HMS Naiad 1797 by EdT - FINISHED - 1:60 - 38-gun frigate

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 31 - Orlop Clamps

Posted 12/16/10

 

The orlop clamps rest right on top of the highest band of thickstuff, on the upper 4” thick strake. The clamp itself is 5” thick and as mentioned earlier it only serves as a support for the middle platform of the orlop level, which I surmise was officially “the orlop.” The fore and aft platform beams, carrying only light loads, had their ends bearing on whatever strake of planking happened to be at their level.

 

The orlop clamps were installed concurrently with the upper band of thickstuff. The next couple of pictures show some of the clamp sections being attached.

 

 

In the above photo the last full breadth piece forward is being glued in place. From here forward it narrows and thins. The narrowing to meet the upper center band of thickstuff is seen in the next picture.

 

 

In this picture the very last piece is being fit up. First the plank was steamed and clamped to dry to the right curvature. It was then trimmed to the shape shown above and fit to match the adjoining planks and the forward width was reduced where it meets the stem. After gluing the forward part was thinned to around 3” per the Repository.

 

With the clamps completely installed, the section that supports the center platform, needed to have its upper edge dubbed horizontal to take the beams and lodging knees. The next two pictures show this being done.

 

 

In this picture a thin straight strip of wood is laid between the frames and on the clamps to act as a guide for leveling their tops. In the next picture a small chisel is being used to pare the inside upper corner to the same level as the outside top of the strake.

 

 

This paring was done only between the fore edge of the first beam and the aft edge of the last beam aft. This can be seen in the next picture.

 

 

This is a picture of the starboard clamp after the top had been dubbed off. The end of the horizontal section can be seen to the right just above the number 6, which denotes the last beam aft. The difference in thickness of the planks in this band shows well in this picture. Some treenailing is yet to be done in this area. The height of all this planking was set to bring the top of the clamp slightly higher than the bottom of beam line. When the clamp was then scored down to take the beams, they would then be at the correct level.

 

The following picture shows the scores for the beams cut into the clamp.

 

 

These scores were cut, in place, with a small chisel, having first been located and marked to the width of the beams, which are 11 inches wide and 10 inches deep.

 

In the next picture, a ruler has been slid between frames to measure the overall beam length.

 

 

From these measurements, each beam was cut to length. The next picture shows these lying in place temporarily.

 

 

The outside ends have been beveled to match the frames. The specified round up of these beams, 1 inch, is so small at this scale that it was ignored and for this level the beams will be flat. These beams will be installed permanently later. They were made at this time to be used in constructing the well, one of the next steps.

 

In the next part I will review making and installing of the crutches, breast hooks and mast steps, which were shown in many of the preceding pictures,

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 32 – Crutches, Hooks, Steps

Posted 12/18/10

 

Crutches

 

The crutches and breast hooks were relatively easy to make, but required a lot of fitting of the joining surfaces with the planking. All of these except the deck hooks were fayed on top of the planking. In the picture below, taken before any planking the three crutches were roughly fit up to the framing and then labeled and put away for later.

 

 

No patterns were needed for these. They were cut to thicknesses and lengths based upon Repository dimensions. The bottom edges were sketched in by eye and cut on the scroll saw and then shaped roughly with sanding blocks. The upper shapes were left very generous at this stage.

 

As seen in the next picture these pieces were subjected to a lot of additional shaping to fit over the planking. This was done with chisels, files and sandpaper blocks. Where they overlap unplanked areas there is a space.

 

 

What is wrong with this picture? The middle crutch is too small in length, the result of unclear labeling when the blanks were initially fitted. This was actually one of the breast hooks of similar shape. So, another piece for the rejected parts bin – now beginning to overflow.

 

The following picture was taken after this piece was replaced.

 

 

In this picture the crutches have been bolted with nine copper bolts each. These would have penetrated through the planking and frames, of course. I did not trust my drilling to find the right exit point, so these do not go all the way. I may put dummies in from the outside – still thinking.

 

 

BreastHooks

 

These were done in exactly the same way as the crutches. The lower two only were installed at this time. The higher ones will be done when the next bands of planking, the lower decks clamps, are finished.

 

 

 

Mast Steps

 

Lets take the easy one first. The main mast step is just a big block of wood of rectangular shape that rests on the keelson. It is about two and a half feet wide and its length is set to just clear the posts in the future well. It is not bolted. It was quite easy to make and here it is in place.

 

 

This step will eventually be concealed within the well.

 

The foremast step was a much more interesting proposition and some sticky questions had to be addressed. Fortunately this is buried so deep in the ship that much of the design uncertainty may be of little consequence, but it was an issue. The design of this step was raised on another log, SJSoanes Belona build at http://modelshipworld.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=11226 A very interesting and helpful dialogue ensued, which I believe helped both Mark and me settle our particular, and different, design solutions.

 

Briefly, for Naiad it was not clear what this step looked like. The original profile draft for Naiad and many other frigate profiles show a single block, like a hook, but about 26 inches breadth. It is pretty clear that this was used on small ships - 36 guns or less. A step made up of multiple crutches and other pieces was used on larger ships. Where did this leave the 38 gun Naiad? The use of a single block would have been clear, to me at least, except that David White in his book {I} Diana{/I}, also a 38 and of the same vintage as Naiad, shows a built up step like the larger ships. Since Henslow and Rule, the designers of Diana and Naiad respectively, were surveyors at the same time, one could conclude that they might adopt similar designs. Where did White get his design? Was the single step on the Naiad and other drafts only schematic? I have not seen an original profile for Diana and wonder what it shows. It was clear however, from the Naiad draft, that a built up step would not fit without moving the whole magazine or moving the foremast. The magazine and, of course, the foremast locations are clearly shown on the Naiad draft and I did not want to move them..

 

After trying to fit alternates on the drawings and some soul searching, I finally decided on the single step shown on the drawing. It is a substantial piece of wood, shown below next to one of my 1:60 friends.

 

 

The piece in this picture is just over 30 inches broad and was subsequently taken down some to reach the specified 26 inches. I have spent some time in Kent and Sussex and have seen plenty of ancient oak trees from which such a piece could be cut. It is just a big block taking a compression load, so I don’t think curved timber was mandatory, but …

 

So, with that decided here are some pictures of the piece being made.

 

 

After rough cutting the block, the slot over the keelson was cut with saw and chisels – pictured above.

 

 

Then the trips back and forth from ship to vise begin. Here the rough block is being test fit.

 

 

Here a little more shaping has been done. The hard part here is to get a tight joint over the irregular planking. Some of my pencil notations for more shaping are visible on the bottom.

 

 

Here the irregular bottom is being shaped with a file – a bigger one than usual. Once a satisfactory fit at the bottom was achieved, the top was shaped and the mortise for the mast tenon cut. Below the step is shown resting in position, well, just a little aft of position. It still had to be taken down in width and glued and bolted in place.

 

In the next picture the final fore and aft location is being set using the gantry and combination square.

 

 

And in this next picture it is being held down after gluing.

 

 

Finally it is in place, soon I hope, to be entombed safely under the light room decking.

 

 

In the next part I will discuss the design, drafting and the beginning of construction for one of the most important, interesting and intricate structures in the ship – the forward magazine.

