HM Cutter Sherbourne by Oddball - Caldercraft - 1:64

[Oddball]

This is my first ever build of a wooden ship and Ihave taken my time before starting it.I have bought three books on the subject and found the last book which I bought 

'Period ship kit builder's manual ' by Keith Julier to be the most informative and easiest to follow.I've read quite a bit of these books before I started my build with a great deal of apprehension.I don't want to make a mistake that cant be rectified so have also read the log's from other builds to see which way is the best to approach it and can hopefully learn from their 'mistakes' / learning curve.

Checking off the parts against the list at first looked baffling but Caldercraft do a good job of numbering and naming parts.

First dry fit of bulkheads with false keel and false decking to make sure everything is lining up.

 

There

There was a small dinge in the last bulkhead that had to be filled.

 

False deck on and glued down

 

Deck now held firmly in place and although not much to look at for experienced builders I'm chuffed with it so far.

Now for filling the front and back bulkheads,this is the first one I've done and you can see the other side filled but not yet shaped.

Hope I haven't made some glaringly obvious mistake so far,fingers crossed.
Still not sure how to proceed when it comes to planking,for now I've left the keel and posts off as per other builds to make it easier but should I add the keel after first planking ,second planking and should I even rabbet for the planks.Seems there are different approaches to the planking conundrum.

Thanks for looking all constructive criticisms welcome.

[Gregory]

If you haven't already discovered them, there are some excellent articles on the NRG home page..

Ship Modeling Database of articles

 

 

[Oddball]

47 minutes ago, Gregory said:

If you haven't already discovered them, there are some excellent articles on the NRG home page..

Ship Modeling Database of articles

 

 

Thanks, yes have read through the articles.

[tkay11]

Good to have another Sherbourner! You've probably seen them, but if not, I strongly recommend the Dubz, Gregor and Stockholm Tar builds for interesting discussions as well as hints and tips.

 

Dubz (Dirk) put the keel, stem and stern on after the first planking and before the second. That allows you to use them as a kind of rabbet -- although it might be best to leave the sternpost off till after the second planking as there is no rabbet on the stern and you can cut off the planks absolutely square without a problem if it's not there. Why not have a look at the state of the model after the first planking and then decide? I wish in hindsight I had not placed them before any planking, or at least had protected them with tape, as they ended up with lots of scratches from sanding.

 

Tony

[Jörgen]

Agree with Tony! Nice to have another one  Good work so far.

[Edwardkenway]

Nice start oddball!! I agree with the above advice concerning the keel, stem and sternpost and leaving them off as I fitted mine before any planking and it made 1st planking  and sanding a difficult task .

But it is good to see another Sherbourne joining the flotilla 👍😉

Have fun and enjoy.

Cheers 

Edited January 28, 2020 by Edwardkenway

[Oddball]

Thanks for all the feed back fellas,I think I'll be going with the idea of putting keel and posts on after first planking.I'm constantly reading the build logs to take advantage of other peoples experiences and tips.

Quick update I have cut halfway through bulkhead tabs readying for snapping off later and bulwarks soaked in warm water for half an hour and now drying in position then I'll glue them in place.

 

 

downloadfile.bin

Edited January 29, 2020 by Oddball
Media

[Oddball]

Whilst waiting to carry on with bullarks decided to build a cannon,wow the they're fiddly blighters.

Edited January 29, 2020 by Oddball

[tkay11]

I seem to remember the main difficulty was with the carriages and trucks, especially extracting the carriage wheels. The other difficulty was ensuring the correct height of the gunports as they vary along the side. I had to cut cardboard outlines of the guns in their carriages in order to ensure they fitted properly in the gunports. Ideally, this should be checked before you plank the bulwarks.

 

Tony

[Oddball]

I managed to snap a rear axle when fitting the wheel..grrrrr not able to glue it back but after 4th attempt managed to make another phew! Bullwarks are now fitted so now on to the planking (breaks out in a sweat ).Now a couple of questions ,does the very first plank that goes against the bulwark go straight across or follow the bullwark's curve at the stern and bow?Secondly having read and seen videos about planking is it necessary to work out the widths of the planks at each bulkheads and adjust accordingly or do people just use full width of plank and adjust as they go.Not looking for a short cut just want to do it the most practical/ correct way ?

