wood has been sealed before painting.)

[Chuck]

In my opinion I think the jury is still out on whether that was standard practice.  I have seen contemporary models built with the ports painted both ways.  Its just a personal decision.   One must remember that you would need to be 100% confident with your planking around the ports otherwise painting the edges would reveal every flaw.  That is something not worth doing for such a minor detail where contemporary evidence suggests strongly both methods were employed.   This is true even if it was just a modeling convention used by even contemporary builders.  I believe a builder should use their own judgement on whether "kitchen sinking" their model is worth compromising the overall look and craftsmanship of their final work just for the sake of being able to say that it was correct....assuming there was no concrete evidence that this was standard practice.   

 

Its really no different than deciding whether holly should be used below the wales to stylistically represent a painted hull.  In the end its just a stylistic choice based on how much you like that look vs. any other.  

 

Having said all this, the Contemporary model of the Winnie does have the plank edges painted red as well.  But yes it does look sloppy.  Also note the tabbed planking into the port.....

 

This photo shows many interesting features you may or may not choose to model.  For example the thicker shear plank in the waste which does extend all the way to the stern and up to the cap rail.  This feature is historically correct yet you rarely if ever see folks planking there models this way.   This is a feature I plan on actually showing on my new version of Winnie.

 

 

Mike just paint it the way you prefer.  😊

 

Chuck

[SJSoane]

druxey, what are the wooden structures immediately behind the gunports?

Mark

[druxey]

Mark: what you are looking in that photo are the lower-edge hinged port lids, inboard of which are the various 'infernal devices' of a fireship. Close to the ports are chambers. These blow the lids open. On each side of the chamber are grenadoes that also explode. There are many other nasty contents to a fireship, but we digress....

[Alex M]

Mark, I think it is a Fireship... have you this book?

https://www.amazon.com/Fireship-Terror-Weapon-Age-Sail/dp/1591142709

 

druxey was faster

Edited January 16, 2019 by Alex M

[Stuntflyer]

Work continues with the rather messy job of fairing the inner hull above the wales starboard side. Frame width has been reduced to 6" or 1/8" actual.

Mike

Edited January 28, 2019 by Stuntflyer

[KenW]

Looking real good, Mike.  Can't wait to see it.

[Stuntflyer]

I finally completed the work of thinning down the bulkhead extensions (toptimbers).

I found that leaning the hull allows for easier access when sanding both the exterior and interior. This also reduces the need for me to be constantly bent over which tends to be hard on my back. The three upright supports do keep the hull vertical, but clamping these supports keeps the hull more rigid and less prone to movement while sanding. I could foresee the possibility of this constant movement either marring the keel or even worse loosening joints.

At this point I am ready to start the second layer whales and black strake.

 

Mike

Edited February 15, 2019 by Stuntflyer

[svein erik]

Exelent wook , am waiting for this frame kit to Come out 😃

 

Svein.erik 

[Stuntflyer]

It seems like forever since I started on the second wale layer. Anyway, 3 of the 4 strakes are in. Each strake was made from 5 or 6 planks. I could do the last strake now, but I think it would be better to wait until at least one strake below the wale is in. This strake would include the drop plank at the fore end of the ship. Adding it now would give me a better visual for getting a good joint to the underlying wale layer and make it easier to sand it afterwards. I remember this issue coming up on the Cheerful build where I regretted not doing it this way. I could add the black strake now after doing a bit more sanding above it.

 

The wale is tapered down to less that 1/64th at the stem from 3/4"-1" out. This was mostly done with a miniature chisel from Veritas. https://www.fine-tools.com/miniature-chisels.html I left one layer untouched, so you can better see this. 

Mike

Edited April 9, 2019 by Stuntflyer