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

[mtaylor]

That display area is just incredible.  It really sets off the displays of ships and eggs.  Atalanta should be right at home in there.

[Dan Vadas]

Hi Toni,

 

I echo everyone else's comments about the display cases and the eggs - wonderful .

 

Depending somewhat on my mood I will use either a jeweler's pickling solution (Sparex is one brand), 90% isopropanol or acetone followed by a water rinse

 

 

I used to go down a similar path with my pickling, but I've found that dropping the pieces in a jar of simple white vinegar does just as good a job. I leave the pieces in the vinegar for about an hour and then rinse off with water. As you are doing, I pickle both before and after soldering and I haven't had any problems at all.

 

Danny

[Trussben]

That's a beautiful display of modeling Toni.

 

Ben

[tlevine]

I have finally finished and installed the pintles and spectacle plate.  Everything was blackened with Birchwood Casey.  The bolts are 24g brass wire.  There are two straps above and below the mortise for the tiller as well as two straps going over the top of the rudder.  I played around with brass for the vertical straps and decided to use black paper instead.  I could never get the horizontal straps to lie snugly against the vertical brass straps.  In full scale practice, I assume these would be applied hot and would then shrink to shape with cooling.

 

 

[dgbot]

Your rudder really looks good Toni.  The way you did your planking gives it the put together.

David B

[tlevine]

Thanks everyone for the likes.  Not much time for the model over the last few weeks but I was finally able to finish the gudgeons.  There were made in a similar manner to the pintles, two pre-drilled brass straps connected by brass bar which was then drilled for the pin and filed to shape.  Some of the detail is obscured by the blackening.  I have not decided yet when to install the gudgeons but will not ship the rudder until much further along into the build.  

 

 

 

Since I was playing around with metal I decided to make the hook and eye assembly for the riding bitts.  The crosspiece is not bolted to the standards.  It is held in position with a hook and eye attached to the medial side of the two standards. These are made from 1" thick brass which was filed to shape.  The eyes and the bolts are made from brass wire.  Sorry for the dust in the picture.  

 

 

[druxey]

Looking good,Toni!

[Jim Lad]

A very nice bit of blacksmith's work, Toni!

 

John

[tlevine]

Thank you gentlemen and thanks for all the likes.  I should have cleaned the bitt better for the photo but I was running out of daylight.  Now I get to return to actual woodworking for a while.

[SawdustDave]

Toni - Looking at that rudder, I had to double check.... thought for a second, I had stumbled into Remco's build log by mistake. I consider his joinery second to none I know of. This rudder makes the grade for sure. Nice!

[tlevine]

Dave, the compliment is appreciated.  But I look to Remco's and Dan's builds to set the bar that I strive for.

 

Work on the upper deck will proceed from outboard to midline and fore to aft.  I was not emotionally ready to drill holes in the hull for scuppers (and risk damaging the exterior hull) so I decided to build the manger.  This is a closed off area in the bow which could be used for livestock but actually helped contain and dispose of water drawn in with the hawse cables.  In order to make the manger walls, the supports had to be built first.  This means building the fore topsail sheet bitts/bowsprit step assembly.  The bitts extend from the upper deck to the forecastle deck and are angled such that the part of the bitts extending above the forecastle deck is perpendicular to the water line.  This meant building a forecastle deck beam to determine the correct height and angle.  The bitts are notched into both beams.  On my model the port side has the deck planking installed.  Rather than risk damaging the planking, I trimmed the foot of the bitt to fit the remaining space.  The bitts have a sheave above the forecastle deck and a cheek block on the lateral aspect of the bitt.  The top of the cheek block has an ogee shape as do the cheek blocks elsewhere in the build.  I have not put in the sheaves yet.There is a rabbet on the side of the bitt for the manger wall.  On Atalanta, the rabbet does not extend onto the fore end of the bitt so the manger wall extends from the outer face of the bitt rather than the corner.  Some of the ships had the upper end of the bitt shaped into a timber head.  Atalanta was one of these.    The cross piece was rabbeted into the fore side of the bitt.

 

 

The bowsprit chock is made up of two edge rabbeted planks.  You cannot see the rabbet but it makes the assembly stronger.  I lightly penciled the joint to highlight this.  I temporarily glued the chocks together to facilitate cutting rabbets in the bitts and the aft side of the chock.  Although I do not plan on masting Atalanta, I did want the step to be in a reasonably accurate location in case I change my mind later.  To find the location for the step I installed a dummy bowsprit, deriving the angle from the plans.  This was then marked on the step.   They were unglued and the step was cut in using the table saw.  I glued them back together and fine-tuned the meeting edges.  The chock was bolted to the bitt with four bolts and was bolted to both the upper and forecastle beams.  The lower bolts are dummies but the bolts for the forecastle beam will be functional.

 

 

After temporarily installing the bitt assembly I noticed that the deck planking in front of the chocks did not extend far enough back.  These will be removed and remade to the appropriate length.