 

Ed

[Artificer]

Ed

 

I am so glad that you are taking the time to re-post the entire Naiad log it is inspirational. The more I see the more I feel that a scratchbuild will be a future project.

 

Dave

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 33 – Forward Magazine 1

Posted 12/19/10

 

Preparation and Drafting

 

The forward magazine is perhaps the most intricate and one of the more interesting structures in the ship. Buried deep just above the keelson, it was the place where the gunpowder was stored and assembled into cartridges. It was the main point where these cartridges were dispensed for use. The carriers, usually young boys, collected the cartridges here, tucked them into their shirts and hurried back through the narrow passages and up the ladders to the waiting gun crews. Clearly the magazine was a vitally important part of a warship that depended on an efficient and timely supply of powder, in the form of pre assembled cartridges, to support the gunnery. The space was cramped, poorly ventilated and accessible through only a single small hatch up to the orlop deck level.

 

Two primary considerations are reflected in its design and these evolved over a long period of time, punctuated by accidents of the worst kind. The first of these concerns was the safe handling and storage of the powder away from any sources of ignition, which could result in an explosion, which would destroy the ship. The second was the need to keep the powder dry to avoid it becoming useless.

 

The main features of the design to meet these needs were: solid watertight bulkheads at the fore and aft ends of the area and below it, multiple levels of decking to keep water out and to allow access for cleaning of spilled powder, a source of light from large lanterns completely isolated from the area and a single small access hatch from the deck above. There were many other features of course, and these may be explored on the following drawing, which was prepared from as many sources as I could access before starting work.

 

 

The drawing above is only the latest in a line of several revisions. A preliminary version was posted earlier and responses to it have been very helpful in settling some details. There is more work to be done on this. Some of the lateral dimensions on the plan view are not precise and will be “field checked” for construction. This avoided a lot of complicated unnecessary drafting. These approximate dimensions will be corrected on the drawings from measurement taken on the as built model. The vertical dimensions from the sections are correct and sufficient for construction.

 

This is a very detailed and interesting structure, but in the final model it will be buried under upper structures and difficult to see. For that reason I wanted a very good photo record of it at each stage of the work. To that end, a fixture was made to support my camera so that consistent views from directly above and at a few other angles could be taken during construction. Here is a picture of the fixture.

 

 

This fixture bolts to the “clamped squares”(not the gantry) that I have discussed previously. It can move forward and aft to marked positions on the board and the camera can be tilted forward and back on the hinged mount to four preset positions – vertical, 45, 30 and 15 degrees.

 

Deciding how to make the magazine structure was another part of the preparation. I definitely wanted to build this on the workbench, not in place on the ship. It is not easy to construct something like this reaching over the model. Although I could not foresee a full plan for this in detail, it was clear that the basic framework would need to be built in place, removable so it could be taken back to the bench. A sturdy assembly starting with the lowest level of beams would be the basis for this. I used this approach on the stern galleries of Victory.

 

Construction

 

The first step was to install the forward platform beams at the orlop level above the magazine. The magazine bulkheads tie into these and it seemed logical to make these first. They would be installed much later, however.

 

Here is a picture of these beams taken from the fixture described above from directly overhead.

 

 

These platform beams do not rest on a clamp per se. Instead their beveled ends butt right onto planking of the orlop clamp and upper band of thickstuff, both of which were described earlier, so locating the ends of these beams required setting points on the side in all three dimensions. This was done from the profile drawing using the gantry device and a combination square. I will describe the process in more detail below as it relates to setting the magazine beams – a more challenging task because of their size and the shallowness of the hull toward the bottom..

 

Setting any points involves some degree of measurement error and this needs to be managed. One way to minimize the effect of error is to avoid multiplying it by taking measurements from points on the model that were set out earlier. So, all measurements were taken directly from the drawings whenever possible. Also, whenever possible, dimensions were checked against other parts of the structure – but direct transfer from the drawings was the rule. One advantage of CAD is that the very fine lines and the dimensional accuracy help reduce measurement error.

 

Once the forward and aft beams were set and checked thoroughly, the remaining beams were adjusted to fall into a line along the tops of these end beams. This is virtually a straight line on the orlop level. This was done with a straight piece of wood as shown below.

 

 

The next step was to set out the locations of the lower beams of the magazine itself. The process was as follows: First the distance to the aft side of every beam was measured from frame lines on the drawing with dividers and transferred to both sides of the building board. The gantry was then aligned with these marks, one beam at a time. The distance from the top datum line on the drawing to the top of the beam was then set on a combination square. This square was then held on the bottom of the crossbar on the gantry so that the fore face of the square’s ruler was aligned with the aft side of the beam. The square was then traversed until the bottom fore face of the ruler touched the side. A point representing the aft upper face of the beam was placed at this intersection. This was done for both ends of all the beams.

 

The next picture shows this point being set for the port side of the second beam aft, which will rest on the boxwood ceiling planking adjacent to the limber strakes. These beams are very low. The most forward beam just touches the top of the keelson..

 

 

For this process to produce accurate results the gantry cross bar needs to be straight, level and the bottom face precisely the same distance above the board as the datum line on the drawing is above the bottom of keel line. The vertical legs supporting the bar and the face of the bar itself need to be at 90 degrees to the board and the surface of the board needs to be clean of debris – especially dried glue blobs. Finally when the aft faces of the two bases of the gantry are placed on a line on the board, the aft side of the crossbar needs to correspond precisely to that line. Some of this needs to be attended to when making the gantry, but before doing something like this, I recheck all the above.

 

So, when the ruler of the combination square is clamped to the bar with the square pulled up to the bottom, the ruler, which was extended to the length of the drawing measurement, should be right on the line to set the point.

 

In the next picture the fore and aft beams have been made and set in place on their corner points. Dividers were used to determine their maximum length and the ends were beveled to fit the planking.

 

 

Succeding beams were fit the same way, but had their length adjusted as needed to align the top edges with the first two to assure a flat deck.

 

The next picture shows all the beams in place, being checked for consistent height.

 

 

The next step was to begin locking these beams together into a sturdy assembly that could be transferred to the bench.

 

 

On the model, I intend to at least partially plank the decks on the port side, and leave the starboard side completely open, showing only framing. It begins here. This is the lower level decking – 2.5” thick. It will be covered with a matrix of beams and the palleting layer of planks. The small hatch in the decking is to allow access to the lower regions for clean out.

 

To further strengthen this base assembly, it was removed from the ship and copper nails were installed on the workbench. Then back to the model as shown below.

 

 

Another check was performed and is shown in the next picture.

 

 

In this picture a small special gauge is being used to check the distance from the top of the lower planking to the bottom of the orlop beam above. Thankfully, perhaps luckily, it was a precise fit on every beam.

 

Now more of this structure needed to be built up in place to match the hull, specifically the water course chocks which run up the side from the beam ends and also the curved horizontal sills that will tie the upper ends of those together. A few of these pieces are in place in the above picture. This and subsequent steps will be covered in the next parts.

 

Stay tuned.

