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Bonhomme Richard by Jerry Greening - 1:48 scale


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Framing continues. I have installed from frames 49 through 61. I have also begun fairing the frames from the stern forward as I go. I also applied a coat of Tung oil finish to the frames to help show off the grain and also to show the low spots a little better. It's starting to look a little more like a hull.

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Current Build Bonhomme Richard

Completed: Build MSW armed Virginia Sloop

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Your framing is looking great! Also thanks for informing us about ANCRE redoing their website. They have several books that I am interested in and will probably have to add a couple to my library soon. 

"A Smooth Sea NEVER made a Skilled Sailor"
- John George Hermanson 

-E.J.

 

Current Builds - Royal Louis - Mamoli

                    Royal Caroline - Panart

Completed - Wood - Le Soleil Royal - Sergal - Build Log & Gallery

                                           La Couronne - Corel - Build Log & Gallery

                                           Rattlesnake - Model Shipways, HMS Bounty - Constructo

                           Plastic - USS Constitution - Revel (twice), Cutty Sark.

Unfinished - Plastic - HMS Victory - Heller, Sea Witch.

Member : Nautical Research Guild

 

 

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Jerry,

 

I spent some time this morning going through your build, including your first version.  Sorry to be playing catch-up.  There are so many fine builds going on MSW that it is very hard to keep up with them.  First, let me thank you for purchasing the Naiad book and for the nice comments on it.  Even better, I like the fact that you are adopting some of the ideas and tools.  I think you are off to a great start on what I am sure will be a beautiful model.  This is clear from the lovely joinery on the initial work.  It looks great.

 

By the way, the Naiad build log is still there on MSW.  See the link below.

 

I second Druxey's thoughts on wood selection, especially if your are able to purchase large stock and cut the model sizes yourself.  Considering the overall effort on a model like this, to say nothing of the cost of tools and other necessities,  wood cost is a small item, but one that has major impact on final model quality.  Cherry is a lovely wood.  I used a lot of it (along with European boxwood) on my first model, Victory.  For subsequent work I switched to Swiss Pear and Castello.  Cherry remains my favorite wood for other work like furniture, because of the beautiful grain as well as the color. Pear is similar in color to cherry, but the grain is generally much straighter, making it a superior model wood, but less beuatiful in grain for furniture, etc.  However, I am sure you will be happy in your choice of cherry.

 

I noticed that you have begun finishing frames with Tung oil.  Keep in mind that once given an oil finish, glue will no longer adhere to it.  My advice would be to hold off on finish until you are sure that gluing is no longer needed.

 

Congratulations on your Unimat purchase.  I bought mine  - also used - in 1978 and have added many accessories since.  Unfortunately many of these are now unavailable, though I do keep an eye on eBay - Toms Tool Store comes to mind as a source.  The tool has been a reliable workhorse.  I do have occasional problems with the original motor tripping my ground fault protection when it gets hot.

 

So, I look forward to your continued progress on Poor Richard.

 

Ed

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  • 3 weeks later...

So many build logs to peruse, I have neglected to really update my own log. Thank You all for the comments. I promise I will utilize Swiss Pear on a subsequent build. I haven't even gotten the framing done on the Richard yet and already I'm thinking of what I would like to model next. Being a Navy guy I do have a desired plan of action concerning the ships I would like to build and add to my collection. The first of which was the ship in which I was stationed aboard - U.S.S. Jarrett FFG-33. That model is a 1/350th scale plastic model. I have always intended to build a much larger version of her. I would like to remain in the 1/48 scale range which would make that model about 9.5 feet long. We'll see about that one though as I have to negotiate berthing space with the admiral for that. In keeping with the U.S. Navy theme I should of course add the U.S. Navy's first frigate. So I am leaning towards a USS Constitution build as my next project. At this point I am just gathering research data here and there. I will do that one out of Swiss Pear.

 

First back to the Bonhomme Richard. I am still cutting out frame pieces. Lots of frame pieces I. I should have probably added in my previous post a note concerning my use of Tung oil. Ed is very much right about holding off on applying it until your sure that all gluing has been completed as the glue will not adhere to it. I went ahead and applied it to get a better idea of what the grain would look like. Since the inside of the hull hadn't been sanded yet I knew anything I applied would eventually get removed. Also, I use a product called Formsby's Tung oil finish, some of you may be familiar with it as it is a common furniture finish. What's not so commonly known is that it isn't really Tung oil, It really a wipe on varnish. It also doesn't penetrate the wood like a true oil rather it sits on the surface. Knowing that I would be sanding the interior yet and removing what I had applied I 'm fairly confident I won't be running into any glue adhesion problems. 

So, far I have used the Unimat to make some example's of Ed's clamps. I'm pretty happy with it. I have purchased some spare belts for it and am currently eyeing a compound cross slide for it to make cutting tapers on cannons a little easier. So far I suppose my only gripe with it would be that the motor does seem to run a bit on the hot side. The motor probably could use a bit of a freshening of the brushes and bearings. Still curiously the motor is not vented or finned so I would expect it to run slightly hot.

Current Build Bonhomme Richard

Completed: Build MSW armed Virginia Sloop

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's nice to break the monotony of framing, isn't it?

Yes.  :P I ​begun this project by pretty much drawing, cutting, and assembling each frame before proceeding on to the next. That's kinda really slow I suppose, though it does make for many update photos. I've moved to drawing, cutting and assembling groups of frames before attaching them to the hull. I find myself getting the absurd notion that I must build faster to provide more updates. I have to remind myself I don't need to do that so I'll probably skip around a little.

