Clotilda by popeye the sailor - Steingraeber - 1:60 scale - slave ship - modified Agilis kit

[jct]

On 3/5/2020 at 6:12 PM, popeye the sailor said:

I've never done furled sails........

I was a bit apprehensive when I decided to do them on the Hannah but was surprised at how easy they turned out to be in the end,  I'm sure they are both gonna look great

[popeye the sailor]

I haven't been idle this past week.........................I've made some progress on the planking.  it's a slow process........lay a couple planks and allow it to dry before adding more.   close second to watching paint dry       

more has been done to the starboard side,  than the port side.   the stern again is going to be a bit of trouble......I'll have to fill in the deficit at the stem.

port side still needs to catch up......I'm tapering here as I did with the starboard side in an attempt to gt the line back in shape before the counter closes.

the closure is going 'herringbone' on me.   I did something a bit different on the port side,  cutting and trimming the plank so it would fit.   later I'll drill the hole for the rudder.  I've also been sanding as I went along.

as of tonight,  I am at this point.  for some reason,  the port side is not behaving like the starboard side did.  it leads me to believe that I either fared too much on that side,  or there are alignment issues with the bulkheads.  when I plank hull #2,  I will see if the extra measure I did to it makes any difference.   I don't have a name for her......I may end up calling her Agilis.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

[Jim Lad]

That's coming along nicely, Popeye.  You'll be working on deck fittings before you know it.

 

John

[jct]

I don't think it's you...I had the same trouble with the stern   resorted to various size and shaped stealers and putty   You can call one of um Jumbo II if you like?  Seriously, nice work

[Kevin]

looking very good, at least i have caught one of your builds early

[popeye the sailor]

thanks John,  J,  and Kevin.........thanks to all who hit the like button    nothing noteworthy as of yet.

 

I wish I could plank a hull like some of the folks here.......but then again,  if the plywood I used was a bit more sandable,  the frame would have shaped better.  

 

hello Kevin...welcome aboard 

[jct]

8 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

I wish I could plank a hull like some of the folks here

Ditto...I want to get to the point where I paint because I want to not to cover filler!!

[lmagna]

On 3/7/2020 at 6:14 PM, popeye the sailor said:

close second to watching paint dry     

You mean it's more like watching grass grow? (A seasonal pass time here in the PNW) Both you and J are building interesting subjects and seem top be staying mostly neck and neck in your builds. They are both even starting to look a little ship like! 

[Egilman]

It's always been a feeling of wonderful mystery watching one of these get planked.... You see the process in miniature and can imagine the process in full scale....

 

One heck of an accomplishment, each and every hull built in this fashion.....

[popeye the sailor]

hey there all!...........planking has continued     the port side is almost closed up.  there will be a break in the action though,  as we need to go to our oldest son's house for babysitting duties.  *

 

started to write this...this morning.......the babysitting job is done.    had a great time with the two younger rug rats.....Ford has turned into a total chatterbox,  and Ari......well he don't talk,  but he's a pretty active monkey  

   couple of things...I really shoulda tapered more......the bow could have benefited with a few....and I think I was too late with the stern.......but I do have a second stab at it     I will guarantee that the second will not come out like the first...they never do,  given the fact that I've done the two hull thing before.  I have a project in the wings that would prove my theory,  but another obscure project has caught my eye, and seeing that I have the perfect hull to do it to......it got bumped back.  {now that I mention it.......it gave me an idea to try}.  anyway......the planking was stubborn and wanted to lift off the bulkheads.....kept having to reset them.  it makes me thing that the bulkheads might have been a bit off too.  knowing that I'm going to close the hull by trimming planks,  I added the garbard plank.......leaving the keel unplanked.....I don't want to add any more thickness to it.

I need to trim the bow heel a little to get the proper curvature there........even the line a little too.   I did a little tapering at the bow at this point.....filling in from bow to stern.  it can be seen that I've been doing some sanding as I've gone along.......can't stand to see how ugly it looks.   it's true..........to all those who are just starting out....these hull look butt ugly.........they don't start looking good,  until they are sanded and get some form of paint on them.  don't let it deter you......    the mid ship has been filled in and all that's left is the stern area.

 

as it closes,  the hourglass look appears at the stern stem.  tapering and a stealer will fix that.  while this was going on,  the transom was being planked over.

 

this will all be trimmed after and sanded.  the port side got more sanding to get rid of most of the plank edges.   it looks like clinkering........some folks need a tutorial for this method of planking..........I'm a natural at it   

 

I think with some paint on it,  the hull will look alright.  I did the trimming at the bow.  the transom has been trimmed and sanded.......that's taken care of.   the starboard side is the next step.........I've already turned it around and applied the first plank to end all planking  

[jct]

lookin good

[Fright]

Nice job with the planking! Will be following you build.