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 34 – Forward Magazine 2

Posted 12/21/10

 

 

After setting the beams and locking them together with the lower planking, the next step was to install the watercourse chocks. These are timbers, which run up the side and support an extension of the lower watertight planking on both sides. Water can run between these timbers, below the planking, to reach the limber passage and the flow to the pumps.

 

In the first picture five of these have been glued on at the fore and aft ends plus one in the middle starboard side to provide for pinning the two sills at the right curvature.

 

 

The sills will support 2.5” watertight panels on the outside. To do this they have a rabbet on the upper outside corner to take these panels. The rabbet provides resistance against water pressure from outside the magazine – if it reaches that level or if the ship rolls and water surges up from below. Eventually there will be a perforated board added at the ends of the water course chocks with holes to allow water to flow down but also limit a sudden flow back up, which could blow in the panels and flood the magazine. All this was very low in the ship. Above the two sills, one for each side are bent together to help with symmetry – if they can just be oriented correctly for bending – sometimes confusing.

 

After the bent sills had dried out, they were attached to the chocks as shown below.

 

 

The next picture shows the base of the forward bulkhead being fit up. This was built up from individual overlapped 2.5 inch planks, but since all the joints were covered with 3 inch boards and will be hidden, this is being made from one piece. All of the light wood in these pictures is European Boxwood.

 

 

In this picture two of the palleting beams of the upper grid, at the forward and aft ends have been installed on top of the planking to add more strength. On the starboard side, under the aft beam a row of plank segments has been installed under that beam. This will be done on all these beams to show that they bed on planking.

 

In the next picture the assembly has moved to the bench for the installation of all the remaining watercourse chocks.

 

 

After these were installed it was moved back to the ship.

 

 

In this position the new pieces could be checked and adjusted. The protruding ends of the chocks were soon trimmed back to the sill with a vertical face to take the perforated boards. The assembly at this point was fairly rigid, but to strengthen it further, all of the timbers, chocks and sills were all through bolt with copper bolts held with CA glue.

 

The next step was to install the thick planking up the starboard side. In the next picture the last of that planking is being glued in place.

 

 

And the finished planking.

 

 

Note the planking segments running across the starboard side of the beams. This is a model feature to show that the next level of beams, the “palleting beams,” are placed on top of the lower watertight planking. Since the planking running up the side will have another layer of thinner planking right on top of it, no copper nails will be installed until the second layer is on.

 

The next task is to lay the palleting beams. These are rabbeted on the two top corners to take the “palleting flats,” removable squares of thinner planking that make up the floor of the magazine.

 

Here the first of these is being installed.

 

 

And the last.

 

 

After cleaning all this up, the next step will be to install fore and aft cross beam segments to form the four sided support for the pallets.

 

This will probably be the last installment before Christmas. Happy Holidays everyone!

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 35 – Forward Magazine 3

Posted 12/26/10

 

In the last segment, the transverse pallet beams were installed on top of the lower level of waterproof planking. The beams were bolted through to the bottom beams with copper bolts. In the picture below the fore and aft beam segments between the transverse beams are being installed.

 

 

These fore and aft beam segments are also rabbeted on the top corners to take the palleting flats, but in this case, instead of rabbeting these pieces and then cutting all the small joints to fit them in place, separate small strips were installed on their tops on the centerline to simulate these rabbets. Except for a couple that will be left open, the joints on these will not be visible and this saved a lot of time. The key here is to get these very small pieces (1.5” X 3” X about 30” long) cut to the precise length. This was done with a chisel. Then they need to be centered on the beams and lie in a straight fore and aft line – this takes some care.

 

The alignment is done by sighting down the beams at a low angle, like in the next picture – but of course, at the bench where all this small work was done.

 

 

In the above picture, one pallet has been planked. These planks are 1.5” (.025”) thick and random widths. If I have not mentioned it before, all this boxwood planking was cut from pieces of the correct breadth which had black paper glued to it, so that when a plank was ripped off, one edge would have the black simulated caulking already attached. In this picture the rabbet on the outside of the port lower sill can be seen right next to the locating pin. This will carry 2.5” vertical waterproof panels.

 

In the next picture all of the fore and aft segments are in place. All this work is pretty straightforward micro-carpentry and I will not describe all the gory details. Most of this work is done with a chisel, tweezers and brushes for glue and clean water, once the correct sized members have been ripped on the circular saw. Excess glue, and there is a fair amount, is cleaned off immediately with the dampened water brush.

 

In the next picture more of this small work has been done.

 

 

At this stage all of the “palleting flats have been planked into the rabbets in the beams, except for two – one to show the scuttle to the limber channel and the one just ahead of it to show the lower planking. Pallets were made for these and will be placed in the area later to show that they have been opened. Once all the pallets were in place the whole floor was leveled off with files and sanded smooth. At this stage the darker boxwood planks were first noticed. Hopefully this will not be noticeable after this area is finished. The next step would be setting the 2” X 2” dunnage beams on top of the flats. These were to keep the stacked powder barrels in place.

 

In the above picture, work has also progressed on the filling room, a smaller two-level area forward of the pallet area. After framing and planking, this area was covered with .005” blackened brass sheet to simulate the lead floor covering used to help keep this area clean of powder.

 

The next two pictures are closer views of this area.

 

 

There is a row of posts with horizontal boards on each side that will separate the pallet area from the filling room. Mortises for two of these posts can be seen in these pictures. There is also a waterproof bulkhead at the fore end of this room with windows to let in light from the light room just ahead of this area.

 

 

In the above picture the post mortises can be seen more clearly. Before blackening, the “lead” sheets were scribed to represent joints.

 

Below is a view of this area from above.

 

 

In the next picture, all the dunnage beams have been installed. There are breaks in these between each pallet so the pallet can be lifted out. After these were installed they were all leveled with a small sanding block.

 

 

The lead lined wooden tub – half of it that is – has also been installed at the forward end of the recessed area – officially the “filling room.” This area, only half of which is modeled here, is only 4 feet wide in total! Barrels of powder were brought into this space from the palleting area, where they were stored, and emptied into the tub. From this, powder was scooped up by the gunners mates and put into flannel bags, sized to fit specific gun bores. These cartridges were then stored in racks – yet to be built on the raised lead covered area. From there they were dispensed to the powder monkeys through a small hatch to the orlop on the starboard side of this area – also not yet built.

 

In the above picture the first plank of the second layer up the angled sides is also in place. Finishing that planking is next, then perhaps the transverse bulkheads to help support the upper sills running fore and aft at the sides. These in turn will help support the open boarded bulkhead at the forward end of the pallet area.

 

There is still quite a bit to do to finish this area.

 

This work was finished just before Christmas - so perhaps there will be a few days respite bfore going on into 2011.

 

Happy New Year!

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 36 – Forward Magazine 4

Posted 12/31/10

 

 

By Christmas the deck areas of the forward magazine were pretty well completed. The next step was to construct the fore and aft waterproof bulkheads. The base structure for the forward bulkhead, which separates the filling room from the light room is shown below after the window was constructed.

 

 

These bulkheads were 2.5” thick, of planks that were lapped and then covered with 1.5” X 3” planks on top of the joints on both sides. Since the 2.5” plank joints would be invisible, the bulkheads were made from a single wide sheet of 2.5” boxwood.

