HMS Atalanta 1775 by tlevine - FINISHED - 1:48 scale - from TFFM plans

[Jim Lad]

Wow!  They certainly look like beautiful places, Toni!

 

John

[tlevine]

The main wale is composed of three strakes.  The upper most is a straight board.  The lower two interlock with anchor stock planking.  The ends are all butt joints.  Several of the planks have either severe bends or twists in them.  My basic technique for plank bending if the bend is mild is to soak the wood and then clamp it into place, allowing it to dry.  I will then final fit and glue into place.  The bends at the bow are anything but mild.  For these planks I soak them for a few hours and then use my ancient Aericopola plank bender to bend them.  I over-bend them and then allow them to finish drying off the model.  Then I final fit them and glue them into place.  One trick I have learned is to leave extra length (1/2") on the bent end (the bow in this case).  The plank bender will not work well at the end of the plank and the final result is usually a broken end.  By leaving the extra length, the extreme end of the plank can be left straight, avoiding breakage.  I use a 16 oz soda bottle because it is tall enough to soak a long length of wood and it does not waste too much water.  Floating the wood in a pan of water results in one side staying much drier than the other.  The plank shown is 0.95" thick and was bent in about five minutes.  In the second photo the plank is offered to the hull without forcing.

 

 

 

The first row of the wale has been installed.  The lower tape is left for reference.

 

 

 

The middle row of the wale planking has been installed.  Since I plan on painting the wale I decided not to highlight the plank edge with paper or chamfering.  You can see the saw-toothed appearance of the anchor stock planking in the second photo.

 

 

 

For the lower row of planking I first fit the top of the plant to the middle plank.  After I was happy with the fit I marked the lower edge with a compass and cut the plank down to the line.

 

 

 

 

[Trussben]

Now that's some very fine work Toni! Nice idea using the pop bottle for soaking the plank, I'll remember that one.

 

Ben

[MEDDO]

The main wale is looking nice.  Are you hand cutting/shaping those planks or are you using a table/band/jig saw? 

[Jim Lad]

Very nice progress, Toni!

 

John

[tlevine]

Thanks Ben and John.  Michael, I am first making a template of the plank on card stock and then transferring the shape onto the wood.  I cut it out on the Preac and make final adjustments on the ship.  As you can also see on the photos, I have removed the upper ribband and the for part of the second as well. The rest will be removed as the planking continues.

[druxey]

Nice, Toni. Did you remember to taper the wale thickness down at the bow to ease bending the plank and so that it fits the rabbet?

[dvm27]

Beautiful planking, Toni. Alas, all of your fine joinery will most likely disappear after painting.

[tlevine]

Yes, Druxey, I tapered the fore end of the plank down to 3" to fit into the rabbet.  Greg, the joinery essentially disappeared after sanding, much less planking. But like so much of this exercise, I know it was down correctly. 

[tlevine]

The three runs of planking that make up the main wale have been installed.  As you can see, most of the joinery disappears after sanding.  In the first picture I wet the wood to make the plank edges stand out.  The next step will be to mark out and install the treenails.  The slight rise at the fore end of the wale when looking head-on is not apparent when looking at the ship, so I am going to leave this be.  I would cause far more damage if I tried to remove the wale in order to drop it 0.5 mm.

 

 

 

 

 

[Kevin]

Beautiful work

[druxey]

Excellent, Toni!

[Jim Lad]

That looks just about acceptable, Toni!

 

In reality - beautiful work.

 

John

[dgbot]

Toni it looks perfect the way it is.

David B

[tlevine]

The planks of the main wale have been drilled for the bolts at the butts and the treenails have been installed.  The bolts are 0.75" in diameter and the treenails are 1.25" in diameter.  Although not quite to scale, I used a 77 bit for the bolts and a 75 for the treenails.  I usually dry-fit the treenails, relying on the finish to hold them in place.  However, I wanted some structural strength with these treenails so I drilled them deeper into the frames and dipped them in dilute glue to secure them.  I realize no one will see them, but it only took a few hours and the added security is worth it.  I wet the wale in the second photo to make the treenails stand out.  