[Old Collingwood]

That planking looks sweat denis.

 

OC.

[Edwardkenway]

Looks good Denis,  hard to tell but is that #1 or #2 ?

Either or it looks tidy🙂

[popeye the sailor]

thanks for the kind comments and to those who are following along.   the hull is officially planked!........hull wise,  that is    the other side gave me just about as much trouble.........the sanding was fairly tough....not sure how much I took off.  I had done some of the sanding on the starboard side,  but I went over it again to see if I couldn't get out more of the imperfections.  still a bit more I need to do.  I am happy to report that I've used little filler so far........I may need to use it on the harder areas though.

 

thanks J.....your still further along than I am ......but that's OK!  it'll give me a build log to follow  

 

welcome to the log Robert....I hope you enjoy following along.

 

I believe the word is sweet OC.........I did enough of that sanding the hull       .........changed my shirt once or twice  

 

thanks Ed....most of the log will be devoted to the first hull.  I'd start a log on the second hull,  but I don't have a definite name for her.  so,  for the time being,  I'll post a few pictures of the second hull just to give you an idea if where I am with it.  I've done some faring of the frame so far.......not very prolific.......but I did add the bow bulkhead on her today.  I will need to trim the posts some for being too tall.  it's almost ready for planking,  and for her,  I will use some of the supplied planking.....when I get to the tighter contours,  I'll resort to the narrower planking.  it worked out quite well.  here is one picture of the bow bulkhead.

it's still in the planning stage.

 

as mentioned,  the sanding was extensive........it was good to have used 1.8 mm planking......gives me more to sand.  the shot of the starboard side.....with a little more sanding.   

not too much here......minimal

the port side.......there's one area of the bow that still looks too thick.  I didn't bevel the planks enough I guess.

when looking at the stern,  a few areas become visible.......the curvature of the stern and under both sides of the counter.

 

I did add a stern strip,  to tidy it up some and enable me to cut a better looking hole for the rudder.  I shoulda got a picture of the outer surface of the transom......it's shaped and sanded as well.  the deck area looks pretty good.....still got the gaps,  but with planking they will be covered over.

  

...and of course,  a view of the bow

  

the next step will be to do more refinement of the hull,  and to do a tracing of the bulwarks for the cap rails.

 

[jct]

Now the real fun begins, are you gonna focus on one or jump back and forth?

[lmagna]

You made quick work of the planking Denis. Looks pretty good from here.

[Jim Lad]

Moving at your usual slow pace, Popeye! 

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

..oh John.........you know me........I'm no speedster!    I'm lov'in it so much.........I'm building two      no book ends!

 

yes....the fun begins J!  at the moment,  it's waiting to be sanded some more......I repaired some of the imperfections with filler.  I haven't used much.......    it's going to be slow with the second hull frame........even with banding the frame when I put on the deck platform,  I'm still finding them off.  they don't fit the platform and a couple of the bulkheads aren't shaped correctly...I'm having to reshape them.   the bow posts are splayed like a boudwa babe,  so I'm embracing your idea with cutting them off,  and replacing them.  I'll likely focus on the first hull and devote some time to the second...I've already glued two sticks together,  so I'd hate to give up on her now      for her,  I'd call her 'Jumbo II'.....I would never call her a 'Swan'   

 

thanks Lou.......it's not a large hull......but I did use narrower strip stock.  dropping it down from 8 mm to 5 mm was a good move.  I'm using the 8 mm stuff on the other hull frame,  but the stuff is kinda stiff,  so I don't know if I will do the whole frame in it.  as I get down to the turn and the contour areas,  I may cut it back.  I completely used up the long bundle,  which was about 17 strips.  each one was cut in half to give me two strips...so it equated to 34 strips.  I still have the other bundle of shorter strips,  and I found another bundle in the spare room.   I'll have enough to do the job   

 

well gents......I just got the word that the admiral wants to go,  so I guess it is errand time here at the wharf.  I hope to have some progress for ya later 

[Kevin]

lol i get to follow you from the start, then find out you are doing two of them, 

 

the planking turned out very well, going to look very nice in the end

 

 

[jct]

21 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

so I'm embracing your idea with cutting them off,

That definitely made my life easier

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Kevin......the hull is already look'in better,  although I haven't been able to get back to sanding her down some more.   when I do,  I'm sure that the hull will be good enough to carry on with  

 