 

The windows were made as follows: First the full opening was cut in the boxwood sheet. The main window frames were then cut and fit into place with a boxwood post in between the two main window panels – which are not the same size. A single rectangle of clear plastic sheet was then fit into each open space. I am not sure of the material. It was cut from the clear covers used on office binders. It is resistant to acetone and ethanol, but adheres to CA. Nice qualities. The outer frame of the window mullions, about 1” square, were then glued around the perimeter of each opening on both sides to retain the glazing. So far all this was glued with Titebond. The 9 vertical pane mullions were then cut and gently force fit into place on both windows. When spaced and aligned, the joints with the frame were touched with thin CA. Some of this, of course ran down between the verticals and the glass. When dry, a 1” notch was cut out of each vertical at the center to fit the horizontal mullion. This was then pressed in and the joints touched with CA. The windows were then cleaned as well as possible with acetone (for the CA) and ethanol (for the Titebond). They still look like they need a cleaning, but are not too bad considering where they are located.

 

 

In this picture the forward bulkhead is being test fit. The planking up the angled port side remains to be completed. I was not happy with the tub and it would soon come out to be replaced.

 

In the next picture the part of aft bulkhead base panel is being fit up.

 

 

 

It was then attached to the aft end of the assembly.

 

 

These bulkheads needed to be installed so the side panels and their stanchions as well as the partition between the pallet area and the filling room would have good support at their ends. In the next picture the supporting pillars for the aft bulkhead are being installed.

 

 

In the next picture the planking has been glued on up the port side and the forward bulkhead is being glued on.

 

 

During all these steps the assembly was indexed at its correct position using pins, two of which can be seen at the aft ends of the wing panels sills.

 

The next picture shows the whole assembly back on the bench.

 

 

In this picture the horizontal battens have been installed on the fore side of the aft bulkhead and both sides of the fore bulkhead, which also has posts to support the light room sides installed on its fore face. Two loose pallets have been placed in the area as well. The side planking has been leveled off and awaits treenailing.

 

The last picture shows the assembly back in place in the hull.

 

 

Before any further construction, the assembly needed to be attached to the orlop beams at the tops of the two bulkheads. This would provide a better means of indexing and would assure that final installation would fit well with both the orlop beams, which support the tops of the bulkheads, and also the magazine lower beams, which of course, need to fit tightly on the thickstuff below. Attachment to these beams will be covered in the next part.

 

Happy New Year

 

Ed

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 37 – Forward Magazine 5

Posted 1/2/11

 

 

It was now time to attach the magazine assembly to the orlop beams at the fore and aft bulkheads for a number of reasons. First, I could then use the index holes in the beams to index the beam/magazine structure. This would assure that everything would fit together when finished. Also, the side wing panel lintels attach to both the assembly and the orlop beams, so the fit would be easier and better if the beams and the magazine were joined in one assembly that could be worked on at the bench.

 

Before attaching the beams, the scores for the carlings needed to be cut. This was done for all the platform beams at this time. The next pictures illustrate this process.

 

 

First all the platform beams were set in place in the hull and their centerlines were scribed on the top faces. Then the beams were clamped together as shown above for marking out the carlings to assure that these would be parallel when installed. The drawing print in the above picture shows the carlings and ledges for the forward platform. The carlings were 7 inches across. The first beam is clamped backwards because it has already had its lodging knees installed – but its carlings are symmetrical so not to worry.

 

The next picture shows how the location of the carlings on the fore and aft faces were marked with pencil then a sharp knife on the corners.

 

 

All of these joints were cut manually with chisels. It took about an hour in total. The first step is shown below.

 

 

First a horizontal pencil line at the bottoms of the 5” deep carlings was drawn on both faces of each beam. A chisel cut was then made vertically for the carling sides a shown. A cut was then made for the bottoms in the same way as shown below.

 

 

A small chisel and a knife were used to cut out the joint as shown in the next two pictures.

 

 

In this picture the paring is done from the center to the joint line with the grain to avoid any tear out.

 

 

A knife blade was also used to clean up the joints. The goal here was to get the heavy cutting out of the way on the bench, leaving perhaps some minor paring to be done when the carlings ultimately get fitted with the beams in place.

 

The next picture shows the finished beams.

 

 

In the next picture the aft beam has been attached to the bulkhead and the forward bulkhead is being glued to its beam. Both beams were fixed tightly in position for this step and the magazine was fit down on its bedding. For the aft beam, which has its bottom resting on the bulkhead, this fit was done by means of a cross member on the bulkhead which was sanded down until the assembly fit snuggly top and bottom. The forward bulkhead rests on the aft face of its beam so could be positioned vertically before gluing.

 

 

The next picture taken from directly above, shows the magazine in its correct position, indexed now by the pins at the ends of the two beams.

 

 

This picture also just barely shows the improved filling tub at the fore end of the filling room. I decided that this tub was more than likely sheathed inside and out with lead, so it was made from brass this time and then blackened.

 

The next picture shows a closer view with all the beams temporarily in place.

 

 

At this point the heights of the beams were rechecked to make sure the deck would be flat. In the next part the wing panels will be installed under the bottoms of the beams and filled in between them.

 

Ed

[druxey]

It's so nice to be able to revisit your build in color. Thanks for re-posting it. I'm sure it's memory lane for you as well, Ed.

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 38 – Forward Magazine 6

Posted 1/5/11

 

 

The work on the forward magazine continues. In the picture below, the magazine assembly with the two beams that were permanently attached in the last part has been set in place and indexed by the pins through the ends of the beams, which were installed when the beams were first fit up. The port side panel lintel lintel (the top piece) has been installed. This was done in place to assure that both bulkheads remained aligned with their beams.

 

 

The above picture also shows the new fully leaded sheathed cartridge-filling tub – half of it. The treenailing of the slanted planking has also been done using 1” (.016”) bamboo treenails.

 

In the next picture the other beams have been placed in their positions to make sure everything fits as it should – and it does.

 

 

The assembly was then again returned to the bench for the construction of the battened partition between the pallet area and the filling room.

 

Intallation of the vertical posts for this partition is shown below.

 

 

A temporary strip of straight pine was glued to the tops of all these posts to keep them in line. They will soon be cut off at the height of the bottom of the orlop planking – after some, more permanent, support is provided. This picture also shows some concurrent work on the light room partitions in progress. Working both these structures helps keep things moving while glue is setting.

 

Ultimately, I decided to omit the starboard side of the partition. This is in keeping with the “framing only” plan for that side, but also this partition is very fragile and will have no additional support since it abuts the orlop planking and there will be no planking on this side. The port side partition is also fragile but will be supported eventually by some orlop planking.

 

The next picture shows work on the port partition.

 

 

The battens are very small and their spacing is done by eye only.

 

The following pictures show the assembly in position in the hull.

 

 

 

 

In the next pictures the work on the wing panel stanchions and the battens on the aft bulkhead has also progressed. The stanchions were rabbeted on the two outside corners to set the wing panels. These were done with two separate pieces as was done on the pallet beams.

 

 

 

There are a few items left to finish with the magazine. These include the waterproof wing panels, the perforated boards at their outside base, the remaining battens on the partition and the port cartridge rack. Then after finishing the light room, this whole assembly will be installed permanently in the hull.