Thanks Chris

 

Edited February 1, 2020 by Oddball

[tkay11]

I don't really understand your question about the first plank that goes against the bulwark, but there isn't a plank that goes all the way from bow to stern. Hull planks were generally 20-24ft long (@1/64 = 4.5" or 114mm). The Sherbourne was 54'6" long, so would have 2-3 planks per strake.

 

Planks are indeed curved at the bow and the stern, and Chuck's planking videos demonstrate how to do this using heat alone. Normally (as you'll also see in the various planking tutorials) you have to calculate the width of the planks at each bulkhead, either using a fan of lines (the easiest) or by arithmetic.

 

It would be very difficult just to use the full width of the plank and adjust the width as you go. One immediate problem would be how you would work  out how to shape the first plank you laid. You would then get into real difficulties as the number of strakes increases, unless, of course, you don't mind your planking to look a real mess which you would hope to cover up with paint.

 

As you will have seen from the videos, the easier way is to start by working out in advance how many strakes of planking you will need for the hull. At its very simplest, this is done by measuring the distance between the top of the largest (midpoint) bulkhead (at the position of the first strake) and the keel using a piece of string or thread along its curve. You then take the width of the planks you have (I think the kit ones are 5mm) and divide that into the length you have found. So if the length of the bulkhead is 100mm, that divided by 5 would give you 20 strakes. So you now aim to have 20 strakes at the bow and 20 at the stern. This may be impossible as you can't have planks that are too narrow at their ends, so this is one reason why you may be forced to add a stealer.

 

The determination of the number of strakes allows you to take each bulkhead and divide its curve length by 20, and mark off each width accordingly with a pencil on the bulkhead. Most people divide the hull into bands, and plank each band in turn to help avoid problems of 'cutting creep'. You also have to take into account that the garboard plank will be wider than the others.

 

It may be a good idea to look at the printed guides to planking provided in the resource centre on this site, in addition to the videos, as that may allow you to absorb more fully the various ways in which planking can be approached.

 

I hope this helps and that I haven't muddled things even further!

 

Tony

[Oddball]

Thanks Tony for your comprehensive explanation and no you have muddled it further.. I had read the planking pdf but wasn't aware of the planking videos by chuck which were excellent.Maybe I'm being thick or using wrong terminology but when watching  and reading about planking the hull they lay one plank from the front of the ship to the rear ? think I need to do more searching and reading on this site. 🥴 Once again ta very much for your info.

Chris

Edited February 3, 2020 by Oddball

[tkay11]

The idea of laying one plank from front to rear may be part of the advice to lay strips that will guide the division of bands. I don't think this would be for permanent use. Normally model makers would use string or thread to do this, but in real life the shipbuilders would place planks along the hull for this function.

 

Tony

[Oddball]

Thanks Tony for your answer having watched the videos I'll be marking the bulkheads and using the fan lines system.As oppose to marking the points where the planks interfere with each other and then cutting which I've read about in books..Not a bit confident about planking,maybe over thinking it but will probably drill and pin planks in place first before glueing into position.

[Gregory]

Planking remains a challenge even after many builds,

 

Look in on some of the Winchelsea builds.

You will see a lot of planking excercise, with people acknowledging and correcting their mistakes.

 

https://modelshipworld.com/forum/92-member-build-logs-for-the-hms-winchelsea/

[Oddball]

Cheers Gregory will do👍

[ccoyle]

I just noted your location and can't help but wonder: are you from the red side of the Mersey or the blue? 😉

[Oddball]

Red of course,was there on saturday watching us when beat Southampton 4-0

[ccoyle]

Oh, dear -- then I'm afraid I can no longer converse with you. Long-suffering Toffees fan here.

 

Just kidding! Ship modeling crosses the usual footballing boundaries. 😉

[Oddball]

2 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Oh, dear -- then I'm afraid I can no longer converse with you. Long-suffering Toffees fan here.

 

Just kidding! Ship modeling crosses the usual footballing boundaries. 😉

Are you an expat? Blues are poor at the moment and can't see it getting better with their set up.

You can't excommunicate me I need all the help I can get!🙁

[ccoyle]

2 hours ago, Oddball said:

Are you an expat?