I'm sure it did J.......test fitting the planking also shows that a couple of them  don't touch.......a visible gap to fill in.   as long as I can get it close,  I'll be OK with it.   I'm not throwing it away.   once I get a mile or two on the hull,  I'll start a log for her.  I though of additions..........did some checking and I think my idea will work.  first I need to be sure I have a hull to work with   

[popeye the sailor]

'at's all I kin sands,  'cuz I can't sands n'more!    I've had enough sanding.........there are a few small chiggers in the armor,  but they are minor and they are mostly at the bottom.   so with the sanding done,  I covered over the triangular flat area that the bow bulkhead {I added} created.  when the bow boom is in place,  it should complement it.   next were the rub rails.......I started them even with the bow stem.  using CA there was no turning back.....I didn't notice that I was not mated against the bow stem......   but again.....all is not lost....I simply added a strip along the top of the stem.  I'll have to do the same for the port side.

  

as you can see,  I'm in the process of cutting the cap rails....and yea........that sorry excuse for a shroud channel is the channel.  the wood just peels apart as I cut them out.  so........I guess the only thing left to do is scratch build from her on out.  I also need to make a special build board to hold the hull in place.  the hull will no longer fit in the slip,  now that the hull is planked.  I still need it for the second hull anyway,  so I guess it's just as well.

 

more on the build soon..........hopefully later on today  

[jct]

Planking looks good, you'll be painting soon, what is your paint scheme gonna be?

[src]

Looking real good Dennis, nice and fair.

Sam

[EJ_L]

I'm a bit late to the build but it did give me a nice way to spend my lunch break reading through what you have done so far. Looking forward to another great build, and of a kit I have not seen before is always an informative adventure.

[Old Collingwood]

Looking great denis.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks all for the kind comments,  and also to those who hit the like button.  I did manage to get a bit more done today,  but went on a scavenger hunt for TP didn't find any either........still got time though before hitting the critical stage.   I was going to try staining her J,  but the CA flowed free in a couple of places,  so I will likely go black for the upper and copper below the waterline.  I am about to paint her and start on the deck planking.....dark walnut.

 

thanks Sam......glad to have ya aboard  

 

I knew of the kit through J.......saw it and thought of him.   couldn't let him wade through this madness by himself    glad ta have ya follow'in along E.J.  

 

thanks OC  

[popeye the sailor]

so.........now for the update.   now that the hull is planked,  it presents another dilemma......support for the long haul.   I was going to make a pair of stands for the both of them......I still am,  but as I mentioned,  the wood is not cooperating with me.  so I'm going to have to go scratch on the rest.  in the meantime,  I figured I'd make up a quick stand to support the hull.........semi short piece of plywood and some odd bits,  and I came up with this:

she's sitting loose in there at the moment......need to sand the contact points and add felt to them.  in between all the sawing and bang'in,  I checked out a few things.........like the bow boom as well as the spirit will need to be shortened.  I'm gonna print the measurements that J posted to give me something to follow.  so for the bow,  I drilled a couple of gammoning holes.

later I added a block of wood near the tip of the stem,  in which I will file a concave slot for the boom to sit in.  the little cap I made can be seen in front of that bulwark bulkhead.   I will also be checking the height of the windlass,  because a fore castle deck need to be added.   I might have anchors for the Brigg,  so I will use the two on this ship.  I do have a pair of life boats too....a bit smaller than what was supplied.   I'll post a picture of them later on....next update perhaps.  the nice thing about this build,  is that I might just have all the parts I need for them both....darn scary,  if you ask me    anyway.......adding the rub rails,  I will need to fill in the tiny gaps on both sides of that cap......minor stuff.

I also drew the center line down the deck........

as mentioned,  I'm gonna go with a dark walnut....I was going to go with 3 mm Annegre { some relation to mahogany so I'm told},  but to speed things up,  I'll go with 5 mm.  trimming will be a lot less painful.  of course,  in doing the rub rails,  I didn't forget the transom,  since there will be a boat hanging back there.

sanded the new stand....added the felt,  and this will be her new home......

  

she's a little snug in there........I may have to use the Dremel to widen her a bit.  a small adjustment,  but OK for the time being.  I looked into the paint situation too.........threw several Billing's paints out,  because they went to jelly.  the stuff is old........had them ever since Billing Wisconsin closed down,  and I don't know how long they had them.  I still have more.......I managed to use up quite a bit in the past.    ran a few other things up the flagpole to see if they'd fly,  but it's still early yet.  some of the dowels are warped.........I have plenty to replace it    we'll see what tomorrow brings     thanks all for look'in in.

[jct]

Nice progress D...stain should look good, my planking was nowhere good enough to stain, just barely looks good in paint