 

 

 

Next came applying a black finish to the wale.  I tried several approaches before making my final decision. I found an unopened bottle of Floquil hull black.  This looked good but when I applied the Watco's finish it rubbed right off.  Next I tried archival marker.  Looked good but the length of time it took to apply tried my patience.  Feiberg's leather dye also looked good and allowed the joint lines to be slightly more apparent but it bleeds into the wood and I was afraid of getting it onto the stem (even with masking).  My winning choice was artist acrylic paint.  This comes in a tube and can be diluted to the desired consistency.  It applies nicely and there was no concern about ruining the stem.  I was a little sloppy in getting paint on the frames when painting the edges of the wale but this will be covered with planking and so will not show.  The photos show the first coat applied.   I am up to 3 coats and will probably go with 3 more.  In between coats I am sanding with 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper (used dry).  Each subsequent coat is more dilute than the initial one.  I have left the aft edge a little long for final shaping later.  The bolts will be installed after the painting is completed.

 

 

[capnharv2]

Toni,

 

Your work is truly inspiring.

 

Thanks,

 

Harvey

[Trussben]

Hey Toni,

 

Paint job looks good and even.

 

Is there a reason why your outer hawse hole is higher in that pic? Or is it camera angle?

I just did mine and was told it needed to lower than the inner one.

 

Ben

[SawdustDave]

Forgive me Toni if I missed somewhere in the 40 pages of this amazing log....what are her dimensions?

Dave

[Remcohe]

Your wale has a very smooth line, very nice job.

 

Remco

[tlevine]

Thanks Harvey and Remco.  Ben, those were rough-in hawse holes.  Greg noticed the same problem.  Pictures to follow.  Dave, the measurements are approx. 8" x 29".  I do not plan on masting her.

[tlevine]

After six coats of paint I discovered that I did not camber the top of the wale sufficiently.  There was also something about the finish that I did not like.  So I sanded it all down and added the camber.  I put on four coats of Model Master flat black enamel and sanded the last two coats with 1500 grit.  This makes the plank seams and treenails a little more apparent and gives a luster to the wood without being shiny.  Bolts at the butts were added after the picture was taken.

 

 

 

The hawse holes were left undersized until now.  They are 10.5" in diameter.  I used the top of the wale as the base to run a compass along marking the center of the holes.  On the starboard side I used the ribband.  The holes were enlarged with a combination of drill bits, Swiss files and sandpaper wrapped around a dowel.  

 

 

 

 

[dgbot]

The accentuation of the planking and the bolts is subtle but defined.  Your hawse holes look crisp and neat.

David B

[Trussben]

Yep, the hawse holes look great now, what deflection is there between the inner and outer now they follow the sheer of the wales?

I guessed from the plans that the outer is 1/16 lower than the inner but it would be nice to know what you actually got.

Also are you going to line them?

 

Ben

[dvm27]

Great job, Toni. They look well aligned and positioned. 

 

Toni would have to open the hawse holes a bit to accommodate the lining. This feature won't show if the hull is planked in this area so that needs to be factored in. 

[tlevine]

Thanks, David.  Ben, it is about 1mm different.  Sorry about switching to metric but in my line of work it is easier to visualize 1mm than 3/64".  Greg, in David's book he stated that the holes were 10.5" and then talks about lining them later on.  I assumed that the eventual diameter would be closer to 7-8".  Am I wrong?  I would prefer to have them at the correct final size before I start the upper works.

[dvm27]

The hawse holes finished diameter is 10.5". If you plan to add 1" liners and lead them you need to open up the holes by 1.5 - 2" so that, after adding these, the final diameter is 10.5".

[tlevine]

Thanks, Greg.  I had a slight tear out on the inside port hawse hole so that will work out perfectly.  I have a question...  Are the openings parallel with the water line, tilt inboard or tilt outboard?  I can see logical reasons for all three scenarios.

[Trussben]

Greg may correct me, but I believe the hawse holes always tilted outboard ( i.e. higher on inside, lower outside ), so cables would come aboard

easier and water would drain from them to the sea. I think in TFFM vol1 David states they should be at same angle as the hawse timber air gap joints which have a slight tilt outboard.

 

ben

[tlevine]

Thanks, Ben.

[dvm27]

Theoretically, that outboard slope is approximately 8 degrees for the reasons tha Ben has stated.