Nope, just an American soccer fan who got sucked into the Evertonian black hole for hopes and dreams back when Landon Donovan and Tim Howard were Blues. But I still love 'em. Fortunately, I have been a Bayern Munich fan for far longer than I have cheered for the Blues, so that kind of balances things out in a way -- one team gets me trophies, the other keeps me humble. But I don't think that Everton is all that far away from the "Big Six" glory-land -- all we need is a completely revamped midfield. No big deal. 😝

 

Don't worry -- I won't excommunicate you. The president of our organization at work is a big-time Man U fan, and we still get along well enough.

[Oddball]

Quick update.I have started the planking and have four planks each side of the hull the only problem is I'm an IDIOT of the highest order.DESPITE reading and seeing on chucks video that you can't get the planks to lay flat around the stern and bow without bending I thought I'd have a go anyway which resulted in a clinker effect on 2 planks each side ! I know I know the information by experienced people is spot on and not there just for fun,the only conclusion I can draw up is it is some sort of macho challenge that clicked in my dim brain.A bit like when you see a 'wet paint ' sign but you still have to touch it to make sure.

I have truly learnt my lesson and will follow any advice and information as best as I can in future, I can say hand on heart though I have learnt loads of stuff even at this early stage of building the model such as the prep of the bulkhead profiling wasn't as good as I thought it was and accuracy really is your best friend Oh and how to bend planks using the jig like Chuck shows in his video.🥴

So apologies to all you people out there, for thinking I could ignore your fine advice.I will have no qualms if you make me walk the plank

Yours Ashamedly

Chris  

 

.

Edited February 8, 2020 by Oddball

[tkay11]

Welcome to the club of self-inflicted errors  of which I am a member. I am sure there is a very large (though uncounted) membership. It's one of the best ways of learning as such errors burn so deep. And take heart: it reveals an independent or perhaps an experimental mind. Some of the world's most remarkable discoveries have been made by ignoring centuries' old advice, though admittedly such discoveries are very rare.

 

Tony

[Oddball]

Thanks,that's the kindest reprimand I've ever had 😄 not sure I'm going to set the modelling world alight by ignoring the perfectly sound advice on this forum.😬

[Justin P.]

4 hours ago, tkay11 said:

Welcome to the club of self-inflicted errors  of which I am a member. I am sure there is a very large (though uncounted) membership. It's one of the best ways of learning as such errors burn so deep. And take heart: it reveals an independent or perhaps an experimental mind. Some of the world's most remarkable discoveries have been made by ignoring centuries' old advice, though admittedly such discoveries are very rare.

 

Tony

Wiser words are rarely spoken.   

[Oddball]

So the first planking has been done and considering it's my first ever I'm relatively pleased with it.Pics show before and after filler and the keel being fitted.

Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination

Filler applied but not rubbed down

 

Now partially sanded and keel on.The problem I have now is how to sort out the gun ports, Iv'e mocked up a sample of decking for the cannon to stand on and only the first ports on both sides allow the cannon through (the bulwarks are level with the bulkhead extensions) With the other gun ports the top of the cannon is level with top of the bulwark so I have no way of filing the opening  any higher. Is it a case of planking higher than the bulwark so I can open up the gun port  ( that's not going to look good from the inside ) or is the another solution?

 

Thanks   Chris

[tkay11]

It's difficult to say without a photo. Your particular difficulty seems to be a little different to the problem with the fitting of the cannon through the gunports in other Sherbourne builds. What cannon are you using? Are the guns horizontal? Have you already made them from the kit or are you using card cutouts?

 

Tony

[Gregory]

I have seen other logs where the builders commented on what might be over sized cannon in the kit.

 

Do the plans have a view of the cannon adjacent the gun ports?

[Oddball]

45 minutes ago, tkay11 said:

It's difficult to say without a photo. Your particular difficulty seems to be a little different to the problem with the fitting of the cannon through the gunports in other Sherbourne builds. What cannon are you using? Are the guns horizontal? Have you already made them from the kit or are you using card cutouts?

 

Tony

Using cannon from kit and it looks level to me...

[ccoyle]

Wow. I can remember when I built this kit (twenty years ago now) that I had some variation in the cannon heights relative to the bulwarks, but at least all of them pointed through the gunports. You've got quite a discrepancy there, and I'm not sure how that might have happened. It does look like you applied the pattern strips at the correct height, i.e. level with the tops of the bulkhead extensions.

 

Come to think of it, though, your deck planks look overly thick. Are you using the correct strips? Deck strips are usually pretty thin. Those look like they may be first planking strips?