Current Build Bonhomme Richard

Completed: Build MSW armed Virginia Sloop

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So far I have machined four barrels with the fifth still in the lathe. I did drill the trunion on one barrel and darken it first with Liver of Sulfur. The Liver of sulfur solution didn't seem to color the surface any. I had much better results with some bits of copper tubing with that. I ultimately went back and used some of my "Blacken It" solution on it. So that is kind of my master barrel. It is actually the third barrel I made. The first ended up being oversized diameter wise. The second went much better until I was almost done with it when it came loose in the chuck and jammed against the slide and bent the barrel. Little bit of sequencing issue there. So, chock two barrels up to a learning curve. Now that I have a rudimentary idea of what I'm doing I'm thinking about doing a little video tutorial on how to machine cannon barrels on a lathe. What do you guys think???

Current Build Bonhomme Richard

Completed: Build MSW armed Virginia Sloop

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Cannons look great, Jerry.

 

The enclosed Unimat motor does run hot as do most non-ventilated motors, but most are designed for that.  If you can put your hand on it, its probably OK.  As I noted earlier, mine does occasionally pop the GF circuit.  

 

Liver of sulfur works great on copper but regrettably has little effect on brass.

 

The three-jaw Unimat lathe chuck is convenient but does not hold as well as the independent four jaw chuck.  That chuck takes some getting used to, but I prefer it for most work, especially when a tight grip is needed.  With the three-jaw, you have to watch the feed rates and spindle speeds to avoid the problem you described.

 

Ed

Edited by EdT
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Looked through your entire build log this morning. Great work. As for switching from maple to cherry, great choice. Cherry holds crisp lines and is very stable, especially if you put it aside for a time and come back later..no surprises. It looks like your "give it a go" on the cannons went very well!

 

Beautiful craftsmanship here. I'm following for sure ;)

 

Warm Regards,

 

Bill

Passion is Patience...and I am a carpenter in any scale.

 

 

Current build;  Endurance - 1:70 scale, Occre

 

Current build;    H.M.S. Surprise - 1796, 1:48 A L

                                    

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Jerry

Just stumbled in to your log, really interesting! I`ll stay and follow..............

 

Regards

Gerhard

Problems just mean: solutions not yet found

 

Models in progress

SMS DANZIG

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/12842-sms-danzig-1851-by-gerhardvienna-radio-150-scale/

USS CAIRO

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/13282-uss-cairo-by-gerhardvienna-live-steam-radio/

Baby Bootlegger 1/10

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/13625-baby-bootlegger-110-radio-by-gerhardvienna/

 

Swiss paddlesteamer RIGI 1848 1:50, after plans from the Verkehrshaus Zürich, rescaled to original length

Anchor tugboat BISON, 1:50, plans from VTH, scratch

Finished models

See-Ewer ELBE, Constructo kit 1:48

German fastboat after plans from german Reichskriegsmarine measure unknown (too ugly to show up!)

German traffic boat for battleships WW2, 1:50, after plans from Jürgen Eichardt, scratch

German Schnellboot TIGER P6141 VTH plans, scratch

 

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  • 1 month later...

Little update because I haven't posted in a while. I took a break from framing and tried my hand at machining some cannon barrels. I turned out 5 so far before returning back to the task of framing. So, the hull is roughly halfway framed, still needs the stern framing yet. I am going to move on to the bow and begin framing that in the coming weeks.

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Current Build Bonhomme Richard

Completed: Build MSW armed Virginia Sloop

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Your framing is looking great! I look forward to seeing your canon barrels that you have turned also.

"A Smooth Sea NEVER made a Skilled Sailor"
- John George Hermanson 

-E.J.

 

Current Builds - Royal Louis - Mamoli

                    Royal Caroline - Panart

Completed - Wood - Le Soleil Royal - Sergal - Build Log & Gallery

                                           La Couronne - Corel - Build Log & Gallery

                                           Rattlesnake - Model Shipways, HMS Bounty - Constructo

                           Plastic - USS Constitution - Revel (twice), Cutty Sark.

Unfinished - Plastic - HMS Victory - Heller, Sea Witch.

Member : Nautical Research Guild

 

 

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Guest Tim I.

Jerry,

 

I am following your build with great interest. I hope to one day tackle building the Bonhomme Richard.

 

Timothy Igoe

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So far I am pleased with how it is turning out. May was a bit of a busy month for me which left little time for inside actvities. My wife came down ill with complications stemming from diabetis requiring a week long stay in the hospital. She recovered well. I also completed my open water scuba cert two weeks ago and did my first boat dive towards my advanced open water just last Sunday.

Current Build Bonhomme Richard

Completed: Build MSW armed Virginia Sloop

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Jerry, sorry to hear about your wife but good to hear she is doing well. Sounds like you have been very busy and sometimes that is a good thing for ship building. Gives a nice break then you can return with fresh motivation to continue on. Plus, I would give up a few weeks of model building to go scuba diving without any hesitation. :)

"A Smooth Sea NEVER made a Skilled Sailor"
- John George Hermanson 

-E.J.

 

Current Builds - Royal Louis - Mamoli

                    Royal Caroline - Panart

Completed - Wood - Le Soleil Royal - Sergal - Build Log & Gallery

                                           La Couronne - Corel - Build Log & Gallery

                                           Rattlesnake - Model Shipways, HMS Bounty - Constructo

                           Plastic - USS Constitution - Revel (twice), Cutty Sark.

Unfinished - Plastic - HMS Victory - Heller, Sea Witch.

Member : Nautical Research Guild

 

 

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