 

Somehow progress seems slow at this stage, even though the work has been steady.

 

Stay tuned,

 

Ed

 

Copyright 2013 Edward J Tosti

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 39 – Forward Magazine Wrap Up

Posted 1/11/11

 

 

This part will wrap up the remaining construction work on the magazine and light room. I will not go through all the gory details, but focus on a few items that may be of interest. This structure has involved a lot of very small-scale carpentry where the labor hours per pound of wood was quite high, but otherwise it was pretty straightforward following the detailed drawing.

 

In the first picture the perforated water stops are being installed. The purpose of these was to dampen the flow of large volumes of water to the underside of the magazine decks while allowing drainage from the sides of the ship down into the limber channel. These will be hardly visible in the model but having gone this far this was no time to stop with the authenticity.

 

 

The next picture shows the structure on the bench after the installation of the cartridge rack on the port side. Recall that on the starboard side of the ship only basic framing (with a few exceptions) will be modeled. These racks are rather small and won’t be very visible so the were modeled simply. There is a drawer front at the bottom of the rack – I believe its purpose was to collect powder dropping from the shelves above. Above the drawer are shelves with a face board to keep the stored cartridges from falling out.

 

This picture also shows the walls of the light room planked most of the way up. Toward the upper part of this assembly some of the components begin to interfere with beams and carlings so some parts will have to be cut to fit around these members later.

 

 

The next picture shows the fabrication of the lantern windowpanes. These will be virtually impossible to see as soon as they are installed so they were modeled simply without too much fussing – no glass.

 

This picture shows the mullions for the lantern panes fabricated and ready to be cut to fit inside the frames. These were made from small strips notched, fit together then glued. When dry they were sanded so their parts were flush under my finger on a flat sanding board with 220 grit paper.

 

 

In the next picture a mullion assembly is being fit up. After these were glued in, the lanterns were sanded to even out the windows with the sides of the lanterns. For something this hidden, this approach was easier than making perfectly fit sash.

 

 

The next few pictures show the way simple hinges were made for the shutters that could be used to close off the light room windows. I guess this was an additional safety feature. I am sure it was pitch black in the magazine with the shutters down so they were probably only for emergency or perhaps when the magazine was not in use. The first picture shows a grid of 24 gauge copper wire laid out with small blobs of silver solder/flux paste at the joints just about to be touched lightly with the torch

.

 

Once these pieces were soldered they were dropped into 5% white vinegar to pickle them and remove the soldering residues. They were then clipped into pieces as shown below with the small wire piece representing the hinge pin assembly.

 

 

This future hinge is waiting on the anvil to have the long hinge strap flattened. When this was done the hinges were CA glued to the shutters as shown in the picture below.

 

 

To install these, small holes were drilled in the top of the window frame, the ends of the hinges inserted and then touched with a small drop of CA to keep them in place. Sorry, no bolts.

 

The following picture shows the completed magazine and light room assembly except for a very little bit of light room planking. The finished assembly was given a finish of beeswax diluted with turpentine then buffed with a dry brush – but not near surfaces that would still have gluing.

 

 

The next picture shows this temporarily (again) in place in the hull. At this stage the assembly needed to be fit up against the beam bottoms and the hull planking so it could be adjusted for correct fit and also to clear the various overhead components.

 

 

Notice in this picture that the starboard shutter has been raised up so it will just touch the carling that fits over it. This was done to allow clearance for use of the ladder to the orlop scuttle. If left in the lower position it would block the use of the ladder. This place was really cramped for space. I believe I will raise the other on e as well considering that it is a head knocker in the work area.

 

The last picture shows an overhead view with all the main beams fit into place. The tops of the two lanterns are just visible. This is about the only possible view of them.

 

 

This completed assembly is now ready to be permanently installed in the hull along with the beams and the rest of the lodging knees. Then the closing pieces that fit between the beams on the side bulkhead lintels and the ladders to the light room and the magazine will be installed. The magazine will then be complete.

 

I will cover this installation and hopefully the start of work on the well in the next part.

 

Cheers,

 

Ed

 

 

 

Copyright 2013 Edward J Tosti

[mitchel]

Unbelievable detail Ed...."There is a drawer front at the bottom of the rack – I believe its purpose was to collect powder dropping from the shelves above."   

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 40 – Fore Platform Beams

Posted MSW 1/18/11

 

 

By this time the forward magazine assembly had been permanently fastened into place and the filling pieces on top of the side panel lintels between the beams installed. In the picture below, work has begun to attach lodging knees to their respective beams. Except for the two beams attached previously to the magazine, all the other beams are still loose in this picture.

 

 

The curve of the lodging knees was cut on the band saw in a 3 inch thick piece of stock then finished with rasps and sandpaper. The individual knees at a thickness of 7.5” were then sliced off this. They were then sized and shaped to fit their respective beams. The knes are 3’11” long along the beam itself. I will go into this method of making the knees in a later segment. I am still working on this new process.

 

In the above picture and the one below, the knee is being glued to its beam, flush with the top of the beam.

 

 

Although all but one of these kneed beams are still loose and a bit out of alignment, it can be seen that getting these to follow a fair line where they mate with the side is a bit of an issue. This is due mainly to the extreme angle where the beams rest on the planking, the differences in planking thickness and the way the line of the beam tops diverts downward from the lines of the planks.

 

Once the knees are glued to the beam, they are removed, taken to the milling machine, and drilled for the bolts that go through the beam and also those that go through the frames. Getting bolt holes to be horizontal and go through the center of the knee thickness, drilled from the outside is a process that needs development. Due to the small space between beams, drilling from the inside is not very practical. Until I get a process for this, these early orlop beam knees will have dummy bolts on the outside. After the bolts were put in the beam/knee assemblies could be secured into place.

 

The following picture shows this in progress. The forward most beam is still loose. A beam forward of that one, which seems to have been omitted from the Naiad draft has to be made, fitted and have its carling mortises matched up before this beam can be secured.

 

 

In the next picture this has been done and the beam over the forward light room partition is being glued in.

 

 

After gluing, all these beams were bolted into the ceiling planking with copper bolts.

 

In this next picture all but perhaps the most forward beam have been secured. The aftermost beam of the platform has a pillar under it supporting its center off the keelson. This has a square mortise and tenon in both the top and bottom.

 

 

The next picture shows the new forward most beam with the mortises cut for its carlings. These two carlings will frame the scuttle to the forepeak below.

 

 

The last picture from aboveshows all the beams in place.

 

 

There is still a bit of leveling of all these pieces to be done and this will help with the fairness of the curve along the outer edges.

 

The last picture is another view of this, in which a number of limber boards have been installed starting at the magazine bulkhead. These are beveled to fit against the keelson and also have half round holes in each end so they can be pryed out to clean out the limber channel.

 

 

The next step will be to install the carlings and ledges in the platform framing.

 

Ed

 

 

Copyright 2013 Edward J Tosti

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 41 – Fore Platform Framing

Posted 1/23/11

 

In this segment the framing of the fore platform, specifically the installation of carlings and ledges, was done. The picture below shows the platform framing with all the carlings installed and a few of the ledges at the forward end. The dark area is due to dampness from washing off the glue in that area.