 

 

 

[druxey]

Coming along nicely, Toni. Good move to make the step functional in case you want to mount a bowsprit or even rig your model.

 

As far as scupper holes are concerned, if you are in fear and doubt, drill blind holes both from inside and out. Drill undersize and gradually open the holes out to spec.

[tlevine]

Thanks, Druxey.  I have two of the scuppers drilled out.  It ended up not being as scary as I thought.  Once they are all drilled out I will decide on how to line them.  I like Danny's way with softened Evergreen tubing.  I have some adhesive backed aluminum I will play with as well.

[tlevine]

The scupper and hawse hole linings ended up taking much more time than expected.  There are five regular scuppers and two larger ones for the manger and the pump effluent.  The scuppers are lined with lead sheeting.  I tried several approaches including aluminum foil formed over a dowel, self-adhesive aluminum and paper.  I ended up making the inner and outer openings with grey paper.  The paper and the scupper holes were painted with grey artist acrylic.  The shiny appearance of the frieze painting is from the lighting.

 

 

 

 

 

The hawse holes were lined with either lead or copper.  I did not want the shiny look of clean copper and so lined the holes with the same gray paper.  "Lips" for the lining pipes were added to hide the edge where the paper tube and the wood meet.

 

 

 

[Trussben]

Very nice Toni

 

Ben

[rtropp]

Toni,

Great work, I would like to see a close up of the mounted rudder if it is ready.

 

Thanks,

Richard

[tlevine]

Thank you Robin, Ben and Richard.  I will definitely remember that suggestion for the rudder coat.  Richard, the rudder will not be shipped until much later in the build.  The next project is the upper deck breast hook/buckler assembly.

[tlevine]

The upper deck hook and the support for the bucklers frame the hawse holes.  The support is simply a less robust hook. They are "bolted" to the hawse timbers.  I made mine asymmetric because there is no ceiling planking on the starboard side.  There are mortises on the top of the support and the bottom of the upper deck hook for the buckler bars.  

 

 

Bucklers can be viewed as removable doors which prevent water from entering the ship through the hawse holes while at sea.   There is also a perforated buckler to use when in port to allow the hawse rope to pass.  Since I was not installing the bucklers, I did not put the mortises on the upper deck hook.  There are three cant posts between and to either side of the hawse holes to support the bucklers.

 

 

[mtaylor]

Lovely details, Toni.  

[tlevine]

Shipyard time has been tight and will remain that way for a while but I wanted to post a small update.  The manger is a triangular area at the bow formed by removable wood partitions.  A scupper drains the water that accumulates from hauling in the anchor cables.  It fits into a waterway to prevent the water from seeping under the manger wall onto the upper deck.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Mirabell61]

Nice looking Progress Toni,

 

lovely timber- and joining work, well done....

 

Nils

[Martin W]

Of course it's fine work, Toni, you wouldn't do otherwise!

 

Love the detail of the scupper.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[tlevine]

Thanks guys.  And thank you everyone for the likes.  I am making the rest of the forecastle deck beams and then comes the stove.  Looking forward to that with a combination of dread and excitement.  There are so many fantastic representations out there that I am just a bit intimidated.

[dgbot]

I bet it will be a work of art like the rest of your work.  

David B

[Trussben]

I'm sure your stove will turn out superb.

 

Ben

[kees de mol]

lovely timber- and joining work, well done....

 

Totally agree with this!

[tlevine]

Robin, thanks for your concern.  Life has a tendency to get in the way of the workshop.  I am working on the stove and hope to post something soon.

[tlevine]

Let me give you an example of life getting in the way.  For the last 8 days I have been dealing with a sick dog.  To make a long story short, my 12 y/o dog stopped eating and was obviously in pain.  Two trips to the vet later, an X ray demonstrated a foreign body in her stomach.  Off to surgery we go.  She becomes critically ill during the night and a repeat X ray was performed.  The overnight vet called to ask why they had only removed one of the two foreign bodies!  Back to surgery the next day to remove the other two foreign bodies.  She has been teetering on the edge of life all week but decided to eat some scrambled eggs today.  They have decided she is depressed and, besides, I am a physician, so she would do better at home.  So now it is six medications, each on a different dosing schedule, syringe feedings and hourly walks since (for the docs and vets out there) she is starting to mobilize the 4 kg of fluids she acquired during her holiday.  At least she got a complimentary nail clip. 

 

For you savvy dog people out there, the middle foreign body is the Daily Growl, a white plastic squeaky toy that she has not had access to in several years. 

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2015 by tlevine

[Jim Lad]

I hope she pulls through OK, Toni.  I'm sure she will if love and devotion have any bearing on the case.

 

John

[mtaylor]

I got my fingers crossed that the recovery goes well.  I think she's in very good and loving hands. Given the size of the "bits"... she must be a large breed.