 

 

The carling mortises were roughed out on the beams before they were installed. This was covered in part 37. By keeping them slightly undersized any misalignment resulting from the final beam positioning could be adjusted by paring the sides of the mortises in place when the carlings were fit. This worked pretty well. In the above picture the top of the framing still needs to be sanded flush.

 

In the next picture the first pass of this has been done using 220 grit paper with a sanding block. This sanding will be completed after the ledges are installed.

 

 

There are three scuttles framed in this picture one forward of the foremast leading down to the forepeak, one to the port side of the mast leading to the light room, and one above the starboard side of the filling room which gave entry to the magazine. I am still doing some research on these. I believe they may have been framed with carling sized timbers instead of the ledges shown here, so the three in question may be removed and replaced. If the coamings for these are to rest right on the beams, a wider member is probably needed.

 

All the mortises for the ledges were cut in place, so they would line up properly.

 

In the next picture the installation of ledges is complete.

 

 

The ledges directly over the magazine have been left out to improve the ability to see this area. The mortises for these have been cut, however.

 

The next picture is another view of the finished platform framing after sanding and polishing.

 

 

And below is another view from directly overhead.

 

 

The next picture shows the whole forward end of the inside of the hull.

 

 

There are a number of directions to go from here, perhaps planking of the platform or starting on the central orlop deck will be next. We’ll see.

 

Ed

 

 

Copyright 2011 Edward J Tosti

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 42 – Fore Platform Decking

Posted 1/24/11

 

Having finished the framing of the fore platform, the next step taken was installation of some decking on the port side. This will be quite a limited amount to allow as much visibility to the magazine as practical. I have not decided how much of the partitions will be done. As only the port side will be decked, and that only partially the modeling of these simple little boxes may not add much to the model. We’ll see.

 

In the picture below a portion of the intended decking is down.

 

 

In this picture the most recently glued piece is held against its neighbor with a few pins, lightly tapped into place. The excess glue has been cleared with a clean water brush – hence the wet spots.

 

I am testing out a new approach to highlighting the caulked joints between planks. In the magazine this was done with black paper. For this deck I have used raw umber acrylic gouache to paint one side of the planking wood before slicing off the planks. The gouache and painted blanks are shown below.

 

 

One side is painted with gouache right from the tube to provide some thickness. The one painted side will end up on the edge of the planks when they have been sliced off on the circular saw. I also plan to test this with dark brown acrylic household paint, which may be easier to apply uniformly.

 

Also, I am using homemade dark glue to secure the planks, including their edges. I have been experimenting with a number of ways to darken glue and the one used for this work has been the best so far. Yellow glue, in this case Elmer’s Carpenter’s Glue was darkened using raw umber Sennelier artist pigment. This is a finely ground high quality pigment. One teaspoon was mixed with about six ounces of glue. To avoid the pigment clumping and settling in the glue bottle, the pigment was first incorporated into a small amount of glue, maybe two tablespoons. The ideal way to do this is with a stone or ceramic mortar and pestle. I used a soup bowl with a pestel made from a rounded Teflon rod about ¾” in diameter. The pigment needs to be ground into the glue thoroughly. When this was done, the remainder of the six ounces was poured into the bowl and that was mixed thoroughly. The glue bottle was thoroughly washed out before returning the dark glue to it. After about two weeks, there is no sign of settlement at all. The darker glue does need to be washed off more thoroughly than normal glue because the residue is more noticeable. The pigment is encapsulated in glue so does not stain the wood at all.

 

The next picture just shows the remaining planking in place. There may be some more added up front later.

 

 

The next few pictures show the treenailing process. Before starting this, the decked area was scraped down using a Flex-cut straight scraper. These can be used as bought but work better if a slight curl is put on the edge with a burnishing rod. . In the first picture holes have been center-indented with a scriber point and drilled. A .016” bamboo treenail rod is inserted into a hole with some of the dark glue.

 

 

In the next picture the rod is being clipped off with small diagonal cutters close to the plank. The cutters are then flipped over and a straight cut is made on an angle close to the end of the bamboo. I like this approach because individual nails do not have to be cut. This reduces waste and avoids having to handle the small nails.

 

 

In the next picture after the excess glue has been washed off and the wood has dried, a fine cut flat die sinker file is being used to take the nail tops down to plank level.

 

 

In the last picture the surface of the planking has been sanded to a consistent smooth finish first with 220 grit paper then with 320 grit. Only some of the nails are installed in this picture and the overhead light reflecting off the boxwood somewhat washes out the pale yellow of the wood.

 

In this picture also, the thiness of the 1” orlop planking is very apparent. Because it is so thin, it needs to be made a bit thicker to withstand the scraping and sanding.

 

 

In the next segment we will probably be starting in on the central orlop platform, the well and the shot lockers. I’ll finish this deck when I get the design of the scuttle coamings cleared up.

 

 

Ed

 

Copyright 2011 Edward J Tosti

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 43 – Fore Platform Wrap Up

Posted 1/27/11

 

 

Before finishing the planking work on the fore platform, the coamings for the three scuttles had to be installed. These are 6 inches wide and three inches deep. They are joined at the corners with a lap joint, which is through treenailed to the supporting timbers below. The ledges that were framing one side of the scuttles in previous pictures were removed and replaced with carling-sized timbers. The following picture shows the framing of the three scuttles.

 

 

This picture also shows the reworked light room. These changes were made following some good input from Gary on what the backs of the lanterns looked like. Previous pictures showed a partition. This was removed along with the lanterns. They were given new metal backs and light reflectors from their sides to the window frames. Doing all this after all the platform framing was done was lots of fun.

 

The next picture shows all the intending planking installed.

 

 

There is a break in the planking at the center of the foremost beam. David White shows this in his Diana drawings. My guess is that thicker plank was needed to span the distance from that first beam all the way to the thickstuff on which the fore ends of the planking bed. I made this planking 2 inches thick vs. the 1 inch planking on the rest of the platform. I also took it aft to the fore peak scuttle rather than insert very short pieces of the thinner planks – a little artistic license and common sense. In this picture all the holes have been drilled for treenails for the planking and the scuttle framing.

 

Following is an overhead view of the whole platform at this stage.

 

 

After finishing the treenailing and leveling the decks, all that remained was the three ladders. Don’t ask me why I didn’t install these earlier. It would have been much easier.

 

The following picture shows the ladder sides being rabbeted for the treads. This was done using a slotting blade the thickness of the treads – about 1.5 inches. The calibrated feed allows these slots to be precisely located at the same spacing. The next step is to cut the edge of this piece and another like it to the ladder angle. The ladder sides are then ripped off these two mirrored pieces to give right and left hand sides.

 

 

The next picture shows a ladder being assembled.

 

 

The sides of the ladders were made intentionally thick so they could be sanded down to give a tight fit with the scuttle opening. When the fit is loose its very difficult to position them correctly when you have to do this after the framing is done – they keep dropping through.. A tight fit makes this easier. Next time these will be done before the framing.

 

The next picture shows the ladder for the forepeak scuttle waiting to be installed.

 

 

This picture also shows the ladder to the light room after installation and the next picture shows the ladder to the magazine.

 

 

The last picture shows all three ladders in place.

 

 

The fore platform is now complete, except for the standard knees which will be done after the lower deck clamps are installed.

 

Ed

 

Copyright 2011 Edward J Tosti

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 44 – Center Orlop Beams

Posted 1/31/11

 

With the completion of the fore platform, work began on the center orlop – officially the orlop. Unlike the fore and aft platforms, the orlop beams actually rest on the notched orlop clamps like beams of the other decks. The making and fitting of these beams was discussed in Part 31. The first step here was to retrieve those beams from storage, fit them up and pin them securely in place as shown below.

 

 

Once pinned down, the centerline was scribed with a sharp knife on the top of these beams. Then the locations the inside edge of all the carlings were marked on each beam in place, to help assure alignment. The next step would be to cut the mortises for the carlings.

 

There are three tiers of carlings on each side of the ship. The cutting of the joints in the beams for these is somewhat complicated by the fact that most of the orlop deck consists of short removable planks that are set in rabbets on the beams so when in place the tops are flush or slightly below the tops of the beams. From the outside tier out the deck planking rests on top of the beams in the normal way. This requires the carlings in the inner tiers to be set below the tops of the beams so they and their ledges can support the short planks at the lower level. The carlings on either side of the hatches are set to the tops of the beams and have no planks on them. The outer tier of carlings is also set to the tops of the beams in the normal way. If this seems confusing, it is, and I was convinced there would be some new additions to the scrapped parts box before too long – so I took extra care in laying out all these joint locations.

 

The first step in the process was to cut all these mortises in the normal way – as if all the carlings would all come up to the beam tops. These were all cut with small hand chisels in the way described for the fore platform beams. The picture below shows the beams back in place after this step.

 

 

The wider spacing between central carlings in the aft three beams in the above picture is to accommodate the main hatch and the hatch for the well, which will rise up between the last two beams in the lower end of the picture.

 

When this was done and checked the next step was to cut the rabbets in the tops of the beams to take the short sections of planking. The picture below shows this rabbet on the finished after most beam.

 

 

The rabbets were cut on the milling machine set up as a router in the picture below.

 

 

The beams were hand fed between the appropriate mortices – very carefully – and of course to the right, against the rotation of the cutter.

 

Once these rabbets were cut, the mortises for the depressed beams were enlarged downward so their carlings would be at the lower height. This was done by marking the new lower edge with a compass with an extended point as shown earlier, extending the sides of the mortise with a chisel, cutting the new bottom ledge and then squaring up the joint. As mentioned earlier these were cut slightly on the small side to allow for final alignment later when the carlings are actually installed.

 

The remaining pictures show all this joinery on these beams that are resting temporarily in position.

The first picture is looking aft.

 

 

In the next picture it is somewhat easier to see the deeper mortises on the second tier in the aft three beams and all but the outer tier in the rest of the beams forward.

 

 

The last picture is just another view of these finished beams.

 

 

I am happy to say that there were no scrapped beams.

 

 

Ed

 

Copyright 2011 Edward J Tosti

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 45 – Orlop Framing

Posted 2/2/11

 

 

With the mortises and rabbets cut on the orlop beams, the next step was to make and attach the lodging knees. To make these a blank cut to the shape of the knees is first made as shown below.

 

 

This piece was cut from a large piece of pear stock on the band saw fitted with a narrow blade with a small tooth count per inch. Fewer teeth cut much better through stock of this thickness.

 

 

This was the smallest blade I had on hand. It appears to be about 1/4inch with about a 5 tpi tooth count. It could be smaller with fewer teeth and it did leave some burn marks. These were removed with a round rasp during the final shaping and sanding.

 

The next step is to slice off the 7 ½ inch thick lodging knees. A few of these are shown below.

 

 

These pieces are then cut to the length between beams using the rip fence on the small circular saw so the faces will be parallel. They are then shaped on a disk sanderto fay against the hull frames and glued to their respective beams only.

 

These beam/knee assemblies will later be removed for the drilling of the fore and aft bolt-holes. A process is being developed to drill the bolt-holes from outside the hull but this is not ready for prime time yet.

 

Below is a picture of the four forward beams with their knees being attached.

 

Note that the orientation of the knees changes at the deadflat, so the second beam has no knee attached.

The installation and other framing for these four beams will probably be completed before going on to the last two, which surround the main hatch, the well and the shot lockers, making them a bit more complicated.

 

In the next picture the pillars that support these four beams off the keelson are being made. The picture also shows the measuring device used to measure the length of these between the keelson and the beam. This was made from telescoping square brass tubing with tabs silver soldered on and a tightening screw.

 

 

The pillars have square tenons top and bottom and a chamfered on their sides. It was common for corners throughout the ship to be rounded off or chamfered to prevent injury from the sharp corners, especially in rough weather. Sharp corners could easily cause fractures.

 

The next picture shows this chamfering being done with a file in a simple fixture made for this purpose from hardwood to help assure uniform corners. The rounded tops and bottoms of the chamfer were done with a round file first.

 

 

The fixture was made by routed a 45 degree grove in a piece of Castello then trimming the top beck on the thickness sander until the right amount of chamfer was achieved when the file bottoms on the fixture. I am not holding the pillar down in this picture to give a clear view.

 

The next picture shows the first two beams with their pillars fitted up temporarily.

 

 

A small square was used to locate and mark the fore and aft face locations of each beam on the keelson. A square mortise was then cut on the beam centerline in the keelson and on the bottom of each beam, This fit up is still temporary.

 

Ed

 

Copyright 2011 Edward J Tosti

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 46 – Orlop Deck

Posted 2/5/11

 

 

In the first picture the first four orlop beams have been installed. The lodging knees were first attached to their respective beams. They were then removed for drilling of the bolt-holes throught the beam, after which copper bolts were installed. They were then permanently glued into place with their pillars. After removal of the pins shown in this picture the pinholes were filled since there were no bolts in these positions.

 

 

The next step was to drill holes through the knees and the hull frames. This can be difficult. Its hard to drill from the inside of the hull and if drilling from the outside getting the hole to emerge near the center of the knee thickness is chancy at best. I spent a lot of time thinking about this problem before devising the drilling fixture shown below. It is fairly simple and was constructed in a couple of hours from various materials lying around the shop.

 

 

It is essentially two planks of laminated hardboard hinged together at one end. The lower plank can be clamped to the building board using the T-slots. A piece of threaded rod through a contained nut at the end of the top board allows height adjustment.. Two cross fences are used to guide the Wecheer drill, which has enough parallel side to stay aligned. It could be put in a square cradle as a possible improvement. The drill bit is aligned with the hole location and slid along the fence to drill the hole. The fixture is then moved fore and aft to locate the other holes. The fixture can be flipped around to get at holes further aft.

 

Here is another picture.

 

 

I believe I am using a number 74 drill here. The first few holes were a success, so I now plan to use this for all bolts through the hull to internal structural members. Precentering holes is not very practical here and I did find that locating a holes where the frame is angled may cause the drill to wander on entry. This was corrected by shortening the exposed bit length, starting the hole, extending the bit out, then completing the hole. Bolts were then inserted in the usual way.

 

Once the four beams were installed, the next step was the carlings. In the picture below I am trimming one side of a mortise to fit a carling. The holes were left on the tight side to allow some adjustment in carling location so they would run in straight lines. The accuracy of my marking out is not good enough to assure this in the initial joint layout, so this procedure helps get them straight. Its too early to tell if this device is a god solution to this problem and like any tool some practice and learning is needed, but so far it looks promising.

 

 

Then next picture shows the carlings installed.

 

 

As mentioned earlier these are at different heights due to the way the planks were laid on the orlop deck. Except for the outer carlings which are flush with the tops of the beams, those in this picture are set down at the height of the ledge in the rabbet.

 

The next picture shows this structure after the ledges have been installed.

 

 

The last picture shows some of the short removable planks installed between the first tow beams on the port side.

 

 

In keeping with the format, decks will be at least partially planked on that side and the structure is being left open on the starboard side.

 

Ed

 

Copyright 2011 Edward J Tosti

[EdT]

1:60 HMS Naiad 1797

Part 47 – Well and Shot Lockers

Posted 2/7/11

 

 

The decking of the orlop started in the last part could not be completed until all the beams were installed and before installing the last two of these the well and shot locker structure had to be made and installed. The first strp in making this is shown below.

 

 

First two copies of the elevation view of the structure were placed on pieces of Homasote board and lengths of 6 X 6 timber were fastened in the locations of the four columns. These were made longer than needed to allow them to be pinned to the boards at their ends. Both sides of the well/shot locker structure were built simultaneously, so there were two of these layout boards. This picture also shows the specially cut top planks for one side, which would be the first to be installed.

 

The next picture shows the first of the 2.5 inch thick planking being glued to the columns.

 

 

Two of these were glued at a time and were held against their neighbors and down with pins. The caulking line between planks was done by a method I believe I described earlier and one that has now become my standard for planking caulk lines. The planking stock is coated with raw umber acrylic designers gouache on one side so that when the planks are ripped off one edge is dark. They are then glued with dark glue made by working raw umber artist’s pigment into ordinary yellow glue.

 

The next picture shows this effect on one of the sides, which has also been partially treenailed.

 

 

The treenails are 1” (.016”) bamboo. This picture also shows the back bracing for the door to be installed on the starboard side. Planks would be glued to these (but not the columns) to build the doors. This is a convenient way to assure the fit. These overlength door braces would be cut off later.

 

Except for the space taken up by the door, all sides of this structure between the orlop and lower decks was constructed with ventilation louvers. Side frames for these were dadoed on the milling machine at 30 degrees by the process used earlier for magazine ladders. Some of the machined sides and some 1” X 8” slats are shown in the next picture before being cut to size and installed

 

 

The next picture shows the louver construction in progress.

 

 

First the two vertical frames were dry fit into place and two slats were cut so that when slipped into their groves the sides would be pushed against the columns. When this was fit up the pieces were removed then replaced with glue and aligned. The rest of the slats were then glued into their slots.

 

The next picture shows the louvers installed in the two side assemblies. The louvers in the fore and aft faces will be done after all the walls are assembled. This also shows the planked up door.

 

 

The next picture shows a close up of the port side wall assembly.

 

 

The four fore and aft partitions were made by edge gluing planks on waxed paper then cutting the panels square on the circular saw. These were then glued to their columns to form the four-sided structure, which is shown below.

 

 

The door hinges wire made from copper wire and small pieces of brass plate. This method was described earlier in the section on the magazine light room shutters. The door latch was another small plate, with a ringbolt. All were chemically blackened and glued on with CA. These pieces are too small for bolts – at least for me.

 

Note the square notches on the top planks. These fit against and under the orlop deck beams. Before laying out the side wall assemblies, and again after removing them from the pattern, the space between these beams was double checked to make sure this would all fit snuggly. The assembly is very slightly oversized at the bottom to allow for trimming to fit tightly between the lower side of the orlop beams and the limbers strakes on the bottom. The lower part of the transverse panels will also have to be shaped to fit over the keelson. All of this will covered in the next installment.

 

Cheers,

 

Ed

 

 

Copyright 2013 Edward J Tosti

[SJSoane]

 

Ed, I am assuming much of this will be included in the book volume 2? Can't wait!

 

Mark

[Mcdood]

Ed, I am afraid I have run out of superlatives to describe what you are doing, Its just...........a joy to behold.

Thank you

Martin. 

[EdT]

Thanks for these comments.

 

Mark, to answer your question on Volume II - you are not the first to ask - I have attached pdfs of the Volume II contents outline along with a similar pdf for Vol I.

 

Naiad Vol I Contents.pdf

 

Naiad Vol II Contents.pdf

 

The Volume I contents are taken directly from the published book chapter and sub-chapter headings.  Volume II contents are still in progress, but page 1 of the PDF is pretty well along.  Page 2 is more tentative and subject to revision.

 

Volume II covers much more diverse subject matter than the first volume.  It will take the model to completion.  To make room for detailed methods descriptions, pictures and diagrams, many of the processes that will be applied in multiple situations are described thoroughly, only when first used.  These “anchor” processes are denoted with *** in the pdfs.  When they are used later, only variations or special circumstances will be discussed.  This has reduced repetition and made room for more content.  This labelling will also permit easy reference to these basic processes from the table of contents.

 

I hope you find this helpful  I am very excited about Volume II and hope we can get it into print this year.  Of course that is uncertain at this point, since it depends on my finishing the model, the drawings and the writing of the book – not to mention the publishing process as well.

 

Thanks for your interest.

 

Ed

 

 

Copyright 2013 Edward J Tosti

Edited February 23, 2013 by EdT

[michael mott]

Ed, The mortising and rabbeting of the beams and the way you made the knees is such clean accurate work, very inspirational.

 

Michael

[Martocticvs]

This is just as good as watching it progress the first time around!

[mitchel]

Thanks again!! These comments are great for my ego and for keeping my nose to the grindstone in getting the reposts done. Very much appreciated.

 

Mitchell, the purpose of the horseshoe plate was to tie together the lower stem, the apron and the forward end of the keel. It was through bolted - one on each side. You will note the overlap of these three timbers in the pictures.

 

Now for a few reposts.

 

Ed

 

 

Ah-ahh.....thanks for the reply Ed.

[PETERPETER]

Good day Ed,

 

How fortunate we are that you had saved the contents of your builder's log before the recent disaster here at MSW. I was counting on being able to refer to the excellent photos and discussions, should I attempt to build NAIAD. Like many others, I'm anxiously awaiting the release of Vol II, and have already completed construction of the shipway described in Vol I.

Edited February 24, 2013 by PETERPETER

[Trussben]

All I can say Ed is that your build is one of the most unbelievable works of art that I have ever seen, I shall order vol2 of the book as soon as I can.

 

Ben

[EdT]

Thank you both for these comments.

 

Peter, I hope the shipway will serve you well. One tip: To keep small parts or tools from dropping into the T-trak, cover it with masking tape. I have not done this but often wish I had. The alternative is to keep a pair of tweezers handy.

 

Ben, thanks for the vote of confidence on Volume II.

 

Ed

[SJSoane]

 

Hi Ed,

 

That table of contents for Volume 2 looks terrific!

 

Mark